WSJ article. I'm sure other sources will post their accounts shortly as well.
Pope John Paul II died today, ending one of the longest and most eventful pontificates in history and ushering in a new period of challenges, choices and possibly profound change for the Roman Catholic Church.
John Paul died after a sharp decline in his condition that began on Thursday evening when he began to suffer from a high fever stemming from a urinary tract infection.
The last two months of the pope's life had been marked by intense suffering as the 84-year-old pontiff, long afflicted with Parkinson's disease, struggled with one health crisis after another that required two protracted stays in the Gemelli Polyclinic hospital in Rome. Doctors had inserted a tube into his throat to ease his breathing, and later another tube through his nose to help feed him.
The pope's last days, however, were lived out in the Apostolic Palace, in the papal apartment. The Vatican spokesman had said that even as John Paul's condition worsened over the last two days, he had expressed a wish not to return to the hospital.
In his later years, and particularly over the past two months, John Paul's perseverance amid suffering became one of the central messages of his papacy. A man who had born witness to the horrors of the Holocaust and communism was seen by many Catholics as living testimony of the importance of fulfilling one's duties and fighting for convictions whatever the physical cost. That was seen last week during his last appearances at the window of the papal apartments, where he struggled in vain to speak and at times appeared wracked with pain.
Because the pope's health had been in decline for so long, senior church leaders have been readying themselves for his death for years. But the church itself is in many ways unprepared to deal with his passing. One of the reasons for that is the sheer length of his pontificate -- more than 26 years, the third longest in church history after Peter and Pius IX. When John Paul began his reign in 1978, the major global challenge of the day was the Cold War, which the pope, through his support of the Polish Solidarity movement, helped bring to an end with the fall of the Soviet Union.
While the world has changed dramatically since then, the leadership of the Catholic Church has remained the same. "Despite its universality, the Roman curia is still a very Italian-style institution," says Father Thomas Williams, the dean of theology at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome. That means his successor will have a considerable amount of reorganizing to do.
In addition, John Paul II's pontificate was in some ways so energetic that it will be difficult for the 117 voting cardinals to find someone who can measure up to his legacy.
John Paul II took 104 trips abroad. He canonized 482 saints, compared with 302 during the previous 500 years of the Church. He also issued 14 encyclicals -- the church's most authoritative document -- 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, 45 apostolic letters, along with five books, making him the most prolific writer in papal history, as well. He even issued a document that fine-tunes the process of choosing his own successor, Universi Dominici Gregis, which was released in 1996.
Until the next pope is chosen, the church is now in the hands of the camerlengo, or chamberlain, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo of Spain. One of his first tasks following the pope's death is to smash the "ring of the fisherman," the symbol of papal authority, with a hammer. The tradition dates back to when the ring was used to seal papal documents with wax, and could be put to nefarious uses if possessed by the wrong people.
John Paul II specified that the conclave, the secret session held in the Sistine Chapel during which the cardinals under the age of 80 meet to choose a successor, must begin 15 to 20 days after his death. In the interim begins an intense period of mourning for this pope, known as the novemdiales, and campaigning for the next one.
During the actual conclave, the cardinals are isolated from the outside world and take an oath to keep the proceedings secret. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope. However, John Paul changed the rules to allow for the possibility of a simple majority vote if the conclave finds itself in a protracted deadlock.
Once the new pope is chosen, he only officially assumes the role after he says "Accepto," Latin for "I accept." At that point, he puts on a white cassock and is introduced to the world from a window in St. Peter's with the words "Habemus Papam," or "We have a pope."
The elaborate procedures for choosing a new leader are meant to underscore how the permanence and authority of the highest church office are greater than that of any individual who happens to occupy it. Still, it will be up to this next pope to guide the Catholic Church through what will undoubtedly be a period of intense change and challenge.
At the most basic level, the church is struggling to carry out its mission in an age when many fewer people are taking religious vows. The number of nuns, for example, dropped 21% between 1978 and 2002. World-wide, the number of priests has also fallen by almost 4% in the same period, even though the number of Catholics has risen. But in places like Europe, the drop has been precipitous, falling 19%, while in Africa and Asia, the numbers have exploded.
