Obama links Chrysler aid to Fiat (Updated)

BREAKING NEWS:For Chrysler, America’s third biggest car manufacturer, the clock is ticking. The Obama administration has told the deeply troubled automaker it has 30 days of financial aid in which to complete its proposed deal for an alliance with Italy’s Fiat. And Chrysler has responded that it has reached an agreement on a framework of a global alliance with Fiat.Chrysler’s troubles worsened

Here is The People of Freedom

The three-day founding congress, with about 6,000 delegates gathered in Rome to baptize the Il Popolo della Libertà (People of Freedom) party, the new conservative party which is a merger of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the rightwing Alleanza Nazionale, is over. It’s an important event, but not an absolute novelty, since the two parties ran together and won under the PDL label in last year’s

SMS Venice

SMS Venice (Saint Mark’s Square) is a campaign launched last year and aimed to help save Venice’s art heritage by receiving SMS and Internet funding. This year’s goals are to restore the city’s famed Rialto Bridge and three historic churches: San Giorgio Maggiore, San Giuseppe and the Chiesa dei Gesuiti, as well as the Scuola di San Rocco with its famed Tintoretto paintings.The fund raising

Harvard researchers agree with Pope Benedict on condoms in Africa

Well, I know, this is a minefield, but shouldn’t blogging be, in itself, a continuous challenge to prevailing views of what is worth debating and how (with what purposes and inclinations) it should be debated, of what is arguable and what is not, and so on? So, here we go and let’s strike a blow for a man who dared to say that “the scourge [of AIDS] cannot be resolved by distributing condoms,”

Doctor in mid-surgery heart scare

Claudio Vitale, a 59-year-old brain surgeon, was carrying out a delicate operation to remove a brain tumour in a Hospital in Naples, Italy, when he began having chest pains. Well, even when he realized, some minutes later, that he was having an angina attack, he refused to stop the surgery, despite his team’s urging and the pain worsening. “I couldn’t leave the patient at such a delicate moment

Together around Mary

Today is the Fest of Annunciation, that is the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus, by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God. In the occasion Lebanon’s government launches a joint Christian-Muslim celebration in honor of Mary, who is venerated in both communities: the first “Islamic-Christian Day.” “Together around Mary, Our Lady,” is the title chosen

Twice a year, the miracle ...

Holy Trinity Church in Barsham, Suffolk, England: it is not a scene from an Indiana Jones film, but a stirring piece of visual synchronicity that dates back to the 1300s, when a narrow window was built in the church tower … At the spring and autumn equinox, the setting sun hits the window and illuminates a carving of Christ on the Cross for a few unforgettable minutes. This spectacle was only

What A Wonderful World

I see trees of green, red roses too.
I see them bloom, for me and you.
And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white.
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...

The Louis Armstrong classic “What A Wonderful World” was the song with which Eva Cassidy closed the set in her final public performance, on

Islam and the West: lines of demarcation

Some twenty days ago, in a post about the Crusades, I recalled the black legend according to which the Crusades were “Holy Wars” (and as such, by consequence, the antecedents of every religious and ideological wars), and the Crusaders themselves were ruthless, blood-thirsty fanatics. I also observed how today, in the Western countries, that black legend, imbued with a collective sense of guilt,

Springtime

“ The spring over there takes you by the throat, the flowers blooming by the thousands over white walls. If you strolled around for an hour in the hills surrounding my town, you would return with the odor of honey in your clothes. ”—Albert Camus, The Misunderstanding (Le Malentendu), act 2, sc. 1.

Twitter's the fastest-growing social-networking service

Twitter “is growing really, really, really, really fast,” according to Nielsen. A new survey about the five fastest growing “member community destinations” in the U.S. reveals that Twitter is at the top: from February 2008 to February 2009, it clocked in at a whopping 1,382 percent growth rate …

'Why the GOP Can’t Win With Minorities'

Just a quick post to thank Tom for linking to a very interesting and insightful article by Shelby Steele (and to follow his example). Tom is absolutely right: this piece is worth reading “regardless of your political orientation.” Shelby Steele is an award-winning author, columnist, documentary film maker, and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He, as well as

Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you

You think this is just another day in your life.It’s not just another day. It’s the one day that is given to you today.It’s given to you. It’s a gift.Yet another amazing video (thanks: Emmanuelle). The voice is that of Br. David Steindl Rast, a Benedictine monk who has been regarded as Thomas Merton’s successor in the Christian contemplative tradition, and whose books have been translated into

For a better understanding of Obama’s policy on human cloning

There has been considerable discussion over the last week in the media and the blogosphere about President Obama’s decision to reverse George W Bush’s policy of denying federal funding to stem-cell research that requires killing human embryos. Expectedly, Obama has been praised and criticized in equal measure, mostly depending on whether the “judges” were Republicans (especially religious

Schismatic Bishops, Holocaust Denial and Christian-Jewish Relations

Fr John McDade SJ, Principal of Heythrop College, University of London, on schismatic bishops, holocaust denial and the Church’s understanding of Christian-Jewish relations (thanks: Anna Arco). Here is how he concludes: Modern Christians have inherited a version of Christianity in which there has been a negative relationship to Judaism […]. A considerably darker legacy is the hate-filled

500 Years of Female Portraits

“500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art”—nominated as Most Creative Video at the 2nd Annual YouTube Awards—is an awesome video, submitted by Philip Scott Johnson on April 22, 2007, but I discovered it only now (thanks to my wonderful friend Sandra), and I am more than glad to share it with my readers.Be prepared to have an amazing viewing experience and to enjoy La Scapigliata (The Lady of

Waiting for the Etonians

At The First Post Oliver Kamm reviews Nick Cohen’s new book, Waiting for the Etonians: Reports from the Sickbed of Liberal England. Nick Cohen is the author of What’s Left?, which has been one of the most powerful denunciations of the manner in which the Left has lost its way (and I loved it for that).

