Oh, the irony!...
An arch-conservative cardinal chosen by the Pope to deliver this year's Lenten meditations to the Vatican hierarchy has caused consternation by giving warning of an Antichrist who is "a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist".
B16 Q&A with seminarians (part1)
Here is the Vatican translation of the answers Benedict XVI gave to questions posed by seminarians of the Roman Major Seminary, during his visit there Feb. 17.
A Russian Orthodox prelate has told reporters that a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Russian Patriarch Alexei II could take place this year. A meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch would be likely to take place at a "neutral" location, rather than in Russia or Italy. "I think that it could happen shortly, should there be a mutual desire to meet and a common understanding of the fundamental questions."
The holiness of the Church is eternal despite the weaknesses and sins of some of its faithful, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.
The alleged discovery of the tomb of Jesus is really just an attempt to put into question Christ's resurrection, said the archbishop-theologian of Chieti-Vasto.
People who enter alternative religious movements or sects are often seeking that "something which is lacking," says the president of Milan's Socio-Religious Research Group. In this interview, he explains the incompatibility between the practice of Reiki and Christianity, and the difference between alternative religious movements and the ecclesial movements recognized by the Church.
Nobody knew it at the time, but the fate of the Romano Prodi government that suddenly collapsed on 21 February was almost surely sealed two days before Prodi handed in his resignation, during what seemed to be a seemingly insignificant closed-door meeting with officials from the Holy See. The plan to give same sex couples some legal rights was able to hijack an essential and poignant issue such as the Afghanistan-NATO vote, illustrating the Vatican's level of influence in Italian politics.
Repeated offers by the German wartime opposition to link up with the Allies were rejected by British intelligence, according to MI5 files released today. Count Helmuth von Moltke tried to contact British intelligence twice, offering to "go to any lengths" as a key figure in the anti-Nazi movement. Twice he was rejected by the British Security Services, who remained suspicious of his motives until he was jailed by the Nazis. He was later executed as a conspirator in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
In a major policy speech to the German parliament yesterday, Chancellor Merkel said the EU needs to adapt to "a completely changed global situation" if it wants to regain momentum.
One day after Airbus officially announced the details of its cost-cutting program, politicians and union leaders across the continent are playing the blame game. France has announced a €100 million cash injection. So which is it? Are Airbus's problems the result of too much government interference? Or too little? Or can everything just be blamed on the weak dollar?
German papers
Airbus finally announced its long-awaited restructuring plan yesterday. But the lesson of the company's recent tribulations is clear: National interests play too great of a role in company management. German commentators have had enough.
Eastern Europe, from Poland to the Balkans, could embrace radical nationalism as the region shies away from urgently needed reforms, the Hungarian Prime Minister has said in an interview with The Times.
(LX: Interview in full)
The director of the US Missile Defense Agency said that Washington wanted to base antimissile radar in the Caucasus, a move likely to provoke another clash with Russia.
Getting the end-time show on the road...
Member of Sanhedrin says sacrifices 'were not possible when the people of Israel were in the Diaspora, but now they are.' Adds: Jerusalem Temple should be rebuilt, Israeli government standing in our way.
Foreign Minister Livni told a Palestinian newspaper in an interview that Israel could not accept a 2002 Arab League peace initiative in its current formulation.
Independent analysts and labour groups have also criticised the process of drafting the law and warned that that the bill is so skewed in favour of foreign firms that it could end up heightening political tensions in the Arab nation and spreading instability.
We are in the midst of a potentially historic moment when the modern Arab state order that was created by the Europeans in circa 1920 has started to break down, in what we might perhaps call the Great Arab Unraveling.
The fighting has forced about 100,000 Chadians to leave their homes. Another 220,000 refugees, who have fled the fighting in Darfur, are also scattered throughout the region. Scores of new camps have sprung up across one of Africa's harshest and most remote landscapes.
Despite widespread media speculation of a "shift" in US policy toward Iran, the announcement this week that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will take part in a regional conference with her Iranian counterpart does not represent any softening of the US stance. Amid a mounting confrontation with Iran, the US will undoubtedly use the forum to heighten, not lessen, the tensions with Tehran. For the Bush administration, Rice's participation in the planned conference is nothing more than a useful maneouvre that could be easily reversed. At the same time, the main thrust of US policy continues: the menacing build up for a new military adventure again Iran.
