"The WAR on error"
The answer to the crisis the Church is facing, especially in the West, consists in proclaiming and rediscovering the grandeur of God's love, experienced in prayer, says Benedict XVI.
To strengthen the bond between Italy and Germany occasioned by Benedict XVI's election to the papacy, two locales in both countries are combining their efforts this Christmastime. / (And) "We want to clarify that Sunday is not merely a part of a weekend when we can do all those things we didn't get around to doing during the week, such as sleep longer, go to the mountains, go swimming, go to the seaside. There are others who go to watch or play sport, or have a 12-course lunch. … All these things are good, but they are not the point of the Lord's Day."
The Immaculate Conception is an "icon of beauty and of divine charity," says the Vatican's secretary of state in a message sent in Benedict XVI's name. Cardinal Bertone clarified that this theme "seeks to underline precisely the singular participation of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of all men, in the mystery of God, sublime mystery of beauty and charity."
Catholics and Israelis are awaiting with hope a pair of meetings of the Israel-Holy See Permanent Bilateral Commission on key issues in the Church-state relationship.
A delegation of the Israeli government visited the Holy See on Nov. 27 to renew its invitation to Benedict XVI to visit Israel and to establish an agenda of negotiations. Israeli representative Aaron Abramovich explained after the visit that two meetings were scheduled to overcome the differences in the implementation of the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the state of Israel.
A delegation of the Israeli government visited the Holy See on Nov. 27 to renew its invitation to Benedict XVI to visit Israel and to establish an agenda of negotiations. Israeli representative Aaron Abramovich explained after the visit that two meetings were scheduled to overcome the differences in the implementation of the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the state of Israel.
The Vatican has confirmed an American bishop’s decision to excommunicate members of the dissident group Call to Action. In March 1996, Bishop Bruskewitz had announced the excommunication of all Catholics in his diocese who were members of Call to Action or several other dissident groups which he described as “totally incompatible with the Catholic faith” - Catholics for a Free Choice, Planned Parenthood, the Hemlock Society, the Freemasons, and the Society of St. Pius X.
"It is a provocation," she said of the mosque, which would sit across a graceful square from her Roman Catholic church - its minarets an exotic counterpoint to the church's neo-baroque steeples. "The mosque doesn't have anything to do with religion," she said. "It is a power play." A vocal minority of residents has resisted, holding protest meetings, collecting signatures, and filing a petition with the Bavarian Parliament. "Bavarian life," the petition declares, "is marked by the drinking of beer and the eating of pork. In Muslim faith, both are unclean and forbidden." With the support of Bavaria's conservative state government, the residents have been able to tie up the project in court.
Oops!...
Europe's 2nd-highest ranking commissioner was fighting to save his political career last night over pictures showing him naked on a beach with his chief of staff. Günther Verheugen, who is married, is shown — wearing only a baseball cap — with his newly promoted aide, Petra Erler, on a nudist beach in Lithuania. The controversy is raging in Germany, 3 weeks before the country is due to take over the European Union presidency. Media coverage has completely overshadowed the plans of Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, for the presidency. Mr Verheugen is a senior Social Democrat, and sacking him would cause a crisis in Germany’s Grand Coalition Government.
Nudism has a proud history in Germany. Günter Verheugen, from West Germany, and Petra Erler, from East Germany, thus had an educational opportunity this summer to compare the sun worshipping practices of their once-divided nation. Mr Verheugen, however, betrayed his Western origins by keeping on a baseball cap.
Blame solus invictus, not homo erectus...
Central Europe is experiencing its warmest winter in 500 years and the Alps haven't been this warm in over a millenneum. Ski resorts are suffering, as are the bears.
The European press is divided over the recent meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac, where they discussed Turkey’s EU bid.
A new Turkish offer is on the table to solve the ongoing standoff with Cyprus. It wants to open two seaports and one airport to traffic from Cyprus. The move may be enough to avoid a major accession crisis.
Beckoning Bibi...
"Olmert does not have what it takes: integrity, decisiveness, determination, vision, the strength and skill to lead Israel. Ehud, please resign, for the sake of Israel and the Jewish people."
Puh-leaze...
Some Israelis were less pleased, however, to hear Gates mention with equal frankness what U.S. administrations have long avoided uttering in public - that the Jewish state has the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal. By not declaring itself to be nuclear armed, Israel also skirts a U.S. ban on funding countries that proliferate weapons of mass destruction. It can thus enjoy more than $2 billion in annual military and other aid from Washington. This sanctioned reticence is a major irritant for Arabs and Iran, which see a double-standard in U.S. policy in the region.
UPI analysis...
Observers say Europe will have to do more to help the United States find and implement a fresh security strategy in the Middle East, and the findings of the Iraq Study Group have already sparked positive feedback from European allies.
The Iraq Study Group says it is time for President Bush to talk with nemeses Iran and Syria. Germany could be perfectly positioned to make the necessary introductions.
