Pope Benedict XVI received His Beatitude Chrysostom II, Archbishop of New Justinian and of Cyprus, in Rome on Saturday. They exchanged greetings and met privately, before adjourning to the Vatican Library. There, they made formal statements, before exchanging gifts and signing a joint declaration in favour of ecclesial unity and of peace in the world.
Benedict XVI encouraged all Franciscans to walk in their founder's footsteps by responding to all of life's challenges with the Gospel.
Here, I want to say some things about the most interesting "Foreword" to Jesus of Nazareth. Into our world we suddenly have Pope Ratzinger telling us that what we are reading in his book is "solely an expression of my personal search 'for the face of the Lord.'" This approach startles. We don't expect it.
[WAR: Pope Ratzinger? This reminds me of something that popped into my head the other day while watching Star Wars: Anakin Skywalker "died" and became Darth Vader, pope of the Dark side of the force - just like how Joseph Ratzinger "died" (on Passover, of all days!) and became Darth B16, pope of Mystery Babylon the Great! ... ;-)]
The Cruise family have visited Berlin again. This time, the agenda included scouting film locations for Tom Cruise's upcoming film on an assassination attempt against Hitler, a visit to the local Scientology headquarters and the Berlin Zoo, home to Knut.
EU ministers Monday failed to break the deadlock over efforts to reform the bloc's decision-making process, raising the prospect of a series of battles at a summit meeting this week. Britain, meanwhile, opened a new front by asking for concessions to guarantee that under a new treaty to replace the stalled European constitution, foreign policy would remain the preserve of individual nations. Poland rejected a compromise that would have delayed until 2014 the introduction of the new voting system that it opposes.
The Government was in chaos over the European constitution last night as a damaging rift opened between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown over whether a referendum may be necessary to approve plans to hand more power to Brussels.
(LT op/ed: Adrift in Europe)
The most significant outcome of the recent G8 Summit at Heiligendamm was not Chancellor Merkel's "victory" on the contentious issue of greenhouse gas emissions. It was the shrewd chess play by President Putin on the US Missile Defense strategy for Europe. Russia will now likely leave the 1990 treaty on conventional forces in Europe to reorganize its military posture. It will retarget its missiles at EU and US targets.
Israel is conducting highly sensitive negotiations with Moscow over the possible return of 2 Russian Church properties in central Jerusalem. The issue is considered to be extremely delicate because Israel is concerned over the precedent such claims may have on other churches' properties in the city. Until WW1, Russians comprised the largest bloc of pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Today, the situation is worse than ever (and) some see Armageddon approaching. Perilous is not the word for all this. Unless good counsel prevails, and there has been no evidence that it will, the situation in the next few days will border on the incandescent. We are on a razor's edge.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, a key player in Middle East politics, said he fears conflicts in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Iraq could explode into a global one. "My fears are similar to those of all sensible people, that the continuation of all these conflicts will provoke an explosion that will not be restricted to the region, but will have global dimensions."
On the surface, the conflict looks like a power struggle to control an already starved-out and besieged area under the mercy of Israeli "Hell Fire" missiles; in reality, it is a product of the Dick Cheney-Elliott Abrams strategy of sowing civil wars throughout Southwest Asia.
Sir Salman Rushdie celebrates his 60th birthday today in familiar circumstances: he is once again the subject of death threats across the Islamic world. Eighteen years after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill him, a government minister in Pakistan said yesterday that Rushdie's recent knighthood justified suicide bombing.
Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the US and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape. Teams assigned to carry out attacks in the US, Canada, Great Britain and Germany were introduced at an al Qaeda/Taliban training camp graduation ceremony held June 9.
Iranian leaders say that the recent attacks on Shia Muslims in Samarra is not the act by Sunni Muslims, but the work of US and British intelligence.
Iran accused the UN Security Council of ignoring Israeli threats to attack the Islamic Republic and called on the body to demand that the Jewish state desist. "These malicious threats ... constitute matters of extreme gravity that require urgent and resolute response on the part of the UN. The Security Council should react to these threats by unequivocally condemning them and demanding that (Israel) abandon its policy of flouting international law ... and cease and desist immediately from the threat of use of force against members of the UN."
Iran will not rule out using oil as a weapon if the US resorts to military action against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, an Iranian oil official said today. "When the Americans say that military action in regard to the nuclear issue has not been put aside, Iran can also say that it will not put aside oil as a tool." Asked what would be the impact if Iran stopped its oil exports, he said: "Definitely the market will be faced with a new shock and oil prices will increase strongly." He added that prices would climb above $100 a barrel.
Yes!...
The Bush regime's plan to attack Iran with nuclear weapons puts General Pace's departure in a different light. How can President Bush succeed with an order to attack with nuclear weapons when America's highest ranking military officer says that such an order is "illegal and immoral" and that everyone in the military has an "absolute responsibility" to disobey it? An alternative explanation for Pace's departure is that Pace had to go so that malleable toadies can be installed in his place. Pace's departure removes a known obstacle to a nuclear attack on Iran, thus advancing that possible course of action.
Of the Bourbons, restored to the throne after the French Revolution, the guillotining of Louis XVI and the Napoleonic interlude, Talleyrand said, they had "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." Unfortunately, so may it be said of our own George II.
[WAR: Wrong Pat, he's our George III.]
A number of recent decisions by the US Supreme Court further undermine long-upheld democratic protections and regulations. The Court's recent opinions are characterized by a reckless approach toward judicial matters, simply ignoring or casting aside that which is inconvenient for present purposes while downplaying or ignoring the social consequences of these decisions. This rightward movement of the Supreme Court, taken together with the increasing domination of the federal circuit courts of appeals by political forces more conservative than the Supreme Court itself, highlights a political establishment moving towards authoritarian methods of rule and the repudiation of fundamental democratic rights in the face of popular hostility to its policies.
Of course...
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of more than a dozen Wall Street investment banks Monday as it found that they could not be sued under antitrust law over losses in the crash of technology stocks 7 years ago. By a majority of 7 to 1, the court held that securities law, not antitrust law, applied to the conduct that the unhappy stock-buyers alleged in the case. They complained in part that the banks had conspired to drive up prices on hundreds of new stocks.
Curse upon curse...
California's most troublesome tourist, a tiny, mud-coloured moth from Australia with a taste for Napa valley's finest grapes – not to mention all other crops and the state's fir trees – is generating panic. As California's farmers have found out, the Australian light brown apple moth is a very hungry creature. It might have a passion for grapes but it will happily eat anything else grown by California's farmers. It is able to procreate at an astonishing pace even if its life-span is shorter than the average summer holiday.
Not just the Whore, but also her Harlot daughters...
In numbers released to the Associated Press this past week, the 3 largest insurers of Protestant churches in the US reported receiving hundreds of abuse claims annually during the past 2 decades. The insurers described the annual number of sex abuse claims as steady.
Gold prices rose modestly Monday, gaining for the 3rd straight day as traders watched the US dollar lose ground against the euro and Treasury yields hold steady.
China sold more US treasury bonds in April than any time in at least 7 years, a signal that the nation may be diversifying the world's largest foreign-exchange reserves.
On Friday, Rep. Paul introduced H.R. 2755 To abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks, to repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and for other purposes.
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