The Roman Catholic Church's crisis over sex abuse now has spread through half a dozen countries on two continents. | FAITH SHATTERED | OPINION: CRITICISM "UNFAIR" | OPINION: GOVERNMENTS MUST STEP IN |

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Child abuse by German cleric among claims causing crisis for Vatican

For Father Rupert Frania it seemed the best way. His parishioners in the Bavarian spa town of Bad Tölz had just learned a terrible secret.

It had been reported that one of their curates was a convicted paedophile, Peter Hullermann. The curate who had officiated at the children's mass. The one who had been with their sons and daughters the year before at a campsite in the mountains over their medieval town.

Frania decided to tackle the issue from an angle. In his sermon at the main mass last Sunday morning, he began with the parable of the prodigal son – and was stopped dead in mid-sentence.

"I cannot listen to that," shouted a man who was soon to have been married by Hullerman. "You just cannot dodge the issue any longer," he continued as other parishioners broke into applause and some began shouting "shut your mouth" at their parish priest.

It was a raucously rebellious start to a week in which the disclosure of hundreds of cases of alleged clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic church's European heartlands shook the allegiances of millions and forced their pastors to make unprecedented admissions of guilt and mortification.

In Armagh on St Patrick's Day the primate of All Ireland, Sean Brady, told the congregation in his cathedral that the clergy should admit "the full truth of our sinfulness".

Brady, who in 1975 was involved in the swearing to silence of two young victims of Ireland's most notorious clerical paedophile, was one of scores of prelates bowing their heads in disgrace in the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and Italy.

So far almost 700 new cases have come to light. It was a week of unmitigated calamity for Benedict XVI, who became pope pledging to shore up Christianity in an increasingly secular Europe.

"It is such a big story because everything about it is extreme," says the religious affairs author and journalist Clifford Longley. "It is the worst crisis for the Vatican since the middle ages."

Longley believes the Catholic church is embedded in European history like nothing else. "It claims divine foundation. The pope's title of Vicar of Christ means he still claims to represent supernatural power. It has been loved and hated, with passion and sometimes loathing. It dominated the middle ages, launched the Crusades, triggered the Reformation; the Enlightenment was a direct reaction against it."

The topic of child sexual abuse provokes strong emotions, even more so when people learn of the steps taken to conceal it. Nowhere has this veil of secrecy been lifted higher than in the Irish Republic, the focus of three reports since 1994.

At the start of the millennium the Catholic church in England and Wales commissioned Lord Nolan to investigate priestly abuse. It resulted in measures to improve child protection policies and reporting procedures, but did little or nothing to address or repair the damage of past abuse.

The 2007 Cumberlege commission reviewed the church response to the Nolan report, but only two of its 72 recommendations dealt specifically with historic cases. This oversight is something support groups are all too aware of and there are demands for a UK inquiry.

Graham Wilmer, who runs the Lantern Project which has helped hundreds of sexual abuse victims since 2003, said: "The psychological and emotional damage has affected them throughout their lives. Until they made contact with us, they have had little if any help in dealing with the aftermath."

Wilmer was sexually abused by a teacher at a Catholic school and spent years trying to bring his tormentor to justice. He wants the British government to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to address the issue.

Longley says the scandal "brings into contrast the priest as man of God, symbol of purity and holiness and the sexual abuse of children as the ultimate betrayal of innocence, representing unspeakable evil. And conspiracy in high places to hide the scandal. No novelist could have invented such a plot."

In spite of earning outright condemnation for its clumsy attempts to sweep matters under the carpet, the church will probably overcome these difficult times. Unlike the Anglican Communion, which buckles under the weight of polarised opinion on homosexuality, the Catholic church always emerges, not entirely unscathed, from adversity.

Longley says the church survived nazism, fascism and communism and will outlast the EU, the UN, the US. "Bad though this crisis is, it has survived much worse. At the start of the 16th century the Vatican was little better than a shit-hole."

The question remains why this situation should be judged so grave when the numbers involved are smaller than in the US, where a 2004 report found evidence in support of almost 7,000 allegations.

One possible answer is the cumulative effect of abuse in so many countries. The crisis has spread from the US to Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and now the German-speaking heart of Europe. Not the least of the difficulties is financial. The church has already had to find some $5bn (£3.3bn) in compensation and now faces the prospect of having to fund more compensation, settlements and legal fees at the same time as disgusted Catholics stop their contributions.

Giancarlo Galli, the Italian author of Finanza Bianca, a study of the Vatican's finances, said: "There is nothing less transparent than the accounts of the church. It is known that with all the troubles in the US, the church was very much looking north, across the Alps, and above all to Bavaria, for support."

It has even been suggested that some of the cardinals who elected the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope cast their votes with one eye on the material benefits of having a German pontiff.

This is scarcely the first crisis involving what an Australian victims' group, Broken Rites, has termed black-collar crime. But never before has a scandal cast doubts on the judgment and authority of a pope.

So far the debate has focused on his role in the Peter Hullermann affair. Hullermann was transferred to the Munich diocese when Ratzinger was archbishop, ostensibly for therapy. Though known to be a paedophile, he was moved to a parish where he was convicted of abusing another child.

Christian Weisner, the spokesman for the lay movement, Wir sind Kirche, said that in Munich: "People are asking: 'What did [Benedict] know? What did he do?'" Many Catholics in Bavaria and elsewhere were ready to accept the diocese's version – that the decision to reassign Hullerman was made by Ratzinger's deputy. But Weisner added: "The pope is asking for transparency. So he too should be transparent and ask his successor to open the archives for people to see exactly what happened."

The issue of Benedict's responsibility goes far beyond Munich to encompass his subsequent role as pope.

Weisner argues that this pope "learned more about clerical sex abuse than any other bishop or cardinal and has done more to fight it than any other cardinal or pope".

