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Sunday, September 22, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Pope seeks historic easing of rigid Catholic doctrine
Pope Francis has urged a break with the Catholic Church's harsh "obsession" with divorce, gays, contraception and abortion, in an interview signalling a dramatic shift in the Vatican's tone.
The Argentine pope has brought a series of fresh perspectives to the notoriously rigid Church since his election in March, and his latest remarks on some of its key doctrines sent shock waves around the world.
"Revolutionary words", remarked Italy's biggest newspaper Corriere della Sera on Friday, while the International Herald Tribune's front page headline read: "Bluntly, Pope pushes shift in church."
In the 30-page interview published in Jesuit journals on Thursday, the pope urged "mercy" and understanding for those who often feel most discriminated against by the Church.
"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that," Francis said.
The pope said that when these issues were discussed, they had to be put in context.
"The dogmatic and moral teachings of the Church are not all equivalent. The Church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.
"We have to find a new balance. Otherwise even the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."
Francis -- who has shown a strong reformist drive in his first few months in office -- said the Church needed more than anything to be able to "heal wounds".
On homosexuality he said the Church "does not want to" condemn gays, and that "it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person".
The 76-year-old pope stressed that the Church's official position had not changed, but said that it should "always keep in mind the individual".
The interview was published after the pope on Monday called for "another way" of treating divorcees who remarry -- a thorny issue since Catholics who wed a second time are currently not allowed to receive Holy Communion at mass.
In Thursday's interview, he also said the Church should be more merciful and welcoming towards women who had undergone abortions.
The confessional "is not a torture chamber", added the pope, saying priests should be neither too rigid nor too lax in their approach to the sacrament.
The remarks show a marked shift from his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI hardline defence of the Church's strict doctrines.
"Francis distinguishes between the sin and the sinner. He says that homosexuals are not inferior or different to others, the choice of how to live one's homosexuality being one of the mysteries of man," read an editorial by historian Lucetta Scaraffia in the Vatican daily Osservatore Romano.
"His Christianity is not a rigid puritanism without heart," she wrote in another Italian daily.
Marco Politi, biographer of Benedict XVI noted "a break" with the former pope's way of thinking.
"Francis says: Church doctrine is what it is. It is useless to keep repeating the same things. What is important is to enter people's personal lives."
Swiss Catholic priest and theologian Hans Kueng wrote in the daily La Repubblica that he hoped the pope would seek concrete reforms, "permitting sacrament for the divorced who have remarried, the abolition of celibacy for priests, and female priesthood.
It remains to be seen whether Francis' views will translate to deeper change however.
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on Friday explained that the Church distinguished between homosexuality "which is something negative" and the homosexual person "who has all our affection".
And while he has called for understanding for the women who undergo abortion, Francis strongly condemned the act in a visit to gynaecologists on Friday.
"Every child not born, but condemned to abortion, possesses the face of the Lord who, before even being born and then after his birth, experienced rejection by the world."
Francis' papacy -- he is the first Jesuit pope and the first from South America -- has marked a series of breaks with Vatican tradition.
The pope has become known for his humility and concern for the poor, and has reached out to non-believers and those in other religions. He regularly picks up the phone to call ordinary people who write to him.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-seeks-historic-easing-rigid-catholic-doctrine-171154148.html
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Major oil and construction projects put a jolt in Newfoundland and Labrador's economy
September 19, 2013
Major oil and construction projects put a jolt in Newfoundland and Labrador's economy
ST. JOHN?S, N.L.
Offshore oil and major construction projects have sparked an economic boom in St. John?s and other parts of Newfoundland and Labrador that has never been seen here before.
Housing prices have soared, wages are up, unemployment is down and restaurants and bars are among the country?s busiest. Once considered a fiscal basket case, the province leads economic growth forecasts this year as investors flock to the Rock.
?It has a lot to do with the oil boom, which is continuing,? said Al Stacey, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Realtors.
Houses valued five years ago at about $150,000 are selling for almost twice as much, while the typical price for a three-bedroom bungalow is now in the neighbourhood of $329,000 or higher, Stacey said.
In prime ocean-front enclaves just outside St. John?s, such as Conception Bay South, custom homes starting at $700,000 are the new normal, he added.
The latest numbers from Statistics Canada?s National Household Survey, released Wednesday, hint at the newfound prosperity. In St. John?s, employment income comprised 78.2 per cent of total income in 2010, a percentage that has the city rubbing elbows with high rollers like Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina.
The flip side of higher real estate values and escalating rents is a lack of affordable housing in St. John?s and other parts of the province. It?s an issue that affects not just low-income earners and seniors, but also workers earning good money, but not enough to save larger down payments required under tightened mortgage rules.
