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January 31, 2007
Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:59 pm (GMT -5)
The Ratzinger Code? Pope uses Dan Brown’s publisher
Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:26pm ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2007-01-30T202633Z_01_KIM073528_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-BOOK-CODE.xml&archived=False
By Phil Stewart
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - If Pope Benedict hopes his first book will sell like Dan Brown’s "The Da Vinci Code," he wound up with the right U.S. publisher.
Doubleday, the company that sold Brown’s book about Jesus fathering children — which the Vatican branded as blasphemous — is also handling the American market for Benedict’s book about the life of Christ.
The Vatican’s publisher distanced itself from the decision-making process in a statement on Tuesday, but Italian media still poked fun at the choice of Doubleday.
Only last year, a Vatican cardinal threatened legal action as the book was turned into a Hollywood blockbuster, staring Tom Hanks. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now Vatican secretary of state, called it a "sack full of lies" and called for a boycott.
Il Giornale newspaper jokingly declared in a front-page story that the Pope, former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was now about to put out a "’Ratzinger Code’" of his own.
BUSINESS ACUMEN
The reality may be more the stuff of business acumen than intrigue
The Vatican sold worldwide distribution rights to Italy’s Rizzoli which "independently" awarded Doubleday the U.S. rights, the Vatican’s publishing house said.
Doubleday, it noted, had published a book by Pope John Paul and other Catholic works.
Benedict’s book, "Jesus of Nazareth," is meant to be a personal, historical-theological analysis of Jesus as the central figure of the Christian faith.
The first volume of the book will cover the life of Christ from his baptism in the River Jordan as a young man to the Transfiguration, when the gospel says three of his apostles saw his divine nature and had visions of Moses and Elijah.
Dan Brown’s book is an international murder mystery centered on attempts to uncover a secret about the life of Christ that a clandestine society has tried to protect for centuries.
The central tenet of the book, which has sold more than 40 million copies, is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved
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Fiat Pax
Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back
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The Holy Spirit does a work within the believer whereby He sanctifies us. This is an experience within the Christian.
The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “ . . . you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).
Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back
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Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:15 pm (GMT -5)
Several states have already made this manditory…It is a STD!
Merck lobbies states to require cervical-cancer vaccine for girls
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press Writer
January 30, 2007, 6:06 PM EST
AUSTIN, Texas — Merck & Co. is helping bankroll efforts to pass state laws requiring girls as young as 11 or 12 to receive the drugmaker’s new vaccine against the sexually transmitted cervical-cancer virus.
Some conservatives and parents’-rights groups say such a requirement would encourage premarital sex and interfere with the way they raise their children, and they say Merck’s push for such laws is underhanded. But the company said its lobbying efforts have been aboveboard.
With at least 18 states debating whether to require Merck’s Gardasil vaccine for schoolgirls, Merck has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.
A top official from Merck’s vaccine division sits on Women in Government’s business council, and many of the bills around the country have been introduced by members of Women in Government.
"Cervical cancer is of particular interest to our members because it represents the first opportunity that we have to actually eliminate a cancer," Women in Government President Susan Crosby said.
Gardasil, approved by the federal government in June, protects girls and women against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. A government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.
But no state has yet to add Gardasil to the list of vaccinations youngsters must have under law to be enrolled in school.
The vaccine has found support among some Connecticut lawmakers.
Connecticut state Rep. DebraLee Hovey, R-Monroe, has introduced a bill that would require all girls in Connecticut to receive an HPV shot.
Hovey said Tuesday that she favors the vaccine because it will save lives, not because of Merck. She said other companies are awaiting approval for their HPV vaccines. She also said she has never received a campaign contribution from Merck.
"I look at this as an opportunity to protect my constituents," said Hovey, a breast cancer survivor in her third term in the legislature. "I find it really distressing that there’s this tendency to be so cynical about all of this."
Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the company is spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in Government. Crosby also declined to specify how much the drug company gave.
But Skidmore said: "We disclosed the fact that we provide funding to this organization. We’re not in any way trying to obscure that."
The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil _ at $360 for the three-shot regimen _ were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious side effects.
Cathie Adams, president of the conservative watchdog group Texas Eagle Forum, said the relationship between Merck and Women in Government is too cozy.
"What it does is benefit the pharmaceutical companies, and I don’t want pharmaceutical companies taking precedence over the authorities of parents," she said.
Adams said Merck’s method of lobbying quietly through groups like Women in Government in addition to meeting directly with legislators are common in state government but still should raise eyebrows. "It’s corrupt as far as I’m concerned," she said.
A mandatory vaccine against a sexually transmitted disease could be a tough sell in the Lone Star State and other conservative strongholds, where schools preach abstinence and parents’ rights are sacrosanct.
But Merck has doubled its spending on lobbyists in Texas this year, to between $150,000 and $250,000, as lawmakers consider the vaccine bill for girls entering the sixth grade.
Also, the drugmaker has hired one of the state’s most powerful lobbyists, Mike Toomey, who once served as Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s chief of staff and can influence conservatives who see him as one of their own.
"What we support are approaches that achieve high immunization rates," said Skidmore, the Merck spokeswoman. "We’re talking about cervical cancer here, the second-leading cancer among women worldwide."
The legislation already has the enthusiastic support of the conservative governor.
"I look at this no different than vaccinating our children for polio," Perry said. "If there are diseases in our society that are going to cost us large amounts of money, it just makes good economic sense, not to mention the health and well being of these individuals to have those vaccines available."
Proposals for mandates have popped up from California to Connecticut since the first piece of legislation was introduced in September in Michigan. Michigan’s bill was narrowly defeated last month. Lawmakers said the requirement would intrude on families’ privacy, even though, as in most states’ proposals, parents could opt out.
