Those solemn men in robes who tell women what to do with their wombs but have proven beyond a doubt that they are incapable of telling their priests what they can’t do with their willies, are still at it. I speak, of course, of that bastion of hypocrisy and perversion — the Roman Catholic Church. Herewith a round-up: VATICAN URGED IRISH CHURCH TO LAY OFF My late father’s side of the family...

What does the emergence of a man like Norway’s mass killer and self-professed Tempar Knight Anders Breivik mean? This editorial from Germany’s Berliner Morgenpost outlines the striking similarities between two men that would appear at first glance to be polar opposites. The editorial from Germany’s Berliner Morgenpost says in part: Although he calls himself a Knight Templar, killing and...

As the United States nears the August 2 deadline for raising its astronomical debt ceiling, much of the world is watching with dismay. Frankfurter Rundschau columnist Thomas Spang writes that Tea Party lawmakers are close to achieving what America’s enemies ‘have only dreamed of.’ For Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, Thomas Spang writes in part: Not even warnings from the [financial...

On Monday 25 July 2011, conservative commentator Glenn Beck compared the Norwegian youth killed on Friday with Hitler’s youth camps. “As the thing started to unfold and there was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler Youth. Who does a camp for kids that”s all about politics? Disturbing,” Beck said. [Listen to the first minute of his show.] The analogy...

Politicians have been invoking the name of God since forever, but in an era when a substantial portion of the Republican base is hard-core Christianist — true believers who openly disparage Islam and other faiths — the practice has become particularly tiresome. And troublesome when you consider the number of homegrown incidents in which Christianists have backed up their beliefs with deadly firearm...

Dear Souls of Norway: I looked for a picture of something of Norway and her people that might represent this time. I found this picture of a beautiful Norway Pine, one who is limber and leans to the side, and yet remains strong. Like you. This tree belonging to you, is literally called “weeping Norway spruce,” like our “weeping willow” trees here in the USA are named too, for their green...

Was this tragedy waiting to happen? Are Anders Behring Breivik’s murders another brutal manifestation of the hysteria that started building up post 9/11? George W. Bush and his team in the White House began an era of hatred and revenge, and have added enough fuel to create confusion and fire to last a few decades. We can still see widespread smoke, if not flames, in the West and elsewhere. Was the fire...

As we have seen occur repeatedly over the weekend, the tragedy in Norway sparked a deluge of premature accusations, finger pointing and instant analyses—sometimes followed by retractions and apologies, sometimes not—as journalists and bloggers blamed Islamic militants, religious groups and even “leftist” political thought, movements and parties for the carnage in Norway. Once it became...

When New York’s law allowing same sex marriages goes into effect this weekend, a host of civil benefits and legal protection will become available to the newly married couples—except for members of the U.S. military. Why? Well, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) “prohibits military officials from granting medical coverage, housing allowances and a host of other married-couple benefits to same-sex...

The scariest reaction to economic despondency and fear of immigrants is starting to happen in Europe. It has struck with ruthless shock and awe in a country that is among the continent’s most homogeneous. The killings by an over six-foot blond Norwegian using the automatic weapons and fertilizer bombs favored by self-motivated terrorists have sent a message that rigid beliefs are not the province only...

Today’s headlines on the Pentagon being set to certify that it is ready to end “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell,” remind me of a recent column written by Michael Smerconish at the Philadelphia Enquirer. At the time I read the Smerconish column, I said to myself, “Wow, I could have written this myself—perhaps even better than Smerconish.” Now, do not get me wrong, I am no Michael Smerconish—I...

UPDATE: The New York Times: After the shooting the police seized a 32-year-old Norwegian man on the island, according to the police and Justice Minister Knut Storberget. He was later identified as Anders Behring Breivik and was characterized by officials as a right-wing extremist. The man was arrested in connection with both attacks. CNN: [Update: 10:20 p.m. ET, 4:20 a.m. Oslo] At least 80 people are dead as...