Europe, once a Catholic stronghold, has proven to be one of the church's weakest points lately. The Holy See fought a losing battle to try to get the European Union to recognize the Christian roots of Europe in its constitution. Mass attendance has been declining, along with birth rates.
In Asia, the world's most populous continent, the Catholic Church is still trying to gain a stronger presence even after centuries of missionary work there. Generous estimates of the number of Catholic faithful in China, where the Roman Catholic Church operates under great state repression, is only 15 million in a country of more than 1.3 billion.
In addition, major advances in technology and bioethics are proposing new ethical challenges to which the Church must continually respond.
These and other challenges are going to make this conclave one of the most pivotal in recent history. "The Pope should be the best man for the job," said Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium, himself considered one of the more likely candidates. "He needs to be the right man in the right place."
Thus passes one of the major figures of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Posted by: Robin Burk ||
04/02/2005 3:01:32 PM ||
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#1
..For a man of God and of peace, he was one of the strongest warriors this world has ever known. Rest in Peace, Your Holiness - millions are free this day because of your efforts.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2005 15:31 Comments ||
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#2
Requesat en pace. He will always be The Pope, no matter how many more there are.
A Moscow court has ruled that a complaint by a Muscovite who wanted the world-famous cartoons The Simpsons and Griffins to be banned from Russian TV was baseless. The cartoons will continue to be broadcast as scheduled and will not be deemed "for adults only".
Igor Smykov, the plaintiff, first went to court three years ago claiming that the cartoons popularize violence, drugs and homosexuality. He believes that watching The Simpsons made his six-year-old son nervous and naughty and its characters taught him to swear. He also sought $10,000 in moral damages from the Russian channel REN-TV that broadcasts the cartoons. Earlier this month Smykov received support from some State Duma deputies. The MPs said that the cartoons were "crammed with violent and aggressive episodes and introduced antagonism between children and parents". However, the politicians' backing failed to help the claimant obtain a favorable verdict. Oh sure, try to ban the Simpsons on account of it being adult, but stories like this are OK: Russian Man Grows Penis on Arm
Posted by: ed ||
04/02/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Mexico City's leftist mayor lost a vote on Friday that could derail his presidential bid in 2006, as a legislative committee recommended Congress strip him of his immunity to face contempt of court charges. The committee voted 3-1 against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who decried the charges as a politically motivated bid to oust him from the race in which he is the front-runner.
Mexico, a major emerging market economy and trade ally of the United States, could face months of political and perhaps financial instability if the country fails to resolve the crisis. The lower house is expected to strip Lopez Obrador's immunity in coming days. If Congress votes against him, the mayor will face legal charges in a Mexico City land expropriation dispute that could force him out of the presidential election. The mayor, Mexico's most popular politician, vowed to organize a massive street protest against what he described as an "unjust, authoritarian and anti-democratic" plan by rivals scared of his populist policies. "That day will mark the beginning of a new era of fighting for the respect of the popular will and civil rights ... of all Mexicans," Lopez Obrador said, accusing conservative President Vicente Fox of masterminding the case against him. The mayor's aides are preparing for months of "civil resistance" protests and the head of the stock market warned this week the political upheaval could hit Mexican markets. Under Mexican law, Lopez Obrador may soon end up in jail, even before a verdict in the case. He has sworn to run for the presidency from behind bars if necessary.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Ooh, boy. If you think Fox is bad, wait until you see the crap this guy wants. Even worse, he can now claim he was "persecuted" by a US-led conspiracy, and the Latin American Idiots will believe it unquestioningly.
I don't want a Chavez-ruled nation 60 miles from My house. Crap. I'll have to join the Minutemen, too.