But there is a sharp distinction between his attitude while a cardinal and his activities as pope that could yet leave an indelible stain on the reign of Benedict XVI.

In 2005 he was elected days after declaring that the time had come to sweep "the filth" from his church. By then he had read – and was disgusted by – files on more than 3,000 clerical abuse cases that were channelled to his department by a decree issued four years earlier by John Paul II.

Most of the cases dealt with by the Vatican department in recent years resulted in the accused being removed, if not defrocked.

The problem for Benedict is that, as in many other theological respects, he changed his mind. The US Vatican-watcher John Allen this week published in National Catholic Reporter an extract from the transcript of a conference in Spain that showed that, as late as November 2002, Ratzinger dismissed the American abuse scandals as the result of a "planned campaign" in the media.

By 2002 the then cardinal had signed what critics claim was an incitement to the obstruction of justice. A letter he circulated to bishops the previous year reminded them that internal church inquiries into certain serious offences were covered by what is known as papal secrecy, for which the penalty is excommunication.

"The question is whether Ratzinger's past may trump Benedict's present," wrote Allen.

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The Roman Catholic Church's crisis over sex abuse charges has gone global, with allegations spreading through half a dozen countries on two continents. Opinions: GOV'T MUST STEP IN l CRITICISM UNFAIR l

The Roman Catholic Church's crisis over sex abuse charges has gone global, with allegations spreading through half a dozen countries on two continents. Opinions: GOV'T MUST STEP IN l CRITICISM UNFAIR l

Jeudi 18 mars, le journal italien La Repubblica s'est excusé publiquement pour avoir relayé la rumeur selon laquelle Roman Abramovich avait perdu un yacht lors d'une partie de poker, mettant un terme à un canular qui durait depuis mai 2009.

Arthur Clarke fut à l'origine des vocations de beaucoup d'ingénieurs de la Nasa et ses romans, dont 2010 : Odyssée deux, ont fait rêver des centaines de millions de personnes. L'inventeur du concept de satellite géostationnaire nous a quittés le 19 mars 2008 mais l'année 2010 est une bonne occasion de souvenir de lui.
Après plus de 90 révolutions autour du Soleil, l'auteur du roman mythique à l'origine du film de Stanley Kubrick 2001, l'Odyssée de l'espace nous a quittés il y a exactement de...

Sandra Bullocks abenteuerlustiger Ehemann Jesse James hat sich entschuldigt, die Klatschpresse rotiert, zumal auch ein Pornostar brisante SMS, angeblich von Tiger Woods, ins Internet gestellt hat. Kein Wunder, dass Roman Polanski in seinem Chalet bleiben will. FAZ.NET - Homepage | Politik | Gesellschaft | Wirtschaft | Finanzmarkt | Sport | Feuilleton | Reise | Wissen | Auto | Computer

A húsz évvel ezelőtti marosvásárhelyi román-magyar összecsapások "rendezője" Ion Iliescu akkori államfő, Petre Roman akkori miniszterelnök volt - fejtette ki Kincses Előd a Krónika pénteki számában megjelent interjújában.

Pour son premier jeu, le studio 4A Games sÂ’offre lÂ’adaptation en FPS dÂ’un roman de science fiction à succès signé Dmitry Glukhovsky. Metro 2033, de son nom, nous raconte la vie des survivants au cataclysme nucléaire qui a ravagé la surface de la terre qui se sont réfugiés dans les coursives du métro moscovite. Un premier titre alléchant, non dénué de qualités, mais il est clair que les développeurs ont encore besoin de faire leurs armes pour convaincre pleinement.

L'élimination en 1/8 de finale de la Ligue des Champions n'a pas été appréciée par Roman Abramovitch. Le propriétaire russe de Chelsea a décidé de reprendre les choses en main. Certains joueurs auraient été invités à faire leurs valises à la fin de la saison. Nicolas Anelka pourrait en faire partie.

Créé par d'anciens développeurs de STALKER, Metro 2033 en a conservé un certain esprit. Inspiré par le roman du même nom, le FPS vous transporte dans les souterrains parcourant le sous-sol de Moscou quelques vingt années après un holocauste nucléaire(...)

Hors du temps et à contre-courant des modes, Quatre garçons en culottes courtes est un roman historique pour la jeunesse qui vaut le détour. A tel point qu'ElsaPotine a voulu interviewer son auteure. En exclusivité pour Obiwi. « - Parlez-nous de votre parcours d'écriture. « - A...

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Shirin Ebadi n'a que faire des essais. Pour parler de son pays, elle a choisi le roman. La Cage dorée (éd. L'Archipel, 20 euros), qui vient de sortir, est le récit de vies bouleversées par l'avènement de la République islamique de 1979. Trois frères,...

