"The WAR on error"
How ironic...
If Pope Benedict hopes his first book will sell like Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," he wound up with the right US publisher. Doubleday, the company that sold Brown's book - which the Vatican branded as blasphemous - is also handling the American market for Benedict's book about the life of Christ. Benedict's book, "Jesus of Nazareth," is meant to be a personal, historical-theological analysis of Jesus as the central figure of the Christian faith.
A yawning gulf between the stern doctrines preached by Pope Benedict and the advice offered by ordinary priests has been exposed by an Italian magazine.
Benedict XVI's Regensburg address has also had soothing effects, says Father Maurice Borrmans, an authority on Islam. "The address has led Muslim intellectuals to draw lines of renewal in Muslim theology."
The Holy See and Israel are making progress in negotiating fiscal issues and the legal status of Church property, a bilateral commission said. The Israel-Holy See Permanent Bilateral Commission, in which both countries are represented, met on Monday in Jerusalem. At the end of the 3-hour meeting, the delegations published a joint communiqué that mentioned "an atmosphere of great cordialness" and "some progress" in the effort to elaborate an agreement on fiscal and property issues.
Whore's wineries...
Centers for research, study and formation in the Church's social doctrine will open in Asia as the fruit of the continental conference held there last week, the Vatican announced. The 3-day conference held in Bangkok, gathered some 155 clergymen and pastoral ministers for the presentation and promotion of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Germany will shut down its 8 remaining black coal mines by 2018 under a plan which seals the fate of the sector that powered the country's industrial revolution and post-war economic miracle. Unlike in Britain, Germany's mining phase-out has been gentle.
(Press: Good riddance to coal mining)
UPI analysis
The foreign minister may have to resign over allegations that he extended the stay of an innocent Guantanamo inmate, which could plunge the German grand coalition government into its first serious crisis in the year of its EU and G8 presidencies. Steinmeier's resignation would be a disaster for the German government at a time when it was ready to amass political clout on the global stage.
Germany has ordered the arrest of 13 suspected CIA agents over the alleged kidnapping of one of its citizens. German arrest warrants are not valid in the US but if the suspects were to travel to the EU they could be arrested.
Germany wants closer energy ties with Kazakhstan, the 2nd largest oil producer among the former Soviet states behind Russia, Chancellor Merkel said, as her government seeks to cut dependence on Russian fuel supplies.
The Czech Republic has emerged as a key opponent of the German EU presidency's plan to revive the European constitution, with its newly appointed negotiator Jan Zahradil telling EUobserver that Prague seeks to curb EU powers and re-open core parts of the charter.
They came from nowhere, a Shia cult reversing the murderous cycle of Sunni-Shia violence to start one of the largest battles in recent years — against their fellow Shia. When the day-long combat ended, the Shia of Iraq had to confront a disturbing truth: a schism had spawned an apocalyptic splinter group bent on slaughtering as many Shia pilgrims and religious leaders as possible — in their holiest city, on their holiest day.
Just weeks after being installed as Japan's first post-war defence minister, Fumio Kyuma has openly criticised the US over the war in Iraq. In fact, Kyuma's criticisms of the US reflect the sentiments of sections of the Japanese ruling elite who are seeking a more independent role for Japan on the international stage.
Director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad ElBeradei has voiced opposition to the suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment as a precondition for resuming nuclear talks. The realistic statements of Mohammad ElBeradei have triggered the wrath of the US, which is trying to stop Iran's peaceful nuclear programs beyond legal frameworks.
Divisions are emerging in the West's united front towards Iran with fears being voiced over the aggressive military posture adopted by America, while European allies are accused by the US of dragging their feet. Some Western governments are said to be alarmed at events spiral-ling out of control.
A US Navy strike group led by the assault ship USS Bataan steamed through the Suez Canal yesterday on its way to join the buildup of American forces in the Middle East. The 7-vessel Bataan group includes 2,200 US Marines and sailors, helicopters and Harrier fighter jets. The US Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, will be overseeing around 50 warships in the Mideast after the arrival of the Bataan and an American aircraft carrier group.