With millions of illegals pouring across the American border every year as evidence, Mexico is not now, nor anytime in the future going to be an "emerging economy". With a xenophobic constitutional ban on foreign ownership, private or corperate, of property, the Mexican economy is going nowhere. The US economy is primed by huge investments both in property and capital by the English, Dutch, Japanese, etc. Mexico needs to be touched by the revolutionary movements we now witness in the Middle East in order to set its house in order for true economic development. And a way to get that started is by shutting the dumping across the border of its unemployment.
The South Koreans should think twice before marching and holding protests against U.S. troops. This is a small result of a overall picture U.S. troop pullout from South Korea.
Nice poem, but it shouldn't relate to Koreans. Let's be honest here. Your mind was wandering. Be careful, I don't think hubby would appreaciate your nostalgia concerning old boyfriends.
#6
Campbell's announcement, coming without prior consultation with Seoul before cost-sharing negotiations are officially concluded, is being read as an expression of dissatisfaction with Korea.
Take it further, and begin removing more material OUT of there. U.S. personnel reduction can follow.
#8
President Roh recently made a speech talking about distancing himself from the US. Here are exerpts from 3/29 east-asia-intel:
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun has declared that his nation will no longer depend on the U.S.-led alliance, a decades-long security framework in Northeast Asia that has counterbalanced the communist alliance led by China.
South Korea has relied on U.S protection for its national security for more than half a century since the 1950-53 Korean War under a triangle alliance with Washington and Japan.
But in what is seen as a major policy shift, Roh said South Korea would no longer depend on the United States and instead would seek a new role in the balance of power among Pacific nations.
Roh's aides describe his remarks at the Korea Third Military Academy on March 22 as a new security doctrine aimed at playing a more active role.
"We will play a balancing role to help ensure peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and on the Korean peninsula," a presidential official said.
South Korea will emerge from a standoff centered on the Korean peninsula between a "southern alliance" of South Korea, the United States and Japan and a "northern alliance" of North Korea, China and Russia, he said.
"We would not remain in the Cold War-era structure in the region," the official said.
Instead, officials said Seoul would pursue closer ties with North Korea, China and Russia to "maximize national interest."
But critics in Seoul raise concerns that the overture may result in the government's diplomatic isolation as North Korea, China and Russia are moving to boost their alliances to cope with stronger ties between Japan and the United States.
"We are concerned about President Roh's move to break away from our alliances with the United States," said Park Geun-Hye, leader of the main opposition Grand National Party. "The Seoul-Washington security alliance is vital to the security of South Korea."
South Korea "will both shoulder its responsibilities and assume its authorized power as a sovereign state in discussing security issues with its neighbors and the ally," Roh said in his speech.
"The power structure in Northeast Asia will change depending on the stance we will take," Roh said.
Roh has already pledged to help develop his country's defenses become independent of the United States within 10 years.
Roh has also acted to distance South Korea from Japan in terms of security cooperation following Tokyo's renewed claims to a South Korean-held island.
In a three-page letter addressed to the South Korean public on March 23, Roh said the country was ready for a "diplomatic war" with Japan to protect its territorial sovereignty and prevent Tokyo from "distorting" history to whitewash its militarism.
Seoul also reaffirmed its opposition to the Japanese effort to win a permanent seat on the United Nation's Security Council.
Rep. Maeng Hyung-Kyu, GNP's chief policymaker, said Roh's remarks would fuel U.S. doubts about Seoul's security identity, and blasted Roh for employing a "populist political tactic."
In response to Roh's statements, Japan reiterated its call for South Korea to remain calm. But Tokyo officials refused to comment on Roh's remarks on the regional security realignments.
U.S. military officials also declined to comment on Roh's remarks.
So Roh wants to work in a cozy relationship with the Chicoms, Kimmie, and PootyPoot? There is a gruesome threesome that will inspire trust. Roh is insane. The Chicoms and Kimmie are playing Roh like a fish. Or a dumb dog. If Roh wants to sell out to a murderous dictator neighbor, and the citizens of SKor say nothing, then we pull out and cut our losses. Roh's betrayl is a slap in the face to many thousands of SKor dead and to 50,000 American dead from the Korean war. Hell, Kimmie would have fallen by now without a shot if the US and SKor did not enable his behaviour with around a billion in aid. This really stinks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2005 16:42 Comments ||
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#9
AP, we have to let go of old losses in old wars. I don't mean forget the sacrifices - not at all. But I mean that we must face the fact that in Korea, as in Germany, the generation in power hated us in the 70s and still does today.