[img:/_img/actuasite/525.jpg] Actuellement, l'éditeur français Xiao Pan[http://www.xiaopan.com/francais/index.php?rubrique=accueil], éditeur de bandes dessinées chinoises de référence (les manhua[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhua]), et Extra Live[http://www.extra-live.com/], une société spécialisée dans le développement de jeux et l'application de loisirs sur mobile, se sont associés pour vous faire découvrir le nouveau manhua : Orange[http://s267687808.e-shop.info/shop/article_68/Orange.html?shop_param=cid%3D2%26aid%3D68%26], sur le portail Choyooz[http://www.choyooz.com/] (lectures de bande dessinée et de manga sur téléphone mobile). Ce manhua est la troisième Âœuvre de Benjamin[http://blog.sina.com.cn/benjamin] (connu aussi sous le nom de Zhang Lin), un dessinateur chinois ayant fait des couvertures des Marvel et tout dernièrement les illustrations des vidéoclips animés de Jena Lee[http://www.jena-lee.fr/]. La lecture d'Orange peut être effectuée par vos téléphones mobiles iPhone sur le portail Choyooz. Venez découvrir les vidéoclips de J'aimerais tellement[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Rc8idptUM] et de Je me perds[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fEQfF_JZl0&feature=channel] de Jena Lee. Pour plus d'informations, voir ce communiqué de presse[http://dailycarole.free.fr/Orange_presse.pdf]. Depuis décembre 2008, l'éditeur Kazé a ouvert un espace KZTV (KaZé TV) disponible sur iTunes Store - France, pour ainsi effectuer des achats définitifs depuis votre iPhone, iPod ou votre iPod Touch. Dans cet espace sur iTunes Store (http://www.apple.com/fr/itunes), vous pouvez déjà visionner des séries telles que [ak=mysterieuses-cites-or]Les Mystérieuses Cités dÂ’or[/ak], [ak=chroniques-guerre-de-lodoss]Les Chroniques de la guerre de Lodoss[/ak], [ak=cosmo-warrior-zero]Cosmowarrior Zero : La Jeunesse dÂ’Albator[/ak], [ak=chobits]Chobits[/ak], [ak=angelic layer]Angelic Layer[/ak], [ak=chiko-heritiere-de-100-visages]Chiko, l'héritière de Cent‑visages[/ak], [ak=suzumiya-haruhi-no-yuuutsu]La Mélancolie de Haruhi Suzumiya[/ak], [ak=cobra the animation]Cobra the Animation[/ak] et prochainement [ak=soul eater]Soul Eater[/ak], [ak=nabari-no-ou]Nabari[/ak] et [ak=vampire knight]Vampire Knight[/ak]. Mais dès à présent vous pouvez retrouver, sur cet espace, les 13 premiers épisodes de la série [ak=code-geass-hangyaku-no-lelouch]Code Geass[/ak], une série dont le dernier coffret, clôturant la première saison, est sortie le 17 mars à la vente. Venez voir un extrait[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3fLrXPrERo&feature=player_embedded] du premier épisode de cette série. Les épisodes du catalogue sont disponibles en version française et version originale sous‑titrée français, soit à 1,99 € l'épisode, soit à 19,99 € le pack de 13 épisodes. Source : KZTV[http://www.kaze.fr/kazetv/category/boutique/itunes/]. Le nouveau film d'animation des studios DreamWorks va enflammer nos salles de cinéma dès le 31 mars avec [ak=how-to-train-your-dragon]Dragons[/ak]. Dans ce film, vous pourrez découvrir l'histoire d'Harold, un jeune viking qui s'apprête à passer à l'age adulte. Pour cet évènement, les membres de sa tribu lui demande d'affronter le plus grand et le plus terrible des êtres volants : le dragon. Mais Harold va affronter la bête d'une manière bien différente des autres chasseurs de dragon... Ce film a été réalisé par Chris Sanders (auteur de [ak=volt-star-malgre-lui]Volt, star malgré lui[/ak], [ak=lilo-et-stitch]Lilo et Stitch[/ak], le film et [ak=lilo-stich-tv]la série[/ak], également scénariste de [ak=mulan]Mulan[/ak]) et Den DeBlois (coréalisateur et scénariste de [ak=lilo-et-stitch]Lilo et Stitch[/ak]), film d'après le roman pour enfant de Cressida Cowell intitulé Comment dresser votre Dragon[http://jeunesse.casterman.com/albums_detail.cfm?Id=16177]. Voir la bande‑annonce[http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18939665&cfilm=123534.html] de ce long‑métrage. Source : AlloCiné.fr[http://www.allocine.fr/]. Depuis le 17 mars, le second opus de la trilogie de 20th Century Boys est disponible à la vente dans son DVD des éditions Kazé, intitulé 20th Century Boys 2 : Le Dernier Espoir. Ce film a été réalisé par Yukihiko Tsutsumi, d'après le manga de Naoki Urasawa[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoki_Urasawa], où l'on peut suivre la suite des aventures de Kenji et ses amis. Venez voir la bande‑annonce[http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18910754&cfilm=170883.html] de ce film, en attendant le dernier opus prévu directement en DVD dès le mois de juin. Pour continuer dans les suites de série culte, le nouveau coffret collector de [ak=dragon-ball-z]Dragon Ball Z[/ak] sera disponible dès le 25 mars à la vente. Ce nouveau coffret contiendra 92 épisodes de la série (des épisodes 200 à 291) sur 14 DVD, ils seront entièrement remastérisés et non censurés, en version française ou en VOSTF. Venez voir le générique[http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=JP&hl=ja&v=i8lYIj0jqQo&fmt=22] (en japonais) de cette saison. La suite d'Arthur dans le monde des Minimoys va également être disponible dès le 31 mars. Elle s'intitule [ak=arthur2]Arthur et la Vengeance de Maltazard[/ak]. Ce film sera disponible, soit en coffret avec le premier film [ak=arthur-et-les-minimoys]Arthur et les Minimoys[/ak] (en DVD ou Blu‑ray), soit vendu seul (en DVD ou Blu‑ray) avec des bonus sur le film, des making of et un extrait d'Arthur en 4D au Futuroscope. Voir la bande‑annonce[http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18922900&cfilm=125317.html] de ce film. Vous rappelez‑vous des pingouins dans les films [ak=madagascar]Madagascar 1[/ak] et [ak=madagascar2]2 (La Grande Évasion)[/ak] ? Prochainement, ces pingouins vont faire leur entrée à la vente : le 25 mars en DVD. Ce DVD intitulé Les Pingouins de Madagascar : Les pingouins font leur show contiendra les 10 premiers épisodes de la série des [ak=les-pingouins-de-madagascar]Pingouins de Madagascar[/ak] dont 3 épisodes inédits, ainsi qu'un épisode de 22 minutes, mais aussi des bonus, des jeux et des bandes‑annonces. Venez voir cet extrait[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld3kviOQ1z8] de la série. Les plus jeunes auront aussi de nouveaux DVD d'animés à découvrir, dès le 24 mars, issus des studios Walt Disney. Dans ces sorties, il y aura le DVD de «Â Mes amis Tigrou et Winnie : Chacun sa spécialité » de la série [ak=my-friends-tigger-and-pooh]Mes amis Tigrou et Winnie[/ak] (voir la première partie[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DAxGWfj7os] d'un épisode) et le DVD de «Â Manny et ses outils : À l'écoute de la planète » de la série [ak=handy-manny]Manny et ses outils[/ak] (voir cette vidéo de présentation[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCYY6Ix4J6M]). Source : Fnac.com[http://www.fnac.com/]. Si vous voulez réagir au contenu de cette news, c'est ici[http://forum.animeka.com/viewtopic.php?f=151&t=8332].