The Los Angeles Times reports that: Pentagon officials will announce Friday that the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military can be lifted without harming military readiness, a step that will likely bring the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to an end in September, two Defense officials said, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the...

Damning evidence has been surfacing during the past decades revealing how different US administrations have been looking the other way despite Pakistan military establishment’s open role in supplying nuclear know-how to rogue regimes. Now A.Q. Khan, the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb program, asserts that the government of North Korea bribed top military officials in Islamabad to obtain access to...

It is time to celebrate – that is, unless you are the ‘Great Satan’ or any other devil in human form. Because today is the birthday of the Mahdi, also known as the Muslim Messiah. And according to Iran’s state-run Kayhan, it’s time to prepare ourselves for his return. Kayhan columnist Seyyed Ali Shahbaz informs us of the Mahdi’s imminent arrival – along with Jesus...

Its grasslands have absorbed too much blood. Its winds have carried away too many sounds of interethnic, religious and civil warfare and strife in which more than 2 million people have been killed and more than 5 million have become internally and externally displaced. Its tropical forests have witnessed too much grief and violence. But while its past is troubled and its future uncertain, yesterday the...

Banning Circumcision is Simply Banning Judaism by Yaakov Kirschen A bill to ban circumcision of all males under the age of 18 will be on the ballot in San Francisco this November. This is alarming because circumcision of all males is the single most basic ritual of Judaism. Banning circumcision is a direct attack on the practice of Judaism, even if it is presented as having other motives. In fact, history shows...

Pakistani frustration and resentment continued to mushroom yesterday, when, due to its displeasure with a lack of Pakistani cooperation, the U.S. announced a cut of $800 million in aid to Islamabad. According to this editorial from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, U.S. aid has brought the country nothing but misery and insecurity, and in any case, amounts to much less than Washington claims. The Frontier Post...

This via my partner Steve Hynd over at Newshoogers. —————————————– Wondering what the agenda for Gov. Rick Perry’s “The Response” prayer rally is? Look no further, here are the answers: Via Rightwing Watch, the video: consists of the invitation Gov. Perry recorded asking people to attend his rally interspersed...

Could it be that after years of protecting Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, also known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Islamabad may be preparing to prosecute him for providing nuclear technology to rogue states? According to this editorial from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, a letter allegedly passed on by Dr. Khan to a British researcher may be a CIA forgery. If genuine, however, the document...

The only difference is that nobody’s shooting: the secessionism is the same. Just ask the citizens of Minnesota. The free “Right Wing Doonesbury” doesn’t even bother with humor on July 1. “When the just say ‘no’”??!? Paranoid marxo-nazi fantasies are “just”??? But forget the idiocy of an unfunny comic strip predicated on “attractive young adults”...

For the 4th of July weekend, On Being’s Krista Tippett replayed a 2003 interview with author and philosopher Jacob Needleman. They discussed his book, The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders. The program was titled, The Inward Work of Democracy. From the transcript: Mr. Jacob Needleman: What’s interesting about [Frederick] Douglass, why he should be an icon for all Americans,...

Are the Muslim uprisings a result of Arab distaste for the United States and Israel? According to this news item from Iran’s state-run Kayhan, Iran’s leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has made the unlikely claim that while most of the Muslim uprisings are against the U.S. and Israel – the uprising in Syria is a plot instigated by the ‘Global Arrogance.’ The news item from...

Is it reasonable to assert, as President Obama did the other day, that, the ‘wave of war is receding’? According to this editorial from Brazil’s Estadao, while the last few years have proven the ‘folly’ of Bush’s ‘war against terrorists,’ President Obama’s belief that the ‘tide of war’ is receding may well turn out to be just as far fetched. The...

Is President Obama’s decision to follow through with plans to withdraw from Afghanistan just a misbegotten election-year ploy? According to columnist Andreas Ruesch of Switzerland’s Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Mr. Obama has sent the Taliban the wrong message at precisely the wrong time, apparently for strictly electoral purposes. For Switzerland’s Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Andreas Ruesch writes in...