So, forget gratitude and ties of common struggle. Just get very very pragmatic about today's threats and today's needs. The only reason to stay in Korea I can see is that a) there are bases and depots there that will take time to replace and b) we want to leave in a way that makes our current allies trust us to keep our word.
Not a fucking thing more.
Posted by: too true ||
04/02/2005 20:58 Comments ||
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#10
Good comment, too true. I will tend to agree on your points.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2005 21:01 Comments ||
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#11
US to Cut 1,000 Korean Workers
Wow, for a moment there I thought "cut" as in certain surgical opperation.
#12
SK seeking alignment with China and Russia is probably their foolish version of realpolitik. China's sabre rattling is beginning to worry their neighbors.
My money is still on the Japanese. They are debating ammending their constitution to allow them to rearm. They could be nuclear in 3-6 months. They will never submit to China or Russia. They would love an excuse to destroy Korea.
The bases and depots can easily be relocated to Japan.
#13
Maybe Roh needs to tour that town (or whats left of it) outside of Roosevelt Road in Purto Rico.....
I do wonder if the SKor feelings are more of a result of 50 years of Chicom/Nkor propaganda then anything else. Somehow I dont think they have any idea how the North Korean *people* really live under Kimmie-boy.
A ROYAL Australian Navy helicopter crashed on a rescue mission in earthquake-stricken Indonesia last night, killing nine defence personnel.
Two others were injured when the Sea King helicopter, from HMAS Kanimbla, came down as it was trying to land in a remote part of the devastated island of Nias. Those killed - seven men and two women - were five Navy personnel, three RAAF members and one Army soldier.
The two male survivors were airlifted from the crash scene and were being operated on last night aboard the Kanimbla.
"They are in a serious condition with leg fractures and other injuries," Kanimbla's Commander George McGuire said. The Australians had been diverted to Nias only days before they were due to return home after three months in Sumatra helping victims of the Boxing Day tsunami.
The Sea King carried an emergency medical team and was looking for casualties of last week's earthquake in rugged country that had not been visited by relief workers. Another Sea King following its did not see the crash but arrived minutes later to find the burning wreck of the chopper with bodies trapped inside.
The Defence Department said in a statement in Canberra that the crash occurred at approximately 7.30pm Australian time.
"The helicopter, from HMAS Kanimbla, was conducting a sortie in support of Operation Sumatra Assist (Phase 2), the Australian Defence Force's humanitarian contribution to the earthquake relief effort," the Defence Department said.
This reporter from The Sunday Telegraph on board the Kanimbla heard of the crash 26 minutes after it had happened. She heard a radio message: "Problem with chopper. No survivors." The accident happened at 4.30pm local time and the light was said to be okay for flying.
Experts said it was thought mechanical failure was the most likely cause of the crash.
Shattered crew members on the Kanimbla cried and bowed their heads in shock in the ship's mess room when they heard the news of the deaths.
The accident is the worst loss of life in a peacetime military helicopter crash since 1996, when 18 soldiers were killed when two Army Blackhawks collided on a training exercise in Queensland.
The Kanimbla's helicopters were to be used to distribute food, water and medical supplies.
With the island's airstrip destroyed, aid had been trickling in slowly and heavy earthmoving equipment needed to shift rubble had been stuck on the mainland.
The Navy personnel killed in last night's crash should have been home and reunited with their loved ones after three months in Indonesia.
Kanimbla, with its 60 medical personnel, was already in Singapore after its rescue and rebuilding efforts following the Boxing Day tsunami when it was turned back to help Indonesia through its latest natural disaster.
Commander McGuire received the order to divert to Nias following last week's tragic earthquake.
