It's hard not to notice when the Pope shows up. And you can sometimes say the same when he doesn't. Last fall, Pope Benedict XVI was a notable no-show at a September ceremony to mark 20 years since John Paul II had hosted a groundbreaking gathering of world religious leaders in Assisi, Italy. Some viewed the Pope's absence as a slap to those working for inter-faith dialogue, both inside and outside the Catholic Church,. On Sunday, however, Benedict will be center stage at the most lavish, and well-attended inter-religious ceremony of his papacy, organized by the same Sant'Egidio community that helped launch Assisi. What has changed? Why is Benedict marking 21 years since "the spirit of Assisi" was uncorked, after skipping out on the 20th anniversary?
Visiting Momma's Whorehouse...
In the ecumenical spirit of recent times, we have begun to have contacts with each other after centuries of isolation. Since it is Christ himself who calls us to seek Christian unity, it is entirely right and fitting that Mennonites and Catholics have entered into dialogue in order to understand the reasons for the conflict that arose between us in the 16th century. To understand is to take the first step towards healing.
Two events converged last week to tell us it's time for the Vatican to begin a major review of Church hierarchy, and if necessary, a purge. One was in the US, where an archbishop in San Francisco gave Communion to two congregants dressed in drag. The second event was in Rome itself: there, a hidden video showed a monsignor in the Holy See meeting with a man who had posed as a homosexual in a chat room looking for a tryst. The time for a review of errant bishops, not just abuse priests, is overdue. It is urgent. It should be initiated with the speed of an ambulance.
Historic mementos from Hitler's mountain stronghold have turned up in Utah. The items are believed to have been brought to the US by a returning soldier following WW2 and were put in a storage unit by his son. One of the items is a large, handbound history of Henry the Lion, the founder of the city of Munich. The scroll, which was kept in a metal cylinder and a leatherbound box embossed with the Nazi eagle, is addressed to Hitler and dated 1933, the year he became chancellor of Germany.
[WAR: "Where now is the lions' den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear?" (Nah 2:11) Munich!!]
After 2 years of paralysis, EU leaders have finally agreed on reforming the organization. The new Lisbon Treaty will allow the EU to stop its internal squabbling and concentrate on its real job - serving the people of Europe.
(GFP: Consensus of the elite)
The new reform treaty for the EU will allow for more active participation of Christians, said European bishops, while adding that the debate about the Christian roots of the continent is not over.
Might as well...
Tony Blair has emerged as a possible candidate for "President of Europe", a new post created by the treaty approved by EU leaders at their Lisbon summit. The former prime minister's name was put in the frame yesterday by President Sarkozy, who described Blair as "a very remarkable man – the most European of all Britons." He added: "To think of him would be a good idea." Other potential candidates for the post include Aleksander Kwasniewski, the former Polish president, and Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister.
One of the main events this week will be the EU-Russia summit. Both sides are still struggling to formally renew bilateral relations as the current agreement runs out at the end of this year. Talks on the issue remain blocked because of a two-year long dispute between Russia and Poland over meat. Russia is blocking Polish meat imports on health grounds. Warsaw says the blockade is politically motivated and has refused to endorse a new framework for bilateral relations.
German press...
A recent war of words between Vladimir Putin and George Bush gives Europeans an unpleasant sense of nostalgia. But not all German commentators are convinced it's the Cold War all over again.
For nearly 9 years, Kosovo has been run by the UN. Kosovo is now seeking independence from Serbia with help from the US, but Serbia and Russia are trying to block this attempt.