Police in Huntington Beach, CA are asking for the public's help in trying to identify possible victims in photos belonging to convicted rapist and serial killer Rodney Alcala (the "Dating Game" killer). Above, photo #110, from a series of hundreds taken on of before July, 1979, many believed to have been shot by Mr. Alcala. The prints were found in his Seattle storage locker. Some have been ID'd since the scans were published online. (Random case fact: he is reported to have studied film under and worked for Roman Polanski.)...

In the article on icons, that I referred to previously from the Catholic weekly OSV, there was an interview with a Catholic iconographer named Marek Czarnecki. Czarnecki has been writing icons for fifteen years. For him, this is more than a simple job, it is his personal calling. He sometimes devotes whole periods of time to prayer and fasting before writing. The Connecticut-based artist studied iconography for ten years with a Russian Orthodox iconographer before he began his work. Here, to give you an idea of what such a writer of icons does, is a small part of that interview:

***************

OSV: How does iconography relate to art, to theology, to prayer?

Czarnecki: People think that iconography is a style of religious art, and it’s not. It’s a whole vision of reality, but we use art as a tool to scribe that reality. . . .We say icon writing instead of icon painting because what we are making isn’t just a picture but a theological text. That theological text can in no way disagree with what is the written text or what stands in holy tradition. It’s not my job to figure those things out. The church has already decided those things. My job is just to articulate them.

OSV: When you get ready to write an icon, do you have to prepare in a spiritual way?

Czarnecki: I’ve been doing this for so long it’s just an integral part of my life. I teach, and as a group we start with a prayer of consecration and a mission statement about our work. Then, while we work, we pray. That’s just as important as the preparation you do before you start working. It’s that way with the very simple Jesus Prayer. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” [I pray the Jesus Prayer every day, all day, and into my sleep at nights.] You just repeat it over and over, and it’s like a wheel that turns in your head. What it does while you’re working is that it forces you to focus on what you’re doing. It’s a real prayer, so while you’re praying it, you’re connecting yourself with God. It acts like a metronome while you’re working, too. It gives your mind something to hold on to, and it paces you while you work so that you don’t rush through your work, you connect it with your breathing, you connect it with every brush strike. Eventually it just doesn’t stop. It’s like your heartbeat.

OSV: With icons, there are certain images that would be considered classic, but you’ve also done images of St. Maria Goretti and Faustine Kowalska and others. Is iconography something that can be both classical and contemporary?

Czarnecki: It has to be both. I think one of the classic functions of the church is to work as a treasurer keeper, and the treasures of the church are the lives of the saints. The prototypes that were created for the lives of the saints, even ancient ones, have some historical truth to them, and that’s why we don’t have permission to change them. . . . These old prototypes, some of them go back to the catacombs. The icon of the nursing Virgin is the oldest image we have of the Virgin Mary historically, and we still make an icon almost exactly like that fresco. There’s a deepness to those prototypes that we can’t even begin to approach. . . . Even if you’re going to write “new” icons you have to have a grounding and a foundation in that traditional language. There’s no way you can create new icons without immersing yourself in all of that.

***************

I particularly note several things in this interview that intrigue me as an evangelical Protestant. While I do not invoke the saints merit on my behalf I have come to believe the saints, thus all of those who have died in the Lord, are praying and worshiping as they stand before Jesus at this very moment. They are most active in prayer and I cannot help but believe they pray for you and me. I also believe it is right we remember them in our worship and prayer given a passage like Hebrews 11. They are not dead! They are very much alive, more alive than we are really. It was D. L. Moody himself who reproached people at his death bed who felt that he was about to enter the land of the dying by saying, “No, I am about to enter the land of he living, it is you who will remain in the land of the dying.” How true. There is a great deal that we simply do not know about life after death but it seems apparent that those who die in the Lord reign with him on high right now and are as active in his kingdom as ever, more so than we on earth in one way at least. Yes, their activity is different but there are no passive bystanders in heaven. I have come to believe that it is right for us to celebrate the victorious completion of their earthly journey and to remember them in more ways than scrap-booking and biography.

Note that Czarnecki also says the church “is to work as a treasure keeper.” It seems to me that when evangelicals were pushed away from the Roman Catholic communion during the 16th century they forgot this point. We ceased being “treasure keepers” seeing this work as Roman and unbiblical. It seems that we have often forgotten much more than we can afford to forget. We despise tradition and have no collective memory of the past. So far as I can tell multitudes of evangelical Protestants will not even go back to what happened last Sunday, much less what happened in a previous century before the sixteenth. But even when we do go back we know next to nothing about any treasures of the past except those that came to us from Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards and Spurgeon. Now don’t get me wrong. I love these men, always have and always will. I have photographs of each of them around me in my library. But these are not the only great men in the treasured history of the Christian church. And this doesn’t even touch on the question of great women. Evangelical Protestants have forgotten the great women of faith even more than their Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters.

Finally, we note that in this interview Czarnecki speaks about his “not having permission” to change the old prototypes. There is a respect here for that which is ancient. Few people in my evangelical Protestant background understand this at all. It is this very kind of thinking that has deeply penetrated my own mind and heart because of my growing love for the Great Tradition of the one, holy, catholic church. May God open your minds and hearts to all of his truth, even the truth found in places you may never have expected to find it.