The ship's Sea King helicopters were deployed to Nias to evacuate those most in need of urgent medical attention - for treatment on board the vessel, which has two operating theatres.
HMAS Kanimbla was originally built for the US Navy and acquired by the Navy in 1994.
Along with HMAS Manoora, the Kanimbla underwent extensive modifications for new roles as helicopter-capable amphibious transports. Their primary roles are to transport, lodge ashore and support an Army contingent of 450 troops and their vehicles and equipment.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
04/02/2005 3:28:01 PM ||
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It is always very sad to hear of good military men and women lost doing their duty, especially on a humanitarian mission. Their country should be proud of them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2005 16:47 Comments ||
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#10
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (Matthew 7:24,25
Pope John Paul II was that rock to build a church on
#11
I am so saddened by his passing I can't explain it
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/02/2005 15:30 Comments ||
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#12
As a Catholic this man meant a great deal to us. I doubt another leader will come like him. I believe he is in a better place.
I think even non Catholic owe him a debt for his leadership in the Cold War. He helped the West build pressure without provocation so it end relatively well vs. some of the other scenarios.
#13
Frank, I am not a Catholic, but I feel that sense of loss. Pope John Paul II was man of great character, conviction, and faith. He lived that faith and through his faith and strength he brought hope to people that were hopeless. Here was a holy man that used his life to change things for the better for humanity. All humanity. He personified the teaching of Jesus. He lived the message of God and Jesus. It was not about conversion but a message to everyone, whatever their personal religion.
In my life, I witnessed the passing of Pius XII as a kid, then the reign of John XXIII, then Paul, then Pope John Paul II. The world is diminished by the passing of a great man. But he left the world a better place, too. That is very comforting. We are all witnesses: Catholic and non-Catholic.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2005 16:57 Comments ||
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#14
AP: Your words sum up all of how I feel. We all mourn the loss of such a great man.
Posted by: Charles ||
04/02/2005 17:01 Comments ||
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#15
Few times I've cried as an adult. THis is one of them.
He was able to give of himself even to the end - his death he gave us an example counter to that of the culture of death. He was able to forgive what to most of us would be unforgivable - the person that tried to kill him.
He was as great a man as I've known in my lifetime. He was truly a man of faith. I doubt I will live to see the likes of him.
In the words (attributed to) St. Francis:
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
In Christ's own words, John 5:28-29
"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out
#16
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
#17
Dylan and JP are of pretty much opposite minds on the dying process, I'd say.
JP was a rights revolutionary for others, but a reactionary within the Church. I rather wonder which of those efforts and tendencies absorbed more of his attention and effort.
Posted by: Brian H ||
04/02/2005 19:44 Comments ||
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#19
Marble Floor
By Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II
translated from the Polish
Our feet meet the earth in this place;
there are so many walls, so many colonnades,
yet we are not lost. If we find
meaning and oneness,
it is the floor that guides us. It joins the spaces
of this great edifice, and joins
the spaces within us,
who walk aware of our weakness and defeat.
Peter, you are the floor, that others
may walk over you (not knowing
where they go). You guide their steps
so that spaces can be one in their eyes,
and from them though is born.
You want to serve their feet that pass
as rock serves the hooves of sheep.
The rock is a gigantic temple floor,
the cross a pasture.
#22
He set the bar as high in death as he did in life. Truly he deserved the epithet "Holy Father". The world has lost a great man and people, regardless of their religious affiliation mourn his passing. Rest in Peace Your Holiness.
#23
Can you beleive the NYT? The pope is dead not even a day and they are already trying hard to discredit him.
Go see Powerline. They publish Hans Kung in JP-II's column. Hans firginn Kung - a guy whose theological stances have been hammered (deservingly so) by the Church as paganistic. May as well have gotten Hitler's input for Roosevelt's funeral.
What is wrong with the NYT and the Left? Can they not let a good man rest even one day?
#26
I can't bring myself even to turn on the idiot box today. First it was Michael Jackson. Then it was the Schiavo circus - I'm not dissing her or her family, guys, but the media circus of endless interviews and then interviews about the interviews was absurd.
