Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Pope Benedict XVI has wrapped up his 6-day visit to the US by urging Americans to use their freedom wisely, and praying for "peace in a violent world."
The positive effects from Benedict XVI 5-day visit to the US are already being seen, according to the pastor at Our Savior Parish in New York. He told Zenit that the numbers of people who came to confession were unusually long Saturday, with a number of people confessing who hadn't been to confession in 16 or 17 years, along with a lot of young people.
Benedict XVI seems to have won over a lot of hearts since he arrived, according to those waiting to say goodbye to him.
I'm not sure if the timing has anything to do with Pope Benedict's US trip, but the schismatic traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X chose this weekend to announce its disappointment in the pontiff and its decision not to seek closer ties to Rome now.
On the scorecard of the non-Catholic world, Popes — even more so than other leaders — tend to be counter-punchers. Within their churches they are lions, pro-actively setting courses and slapping down dissent. Outside it, however, they tend to be judged by how they deal with what's on the plate that's handed them.
He has shown himself worthy of his rapturous US reception
The US has a way of surprising visitors, whether they be Benedict XVI or tourists attracted by the exchange rate and then won over by a diversity and generosity of spirit that defy stereotypes. But the real surprises of the Pope's visit have been for his hosts.
Through the content of his words over the past 5 days, if not the style of their delivery, the Pope has unquestionably emerged in the US from the shadow of his charismatic predecessor.
Media, White House, Congress embrace spokesman for religious obscurantism
It is a measure of the profound decay of American democracy that when the president of the US welcomed the Roman Catholic pontiff to Washington last week, a major concern was that the representative of a 2,000-year-old religious institution might seem to criticize the US government from the left. As it turned out, however, the Bush administration had nothing to fear from Benedict XVI.
The pope declared that "any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted." This statement has remarkable implications. It flatly rejects the principles of religious tolerance and state neutrality toward religious belief on which the US was founded, and suggests that Roman Catholic doctrine should be enacted by legislative fiat wherever possible.
In a separate address to officials of Catholic colleges and universities, Benedict demanded greater conformity with Church doctrine.
The spectre of a wage-price spiral forming in Germany is spooking consumers and threatens to undo the gains in competitiveness that have underpinned a recovery in Europe's largest economy.
Chancellor Merkel has warned of the danger of undermining confidence in the country's social market economy, which turns 60 this year. She defended its merits, while pushing for its modernization.
Only 60% of Germans have faith in the country's democratic system, according to a survey. The authority-loving Teutons also overwhelmingly trusted the German police, with 85% responding they had faith in those ensuring for law and order.
Germany's foreign intelligence service (BND) acknowledged, and apologized for, having spied on a German journalist. It's not the first time German agents have been caught keeping tabs on reporters.
[Europress] [Russopress]
Kosovo's prime minister will today ask the United Nations Security Council members to recognise his country as independent, while Serbia's president will invoke international law to ask the UNSC to reject Kosovo's independence.
A Russian fighter jet has shot down an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft over Georgia, Georgian authorities say. The Georgian air force told Reuters news agency the video footage showed a Russian jet launching a missile at the Georgian plane as it flew over the breakaway Abkhazia region.
Tensions are high between the two neighbours over Russian support for breakaway Georgian regions, and Georgian moves towards joining NATO.
What separates Carter from the neocons is his genuine desire to negotiate a Middle East peace settlement, and that means talking to everyone.
(Analysis: Engaging "negotiable terrorism")
What is driving Washington's continuing threats against Iran are the same strategic and economic considerations that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq—in particular, American ambitions to secure its dominance over the energy-rich regions of the Middle East and Central Asia.
At every turn, the Bush administration has taken any concession offered by Tehran but continued to warn that "every option is on the table". The latest statement by the Iranian ambassador will only encourage US military operations to suppress the Shiite working class in Baghdad and Basra, which is an important precondition for any strike on Iran.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Sunni-led Arab allies today to try to persuade them to back Iraq's Shiite leadership but failed to clinch any concrete commitments on debt relief or diplomatic presence.
