In short, conversion overcomes evil at its root, which is sin, though it cannot always avoid its consequences.
Pope Benedict XVI plans to bring back the celebration of mass in Latin, overriding a rare show of protest from senior cardinals. With a papal decree said to be imminent, Catholic publishers in Rome are preparing new editions of the Latin missal.
German viewers tuned in to a taboo-breaking television drama last night that for the first time tackled the plight of millions of their countrymen who were driven out of what is now eastern Europe by Russia's Red Army after WW2. The lavish three-hour production - entitled Die Flucht, or the March of Millions - was an attempt to face up to an issue that has been a source of simmering resentment for many Germans for 6 decades and which is currently the subject of a diplomatic row between Berlin and Poland.
German politicians have rejected calls for the Bundeswehr to pull out of Afghanistan under threat of terror attacks as a foreign ministry crisis team works to free 2 German hostages kidnapped in Iraq.
French president Jacques Chirac has confirmed he will not stand as a candidate in France's upcoming presidential elections, announcing the end of a 12-year rule which saw Chirac resist US hegemony, defend French farmers and lose a referendum on the EU constitution.
(IHT: Chirac to retire)
The first 2 months of 2007 show America and Britain are nations divided in strategy for their future, while European nations are forming important strategic alliances that can greatly impact the future. This article describes the signaling of possible trouble ahead.
Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert held their 2nd summit meeting in a month late Sunday, but aides said afterward that there was little concrete progress to report.
The National Islamic Front's leader, Hussan al Turabi (with whom Saddam coordinated) happened to be best friends with Usama bin Laden, literally a neighbor known to take evening strolls with him. So close were the two that UBL married his niece.
The much-vaunted international conference on Iraqi security took place in Baghdad on Saturday without any diplomatic breakthrough or thawing of relations between the US and Iran. Despite the urging of the Iraqi government, no direct talks took place between American and Iranian officials.
"Iranian policy favors strengthening of relations with neighboring Iraq, finding solutions to its problems and restoring tranquility and stability to the country soonest."
The one sure way to irritate a Scotsman is to call him an Englishman. But now comes the intriguing evidence from geneticists that the people of the British Isles are more closely related than the history books had suggested. According to these scientists, the core populations of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales are of very much the same stock, with only minor add-ons at the edge from Viking and other invasions.
As you know there is now a long line of countries diversifying out of the dollar. This does not bode well for the world's reserve currency. The current account deficit continues to worsen as foreign buying of US denominated assets continues to lessen. It is not just the dollar; it is all currencies. It just happens that the dollar is the worst of all major currencies.
Hold on to your assets. The deepest housing decline in 16 years is about to get worse. As many as 1.5 million more Americans may lose their homes, another 100,000 people in housing-related industries could be fired, and an estimated 100 additional subprime mortgage companies that lend money to people with bad or limited credit may go under, according to realtors, economists, analysts and a Federal Reserve governor. Financial stocks also could extend their declines over mortgage default worries.
If history is any judge, financial meltdowns like what's happening in the subprime arena prompt the Federal Reserve to act in the only way it knows how. The Fed's playbook was written with its inception in 1913 and anointed by easy money cranks like Alan Greenspan and his successor in crime Ben Bernanke along the way.
Well, it's that time of year again, when our sleep patterns will be disrupted by government fiat. But this year, those of us who have lately been pleased, at last, to rise to sunlight shall be cast back into 3 more weeks of dark awakenings.
"The cult of pharmacology must therefore have served a different purpose than the elimination of dangerous drugs and the sanctioning of psychiatric medications. ...during the 20th century. The competitiveness of the drug market and the fact that one or two successfully approved and marketed compounds could raise a company from rags to riches almost overnight made for an increasingly aggressive and reckless industry. The medicopharmaceutical industrial complex that... emerged benefited directly from differential prohibition, moreover, in that the demonization of certain natural substances – marijuana, cocaine and opiates – helped set them apart from the "ethical" pharmaceutical compounds, even if the latter had equal or greater toxicity."
It is not only those who take heroin who are blinded by illusions, but almost the entire population, including - or especially - the experts.
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