I refuse to watch Paula Zahn or Aaron Brown look perky / supercilious and try to pretend they know shit about religion. Curdles my stomach.
Posted by: too true ||
04/02/2005 21:15 Comments ||
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#27
Gotta love that little piece in the initial NYT article on JPII:
"need some quote from supporter"
Guess they didn't 'know' anyone in their frame of reference...
#28
Sorry, that last comment wasn't very coherent ...
I just mean that the last 48 hrs of TV about the John Paul II's last days was bad enough. I refuse to watch what they'll try to milk out of it now that he has passed on.
Posted by: too true ||
04/02/2005 21:17 Comments ||
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#29
John Paul II was a great man of God. I was in college when he was elevated. At first, I was really annoyed by his conservatism. Later, I came to admire his stands and him personally very much. Can anyone imagine what the Church would have become without JP II? I thank God that he was here at this time. Rest in peace, Papa.
#30
Matthew 25:21 -- His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/02/2005 22:47 Comments ||
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#31
To the above comments: AP, et al, who directed their great comments to me - I am consoled by the wishes and prayers of my betters. To those who made excellent observations and comments - I only wish I was adequate to say "thank you" on his behalf. I'm not, yet I believe JP would say the same were I not here. "Thank You, and continue what you can in your own way, no matter your belief or standing" - it is the individual, deciding "this is NOT RIGHT" that makes the masses that overthrow the wrong
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/02/2005 22:55 Comments ||
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#32
Thanks for the kind sentiments, Frank. I know that this is a sad and difficult day for you.
OldSpook, the same evil that brings the NYT, Teddy K, Michael Shiavo, the Lawyuh, the Judge from Hell, Jaques Chiraq, et al, out of the woodwork is the same evil that brought us Stalin, Hitler, totalitarianism, Islamofascism. At home and abroad we are fighting this evil. The game is for keeps. The game is for the soul of civilization. Pope John Paul II did his part right up to the end of his days. There was no rest for him. He did it with great love, yet with the case of the Nazis and later with the Communists he did not budge. He was an active participant in the struggle. And just a few days ago Terri Shiavo was an unwitting, but still a key participant in this struggle. JP II did it in deeds. Terri did it by just being there. I find it very comforting.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2005 23:10 Comments ||
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#33
RIP JP II. Great man. There has not been a pope quite like him in a long time.
BTW, I may have been dead on thursday evening. Some jerk in a speeding sports car sent my bike and me flyin', after I trashed his windsheeld. My legs are seriously bruised with some lacerations and allowing only a penguin waddle for the moment, and my face does not look pretty either, but despite my age, my bones are apparently still from titanium. No internal or head injuries (my helmet took the impact and is showing what would happen if I did not have it on--a cracked skull).
In a recovery mode now, so I'll be here sporadically, probably fo a week.
#34
Few times I've cried as an adult. THis is one of them.
He was able to give of himself even to the end - his death he gave us an example counter to that of the culture of death. He was able to forgive what to most of us would be unforgivable - the person that tried to kill him.
He was as great a man as I've known in my lifetime. He was truly a man of faith. I doubt I will live to see the likes of him.
In the words (attributed to) St. Francis:
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
In Christ's own words, John 5:28-29
"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out
#35
Can you beleive the NYT? The pope is dead not even a day and they are already trying hard to discredit him.
Go see Powerline. They publish Hans Kung in JP-II's column. Hans firginn Kung - a guy whose theological stances have been hammered (deservingly so) by the Church as paganistic. May as well have gotten Hitler's input for Roosevelt's funeral.
What is wrong with the NYT and the Left? Can they not let a good man rest even one day?
#36
Few times I've cried as an adult. THis is one of them.
He was able to give of himself even to the end - his death he gave us an example counter to that of the culture of death. He was able to forgive what to most of us would be unforgivable - the person that tried to kill him.
He was as great a man as I've known in my lifetime. He was truly a man of faith. I doubt I will live to see the likes of him.