The NHS numbers illustrate the other side of the coin, too: employment insurance benefits still accounted for 6.1 per cent of total income in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2010, bringing the share of total income from government transfers in the province to 19.3 per cent, the highest in Canada.
The proportion of the province?s residents receiving employment insurance benefits was 23.6 per cent in 2010, with a median benefit of $7,900, compared with 10.3 per cent for all of Canada and its median benefit of $5,000.
?I really am concerned about the number of homeless people who may end up on the streets,? Stacey said. ?Five or six years ago, if you were renting an apartment it would probably be $500 or $600. Now it?s $1,100 or $1,200 a month.?
Lois Berrigan, settlement services manager at the Association for New Canadians in St. John?s, said apartments are out of reach for single people earning up to $800 a month on social assistance. ?They?re really struggling.?
It isn?t any easier for families trying to find two- or three-bedroom units that go for $850 to $1,700 a month.
Beda Gautam, 34, lives in a cramped three-bedroom basement apartment in St. John?s with her husband, their four-month-old daughter, his parents and his sister. It smells of mildew, drywall peels from water leaks in the ceiling and Gautam said she scrubs black stains with mould cleaner every day in a losing battle. Rent is $1,350 a month and she fears for her baby?s health, she said.
Gautam spent 19 years in a refugee camp in Nepal after ethnic conflict escalated in Bhutan. She arrived in Canada in 2011. Her husband works a retail job, and the family has been on a social housing wait list for more than a year, she said.
Provincial NDP housing critic Gerry Rogers sums up the province?s sizzling economy this way: ?For those who have, great. For those who have not, it?s really, really tough.?
?You need a family income of at least $70,000 a year...to qualify for an average mortgage of about $300,000,? she said.
University and college graduates who expected to do at least as well as their parents aren?t making it into the housing market, Rogers said.
Other residents are ?precariously housed? due to low rental vacancies, particularly in places such as Labrador West where mining and other resource projects have driven up prices, she added.
Rogers has called on the Progressive Conservative government to better protect tenants.
?Their landlord can give them three months? notice and double their rent, and there?s nothing they can do.?
Minister Paul Davis, responsible for social housing in the province, said about $75 million was spent over the last decade to build 1,300 affordable rental units. The government is also working on a program to help families earning up to $60,000 ?with the first purchase of a modest-priced home,? he said in an emailed statement.
Higher offshore oil production expected this year has helped make St. John?s the fastest-growing economy among 15 Canadian cities in 2013, the Conference Board of Canada said in its summer ?Metropolitan Outlook? report.
Economic growth is forecast to reach five per cent, it said.
Wage increases in recent years were almost twice as high in Newfoundland than the Canadian average, said Marie-Christine Bernard, associate director of the board?s provincial forecast service.
Record levels of capital investment include spending on the $7.7-billion Muskrat Falls hydro project in Labrador and the Hebron offshore oil development that are both to be completed in 2017.
But Bernard said the good times won?t last forever as overall offshore oil production, on which the province relies for one-third of its revenues, continues to wane.
?Possibly in the future there might be more offshore developments but, for now, there?s nothing that is definite.?
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Source: http://www.dcnonl.com/rss/id56948
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Friday, September 20, 2013
Al-Qaida militants capture town in northern Syria
This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows damaged buildings due to heavy fighting between government forces and Free Syrian Army fighters in Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013. A Syrian activist group says al-Qaida-linked gunmen have captured a town near the Turkish border after heavy fighting with a rebel group. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)
This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows damaged buildings due to heavy fighting between government forces and Free Syrian Army fighters in Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013. A Syrian activist group says al-Qaida-linked gunmen have captured a town near the Turkish border after heavy fighting with a rebel group. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)
FILE - In this December 17, 2012, file photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter takes cover during fighting with the Syrian Army in Azaz, Syria. Al-Qaida-linked gunmen in northern Syria captured a town near the Turkish border Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, following heavy clashes with mainstream, Western-backed rebels in the area, prompting Turkey to close a nearby crossing, activists and Turkish officials said. (AP Photo/Virginie Nguyen Huang, File)
FILE - In this July 29, 2012, file photo, Free Syrian Army soldiers gather at the border town of Azaz, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Aleppo, Syria. Al-Qaida-linked gunmen in northern Syria captured a town near the Turkish border Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, following heavy clashes with mainstream, Western-backed rebels in the area, prompting Turkey to close a nearby crossing, activists and Turkish officials said. (AP Photo/Turkpix, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2012, file photo, a Free Syrian Army soldier stands on a damaged Syrian military tank in front of a damaged mosque, which were destroyed during fighting with government forces, in the Syrian town of Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo. Al-Qaida-linked gunmen in northern Syria captured a town near the Turkish border Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, following heavy clashes with mainstream, Western-backed rebels in the area, prompting Turkey to close a nearby crossing, activists and Turkish officials said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2012, file photo, Syrians who fled their homes due to fighting between the Syrian army and the rebels shout slogans as they march toward the Turkish side of the border, during a protest asking the Turkish government to let them enter to their refugee camps, at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, near the Syrian town of Azaz. Al-Qaida-linked gunmen in northern Syria captured a town near the Turkish border Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, following heavy clashes with mainstream, Western-backed rebels in the area, prompting Turkey to close a nearby crossing, activists and Turkish officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Al-Qaida militants seized a town near the Turkish border Thursday after expelling Western-backed rebels from the area, demonstrating the growing power of jihadis as they seek to expand their influence across opposition-held Syrian territory.