The Bush bluff has been called. The Iranian government has announced what may very well give the Bush/Cheney democratic dictatorship the excuse they need to launch WW3. In an interview with the New York Times, Iran's ambassador to Iraq defiantly outlined Iran's intentions to overtly expand her influence in Iraqi affairs. That leaves only one Bush/Cheney option on the table acceptable to the White House even though it is not acceptable to any sane person. Invade Iran. The Neocon war wagon has been looking for a good excuse for the destruction of Iran for months… maybe years. With 2 years remaining in an embarrassing and disgraced presidency, what have Bush and Cheney got to lose? Nothing. That candy colored red button must be looking awfully tasty to The Shrub right now. Bombs Away! Civilization and humanity be damned!
US officials in Baghdad and Washington are expected to unveil a secret intelligence "dossier" this week detailing evidence of Iran's alleged complicity in attacks on American troops in Iraq. The move, uncomfortably echoing Downing Street's dossier debacle in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, is one more sign that the Bush administration is building a case for war. Almost any one of these developments might produce a casus belli. And when taken together, despite official protestations, they seem to point in only one direction. The Bush administration, an American commentator suggested, is "once again spoiling for a fight".
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton voiced dissatisfaction over the trend of talks on Iran's nuclear capability and called for serious actions against Tehran, saying time is not in favor of the US. The remarks by Bolton - who is an American hawkish and bankrupt politician, removed from his post thanks to his illogical and radical policies - indicate the depth of the frustration of the American hawks about the advancement of the unilateral and domineering policies of the US. The remarks by Bolton who represents American-Zionist warmongers at the White House are a response to the general trend chosen the international community to solve Iran's nuclear issue peacefully.
Republican and Democratic senators warned Tuesday against a drift toward war with an emboldened Iran and suggested the Bush administration was missing a chance to engage its longtime adversary in potentially helpful talks over next-door Iraq.
President Bush has given his administration a boost in how the government regulates key issues such as civil rights and the environment. The President "signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules that the federal government develops to regulate public health, safety," privacy and other issues.
On one side stands John McCain, the neocons – and, in their millions, the Christian evangelical post-millennial dispensationalists, who see Iran's bid to join the nuclear club as a sign of the final days. Standing against this axis of faith-based aggression, we have Chuck Hagel, in his own words: "We are living through one of the most transformative periods in history. If we are going to make it, we need a far greater appreciation and respect for others, or we're going to blow up mankind. Look at what zealotry can do. Religious zealotry has been responsible for killing more people than any other thing. Look at the Middle East today. It's all about religion. We need to move past those divisions and learn to be tolerant and respectful. If we go out there full of intolerance and hatred, we'll never make it."
My ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School told his students that when we were his age we would all be fighting the "Christian fascists." The warning, given 25 years ago, came at the moment Pat Robertson and other radio and television evangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts toward taking control of all institutions, including mainstream denominations and the government. Its stated goal was to use the US to create a global Christian empire. This call for fundamentalists and evangelicals to take political power was a radical and ominous mutation of traditional Christianity.
The French election campaign brought the streets of London to a halt last night as Nicolas Sarkozy became the first presidential candidate to hold a rally outside France. While Mr Chirac never ducked an opportunity to attack the Anglo-Saxon economic model, Mr Sarkozy likes to hint that France may have something to learn. However, the London election campaign is not without risk. A political analyst, said: "France hasn't suddenly renounced its ancient enmity with England, and it is still the 'little America' in Europe. So it could reactivate the accusation of 'Sarkozy the Anglo-Saxon'."
When Ben Bernanke took over as chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board one year ago this week, he brought with him a long-held conviction that the central bank should be more explicit about its goals and less personalized than it had been under Alan Greenspan. Yet the bank is still far from accomplishing his major proposal of setting an explicit target for inflation.
It started as a protest movement, but now anti-globalization activists are struggling to redefine themselves. The new message from the World Social Forum in Nairobi is that business plans are needed to help make the world a better place.
Today in Scripture
* History: "So in the 9th year of Zedekiah's reign, on the 10th day of the 10th month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it." (2Kings 25:1; Jer 52:4)
* Prophecy?: "In the 9th year, in the 10th month on the 10th day, the word of YAHWEH came to me: 'Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid [will lay?] siege to Jerusalem this very day.'" (Eze 24:1,2)
* Prophecy?: "In the 9th year, in the 10th month on the 10th day, the word of YAHWEH came to me: 'Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid [will lay?] siege to Jerusalem this very day.'" (Eze 24:1,2)
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