In the words (attributed to) St. Francis:
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
In Christ's own words, John 5:28-29
"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out
#37
Can you beleive the NYT? The pope is dead not even a day and they are already trying hard to discredit him.
Go see Powerline. They publish Hans Kung in JP-II's column. Hans firginn Kung - a guy whose theological stances have been hammered (deservingly so) by the Church as paganistic. May as well have gotten Hitler's input for Roosevelt's funeral.
What is wrong with the NYT and the Left? Can they not let a good man rest even one day?
General Motors Corp. rolled out the world's first drivable fuel cell truck Friday and handed over the keys to an exacting patron: the Army. The olive-green pickup took a demonstration spin around GM's fuel-cell development center in rural upstate New York, carrying Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Brig. Gen. Roger Nadeau, commander of the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. The modified Chevrolet Silverado crew-cab truck will be leased to the Defense Department for noncombat uses at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Camp Pendleton, Calif., and tested in various climates and terrain around the country until July 2006.
Its electric engine emits a high-pitched whine, but a key feature in future fuel-cell models developed with the military will be stealth — along with better fuel consumption and zero tailpipe emissions. "Noise on the battlefield is not a good thing when you don't want to be found," Nadeau said. Instead of gasoline, the fuel cells run on energy produced when hydrogen and oxygen are mixed, and the only byproduct is water vapor. The truck is powered by two hydrogen fuel cell stacks and can travel 125 miles. It can carry up to 1,600 pounds, accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 19 seconds and has a top speed of 93 mph. Since 2003, President Bush has pushed a five-year, $1.7 billion research program to develop hydrogen as an energy source. Most major automakers are developing hydrogen fuel cells, but cost and a lack of fueling stations make the vehicles unmarketable for now. Ahem, you might have noticed that gasoline stations are closing all over the country.
#1
DOD has been the proponent and first user for a whole lot of advanced technologies well before there was a commercial market for them. Many show up in less dramatic packages than fuel cell vehicles, but it's a classic pattern ... DOD fund the R&D, embeds the technology in applications where the value goes beyond $$ and later we all get Teflon-coated frying pans or integrated circuits in our computers or .... all kinds of stuff.
Posted by: too true ||
04/02/2005 21:02 Comments ||
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#2
Ahem, you might have noticed that gasoline stations are closing all over the country.
(a) There cannot be Jihad without petrodollars.
(b) A journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step.
Taking a chapter from the "Insurgents Guide For Dummies: How To Win Customers and Influence Gov't Policy By Blowing Stuff Up And Generally Making An Ass Of Yourself," with bonus companion volume: "People Unclear On The Concept," available at an anarchist's book fair near you.
Motto: Nothing says "fine French wine" better than the smoldering rubble of the Forestry Ministry.
used the explosives in protest at the diminishing market for their wines and at the government's offer of aid, considered insufficient to ease the industry's crisis. No-one was injured in the attacks, which caused extensive damage to the regional headquarters of the forestry and agriculture ministry in Montpellier and at its Carcassonne branch. A car belonging to the agriculture authorities in Nimes was set alight in front of their offices. The letters CRAV were scrawled on the walls of the buildings targeted in the attacks. The agriculture minister, Dominique Bussereau, travelled to the sites of the bombings yesterday, saying he "vigorously condemned" the attacks carried out by "a few isolated individuals who are seriously damaging the efforts of an entire profession".
"Winemaking is a peaceful occupation. This was the work of a tiny minority of deviants. These ruffians are not following in the correct teachings of the profit Oenovin (vsop). And I deeply resent anyone who sez different."
It is not the first time CRAV has resorted to violence. On 7 March the group claimed responsibility for bomb attacks at three sites, including the warehouses of Domaine La Baume, which is owned by France's largest wine exporter, Les GrandsChais de France. It is thought the attack was aimed at the perceived power of global wine companies compared with smaller operators.
"Global" = "Jooos", I'd wager.