In anticipation of the upcoming immigration marches, Media Matters for America has compiled a review of the hateful and outrageous right-wing rhetoric surrounding the immigration debate in 2006.

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigrant-rights marchers, immigrants are seeking to reclaim the Southwest for Mexico

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigrant rights marchers are "racis[t]"

Right-wing rhetoric: Pro-immigration marchers should be arrested or deported

Right-wing rhetoric: Stoking fears over displays of the Mexican flag

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigration is an "invasion"

Right-wing rhetoric: U.S., Mexico are in a state of "war"

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigrants are fundamentally altering American culture or way of life

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigration reform is part of plot to institute "North American Union"

Other hate speech and outrageous rhetoric

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigrant-rights marchers, immigrants are seeking to reclaim the Southwest for Mexico

"Reconquista" is a discredited smear used by the right to generate fear of Latino immigrants. During the 2006 immigration debate, right-wing media repeatedly advanced the discredited smear that Mexican-Americans and Mexican citizens -- particularly "illegal aliens" -- are plotting to take over the U.S. Southwest for Mexico.

Dobbs referred to potential "army" of "illegal alien" "invaders" taking over Southwest. During an April 2006 broadcast of his now-defunct CNN show, Lou Dobbs introduced a report by stating: "There are some Mexican citizens and some Mexican-Americans who want to see California, New Mexico and other parts of the Southwestern United States given over to Mexico. These groups call it the reconquista, Spanish for reconquest. And they view the millions of Mexican illegal aliens in particular entering the United States as potentially an army of invaders to achieve that takeover." Correspondent Christine Romans reported, "Long downplayed as a theory of the radical ethnic fringe, the la reconquista, the reconquest, the reclamation, the return, it's resonating with some on the streets," and went on to say: "A lot of open borders groups disavow it completely. But the growing street protests in favor of illegal immigration, Lou, are increasingly taking on the tone of that very radicalism." [CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, 4/31/06]

CNN reporter referenced "the Vicente Fox Aztlan tour," used "Aztlan" graphic sourced to hate group. Lou Dobbs Tonight correspondent Casey Wian characterized then-Mexican President Vicente Fox's trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, as a "Mexican military incursion" and claimed that "[y]ou could call" Fox's trip to the United States "the Vicente Fox Aztlan tour." During Wian's report, CNN featured a graphic of "Aztlan" that was sourced to the Council of Conservative Citizens -- an organization whose "Statement of Principles" reads: "We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called 'affirmative action' and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races." [Lou Dobbs Tonight, 5/23/06]

Malkin: "[T]he vast majority of mainstream Hispanic politicians" embrace "the intellectual underpinnings of reconquista." On Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin declared that protesters in Los Angeles were "people who believe that the American southwest belongs to Mexico, that we don't have a right to enforce our borders, and who do nothing more than try to sabotage our sovereignty." Malkin later added that "the kind of quote-unquote 'pride' that a lot of these illegal alien activists are touting now goes much further than just being proud about one's heritage and one's roots. The idea, the intellectual underpinnings of reconquista, are embraced by the vast majority of mainstream Hispanic politicians." [Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, 3/30/06]

Wash. Times editorial: Protesters approve of "reconquista" agenda. A Washington Times editorial accused Latinos who protested against a proposal to restrict immigration of either supporting or having given "tacit approval" to the "reconquista" agenda of "Hispanic radicals," which the editorial said was the "reconquering of Mexican land lost during the Mexican-American war." [The Washington Times, 3/30/06]

Fox's Gibson suspicious that Latino advocacy groups are set on "retaking old Mexico territories ... by pure birth rate." While saying that he was citing an internal email from the National Council of La Raza, John Gibson claimed on his Fox News show that he was suspicious that advocacy groups like the NCLR favor "the so-called reconquista," which Gibson described as the "retaking of old Mexico territories, which are now part of the United States, by pure birth rate." Gibson also asserted that the NCLR "is a group dedicated to the betterment of the race," adding, "good, but try being American while you are at it, guys." [Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson, 4/3/06]

O'Reilly: Purported immigrant protest "organizers" have hidden "hardcore militant agenda" to take back American Southwest. On his radio show, O'Reilly said that the "organizers" of immigrant rallies have a "hardcore militant agenda of 'You stole our land, you bad gringos.' " O'Reilly said that the "slogan" of the demonstrations' organizers was "[W]e didn't cross the border, the border crossed us," and that this meant that the organizers believed that Americans "stole [their] land." The organizers' hidden "agenda underneath," said O'Reilly, was that "now, we're going to take it back by massive, massive migration into the Southwest." [Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 5/1/06]

Buchanan: "Chicano chauvinists and Mexican agents" want to "take back through demography and culture what their ancestors lost through war." In his book, State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America, published in August 2006, MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan wrote: "Chicano chauvinists and Mexican agents have made clear their intent to take back through demography and culture what their ancestors lost through war." He also wrote that the United States must keep "Americans of European descent" from becoming the "minority" in order to "survive[]." [State of Emergency (Thomas Dunne Books)]

Malkin: "[W]e saw ... that supposed fringe" that favors reconquista "come out into the mainstream." O'Reilly said to Malkin, "So I know that there's an undercurrent of militancy that says, 'Hey, this is our territory. You stole it from us in the Mexican-American War. We're going to take it back now by illegal immigration.' But I think that's a fringe, nutty group, not the mass of millions that we have." Malkin replied: "Well, I guess I disagree with you there, Bill, because I mean, we saw in April and May of this year [2006] that supposed fringe come out into the mainstream. And it wasn't just a dozen folks who are ensconced in the ivory tower who believe that the Southwest is Aztlan and it belongs to them." O'Reilly later asked her: "You think that this massive immigration to the United States, 15 million strong, is a part of a plan to bring back territory to Mexico?" Malkin responded: "Well, I take the Mexican government at its word when it says that is exactly its plan." [The O'Reilly Factor, 8/23/06]