The infighting ? now engulfing many parts of northern Syria ? threatened to further split opposition forces outgunned by President Bashar Assad's troops and strengthen his hand as he engages with world powers on relinquishing his chemical weapons.
Opposition forces who had been hoping that U.S.-led military strikes would help tip the balance in the civil war are growing increasingly desperate after the Obama administration shelved those plans in favor of a diplomatic solution.
Many rebels blame jihadis in their ranks for the West's reluctance to intervene militarily in Syria or give them the advanced weapons they need. There is also growing concern that the dominant role the extremists are playing is discrediting the rebellion.
Yet the jihadis, including members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaida offshoot, have been some of the most effective forces on the battlefield, fighting alongside the Western-backed Free Syrian Army to capture military facilities, strategic installations and key neighborhoods in cities such as Aleppo and Homs.
But the two sides have turned their guns on each other. Turf wars and retaliatory killings have evolved into ferocious battles in what has effectively become a war within a war in northern and eastern Syria, leaving hundreds dead on both sides.
"The moderates realized that they're losing a lot of territory to the Islamists and jihadi fighters, and so they're more desperate," said Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The battles for control of Azaz, a town only few kilometers from the Turkish border, represents some of the worst infighting in recent months.
Members of ISIL overran the town Wednesday evening, killing several fighters from the Free Syrian Army rebel umbrella group, before forcing them to pull out.
Amateur video showed dozens of gunmen with heavy machine guns on pickup trucks gathering at the border with Turkey with reinforcements. The Associated Press was able to verify the footage based on interviews and other reporting on the events depicted.
A relatively moderate Islamist group with influence in the region, the al-Tawheed brigade, was mediating Thursday to get the al-Qaida-linked militants to leave Azaz, but fighting was continuing.
The prospect of al-Qaida militants so near the frontier is worrisome for the Turkish government, which closed the nearby border crossing of Bab al-Salameh, according to a Foreign Ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The Azaz fighting highlights the turmoil in the rebel ranks. Al-Qaida militants and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra have proven remarkably adept on the ground but have increasingly tried to wrest control from more moderate rebels.
Charles Lister, an analyst with HIS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in Britain, said al-Qaida-linked fighters make up between 10,000 and 12,000 of the insurgency's estimated 100,000-member force but wield far more influence because of their better discipline and battle experience.
"They (ISIL) capture d from the regime much of the territory that is now under opposition control, and for that reason they will not be excluded from the revolutionary structure even if they have to fight other rebels," said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center.
"They feel that that the FSA has turned on them because the American pressure to deal with extremists," he said.
FSA spokesman Loay al-Mikdad said the rebels were acting in self-defense and questioned the purpose of the ISIL storming an area that had been among the first to be "liberated" in Syria.
"They said they came to defend the Syrian people. Now they have turned their guns away from fighting the regime to fighting the Syrian people," he said by telephone from Turkey.
Kurdish militiamen have also been fighting members of the ISIL and the Nusra Front in predominantly oil-rich, Kurdish areas of northeastern Syria. Dozens have died.
The infighting weakens both sides and bolsters Assad, whose troops have been on the offensive, gaining ground against rebels on multiple fronts.
Assad told Fox News Channel the balance of opposition forces has shifted in the more than two-year conflict, and he alleged that 80 percent to 90 percent were members of al-Qaida or its affiliates.
"At the very beginning, the jihadists were the minority. At the end of 2012 and during this year, they became the majority with the flow of tens of thousands from additional countries," he said.
Residents of rebel-held areas are also turning against extremists for their brutal tactics and for trying to impose Islamic law. There have been numerous demonstrations against the ISIL in opposition-held territory in the north.
Locals say the jihadis are forcing people to close their shops for Muslim prayers and banning the sale of cigarettes.
Ahmad Barbour, an activist in the town of Ariha in the northwestern province of Idlib, said it has gotten to the point where they consider those who carry the revolution flags infidels. Most of them are foreigners flush with cash, he said.
"Everyone hates them except for those who are benefiting financially," he said via Skype.