Police at the time also found several unexploded sticks of dynamite at a neighbouring winery, Domaines de Virginie, part of the Castel Group, which owns Oddbins. On 8 March a protest by 7,000 angry producers in Montpellier turned violent when a policeman was knocked off his scooter and injured. Protesters then set fire to the scooter before running away. Six hundred riot police were called in to control the demonstrators.
Seven thousand wine producers? Or a rent-a-mob?
Although union representatives have launched negotiations with Mr Bussereau, they have called another protest for 20 April in Narbonne.
"Brothers and sisters of the vine, UNITE!"
CRAV's violent protests have regularly been officially condemned by the wine producing industry. Yesterday Denis Moreno, vice-president of the Federation of Wine Producers of Herault, criticised the attacks, saying he "regretted this type of action, which does not serve the cause of the wine industry".
"They've been agitating quietly behind the scenes for years, but we never thought it would come to this. We'll have to reach out to them, start a dialogue, perhaps even a panneau de ruban bleu. If all else fails we'll take it to the EU Deputy Assistant Associate Underminister for Comestibles (Beaujolais, Valpollicelli, and Yogurt Division.)"
Wine exports from the Languedoc-Roussillon region fell last year by seven per cent in volume and by 6.8 per cent in value. The region has been particularly hard-hit by the current crisis industry, which is suffering from overproduction, a sharp drop in domestic consumption and aggressive competition from New World wines, which overtook French wines on global export markets in 2003. A fifth of wine exported worldwide comes from France but wines from Argentina, Chile, the United States, South Africa and Australia now account for 23 per cent of international wine business. Another major problem facing the French wine industry is that the French themselves are drinking less wine. Wine sales have dropped by 20 per cent since 1980.
Posted by: seafarious ||
04/02/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
...the French themselves are drinking less wine.
Their population is becoming increasingly muslim, who don't drink. Effect, meet cause.
#2
The problem is 2 fold. Too many French vineyards/to many grapes. The quality of a large amount of this wine is ordinary to poor. The market reacts to that. In the US the vineyards are ripped out and a new crop is put in it's place. France can't react in as flexible a fashion. Economic displacment isn't acceptable to the small time French vintner as it is in small time the new world ag business man/farmer.
These jokers are unionized for god sakes. So the booming is typical union goonery.
#3
The Languedoc-Roussillon produces mainly table-wine: low-end wine for drinking at ordinary meals. The French drink less and less of that kind of stuff. They drink far less alcohol than in the sixties. Take more of their alcohol in form of hard liquors (mainly whisky) and when they drink wine it tends to be quality wine in special occasions. People having (ordinary) wine at every meal are dwindling in numbers specially between young.
The reduction in alcohol increase started n the sixties and had nothing to do with muslims. For one side governement was taking measures both in the school system, in regulation, taxation of alcoholic beverages and propaganda for dicouraging people of drinking.
In another side the exposure to american way of life through TV killed some of the French models of alcohol consumption: the small glass of white wine at mid-morning has virtually disappeared and of course, the american way of life brought soft-drinks and the hated Coca-Cola.
Yeesh. What a bunch of pikers. Even their "protestors" are lazy and ineffective.
American protestors would have set fire to a couple of police cars. No wonder they hate are jealous of us - even our protestors are better than theirs.
Maybe they need to hire some American "protestors" to show them how to do it right. The MoveOn Moore-On crowd's not busy right now; I'll bet they'd take the gig.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/02/2005 9:33 Comments ||
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#6
Well, if you want dramatic protests, I hear the Koreans are the champs.
Posted by: James ||
04/02/2005 10:06 Comments ||
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#11
They're on the right track... the only way I would drink French wine anymore is if someone held a gun on me.
Posted by: DO ||
04/02/2005 13:43 Comments ||
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#12
The small producers want it both ways: They own their land and other facilities and are therefore capitalists and want to remain such. At the same time, their product is obsolete, over-abundant, and uncompetitive, and they demand socialist-style subsidies and special protection for their livelihood. You can't really have it both ways, they are either in business or they are on the dole. If the latter, there are more efficient ways to handle it.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