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigrant rights marchers are "racis[t]"

Malkin: "[M]ilitant racism from another protected minority group was on full display" from "Latino supremacists." In her syndicated column, Malkin wrote of immigration rallies, "Well, this weekend, militant racism from another protected minority group was on full display. But you wouldn't know it from press accounts that whitewashed or buried the protesters' virulent anti-American hatred." Malkin also wrote: "Apologists are quick to argue that Latino supremacists are just a small fringe faction of the pro-illegal immigration movement (never mind that their ranks include former and current Hispanic politicians from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to former California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante)." [Creators Syndicate column, 3/29/06]

Savage: "[B]rown supremacists" are "behind these protests." On his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage said: "So, it seems to me that there's a certain group of immigrants that's not very happy and they're all Hispanic. I don't see any other racial group out there in the streets, do you? Now, that's very interesting. I'm not allowed to raise the issue or the specter of brown supremacists behind these protests. Don't tell me this is all about compassion for immigrants, because it is not at all only about compassion for immigrants. They are trying to provoke the takeover of the United States of America." [Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation, 4/11/06]

Right-wing rhetoric: Pro-immigration marchers should be arrested or deported

Fox's Asman wondered whether marches are a perfect chance to "round up these lawbreakers and ship them out." Guest-hosting Fox News' Your World, David Asman discussed nationwide protests of immigration reform and wondered: "With so many illegals hitting the streets, is this the perfect time to round up these lawbreakers and ship them out?" As Asman spoke, the on-screen text read: "Round 'Em Up?" Later, the text read: "Perfect Chance to Arrest Illegal Immigrants?" [Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4/10/06]

Smerconish: "[L]aw enforcement ought to step in" at immigration demonstrations and consider "gathering ... up" undocumented immigrants. Guest-hosting MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Philadelphia-based radio host Michael Smerconish suggested that "maybe law enforcement ought to step in" at pro-immigration demonstrations and consider "gathering ... up" undocumented immigrants. Smerconish wondered why there was "zero discussion" of "gathering them up" at the demonstrations, when "[a]ll I keep hearing is how would we ever find them?" [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 4/10/06]

Doocy suggested "round[ing] them up right then, when they're saying, 'Hey, I'm right here.' " On Fox & Friends, syndicated radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller announced that he was "having a big rally here in Chicago" for a "group" that he said was "pro-illegal murder and illegal car thieves." Muller added: "We're just getting together, and we're going to be out on the street. We're for illegal murder and illegal car thievery. So, we just like illegal stuff." Muller added: "I just like illegal murder and illegal car thieves. So, you know, it's illegal, but -- and, in fact, all the people who have done it are going to be out there on the street, and hopefully, none of the cops will come arrest us." Co-host Steve Doocy then said: "Yeah, you wouldn't want to round them up right then, when they're saying, 'Hey, I'm right here.' " [Fox News' Fox & Friends, 4/3/06]

Right-wing rhetoric: Stoking fears over displays of the Mexican flag

Media figures attacked Mexican-flag wavers, but not those waving Irish, Italian, or Israeli flags. Following immigration rallies, media figures criticized demonstrators for carrying Mexican flags, but the same media figures had not complained about people waving other nations' flags, such as Irish flags at St. Patrick's Day events, Italian flags at Columbus Day events, or Israeli flags at Israel Day events. Some commentators even dismissed the comparison. For instance, National Review editor Rich Lowry called the Mexican-flag waving "more ominous" than the St. Patrick's Day or Columbus Day displays.

Savage: "[B]urn the Mexican flag!" On his radio show, Savage urged his listeners to "burn the Mexican flag" in opposition to undocumented immigrants, telling them to "[b]urn a Mexican flag for America, burn a Mexican flag for those who died that you should have a nationality and a sovereignty, go out in the street and show you're a man, burn 10 Mexican flags, if I could recommend it. Put one in the window upside down and tell them to go back where they came from! And if that's a little to xenophobic for you, ask yourself why the xenophobes from Mexico wave their flag in your country." [The Savage Nation, 3/27/06]

Fox News: Waving Mexican flag shows "antagonistic edge," waving U.S. flag "just a cover" and "a ploy to win America's support." Asman cited demonstrators' use of Mexican flags as evidence of "an antagonistic edge" and suggested that the use of U.S. flags and signs written in English at pro-immigration demonstrations was "just a cover" by the demonstrators to conceal their "real intention, which is to keep things as normal among illegal immigrants in the country." Similarly, Neil Cavuto suggested that the pro-immigration demonstrators' U.S. flags were "just a prop" and "just a ploy to win America's support." [Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4/10/06; 4/11/06]

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigration is an "invasion"

Buchanan: Illegal immigration is "an invasion of the United States of America" and "[t]he whole world is coming." On MSNBC's Hardball, Buchanan claimed that the influx of undocumented immigrants into the United States is "not immigration" but "an invasion of the United States of America" that is "coming not only from Mexico," but "from the whole world." He reiterated: "The whole world is coming." [MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, 5/15/06]

Savage: "This is an invasion by any other name." Savage said, "We, the people, are being displaced by the people of Mexico. This is an invasion by any other name. Everybody with a brain understands that. Everybody who understands reality understands we are being pushed out of our own country." [The Savage Nation, 3/27/06]

Buchanan: "This is an invasion, the greatest invasion in history." In State of Emergency, Buchanan wrote of immigration: "This is an invasion, the greatest invasion in history." He also wrote: "We are witnessing how nations perish. We are entered upon the final act of our civilization. The last scene is the deconstruction of the nations. The penultimate scene, now well underway, is the invasion unresisted." [State of Emergency]