Even with such opt-out provisions, mandates take away parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children, said Linda Klepacki of the Colorado-based evangelical organization Focus on the Family. The group contends the vaccine should be available for parents who want it, but not forced on those who don’t.
But Texas Rep. Jessica Farrar said her proposal is aimed at protecting children whose parents are less informed about or less interested in preventive care.
"Not everybody has equal sets of parents," said Farrar, a Houston Democrat who had precancerous cells removed from her cervix several years ago. "I think this is a public health issue and to not want to eradicate cervical cancer is irresponsible."
Drug-industry analyst Steve Brozak of W.B.B. Securities has projected Gardasil sales of at least $1 billion per year _ and billions more if states start requiring the vaccine. "I could not think of a bigger boost," he said.
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Associated Press Writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back
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On Living the Liturgy
Catholic Online, CA - 21 minutes ago
The great guidelines of the spirituality of ordinary time are marked by the double ferial lectionary: the lectionary of the Eucharist and the biennial …
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Original post by spirituality - Google News and software by Elliott Back
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On Living the Liturgy
Zenit News Agency, Italy - 19 minutes ago
The great guidelines of the spirituality of ordinary time are marked by the double ferial lectionary: the lectionary of the Eucharist and the biennial …
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Original post by spirituality - Google News and software by Elliott Back
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Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:26 pm (GMT -5)
Catholic News Agency
No vote, no communion, says Catholic bishop
Nigerian bulletin says voting a civic responsibility and a sacred duty
Abuja, Jan 17, 2007 / 12:07 pm (CNA).- A Catholic Bishop in Nigeria is attempting to emphasize the importance of civic duties by has instructing parishioners to show they have registered to vote in the Aprils elections or be banned from communion.
According to several news sources, Bishop Francis Okobo, who oversees the diocese of Nsukka in the southeastern state of Enugu, authorized the circulation of a bulletin in Catholic churches on Sunday telling the faithful that they had to make their vote count in this year’s elections.
Parishioners were told not to be put off by the outcome of past elections in which the votes of the people did not count because of massive vote rigging.
“Whoever has not collected the voter’s card after February 7 has automatically alienated himself or herself from the community, the Church, the nation and will not be allowed to receive the Holy Communion,” the bulletin said according to This Day.
Nigerians are due to elect their president, state governors and lawmakers in elections that should mark the first ever handover from one democratic government to another in Africa’s most populous nation and biggest oil producer.
“You might have often heard … that the election has been concluded, that your votes will not count and that you will definitely be wasting your precious time if you go out to vote,” the bulletin from the Nsukka diocese was quoted as saying.
“The Catholic Secretariat of Nsukka wishes to inform you that (this is) calculated political propaganda aimed at creating despondency in you so that they will steal away an unmerited victory. You are reminded and requested to quickly get yourselves registered, if you have not done that, because it is your civic responsibility and a sacred duty.”
The news comes as others in Nigeria, such as students, face severe sanctions if they do not revalidate their voters’ cards. Governor Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State, has said students of voting age could have their education terminated and civil servants who fail to register will not be paid a salary in January.
Diocese spokesman Father Obiora Ike told BBC News that Bishop Okobo is a firm believer that civic duties and faith go hand-in-hand. “It is not enough to go to church and ignore your civic duties. Both go together and the church will be failing in her duties if she failed to emphasize that,” he said. “We believe that a good Christian must also be a good citizen.
He said the bishop’s directive became necessary due to “a noticeable lack of interest in politics” among members of the parishioners.
“The bishop is not only a firm believer in good Christian values, but he’s also a firm believer in good citizenship and a good citizen must honor his or her civic obligations,” Fr Obiora told the BBC.
“What we are doing is using religion as a tool for social mobilization. We are trying to make our parishioners realize that they cannot hold a government they did not vote in to account.
“So, we are enlightening our congregation to register so that they can vote. We believe that people who are aware make good choices.”
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http://z10.invisionfree.com/ignis_ardens
Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back
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Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:21 pm (GMT -5)
Chávez to rule per autocratic decree
Wednesday 31 January 2007 at 19:47 European Central Time
CARACAS (ANP) - The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez will rule per autocratic decree during the coming 18 months. The parliament in Caracas, the Venezolean capital, agreed to a special law, declaring the parliament inactive and out of function for 18 months, last Wednesday during its last session.
By this law Chávez, in power since 1999, can continue unhindered with his so-called "Democratic Revolution" which consists of controversial social reforms, nationalisations and confiscations of companies in eleven industrial sectors, like the financial, ICT and energy sectors of economy.
A lot of opposition exists against the new law among the oppositional parties in parliament. They say Chávez now received dictatorial powers. Venezuela is the third largest oil export country of the world. The parliamentary vote last Wednesday was a political and populist show in the style of Chávez. The vote took place in the open air at a central Plaza of Caracas.
Strikes
Chávez, speaking Wednesday of the "mother of all Laws", received a like power in 2001 by which he empowered tens of special laws during that year. They touched agricultural soil use, land redistribution, fishing and production of gaz. The special laws started months of strikes and protests by the opposition.
The United States are very concerned over the policy of president Chávez. Chávez himself irritates the USA by all possible means, for instance by organising Anti-USA demonstrations, by declaring George Bush is diabolical and by receiving archenemies of the United States, like Cuban president Castro and the Iranian president Ahmadinejad.
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Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.
Original post by mattpruett@beulahbaptistonline.org (Beulah Baptist Church) and software by Elliott Back
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