Pope Benedict XVI refused a meeting request from Condoleezza Rice to meet this past August and discuss issues pertaining to Iraq and the Middle East in general. While the Vatican has said the Pope typically doesn’t receive visitors during the August holidays, one major Italian newspaper declared the meeting denial a snub against the Bush administration for two reasons.

The first reason is that back in March 2003 — just before the Iraq war began — Rice met with a special papal envoy from Rome and told them that the Bush administration didn’t care about the views of the late Pope John Paul II on the immorality of its planned military actions in Iraq.

The second reason is that the US has responded to a Vatican matter regarding the protection of Iraqi Christians under the new Iraqi constitution in an “unacceptable” fashion.

I for one think this is just awesome. Whether intentional or not, Pope Benedict has illustrated that the Bush administration cannot get whatever it wants and that there are individuals out there with the ability to keep the Bush administration in check, since the current lackluster U.S. Congress is unable to do so. I hope the Pope keeps a firm stand on this, and makes the Bush administration show some accountability for its actions for giving it the privilege of his presence.

Earlier this month Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo reiterated that the way to stop a terrorist attack from occurring in the U.S. is by attacking the holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia as retaliation. The Colorado Republican added that this was the only thing he could think of that could prevent somebody from doing what they may otherwise do.

“If it is up to me, we are going to explain that an attack on this homeland of that nature would be followed by an attack on the holy sites in Mecca and Medina. Because that’s the only thing I can think of that might deter somebody from doing what they otherwise might do.”

It doesn’t end there. I say reiterated in the first paragraph because in a 2005 radio address he made similar remarks, claiming that if an attack was determined to be a result of radical Islam that one could “take out their holy sites.”

“Well, what if you said something like — if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, um, you know, you could take out their holy sites.”

This is a great example of the abhorrent leadership that is percolating throughout the United States currently. On the right you have innumerable conservatives pushing the anti-terror, pro-war agenda and trying to make us live in fear so that we may cede unprecedented control of our lives over to Bush and Co. And on the left you have unaccountable idiocrats who have had so many opportunities to halt the runaway Neo-Con train and have failed miserably time after time.

I don’t feel it prudent to delve into the logic behind why attacking Islam’s holiest sites is a bad idea, as this should be well beyond self-evident, but if for some reason you are lacking in reason let me know and I’ll be happy to revisit this.

We’re all aware of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. But how do those apply to everyday life? Well, through a series of interconnectivity we are able to distinguish certain things in our lives that are actually derived from the seven deadly sins themselves.

Here now are the seven deadly sins and their derivatives:

(click image for full size)

*Image courtesy of accordionguy.blogware.com

A spokesman for the Fatah party of the Palestinian Authority government blamed Iran on Palestinian radio today for deliberately instigating violence in the Gaza Strip between itself and rival governing faction — and terrorist organization — Hamas.

The spokesman, Maher Miqdad, went as far as to say that Iran was sponsoring and actively pushing for a Shi’ite war using Hamas. The goal of such a war would be to eliminate any Sunni influence in Palestine so that Iran can meddle more in their affairs — internally and externally.

Iran is using Hamas to “conduct ethnic cleansing in the Palestinian Territories,” Miqdad was quoted as saying.

This is significant because it is the first such remark I’ve seen where a Palestinian government official is actually denouncing the interference and evil agenda of the current Iranian regime. Always we hear Israel or the US claiming that Iran is spreading violence around the Middle East, but with the credibility that has been lost due to the Iraq war a lot of people don’t seem to listen.

Hopefully stories like this will serve as a uniting force between Western and other Middle Eastern countries against Iran; not militarily, but diplomatically and politically. A war with Iran would not solve any of the current issues that are leading to all of the tension, but rather it would make them worse in the long run. The way to bring down Iran is to unite the world against it and force it to change its behavior or be forced to become another North Korea.

Hundreds of people are flocking to Benoni, a small town east of Johannesburg, South Africa to be blessed by a 17-year-old South African girl who has experienced apparitions of the blessed Virgin Mary around her home. The teenager, Francesca Zackey, first saw the Virgin Mary on May 7, interrupting the family’s meal.