US commanders in Afghanistan are urging the expansion of the war effort to possibly include US attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants inside Pakistan's tribal areas. But the New York Times, citing US officials, says the requests have been rebuffed for now.
Officials fear attacks on Pakistani radicals could forment anger within Pakistan 's new government, which has been negotiating with the militants, and destabilize security there. The Times says while Pakistan has given the CIA limited authority to kill Arab and other foreign operatives in tribal regions, it has placed greater restrictions on US operations against indigenous Pakistani militant groups.
Afghan police clashed with Iranian forces at the southwestern border between their countries, leaving 1 civilian dead and 2 Iranian officers wounded.
Iran said on Sunday US and UK accusations that Tehran wanted a nuclear weapon were baseless and the Islamic state would not stop its peaceful atomic work. "The stance voiced by the American president and British prime minister about Iran's nuclear activities is not compatible with the reality of any of (its) activities. The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue with its peaceful activities."
President Bush promised Israel's opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu that the US will join the Jewish state in a nuclear strike against Iran. Netanyahu reiterated to President Bush his stance, that a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Iran's nuclear installations was the only way to stop the Islamic nation's nuclear weapons ambitions. "I told him my position and Bush agreed."
Before we turn the page on US policy in the Middle East, we must turn the page on the Israel lobby – the single most decisive factor in shaping our actions and pronouncements in that part of the world.
That the Middle East is a touchy subject is a contention few would dispute. The touchiness, however, only extends in one direction. One has only to utter a single word critical of Israel, and immediately a whole chorus of voices rise up, in unison, speaking in terms meant to end, rather than begin, the discussion.
A battery of activist organizations, watchdog groups, and lobbying groups in the guise of "think tanks" springs into action, as if on cue, and the heretic is silenced.
Book review
I've just finished Ron Paul's The Revolution: A Manifesto, and am once again floored by Paul's ability to identify the most important issues facing this country and explain their libertarian solutions in "honest, direct language," as George Carlin would say.
In 7 concise chapters, heavy with notable quotes from the founders, American historical figures, social researchers and Austrian economists, Paul destroys the myths of governmental benevolence and benefit on nearly every issue of importance for the present and future of this country.
There are many potential Kosovos in the international community – a great number of these within the US itself, where the Lakota people claim their right to a huge swathe of territory across the north of the country, the peoples of Aztlan in the south proclaim their right to independence. And today, the Alaska Independence Movement presents its case.
A potential oil and gas bonanza could follow Australia extending its continental shelf under an agreement with the United Nations. "I am pleased to announce that Australia, the largest island in the world, has just been dramatically increased in size," Resources Minister told reporters in Canberra.
"We have fully explored through the United Nations our entitlements to actually extend our continental shelf." He said Australia had explored its entitlements to extend the continental shelf. The UN had found that Australia's territory should be extended by 2.5 million square kilometres, he said.
Bank of America said Monday its profit fell 77% in the 1st quarter, hurt by trading losses and a $3.3 billion increase in reserves for problem loans.
We should place the blame squarely where it belongs, which is on government failure, that failure being in the fiat money inflation brought about by the Federal Reserve. Its origin lies in a housing price bubble brought about by excessive central bank money creation and the subsequent puncturing of this bubble.
Oil prices spiked to a record $117.40 a barrel after a Japanese oil tanker was hit by a rocket near Yemen and militants in Nigeria claimed two attacks on pipelines.
Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing.
Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.
President Chavez said that the world's governments will need to do more to confront a global food crisis. "The entire world now realizes that we're entering a crisis, that we've entered a food crisis," Chavez said in a speech. "They're now realizing that it isn't the market that's going to solve the human drama, and now they're calling for governments to take measures to regulate the market — (even) the very World Bank."
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Today/tonight/tomorrow in Scripture
* Exo 12:6-13:16 / Lev 23:5-8 / Num 9:2-5 / Num 28:16-18 / Num 33:3,4 / Deut 16:1-7
* Joshua 5:10,11 / 2Chr 35:1-18 / Ezra 6:19-22
* John 18:28-19:42 / Mark 15:1-47 / Luke 22:66-23:56 / Matt 27:1-66
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