The Iraq Study Group's call for a broad Middle East peace conference put Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government on the defensive, while Palestinian officials praised the recommendations as a possible "turning point" for U.S. policy in the region. Meanwhile in Iraq, some politicians expressed anger over the report after having had time to digest it. In particular, the Kurds were incensed that the report suggested giving the Iraqi central government control over all oil revenue.
The conflict between Sunni and Shia is spilling out of Iraq and bodes ill for future of country’s neighbours.
Substitute Friday prayers leader of Tehran Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said on Friday that Iran will not give up its rights for access to peaceful nuclear energy. "The Iranian nation have stood firmly in support for their right of access to peaceful nuclear energy and will not back down." Khatami advised the 5+1 Group to enter "wise, logical and unconditional" dialogue with Iran instead of holding futile and vain meetings.
The Iranian Defense Minister said that dividing regional states is one of US new strategies aiming to create tension. "The US should respect the call of regional people and stop its interference in the region, which is a threat to its peace and security. Instead of compensating for its past mistakes and revising its strategies and policies, the US is turning to a new weapon."
Over the past few weeks, Cheney was dealt a severe blow by the resignation of Rumsfeld and the departure of Bolton. To add insult to injury, Bush nominated Robert Gates, former director of the CIA, to replace Rumsfeld as secretary of defence. One consequence of this situation would be complicating any plan to attack Iran by taking foreign policy out of the hands of the elite and opening the process for an ill-informed public. Should this happen, Cheney's worst nightmare would become true.
Very funny!...
The London Times political cartoon
ISG report...
In the US on Wednesday, all eyes were on the members of the Iraq Study Group. And in Iraq? Ten more soldiers died, at least 50 Iraqis lost their lives, power came on for only an hour in Baghdad and another 2,000 refugees left. Just an average day as the country disintegrates.
German press on...
The Iraq Study Group Report presented to President Bush on Wednesday takes stock of his strategy for Iraq - and reaches sobering conclusions. Indeed, it represents a major humiliation for Bush.
President Bush yesterday made it clear that he rejected the conclusions and policy prescriptions of the Iraq Study Group. The swift rebuff delivered has intensified the political crisis and the bitter divisions within US ruling circles over Iraq. The conflict within the American ruling elite over US policy in Iraq has brought to a head a protracted crisis of American democracy.
The reaction from actual Iraqis on the just-released report by the "Iraq Study Group"? They don't like it; it won't work; it's largely a tissue of fantasies and shows no grasp of the true situation in Iraq; it has nothing to do with solving Iraq's problems but everything to do with the American Establishment's desperate attempt to save face, no matter how many people must be slaughtered in the process. The war is all about – is only about – what the American elite feel is in their own best interest, how it aggrandizes their fortunes, flatters their prejudices, serves their needs. That's it. The rest is just bullshit and murder.
The European Central Bank signaled Thursday that it is likely to tighten credit further next year, as it raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, to 3.5%, its sixth such move in a year, in a bid to head off higher inflation.
A senior Asian Development Bank official predicted that the dollar was likely to decline further and called for East Asian countries to make sure that their currencies appreciate in unison - and do not start swinging sharply in value relative to one another.
Next week, a high-powered US delegation will sit down with Chinese officials in Beijing to try to hammer out a set of agreements designed to reduce America's huge trade imbalance with China. Missing from the bargaining table - but with as much at stake in the deliberations - will be representatives from Europe. But if these talks fail to aggressively address the record-high US-China trade imbalance, the European recovery could well be stopped in its tracks. Europe has been one of the biggest victims of what has become an unhealthy US-China economic mutual dependence. While American exporters have suffered considerably from China's undervalued currency, European exporters have been hit even harder.
Workers who choose 80-hour workweeks and no vacations, put life balance at risk, experts warn. Although workaholics have always existed, their image has been glamorized. Today's overachievers are cast as "road warriors and masters of the universe."
(Business Week: Smashing the clock)
It may sometimes irritate when people describe this or that person as normal, or it may also happen as abnormal. What does it mean to be normal? And what is the definition of the norm? Even science cannot provide a proper answer to the question.
"It's the wuss-ification of America that's getting us! Thank you, Lord, for our testosterone!" "The idea of Jesus as meek and mild is as fictitious as anything in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. " So what's with the standard portraits of Jesus: pale face, beatific smile, lapful of lambs? "He's been domesticated. He's portrayed now as gentle, loving, kind, rather than as a full-bodied person who kicked over tables in the temple, spent 40 days in the wilderness wrestling with his identity and with God, hung out with the guys in the street. The rough-hewn edges and courage ... got lopped off."
It seems almost traditional at this time of year for stargazers to ponder the age-old question of the possible origin of the Star of Bethlehem. Was the so-called Christmas Star an unusual, eye-catching gathering of naked-eye planets, or was that fabled "sign in the sky" a meteor, comet, nova, or indeed something supernatural?
Paranoid Pagan Protestants...
A public-school handout urging young children in Virginia to attend a "Pagan ritual" tomorrow to "celebrate Yule" is sparking objections from concerned parents.
Today in Scripture
"He instituted a festival on the 15th day of the 8th month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the 15th day of the 8th month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings." (1Kings 12:32,33)
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