“My brother-in-law asked for an encyclopedia, and as I was replacing the book back, I just smelt the strongest fumes of roses and it just hit me, and I fell to my knees and I started crying the tears of joy,” she said.

Zackey then called her family over and they also smelled roses. She then felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to go to her bedroom, where she saw the Virgin Mary sitting on the right side of her bed.

“She had ice blue eyes, brown hair, long brown hair, and an ice blue cloak. Her hands were open, there was light coming out of her hands,” Zackey said.

At first the teenager was scared by the visions, but then she said she found a strength from the Holy Spirit. In her visions, the mother of Jesus Christ called on Zackey to write a book documenting her vision and to start a youth group.

“She said to me that she wants people to pray with their hearts. She said: ‘I want you to open your house for seven days and I want you to put statues where I have been,”‘.

To date, Zackey has had 20 apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Each site where she has seen her is marked with candles, idols of Mary and roses.

One pilgrim who made the trip to visit Zackey is Theresa Skosana. Upon having Zackey’s hands placed on her chest, Skosana fell to the ground. Zackey then held a hand above Skosana’s head as the 53-year-old woman trembled, winced and clenched her fist. Zackey’s family members and others gathered in the room to recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary. After completion of the prayers, Skosana arose to her feet. This scenario has repeated itself numerous times with other pilgrims.

In a world where atheism is on the rise and religious conflict is rampant, it is ever comforting to have another sign from the Heavens that God is watching over us all with His Son Jesus Christ and that He cares deeply for us. There have been countless apparitions like this throughout history, with perhaps the most famous being the Virgin of Guadalupe.

In a phone interview from the medical wing of her Los Angeles jail on Sunday Paris Hilton told Barbara Walters that she has found God and that she’s not the same person she used to be. She claimed that her reckless behavior and sexual scandalousness was all an act, and that the act was no longer cute and it was time to shape up and start being a positive role model for young girls around the world who look up to her.

“I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that. I have been thinking that I want to do different things when I am out of here. I have become much more spiritual. God has given me this new chance.”

Hilton added that she feels like destiny has brought her to where she currently resides: a jail cell. She claims that God has released her. “My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that is why I was sent to jail.”

Now we have to take this with a grain of salt and say is this for real? I would be the first one to applaud her if this were true, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see once her prison term expires. We ought to be careful though, as this would be a quick and easy way to get out of what she has done (not from prison itself, but in the minds of the American public).

She claims to be interested in doing work for the fight against breast cancer or multiple sclerosis. I hope she’s not blowing smoke up everyone’s tail pipes and returns to old her old “socialite” ways when she gets out. This is a woman who has an extraordinary amount of potential to do good in the world, probably second behind Angelina Jolie. So here’s to hoping she actually has found God and gets her act together…

Jails in the US have begun a long overdue post-9/11 federal directive to remove all religious texts from their library shelves. The directive, which is intended to “prevent radical religious texts,” specifically seeks to stop Islamic books from being read by violent inmates.

In terms of absurdity, this is right up there with the testimony of Alberto Gonzales. First off, keeping the books out of the hands of “violent inmates,” aren’t prisoners there in the first place because they have acted violently? Secondly, religious books such as the Bible, Torah and Quran primarily preach messages of peace, so to dub them as radical religious texts is absolutely preposterous. Such texts can be a vital part of prisoner rehabilitation, as they are used to minister to new inmates upon arrival.

“The set of books that have been taken out have been ones that we used to minister to new converts when they come in here,” inmate John Okon, speaking on behalf of the prison’s Christian population.

Inmates at the Otisville, New Jersey federal prison camp have filed a lawsuit, claiming that their constitutional rights have been violated. Every religion was targeted.

I for one find this beyond ridiculous. Is this really a crackdown on radical Islam, or is it just another attempt by the government to slowly erode the freedoms enjoyed by Americans, freedom of religion in this case? Obviously efforts at combating Muslim extremists would be better spent overseas, so why the need to go after American citizens?