Right-wing rhetoric: U.S., Mexico are in a state of "war"

Tancredo: [W]e are at war with Mexico, in a way." On Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, WorldNetDaily.com columnist Tom Tancredo -- then a Republican congressman from Colorado -- said, "[I]n a way, we are at war with Mexico, in a way. I'll say it in this way: Mexico is aiding and abetting an invasion of this country. They are part of the problem. They are doing what they are -- in fact, they are creating situations along that border using their own military to protect drug trafficking into the United States, pushing their own people into the United States for a variety of reasons. It is an invasion. It is an act of aggression." [Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, 6/26/06, transcript from the Nexis database]

Beck sidekick Gray: "[W]e are in a war with Mexico right now." Pat Gray, who is now a co-host of Glenn Beck's radio show, appeared on Beck's then-CNN Headline News show and claimed that "we are in a war with Mexico right now." After Beck agreed that "we better wake up soon," Gray responded: "[O]r we're going to wake up dead." [CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, 9/25/06]

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigrants are fundamentally altering American culture or way of life

O'Reilly claimed to have exposed the "hidden agenda" behind the immigrant rights movement: "the browning of America." O'Reilly claimed that during his Fox News show, guest Charles Barron, a New York City councilman, had revealed the "hidden agenda" behind the current immigration debate. O'Reilly told his radio listeners: "[T]he bottom line is Charles Barron said last night is there is a movement in this country to wipe out 'white privilege' and to have the browning of America." But in the interview, Barron at no point claimed that he and other advocates for immigrant rights are motivated by a desire to force white Americans into the minority -- despite O'Reilly's repeated efforts to provoke such an acknowledgment. [The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 4/12/06]

Beck: "[I]llegal immigrants are attacking our culture, and our way of life." On his then-CNN Headline News show, Beck said, "[A]t the very least, illegal immigrants are attacking our culture, and our way of life. They are not melting into our melting pot -- they're here for the cash." He later said, "I mean, we've got all these threats coming in from overseas, but the simplest way is for us to lose the culture of the West is just to do nothing and let illegal immigrants not melt in and take the culture away from us." [Glenn Beck, 8/24/06]

Buchanan: "They're not welcome to come here and insult the symbols of our country, and that's what these outsiders have done." On Scarborough Country, Buchanan said that a Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" is "a provocation and an insult" and that immigrants are "not welcome to come here and insult the symbols of our country, and that's what these outsiders have done." Buchanan then said that the Spanish recording is "a good thing in this sense: The American people are awakening to the character of these people." [Scarborough Country, 5/1/06]

Matthews: Republicans "have a right to fear" a "cultural change" that would result in their hometowns "becom[ing] overwhelmingly Mexican." On Hardball, Matthews claimed that House Republicans who had passed a bill that would apparently have criminalized undocumented immigrants, their employers, and those who provide aid to them "have a right to fear" a "cultural change" that would result in their home states and towns "becom[ing] overwhelmingly Mexican." Matthews was responding to a suggestion by guest Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now, that "the Republicans who passed the House bill" are "afraid" that the United States will soon have "a majority Latino population." Matthews later said, "It's not my point view necessarily," before suggesting that "90 percent of this country" agrees with the "viewpoint" that "I didn't move to Mexico; Mexico moved to me, and I'm complaining about it." [Hardball with Chris Matthews, 3/30/06]

O'Reilly: "[Y]ou're on a nice block ... and then the house next to you is turned into an illegal alien Club Med." On his radio show, O'Reilly said:

You've got the folks who don't have emotion invested in it, other than the farmers down and the ranchers down on the border are going -- as the lady just called up, [caller] -- say, look, I got garbage in my -- on my ranch every day. I mean, I'm under siege. They have emotion invested in it. But those of us up here don't.

Unless you live in a town, like Farmingville, Long Island -- we went over this before -- where you bought a house, you spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars, you're on a nice block, your kids are happy, and then the house next to you is turned into an illegal alien Club Med. And this happens all over the country. [The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 3/27/06]

Buchanan: "I think what's coming is the complete balkanization of America." On Hardball, Buchanan said, "I think what's coming is the complete balkanization of America, and I'm afraid it's going to be by ethnicity and culture, and language, and every other way. ... And so, then, it's not like the country you and I grew up in, Chris, whereby we were monocultural. We were monocultural." [Hardball, 6/5/06]

O'Reilly wondered whether children of Mexican immigrants in U.S. "have any kind of traditional value system" or are "setting up Acapulco North." On his radio show, O'Reilly wondered whether children of legal and undocumented immigrants from Mexico who are attending school in the United States "have any kind of traditional value system at all, vis-à-vis what America used to be," or whether they are "taking their Mexican values, because most of them are Mexicans, and, you know, basically setting up Acapulco North." [The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 8/15/06]

Buchanan: "You're going to have a giant Kosovo in the Southwest, which de facto is going to secede." On Scarborough Country, Buchanan said: "[Y]ou cannot absorb 40 to 60 million more people. You're going to have a giant Kosovo in the Southwest, which de facto is going to secede from this country." [Scarborough Country, 6/5/06]

Buchanan: Immigration will turn U.S. into "a polyglot boarding house for the world, a tangle of squabbling minorities." On CNN's The Situation Room, Buchanan warned that "[w]e'll become a polyglot boarding house for the world, a tangle of squabbling minorities." He continued: "The problem with the immigration, basically -- let's take Mexico -- is these folks are breaking the law, first. Secondly, they're coming in huge numbers, like no other group before. Third, they're from a contiguous nation. Fourth, 58 percent of Mexicans believe the Southwest belongs to them. Fifth, the Mexican government is pushing them in here, and it's got a political and ideological agenda." [CNN's The Situation Room, 8/28/06]

Right-wing rhetoric: Immigration reform is part of plot to institute "North American Union"