Also Thursday, a bus struck a roadside bomb in the village of Jbourin in the central province of Homs, killing 19 people and wounded four, said a local official from the governor's office, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The village is predominantly Alawite ? an offshoot of Shiite Islam and a minority sect of which Assad is a member ? but it also has Christians and Sunni Muslims.
The civil war, which has left more than 100,000 dead, has taken increasingly sectarian overtones. Most of the rebels trying to overthrow Assad belong to the majority Sunni sect.
Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said in an interview with the Guardian published late Thursday on its website that neither side in Syria was strong enough to win the conflict. Jamil said the government will call for a cease-fire at a planned peace conference in Geneva, though dates for the talks have not been set and the main Syrian opposition group says it won't take part if the military has the upper hand on the ground.
___
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Barbara Surk in Beirut, Desmond Butler in Istanbul, Raphael Satter in London and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.
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South Florida's Caribbean Bar Association celebrates 17th annual scholarship banquet - ?ASPIRE TO INSPIRE?
?Miami - On Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 7:00 p.m., the Caribbean Bar Association ("CBA") will celebrate its 17th annual scholarship banquet at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, 1633 North Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33132.
The scholarship banquet is the CBA's signature event which raises funds to sustain the organization's diverse philanthropic missions and outreach programs, including scholarships for judicial internships which are awarded to law students in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
?This year's banquet will honor the achievements of outstanding individuals and city governments, whose actions and contributions to Caribbean-American communities inspire leadership and community activism in others. This year's honorees include past CBA president, Marlon Hill, Esq., Maria Rodriguez of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, former Honorary Consul of Belize, Stephanie Sylvestre, and the City of Miramar.
??The CBA?s goal this year has been to re-engage the local business and legal communities to support initiatives for the betterment of Caribbean Americans in South Florida. We have received tremendous support this year and look forward to celebrating with our sponsors and supporters at the Banquet. The CBA is also excited to present this year?s diverse honorees and hope that their selfless contributions to our community as advocates, leaders, and mentors will inspire others to support our mission,? remarked President Schuyler Smith.
?The banquet will be hosted by radio personalities Keith ?Papa Keith? Walcott of WEDR 99Jamz and attorney Natasha D. Mayne. Guests will be treated to Caribbean-themed cuisine, exciting musical and cultural performances, raffle prizes, dancing with DJ Dorenzo Olivier, and live entertainment throughout the night.
Tickets to this event are still available for $125 per person and may be purchased through PayPal at www.caribbeanbar.org or via mail to Sharaine Sibblies, 111 Jim Moran Boulevard, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.
Source: http://sflcn.com/story.php?id=13074
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President: Iran won't develop nuclear weapons
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed Wednesday that his country will never develop nuclear weapons, telling NBC News that he is open to diplomatically resolving issues surrounding his country's controversial nuclear program.
"We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb and we are not going to do so," Rouhani said.
Later, he added, "We have time and again said that, under no circumstances, would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Nor will we ever."
In an interview with NBC's Ann Curry, Rouhani said that -- even with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a looming presence in Iranian society -- he has "full power and has complete authority" to make a deal with others on nuclear matters.
"The problem won't be from our side," the Iranian president said. "We have sufficient political latitude to solve this problem."
Opposition to Iran's atomic program, coupled with what critics see as Tehran's intransigence in failing to cooperate with international officials, had led to harsh sanctions and stirred concerns that the dispute could devolve into a military conflict.
Yet Rouhani appeared relatively optimistic Wednesday. He spoke about getting a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama after his recent election and inauguration, saying the U.S. president congratulated him and raised certain issues. Rouhani said he wrote back offering Iran's viewpoint, describing the tone of the exchange as "positive and constructive."
"It could be subtle and tiny steps for a very important future," the Iranian leader told NBC, according to video on the network's website. "I believe the leaders in all countries could think in their national interests and that they should not be under the influence of (interest) groups."
Even as it has resisted attempts to international regulators to assess its development, Iran has long insisted its nuclear program's aim is to produce power, not weapons. Last month, Rouhani said the United States and other nations "need to recognize that our activities are totally peaceful and legal."
If they do and there are "negotiations without threats," Rouhani added, then "the way for interaction is open."
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Thursday, September 19, 2013
Republicans to Huddle on Debt Limit
Republicans to Huddle on Debt Limit
House Republicans will be holding a ?special conference? meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00am to discuss the debt ceiling. Held on the day the House will be passing a government funding bill that defunds Obamacare, the topic of the meeting underscores how the debt ceiling is still where senior Republicans plan to draw a red line. Boehner has held a series of these ?special? conference meetings, which, until now, have been wide-open listening sessions for rank-and-file members to brainstorm. Expect tomorrow?s session to have more direction.
Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358958/republicans-huddle-debt-limit-jonathan-strong
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