The Pope, the Kennedys, and others in the news

Pope Benedict is visiting Turkey. Today's CNN banner reads "When Faiths Collide", which caused Larwyn to comment,

Obviously, CNN foresees quite a positive outcome.
Did they just hire some one from the World Wrestling Federation???

Bearing that in mind, I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot about his speech from last August. Here's my post on the speech; the text of the Pope's speech; and his actual words:
NOT TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH REASON IS CONTRARY TO GOD'S NATURE
Do keep those words in mind while we hear all the propaganda, the insults, and the Pope Rage in Istanbul. As I write the anchorwoman at CNN keeps talking about the Pope making an apology.

Update American Digest looks at the sleep of reason On Advent: "We Are All Lying in the Mud, but Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars"
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Complete with toll-free number: Dial Joe-4-Chavez : Massachusetts Democrats love Venezuela's strongman

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez is an ally of the Iranian mullahs, a supporter of North Korea, a close friend of Fidel Castro and a good customer for Vladimir Putin's weapon factories. Now he's also a business partner of Joseph P. Kennedy II.

The former Democratic Congressman describes the deal he's cooked up with Mr. Chavez as charity for low-income consumers of heating oil. But it's worth asking what the price of this largesse is to Venezuelans and to U.S. security interests.

The arrangement is this: Mr. Chavez's Citgo--a Houston-based oil company owned by the Venezuelan government--is supplying home heating oil to Mr. Kennedy's Citizens Energy Corporation at a 40% discount. Citizens, a nonprofit outfit, says it passes the savings onto the poor, aiming to help 400,000 homes in 16 states that would otherwise have trouble heating their homes. In the process, Mr. Kennedy happens to get a high-profile publicity plug. If you think you qualify, says the television ad that drew our attention to this partnership, just dial 1-877-Joe-4-Oil.

I was slightly ahead of the news curve last week on this.

Jeff Blanco asks,

Are we so far separated from the rest of the world that we don't have a reason to see what's going on around the rest of the world? Is it arrogance? Maybe our nation is too large, we have enough newsworthy events happening here in the United States, to keep our attention off of the rest of the world.

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The grounded imams
Read Jay's post on The Grounded Imams; Stranger Behavior Than Prayers
Update The Flying Imams: acting deliberately and precisely like Muslim terrorists
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The crock that is "shareholder democracy"
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The Old World Marches Again

Bolshevism, Fascism, Nazism, Islamofascism... all simply vehicles for the ancient passions and values of the Old World to re-channel themselves more effectively, so as to destroy the New. The people who developed these ideologies have studied and exploited the weaknesses of the New World, to the point that all of them have seriously threatened it.

The "Eurabia" myth from Ralph Peters has sparked several rebuttals:
Powerline: They Report, You Decide (with update from Mark Steyn)
Steven Warshawsky Europe's Ineradicable Viciousness?
David Pryce-Jones, author of Islam Unveiled, has a new book, Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews. Click on box to purchase

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Today's cat story,
Ziggy the cat's 17-day journey from Israel to UK

'Tis the season
Don't forget to check my Christmas shop - I'm adding new items every day. Today's new item: orchids.



My thanks to Maria and Larwyn!