We must research ways of speaking about Mary that favor dialogue among Christians, says a leading Mariologist. The president of the Pontifical Marianum Theological Faculty said this to Zenit when speaking about the 16th International Mariological Symposium, to be held Oct. 2-5 in Rome. Its theme is "Mary in Ecumenical Dialogue in the West."
The compendium of the Church's social doctrine is a "theological reading of the signs of the times," and a recently published companion makes its wealth more accessible, says an Irish prelate. Archbishop Martin of Dublin, primate of Ireland, said this Wednesday at the launching of the Companion to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. "Catholic social doctrine does not take away the risk of politics, but it aims to provide an in injection of purpose, idealism, integrity and truthfulness into the way politics is carried out."
Chancellor Merkel's Bavarian allies in the Christian Social Union begin a 2-day conference today to elect a successor to Edmund Stoiber, who is quitting as both party leader and state prime minister. Stoiber, 66 today, is Germany's longest-serving regional premier. The divisions within the CSU that have surfaced over Stoiber may take some time to heal. It's the first open ballot for the party leadership since 1955.
Britain tried in vain to allow Hitler's deputy to be freed after 30 years in jail for war crimes, according to newly released secret files. However, the Russians never forgave Rudolf Hess for what they believed was his double treachery in seeking peace with Britain just before the Nazis launched their attack on the Soviet Union.
It could not be a worse time for a politician to launch broadsides at a central bank. Yet that is what President Sarkozy has done, triggering a public spat with his compatriot, Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank.
Belgium, created in 1831, is the likely next nation in Europe to break up.
The leaders of Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo are preparing to hold their first face-to-face talks at the UN. Ahead of today's historic talks, Serbian President Tadic warned the UN General Assembly of unforeseeable consequences if Kosovo declared independence unilaterally. He clearly reaffirmed his country's position that an independent Kosovo would be unacceptable. And he warned that if there was a one-sided recognition of that independence, it would set a precedent, with separatist movements everywhere seizing on it.
(Economist: The waiting game)
Judging from the void of details about Israel's Sept. 6 raid on northern Syria, it appears as if somebody has successfully deployed a new weapon capable of sucking all information from the air. Israel is in communication lockdown. President Bush adamantly refuses to discuss it. Damascus has issued a tepid, nondescript complaint about an airspace violation. North Korea has denied reports – "fabricated by lunatics." Even career analysts of these issues say they are baffled. Considering the high stakes here, could somebody – preferably in a senior position in Washington – please explain what's going on?
Is there any genuine anxiety in Israel over the real or imaginary Syrian nuclear weapons? If so, it's very difficult to detect. Dropping a nuclear bomb on Israel, as far as Bashar Assad is concerned, would be like dropping one outside your own balcony. And Assad is not stupid. The appeasing messages sent out of Assad's palace this year freaked the hell out of Israeli officials, and prompted aggression towards him. Nothing seems to scare Israeli governments more than the idea of an Arab leader proposing peace.
For the first time in 60 years, all Arab countries are willing to recognize the existence of the Jewish state and even maintain normal relations with it.
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert declared in front of the Knesset security and foreign committee on Monday that the forthcoming conference will not be a peace conference.
When the Jewish National Fund was set up a century ago, its mission was to buy land in Palestine for settling Jews there. Now the fund is fuelling the tension inherent in Israel's desire to be both a Jewish state and a democracy. The JNF owns nearly 2,600 square km, 13% of Israel's land, and its covenant states that the land can be leased only to Jews; most land in Israel can only be leased, not sold outright.
Premier Paranoid Protestant Prophecy Propagandist Preaching Poop...
It would be amazing enough if the prophets had forecast a scenario that made sense and it came to pass. But the scenario they predicted defies all natural explanation – and yet is coming to pass as literally as it was forecast. The fact is the Bible is true, and the setup for the fulfillment of Bible prophecies for the final 7 years of Tribulation are almost complete.
General Musharraf yesterday filed nomination papers for a 2nd presidential term at the start of what promises to be a tumultuous political period in Pakistan.
President Ahmadinejad is in Venezuela for talks with President Chavez. The leaders will discuss expansion of joint projects and agreements. The allies are becoming increasingly close as they seek to reduce the influence of the US.
For those unacquainted with the more obscure tenets of Islamic theology, the 12th Imam is held by devout Shi'ite Muslims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed who went into "occlusion" in the 9th century at the age of 5 and hasn't been seen since. The Hidden Imam, as he is also known by his followers, will only return after a period of cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed – what Christians call the Apocalypse – and then lead the world into an era of universal peace.
Germany will not support further sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program outside the UN Security Council. A German government official has made it clear while talking to Reuters that despite US and French demand, the German government is not ready to go outside the UN for sanctions. It also doubts the EU could reach a consensus on its own sanctions.
Russia and China refuse to discuss possible new sanctions against Iran until the IAEA reports on Tehran's disclosure of its past suspicious nuclear work at the end of the year.
The French Foreign Minister's calls for an aggressive policy against Iran has created anxiety within the French ruling elite, as the popularity of recently elected President Sarkozy rapidly falls in opinion polls. Sections of the French bourgeoisie are not only concerned for their huge investments in Iran, but that Sarkozy may undermine his own government by becoming the Bush administration's junior partner in its war crimes.