Which is the best Islamic state?

Has Sweden become the best Islamic state? What is certain is that Muslim influence is growing over there, Pamela Geller reports. But Pamela has something to say about Denmark, too, whose disintegrating social conditions in urban areas are under everybody’s eyes. See also: Islam in Europe  and Alamo City Pundit.

'Wrong You Are, If You Think You’re Right'

Luigi Pirandello’s classic, “Right You Are, If You Think You Are,” is the leitmotif of a thoughtful and insightful post by Roger L. Simon at Pajamasmedia.com. The famous play, he says, “came immediately to mind when I read the results of the new Rasmussen poll reporting 53% of Americans see our country headed for a Depression similar to the 1930s.” Now, he continues, “the question is whether

Look, Mr. President, priority No. 1 is to create jobs!

“Forget Rush Limbaugh,” writes Patrick O’Connor, in fact “for all the focus on the king of conservative talk, Democrats may have found a more important villain in House Minority Whip Eric Cantor.” And here is why (via Gateway Pundit):House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) seized on the opportunity to criticize the president Tuesday for over-reaching in his first 50 days on the job.Following the

Embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning

Melissa Clouthier has some important clarifications on President Barack Obama reversing of Bush Administration’s restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. Yet, there must be something in that piece I wasn’t able to understand. It’s when she quotes Katherine Jean Lopez :[A]s Katherine Jean Lopez notes, “Notice the qualifier. Cloning is fine for research — ‘therapeutic cloning.’ In other words,

Dalai Lama's statement on the 50th anniversary of Uprising Day

Here are some excerpts from the Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day:Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the Tibetan people's peaceful uprising against Communist China's repression in Tibet. Since last March, widespread peaceful protests have erupted across the whole of Tibet. Most of the participants were youths born and

Those rose-colored glasses of embryonic stem cell dogma

President Obama, they say, is determined to insulate scientific decisions across the federal government from political influence, and “to use sound scientific practice, responsible practice of science and evidence, instead of dogma in developing federal policy.” But what about if, for instance, among the “dogmas”—or “principles,” as someone might prefer to call them—there is one, called respect

Italy's stimulus spending

In 2008 the Italian economy contracted 1.0 per cent, its worst showing since 1975, and last Wednesday the Bank of Italy predicted that the economy would likely shrink by 2.6 per cent this year. There is absolutely nothing to be happy about, but, as common sense suggests, if there is something that can make things even worse, it is to paint this crisis as a tragedy, and that is exactly what the

A bridge to the future?

Italy’s government has revived plans to build the Strait of Messina bridge, linking Sicily to the mainland. The single-span suspension bridge, with a central span of 3,300 m (about 2 miles), would be the longest in the world. The project is part of a massive 17.8bn-euro public works program to create new jobs and boost the economy.

Italy’s Foreign minister delays Iran visit

In light of the “unacceptable statements” made by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “against the state of Israel and the American administration,” Italy Foreign minister Franco Frattini has delayed a visit to Tehran. Yesterday Ali Khamenei described Israel as a “cancerous tumor,” and criticized Washington’s “unconditional support” for Israel. He also said that the Holocaust was used

Italy pulls out of UN racism conference

Soon after Israel, Canada and the United States, Italy decided today to withdraw its delegation from the preparatory negotiations ahead of the upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism known as the Durban Review Conference, which is a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.The conference is due to take place

The mistery of Fr. Giussani

Today Communion and Liberation, the movement founded by Fr. Luigi Giussani, is present in more than 70 countries. There are about 100,000 people belonging to the Fraternity. Then there are the members of Memores Domini (men and women under vows), the priests of the Fraternity of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, the Sisters of Charity of the Assumption, and the Companionship of Works

'Pope Ratzinger’s solitude'

Italian vaticanist Luigi Accattoli has written a very interesting piece, “La solitudine di Ratzinger” (“Pope Ratzinger’s solitude”), published today in Liberal. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf has had the great idea of providing an English translation of it on his What Does The Prayer Really Say? If you don’t know Luigi Accattoli yet, just read the article and you will understand why he is one of my favorite

The Crusades: myth and reality

The following post is a very modest attempt to pay tribute to one of the most controversial issues in Western intellectual history. Thanks to Steven, who wrote some very interesting posts on this subject, making me willing to tackle this admittedly difficult task.While the events known as “Crusades” remain one of the most misinterpreted aspects of medieval history, “Crusades” and “Crusaders” are