The Administration is preparing for a military strike against Iran. The justification chosen by the Administration is the one circumstance in which a President could bypass Congress and still wage a military conflict. The newly claimed grievance with Iran could be used to satisfy section 2(c) of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which states that the President can introduce armed forces into a conflict or a national emergency created by an attack upon the armed forces. The President seems to have laid the groundwork for an attack on Iran while avoiding Congressional approval.
The other "N" word...
A familiar means of denying a reality is to refuse to use the words that describe that reality. A common form of propaganda is to keep reality from being described. If the Bush administration, for example, were to insist on a sure "success," then the "attack" would constitute nuclear war. The words in boldface are nuclear war, that's right, nuclear war – a first strike nuclear war. It is time for America's journalists and political leaders to put two and two together, and ask the fateful question: Is the Bush administration seriously preparing for nuclear war and nation destruction?
The Iraq War has produced many, sometimes contradictory, historical analogies, ranging from Munich to the fall of Saigon, as pundits highlight their dubious relevance to Mesopotamia. If the past is any guide, we may less stumble than step—while claiming to have been pushed. You say "Persian Gulf," I say "Tonkin Gulf." Let's go to war.
Sometime this spring or summer, barring an unexpected turnaround by Tehran, President Bush is likely to go on national television and announce that he has ordered American ships and aircraft to strike at military targets inside Iran. I am convinced that Bush has already decided an attack is his only option and the rest is a charade he must go through to satisfy his European allies.
One of the most pernicious myths about democracies, and it pains me to say, even constitutional republics, is the Myth of Checks and Balances. According to this myth, also known as the Doctrine of the Separation of Powers, distributing the powers of a government among several branches prevents the undue concentration of power in any single branch.
A 3rd straight day of heavy selling Thursday on European and Asian stock exchanges sent stock prices plummeting on Wall Street at the opening bell. But while US markets rebounded from their morning lows, the trading day ended with prices stalled in negative territory. The declines in the major stock indexes Thursday all but erased the advances in share prices on Wednesday.
In a way, the stock market's rebound Wednesday was as troubling as Tuesday's rout. The next crisis appears to be building around weakness in the US, not in Russia or Asia or South America. That means money could flow out of the country if markets were rattled. That would weaken the dollar and require speedy and complex remedial action by the world's central banks — not just a rate cut by the Fed.
It's a truism to say the world's economies are interconnected, but the aftermath of the February 27 Chinese stock market collapse was a blunt reminder of one of the darker aspects of an integrated world marketplace.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 209 points when trading opened on Thursday, then recovered to end the day at 34 points down. The violent movement, following Tuesday's plunge of 415 points, was a clear indication that the recent market turbulence may be more than a so-called "correction." Asian and European markets have fallen for the past three days, their worst slump in more than four years, resulting in more than $1.5 trillion being wiped off share values. There is a quip which has been doing the rounds in the past few days to the effect that, like everything else, economic turbulence is now "made in China." It points to fact that the world capitalist economy is resting on increasingly shaky foundations.
The Iraq war drained off $1 trillion dollars from the US stock market before the first shot was fired. After the war was "won," however, the real costs began to kick in. The Chinese didn't cause markets to fall: the main factor is US economic and foreign policy. China is hugely dependent on Iran for its energy needs, or else the rapid industrialization and modernization envisioned by the Chinese elite will come to a sputtering halt. US war moves against Iran threaten China's lifeblood. Stock markets, being very future-oriented, pick up on rumors of war very quickly and the Shanghai Stock Exchange acted accordingly.
President Chávez of Venezuela is using his country's oil wealth to squeeze the International Monetary Fund out of Latin America, the region that once accounted for most of its business. Chávez is promoting what he calls a "socialist" alternative to the Fund and its biggest shareholder, the US Treasury. The timing could not be worse for the IMF, whose global clout is diminishing as countries from Uruguay to the Philippines pay their debts.
Scientists have discovered the oldest solar observatory in the Americas and, in the process, may have solved a centuries-old puzzle about the purpose of an ancient stone fort on a remote hilltop in Peru. The gaps between the towers may have been used to mark out the days of a solar calendar.
Great news!!...
After 30 years of growing popularity, rap music is now struggling with an alarming sales decline and growing criticism from within about the culture's negative effect on society.
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