In recent developments, Wayne Madsen has suggested, based on US and foreign intelligence sources, that the B-52 carrying the advanced cruise missiles with bunker buster nuclear warheads was in fact destined for the Middle East. Is the B-52 Barksdale incident in any way related to US plans to use nuclear weapons against Iran? Madsen suggests, in this regard, that the operation of shipping the nuclear warheads was aborted "due to internal opposition within the Air Force and US Intelligence Community", which was opposed to a planned US attack on Iran using nuclear warheads.
Council on Foreign Relations member Gary Hart, famed for stating that Americans will die en-mass on home soil this century, and for declaring 48 hours after 9/11 that it should be used "to carry out a new world order", has written a scathing letter to the leaders of Iran clearly warning that the US government has a history of staging provocations in order to initiate conflict with other nations and that Iran could be next. He then goes on to state that American people are reluctant to go to war unless provoked and coldly remarks: "For historians of American wars the question is whether we provoke provocations."
The Lieberman-Kyle amendment has just passed the Senate overwhelmingly after 2 sections were removed to satisfy Democrats that it will not serve as a backdoor authorization for war against Iran. Even after that compromise, it remains a poison chalice, because it endorses a set of "findings" that are fundamentally false and which are being used by the administration to lay the groundwork for a more aggressive policy toward Iran.
Information regarding military exercises is classified and difficult to research. Though there was unusually high and confusing drill activity on 9/11, this strange coincidence has not gained much public notice. This essay quotes military officials from their own magazines, and compares their statements to what the 9/11 Commission wrote about the so-called surprise factor, and also to the Commission's position that the drills aided the response. Though both the 9/11 Commission Report and members of the Bush Administration repeatedly stated that the use of planes as weapons could not have been predicted, other official sources indicate that military exercises had been underway to counteract this very possibility.
Oil prices broke the $83 mark in Asian trade today and approached their record level, as a weak dollar and supply fears boosted buying. Oil is priced in dollars so its record lows this week against the euro and other currencies has raised prices.
(Economist: The dollar: Slip-sliding away)
What should we make of bank runs? Though it is unfortunate so many people have to suffer because of monetary instability, long lines of panicking savers scrambling to withdraw their money should be an encouraging sign that the public might pick up on the giant Ponzi scheme that is fractional reserve banking.
"Mr. Chairman, the situation facing us now in the mortgage industry has its roots in the Federal Reserve's inflationary monetary policy. Without addressing the roots of the current crisis, any measures undertaken to improve the situation will be doomed to fail."
A decade ago, the International Monetary Fund helped to stabilize the world economy after markets collapsed in Latin America, Russia and Asia. While conservatives denounced its role in bailing out investors, liberals assailed its austerity measures imposed on several troubled economies. Today the only crisis faced by the IMF is a crisis of identity.
When credit is tight, cash is a powerful weapon. No one is better armed than sovereign-wealth funds, a loose term to describe state-run investment pools, which have an estimated $2-3 trillion under management and are playing an increasingly muscular—and controversial—role in cross-border investment.
A new and intense type of radio burst has been discovered in archived views of the cosmos, astronomers revealed today. The single, short-lived blast of radio waves likely occurred some 3 billion light-years from Earth, and it may signal a cosmic car crash of two neutron stars, the death throes of a black hole — or something else. "This is something that's completely unprecedented. We've looked at it for about 90 hours, and it definitely seems to be a singular event."
Q&A
Q: Last night supposedly was the harvest full moon which should theoretically make today the 15th day of the moon (month). But your calendar date on your newsletter is calling today the 13th day of the 6th moon (month). So, if I'm understanding your calendar theory correctly, then the 1st day of the moon isn't the newest moon and the 15th day of the moon isn't the fullest moon of the month. All of which means to me that you can't really know what day it is. Which is why I'm rather confused by your determination of days in the month. If you can help me better understand your calendar theory and how it relates to an observable calendar I would appreciate your comments and some reliable rules of observation. Thanks.
A: I determine the beginning of the month by the first crescent moon that rules with the stars - which is sometimes the 1st crescent, but usually the 2nd. Why do I do it this way? Because the calendar is ALL about heavenly lights (just like it states right there in Genesis) - not about calculations of a dark and unobservable moon, shadows on the ground cast by obelisks/Asherah poles, or barley growing somewhere in Israel. The lights themselves are the witnesses ["I call heaven (sunshine/starshine) and Earth (earthshine) as a witness..."] that determine what time it is ("displaying knowledge night after night" as David says in Psalm 19) - all we have to do is look up and observe. It's that simple. I've finally narrowed down the calendar to 3 "rules":
DAY: The day starts with the first light of the sun at dawn (when the stars no longer rule) and ends at dark (when the stars rule).
MONTH: The month starts with the first crescent that rules with the stars (which is usually the 2nd crescent) - and this moon will have sunshine and earthshine, making it appear "full."
YEAR: The year starts with the crescent moon just below, or in, the constellation (not "sign"!) Taurus (Joseph's tribal insignia).
So when you get right down to it, the Sun really has nothing to do with determining the calendar (except for what time during the day it is) - so therefore the equinox has nothing whatsoever to do with telling time. It's all about the moon and stars, and their light.
I'm leaving for Arizona on Sunday and will be out there for a few weeks - and maybe through the Feast. It's my desire to finally take the time to write a paper about the calendar so that people can finally start proving it. But it's not my desire and will that counts.
And I'm also going to be doing something else while in Arizona, but I'll expound on that at a later time - just before it happens...
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