"The WAR on error"
Here is a translation of Benedict XVI's address at yesterday's general audience, dedicated to present the figure of Christianity's first martyr, St. Stephen.
Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's Dec. 21 message to Catholics living in the Middle East.
B16 on the path to peace (part 2)
Benedict XVI's exhortation on the World Day of Peace to strengthen and clarify our reason, and not settle for weak or diluted anthropological visions, is essential to the challenge of building an integral humanism.
Documents published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since the Second Vatican Council to 2005 are now available in one volume. The book is dedicated to Benedict XVI, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was prefect of the congregation from 1981 to 2005. What the congregation seeks is "to again propose elements that are not taken into account, but are indispensable for the elaboration of a healthy Catholic theology."
[WAR: "Healthy Catholic theology"? That's one hell-of-an oxymoron!]
The current interior minister wants to expand article 87a paragraph 2 of the German Basic Law so that the armed forces can be mobilised not only for the national defence, but also “for direct defence against any other attack on the foundations of the community.”
A growing number of Europeans believe that the biggest monetary revolution in history has done more harm than good to national economic growth, the job market and standards of living. It is unlikely that the euro will replace the dollar as the preeminent global currency anytime soon, say experts.
Germany’s presidency of the EU began ambitiously last week. Chancellor Merkel revived talks of a transatlantic single market, aimed at boosting EU-US economic co-operation.
With the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the European Union, there's cause for celebration in the streets of Bucharest and the courtyards of Sofia. Yet for other members of the EU, it also spells the inclusion of what they see as 3 million potential problems: the Gypsies. The word still holds freight, even among those to whom it applies — the Roma.
Germany reacted cautiously to an EU plan to diversify energy sources, raising concerns about the new EU president's ability to tackle the issue in the 27-member bloc.
Russia and Belarus have resolved a 3-day dispute over oil transports in a key pipeline that provides fuel to Europe. Oil was once again reaching Germany by this morning.
German papers...
Europeans are deeply unhappy about Russia's decision to close off a major crude oil pipeline. But there are some important lessons to be learned. First, the EU needs energy alternatives. The second, say German commentators, is that Russia doesn't mind going it alone.
Russia supplies Germany with some 20% of its crude oil needs through its "Friendship" pipeline.
The leader of the Order of Malta is asking for an international statute that would allow pilgrims from all over the world to enter Jerusalem. "It is appropriate, therefore, to give it a special status, guaranteed at the international level. Jerusalem must be a permanent site of search for peace and reconciliation between religions, peoples and cultures."
Prime Minister Olmert today shrugged off comments by the exiled leader of the Islamist Palestinian Hamas group in which he acknowledged the existence of Israel. Khaled Meshaal, whose Hamas movement leads the Palestinian government, said in an interview yesterday that Israel is a "matter of fact", softening a previous refusal to accept that the Jewish state existed.
[WAR: Is there anymore proof needed that Israel does NOT give a damn about peace?!!]
The more appropriate question may be: “Is the world doomed?
Bush finally has dipped his toe into the reality-based pool. Bush is doing what could be expected: digging a deeper hole in Iraq. Indeed, Bush has gotten around to recognizing reality - at least its most obvious elements. Yet he still is boxed in by his earlier refusals to do so. As a consequence, Bush's war in Iraq is about to become larger.
President Bush’s television address last night, announcing his dispatch of over 20,000 more American troops to Iraq, signaled that the bloodletting in that country will increase dramatically in the course of 2007, and that Bush administration is likely to expand the war into Syria, Iran and other targets in the Middle East.
As President Bush challenges public opinion at home by committing more soldiers to Iraq, he is confronted by an essential paradox: An Iraqi government that does not really want them.
London Telegraph political cartoon...
The European Commission has condemned US air-strikes against alleged al-Qaeda fighters in southern Somalia, evidence of a growing transatlantic rift over the future of the country.
Hmmm...
The Sudanese Defense Minister is expected in Tehran tomorrow for an official 4-day visit. Hussein, who will head a military delegation, will be visiting Tehran upon an invitation extended to him by his Iranian counterpart. While in Tehran, the Sudanese minister is scheduled to meet with high-ranking political and defense officials.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday he wanted to relaunch Tokyo’s bid to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council along with key partners, after talks in Germany.
A US plan to isolate Iran by introducing fresh economic sanctions has met a muted response in the EU, amid fears it could strengthen the regime’s hard-liners.
A top Saudi Arabian Sunni cleric declared Shiites around the world to be infidels. He also urged Sunnis worldwide to oppose reconciliation with Shiites. "By and large, rejectionists (Shiites) are the most evil sect of the nation and they have all the ingredients of the infidels. The general ruling is that they are infidels, apostates and hypocrites."
Trying to provoke...
US occupation forces stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil and seized 5 employees today.
An Iraqi Kurdish security official said that US forces who raided the Iranian consulate in the Iraqi northern city of Erbil had no right to conduct the raid. Talking to IRNA on condition of anonymity, he said the government of Iraqi Kurdistan is responsible for maintaining security in the entire region.
Is President Bush contemplating a US air strike on Iran or permitting Israel to attempt one?
At least 90% of Americans, if they know anything at all of the issue, know only the Israeli propaganda line. In Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Jimmy Carter takes the risk of speaking truth to propaganda. Predictably, the Israel Lobby and its shills ranging from the "conservative" National Review to "liberal" media and commentators have attempted to banish Carter by labeling him an "anti-Semite." We must not let the Israel Lobby get away with demonizing an American president who dares to stand up to their lies.
[WAR: It seems that Carter has become undeceived ... "The town of Aczib (Kezib) will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel." (Micah 1:14). "There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her; ... She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib (Aczib) that she gave birth to him." (Gen 38:2,5).]
Speakin' of which...
Balding, bespectacled and pudgy-faced, Frederick Kagan would struggle to be noticed by, let alone inspire, the battle-weary US soldiers heading to Baghdad. But this military historian and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-wing think-tank, managed last month to rekindle the flames of defiance deep within President Bush.
[WAR: Name dropping . . . Canaan? Hmmm ... let's try "Kanaan". ... Too obvious, better take out an "a" and make it Kanan". ... No, the sound gives it away ... Let's drop the "n" and replace it with a ... "g". ... There, that'll deceive 'em!]
A well-respected independent economist and strategist with a bearish trait told me recently that he wished he could be bearish, but that he couldn't find anything that he thought would disturb the asset markets and the global economy in the foreseeable future. Looking at the "real" global economy and at what people produce in terms of manufactured goods and services (ex-financial services), I would have to agree.
The drop in oil prices has been attributed to the unseasonably warm temperatures. But that isn't the whole story.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, this evening (9th) is your best remaining opportunity to catch Comet McNaught in its full glory. The comet is sinking rapidly from one evening to the next, but it's also getting brighter. So there's a good chance of seeing it tonight, or even on Friday, when it reaches perihelion.
Archaeologists and NASA experts are using satellite images to find jungle-covered ruins that had been hidden almost literally right under their noses.
New research has found that women "dress to impress" when they are at their most fertile. The discovery overturns the theory that women - unlike other female animals - always hide signs they may be ovulating.
Today in Scripture
Within the 3 days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the 20th day of the 9th month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of Elohim, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel's guilt. Now make confession to Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives." (Ezra 10:9-11)
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