Vatican security officials wrestled a man to the ground today after he tried jumping into the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Benedict, who is 80-years-old, was uninjured and continued waving to the crowd amid all the commotion. The attacker, who got within one meter of the Pope, is presently being held at the Vatican for questioning.

The man, who wore shorts and a red shirt, jumped over the protective barricades that line the route and hurled himself toward the open-air popemobile. The 20-30 year old man was unarmed and his nationality is unknown at this time.

Benedict’s predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, was the first to use the popemobile, after a failed assassination attempt by a Turkish gunman in 1981, followed by a priest attack with a bayonet a year later. It will be interesting to see what the nationality of this man is. Perhaps it’s just some random whack-job off his rocker, but maybe it could be a further backlash in retaliation for Benedict’s harsh words against Islam last September.

Celebrities often mistakes themselves for politicians, and seem to think that the rest of the world actually cares remotely about what they think on ethical and social issues. The reality is that celebrities are usually famous for reasons that are anything but moral and righteous. Here is yet another instance of such an occurrence.

Gisele Bundchen, one of the most famous supermodels on the planet, joined the birth control and sexual behavior debate in Brazil today, declaring that Catholic church opposition to condom use was “ridiculous” and that a woman should have the right to choose on abortion.

“Today no one is a virgin when they get married … show me someone who’s a virgin!”

Last month Pope Benedict visited the country and outlined the church’s firm opposition to abortion and contraception, in addition to speaking out against sex outside of marriage. Since then Brazil, the world’s largest Catholic country, has been embroiled in debate over sexual issues.

Bundchen claims that when the church made its laws centuries ago women were expected to be virgins. My question is what gives her the authority to speak openly about the historical ideology of the Catholic church? The church’s policies on issues such as pre-marital sex and abortion are longstanding and certainly won’t be changing anytime soon with conservative Pope Benedict at the helm, who was often at odds with the late Pope John Paul II’s efforts to modernize church policies.

Sorry Gisele, I used to like you, but now you’ve become yet another hypocritical celebrity that thinks they can use their star power to influence people into thinking the way you do. I do not know if Gisele herself is a Catholic, so I won’t bother going into a tirade on that, but her boyfriend Tom Brady is a strong self-proclaimed Catholic, which if that holds true this should certainly ruffle some feathers in their relationship.

Although she has a fan base of millions worldwide, she can’t come close to the influence and reach that Pope Benedict has over a billion Catholics around the world. So do yourself and us a favor Gisele, keep your religious views to yourself, nobody else — especially Catholics — wants to hear them.

I really don’t know what to make of this except Neo-Conservative comedy. Last night I posted about a GOP leader wanting more terrorist attacks, now here is a republican who has compiled “God’s hitlist,” a list of people, lifestyle choices, harmful phrases, bands and other things that make God angry.

The level with which this woman is out of touch with reality is simply far too immense to comprehend. First off, she claims that America is God’s homeland. Funny, I always thought Jerusalem was located in Israel/Palestine? Secondly, she claims that you should always vote republican because they are the only party that believes in God and God’s word. So all you Christian democrats who attend church every week, you’re not fooling anybody. Finally, she says if we support Hillary Clinton we surely will end up in hell. Clearly she’s not politically motivated.

I refuse to link back to her site because it is just too outrageous, but if you want to take a look at it you can copy and paste this into your browser: http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/blacklist

Some of the people she lists as damned to hell are Michael Moore, all of the Clintons, Al Gore, Barack Obama, and a whole slew of other democrats. Lifestyle choices she condemns are gays, liberals, environmentalists, Muslims, Vegans, Mormons, Germans, college professors, and get this: Linux users. Phrases that she says upset God because they harm America include: “make love not war,” “universal health care,” “Feminsm,” “guest worker” and more. According to her, some bands that harm God and America are Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dixie Chicks, all hip-hop and every American idol. Finally, some other things that make God angry are the Rutgers’ Women’s Basketball Team and anyone who has ever appeared in, listened to, rented or bought in any form the “musicalâ€? Rent.

If anyone wants to attempt to explain where this neo-con poster-child is coming from I’m all ears. But what’s truly frightening is that people like this women have taken over the power seat in our country and don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon.