The New Yorker was once famous for the ferocity of its fact-checking and editing. No more. Jane Kramer's lengthy tantrum in the New Yorker's April 2 issue, "The Pope and Islam," is really several articles in one. It's a wailing wall for left-leaning Vaticanisti, disgruntled Curial bureaucrats, and Italian Catholic activists unhappy with Benedict XVI's challenge to Islam.
Here is the lecture presented April 21 by Archbishop Chaput of Denver at the conference "Promoting and Protecting the Common Good."
A report of an explosion near a busy military shopping center prompted an evacuation of the base Thursday afternoon as German and American police, bomb-sniffing dogs and a helicopter swept through the area in search of a cause. The incident comes less than a week after the US Embassy in Germany posted a warning that Americans in Germany face an increased threat of terrorism and warned them to be on the lookout.
KoN vs. KoS update...
The German parliament on Friday overwhelmingly approved extending the mandate of the country's small military mission to Sudan's strife-torn Darfur province by 6 months until November.
[WAR: This "small military mission" will eventually turn into an invasion after Sudan "pushes" against Germany.]
This month is set to be the warmest April in Britain since records began nearly 350 years ago and all over Europe tourists are slapping on the sun cream several weeks ahead of schedule.
When Chancellor Merkel, as current EU president, and President Bush meet Monday in Washington, the agenda will include a new agreement on transatlantic economic cooperation, and the issues of air transport, climate change and energy conservation.
Israel's beleaguered prime minister will face demands tomorrow to resign after the publication of a damning report into his government's handling of last year's war in Lebanon.
The powerful Iraqi cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr called President Bush the "anti-Christ" on Saturday and urged him to heed calls by the opposition Democrats to withdraw from the chaos of Iraq.
Following angry denials by officials in the Prime Minister's Office of a report in the German magazine Focus that quoted Prime Minister Olmert as saying, "It would take about 10 days and 1,000 Tomahawk missiles to severely damage the [Iranian nuclear] program," the interviewer himself denied writing any of the content. Focus journalist Amir Taheri contacted Olmert's spokeswoman late Saturday and told her that Focus had agreed to remove the material in question from its Web site after the Prime Minister's Office complained, and after he disclaimed the article.
Washington has protested an Austrian oil and gas firm's investment plans in Iran. However, the Americans won't have much influence on the deal, observers say.
The possibility of a nuclear strike by the US against Iran has now entered mainstream political discourse in the US. Hersh's main finding is that the top political leaders of the US, going right up to Vice-President Dick Cheney, are seriously considering the use of the so-called "tactical" nuclear weapons, including deep-penetration, bunker-busting nukes, in a massive assault on Iran.
May 3 now seems certain to be a day of reckoning for the United Kingdom. If the opinion polls are correct, and they have consistently pointed to only one outcome, then Scots will this Thursday elect the SNP as the largest party in the devolved Holyrood Parliament for the first time. No one should be in any doubt: if the separatists seize power in Edinburgh, the consequences for the Union will be seismic. At that point, the very existence of Britain becomes a matter of negotiation.
[WAR: So the 1st day of Uleavened Bread will be "a day of reckoning for the UK" and Tony Blair will resign on the 7th day of UB? Hmmm...]
Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.
There is a threat to this system, but it is not the threat of bank runs. The threat today is from the banks themselves. This is the threat of a failure of the interbank payments system. If bank A cannot repay bank B until bank C pays bank A, and bank C cannot pay bank A until bank D pays bank C, the system is at risk. The failure would spread to every bank on earth within a week – maybe less. Instead of the threat of a few insolvent banks, the threat is now universal: a systemic breakdown of the entire international banking system. The magnitude of this threat is incalculable. Without digital money, the world's economy would shut down overnight. It would be comparable to a nuclear war.
Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson says, "All the signs I look at show the housing market is at or near the bottom." The question is what is our Mr. Paulson smoking or is he just a plain liar? He believes the meltdown in subprime mortgages is not a serious problem and he thinks it is largely going to be contained.
The KFC Corp., which serves Kentucky Fried Chicken, agreed Tuesday to comply with a 1986 voter-approved initiative requiring companies that expose consumers to harmful substances to provide a "clear and reasonable warning." The company agreed to warn California customers that its fried or baked potatoes contain acrylamide, a chemical known to cause cancer. Acrylamide, a byproduct created by the reaction of chemicals in food and high heat, is found in French fries and potato chips at high levels.
Today in Scripture
"Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry..." (Matthew 21:18-33 / Mark 11:12-19)
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