A historic first: Last week, during a special visit to the Temple Mount, the Priestly Blessing (Num 6:24-26) was recited there, for arguably the first time since the 1st-century destruction. The Blessing is recited daily in synagogues in Israel by descendants of Aaron the Priest, and only on festivals in the Diaspora. The special visit was held to commemorate the 842nd anniversary of Maimonides's famous visit to the Temple Mount.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert landed Sunday evening in Orly airport near Paris for talks with the new leaders of France and Britain to press for intensified sanctions against Iran. He will also seek support for Israel's position on the peace process ahead of the Annapolis conference. On Monday Olmert will meet in Paris with President Sarkozy. Talks are also scheduled with Foreign Minister Kouchner and representatives of the French Jewish community, the largest in Europe. In talks in Moscow on Thursday, Olmert was told by President Putin that Russia understands Israeli concerns over Iran. At the same time there was no indication that Moscow will back a new package of sanctions.
Paranoid Protestant's Prophecy Propaganda Propagating...
President Bush said a nuclear Iran would mean WW3. Israeli newscasts featured Gog & Magog maps of the likely alignment of nations in that potential conflict. Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV showed the world map, sketching the basic alignment of the 2 opposing axes in a coming world war, in a manner evoking associations of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. On one side were Israel, the United States, Britain, France and Germany. On the other were Iran, Russia, China, Syria and North Korea.
The condition of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has undergone a sharp decline, British newspaper World Tribune reported. According to the report, Western intelligence sources said Mubarak, 79, collapsed last week before a scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia. Mubarak failed to attend the summit and has since been under close medical supervision. "His condition is not life-threatening, but he is very weak."
A massive war game codenamed "powerful Iran" will be held near Qom on October 23-25.
Iran believes Afghanistan would never allow its soil to be used by the US to launch an attack, the Iranian foreign minister said. "The people of Afghanistan will never allow America to use Afghanistan against any other country. This our belief, this is our trust." Washington was anyway too weakened by its efforts in Iraq to confront Iran, he told reporters. The US has around 27,000 troops and several bases in Afghanistan.
The US and other nations will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday. "Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions." If Iran continues on its current course, Cheney said the US and other nations are prepared to take action. Cheney's words seemed to only escalate the US rhetoric against Iran over the past several days, including President Bush's warning that a nuclear Iran could lead to "WW3."
If Bush is to be believed, he's recently told Putin that he is willing to start WW3, not because Iran allegedly has nukes with which to allegedly attack Israel, or not because Iran has the capability of making the material to make nukes with which to allegedly attack Israel, or not even because Iran allegedly wants to make nukes with which to allegedly attack Israel. Now all it takes to start WW3 is some Iranians knowing how to make a nuke. Well, since many Iranians have access to the internet, WW3 – bring it on!
Some people are treated as pariahs when they tell the truth; later, history lauds them for their courage and convictions. Reese Erlich is one of those truth tellers. In January 2003, before the war in Iraq began, Erlich co-authored "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You," which deftly separated propaganda from reality and implicitly predicted the harsh and chaotic consequences that would result if the US attacked Iraq. Read it again today and it seems eerily prescient. Now Erlich has taken on another frightening subject - the story behind the recent war of words between Iran and the United States that could lead to an American military attack on that nation.
In "The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis," Erlich investigates the origins of the rhetorical war that now exists between the 2 nations. Most Americans know very little about Iranian history, including the fact that Iran is Persian, not Arabic. How much is smoke and mirrors, bluff and rhetoric? I certainly don't know. But "The Iran Agenda" can help readers understand why Iran and the United States may - or may not - soon be involved in yet another war.
More than 30,000 foreign troops are enlisted in the US Army, many of them serving in Iraq. Their reward for risking their lives for their adopted country is US citizenship. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the US has granted citizenship to 32,500 foreign soldiers. Without its foreign soldiers, the US would have trouble coming up with enough troops to meet the demand in Iraq. There are currently 128 Germans serving in the US military - more than from any other European country except Great Britain.
Iran, OPEC's #2 exporter, hit out Saturday at the recent hike in oil prices, saying real prices were far lower than the$ 90 level of last week. "Oil is still cheap. The sweet taste of oil is not tangible because it is very far from the range that is expected by us (Iran and OPEC)."
Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the US Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years.
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