"North American Union" is an absurd conspiracy theory. Right-wing media, including Dobbs, have obsessively warned that elements in the U.S. government are secretly plotting to merge the United States with Mexico and Canada in a "North American Union" similar to the European Union. During the June 21, 2006, edition of his CNN show, Dobbs stated that "the Bush administration is pushing ahead with a plan to create a North American union with Canada and Mexico" and later asked: "Do you think, our question is, maybe somebody should take a vote if we're going to merge Canada, Mexico and the United States as the leaders of the three countries are attempting to do with the security and prosperity partnership? Yes or no. Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com." Dobbs' CNN colleague Suzanne Malveaux later described the North American Union rhetoric as "conspiracy theor[y]." [Lou Dobbs Tonight, 6/21/06]

Corsi: "North American Union ... was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy." Jerome Corsi, co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, wrote in a column that "President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy. Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA politically, setting the stage for a North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico." [HumanEvents.com, 5/19/06]

WND's Farah linked Bush guest-worker proposal to plan by "one-worlders" to merge U.S., Mexico, Canada. Appearing on a radio show, WorldNetDaily founder and editor Joseph Farah claimed that the "one-worlders" of the Council on Foreign Relations have a plan to merge the United States, Mexico, and Canada by 2010 and suggested that Bush's proposed guest-worker program is part of this plan. Farah said, "Sometimes, the conspiracies are right." [American Family Radio's Today's Issues, 4/4/06]

Buchanan: Vicente Fox's "ultimate goal" is making Mexico and U.S. "basically part of the North American Union." On Lou Dobbs Tonight, Buchanan said, "The government of Mexico is pushing its poor and unemployed into the United States to ease social pressure on itself. Secondly, they get $16 billion in remittances back to Mexico. Third, it is awoken to the idea that it can reannex the American southwest, which it used to hold, linguistically, culturally, ethnically and socially, not militarily by pushing all these people in there and creating a gigantic fifth column in America." Buchanan added: "The ultimate goal of Vicente Fox is the erasure of the border between the United States and Mexico. He has said as much and to make the two basically part of the North American Union in which Mexico will get ... a constant flow of cash from the wealthy USA and La Reconquista is the objective." [Lou Dobbs Tonight, 9/5/06, Nexis transcript]

Other hate speech and outrageous(...)

With nine months passed since its last issue, FORT90ZINE, the print rag from GameSetWatch NYC correspondent and Heavy.com blogger Matthew "Fort90" Hawkins, is making its return next month with a new issue and this capital cover from Mariel "Kinuko" Cartwright. It has Servbots, Solid Snake, and a reverse-handed Momohime; what's not to love?

Inside, the #3 issue includes a foreword by Life Meter's Dave Roman, a pin-up by Hilary Florido, and video game-related text from Hawkins and Brian Liloia. I've also contributed a little article for this release, so I guess you can take that either as an incentive or a warning if you're still undecided on whether to purchase the magazine.

Attract Mode, which offers a handsome collection of game zines like Raina Lee's 1-Up MegaZine and Mathew Kumar's exp., will sell the issue beginning next month. And while we're talking about Attract Mode, the video game culture shop will be at PAX East next weekend, selling its wares alongside 2 Player Productions in a shared booth.

James White

   I have an ambitious schedule today as I want to play comments by William Lane Craig and Kevin Harris on the subject of Mormonism and the effort to help them become, well, "more orthodox." This is a classic example of abandoning a biblical paradigm, the apostolic example, and the use of a philosophically-oriented replacement, all the while painting those who would follow the biblical mandate as "anti-Mormons." Given that we were involved in this field of ministry years before these men, this is a must-do response.
   Hopefully that will not take more than 25 minutes or so, so that I will have time to address the comments of Joseph M. Holden, M.Div., president of Veritas Seminary, as he attempted to respond to the 1 John 5:1/ordo salutis discussion that has come up on the Pastor's Perspective program a few times over the past month. Should be a helpful program, Lord willing! So listen in live!
   Also, a quick word of correction (before we get the graphic fixed) about the upcoming Dividing Line episodes with Michael Brown. The dates are 3/25 and 4/1, as noted. However, 4/1 is a Thursday. Both will be an hour earlier than the normal Tuesday time so that Dr. Brown can do his own program at his regular time (we are much more flexible with webcasting than he can be with his network commitments), hence 10am PDT/1pm EDT. The program will run 90 minutes, no breaks, to get maximum presentation, discussion, and interaction. I have chosen three texts for us to discuss on one program (John 6:35-45, Romans 8:28-9:24, Eph. 1:1-14) and he gets to choose the texts for the other program (at the moment I only know the "all" passages will be included as a group). Our goal is to have a more textually oriented exchange, more focused than the programs we did before. I'm looking forward to them!

Cinq ans après le thriller La boîte noire, Richard Berry repasse derrière la caméra pour signer l'adaptation cinéma du roman L’immortel de Franz-Olivier Giesbert. Drame avec Jean Reno, Kad Merad, Jean-Pierre Darroussin et Marina Foïs, L'immortel est à découvrir dans les salles dès le 24 mars.

Florentine Rey est une jeune auteure féministe ; "Mon oeil !" est sa première bande dessinée. Elle a reçu pour celle-ci le prix "Olympe de Gouges" qui récompense un projet qui rappelle et prolonge l'action d'Olympe de Gouges en faveur des droits des Femmes. Vous êtes écrivaine, deux romans sont parus aux éditions Michalon : "Blandine-Marcel" 1 et 2, et "Mon oeil !" est votre première bande dessinée. La mise en scène de vos personnages, essentiellement basée sur des dialogues, (...) - Interviews / 03, 2010

Accusé injustement du meurtre d'une famille d'humains, Drizzt devient l'objet d'une traque soutenue de la part d'un groupe d'aventuriers. Suite de l'adaptation du roman, de bonne qualité.
Note : 4/6