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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict led the world's Catholics into Easter on Saturday at a Vatican service where he baptized a Muslim-born convert who is one of Italy's most famous and controversial journalists. The German-born pontiff, marking the third Easter season of his pontificate, began the service in the atrium of a darkened St Peter's Basilica where he carved the Greek letters Alpha and Omega on a large candle. The basilica became a sea of flickering flames as thousands of faithful inside lit candles before the lights were turned on in a ritual symbolizing the darkness in the world...

Strpce _ A vehicle belonging to the Serbian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights was pelted with eggs and snow Friday by a group of Kosovo Serbs in the enclave of Strpce. Some 60 Kosovo Serbs, claiming to be supporters of Serbia's nationalist Radical Party attacked the bus as it entered Strpce, according to Kosovo Police Spokesman Veton Elshani. Radical Party respresentative in the town, Zvonko Mihajlovic, said the Serbs were not party members but "a spontaneous group of people displeased with what the Helsinki Committee in Serbia does." He added the Committee's intention "wasn't an assessment of Serb human rights...

This won’t exactly disillusion me about either player, but I’ve just had one cherished punch line—about which fabled mediocrity battered which Hall of Fame pitcher at will, or close enough thereto—absolutely demolished. You may have seen me write of it before. So I’m here to tell you I was just as wrong to repeat it over the years as Thomas Boswell was to record it and Jeff Torborg was to say it twenty years ago, almost. In his prime, Sandy Koufax found one hitter almost impossible to retire. Koufax and catcher Jeff Torborg held many confabs discussing selection of pitches...

Due to the recent hullabaloo involving Wright's sermons and liberation theology, I did some reading about slavery in the US, and discovered a number of things I hadn't heard before. 1 - Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence criticized King George for permitting the slave trade: "He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium...

In a flood of bestsellers by skeptics and atheists charging a nonexistent God with crimes against humanity, Timothy Keller stands out as an effective counterpoint and as a defender of the faith. His new book, "The Reason for God," makes a tight, accessible case for reasoned religious belief. And his national tour of college campuses has drawn overflowing crowds. "This isn't because I'm well-known," Keller told me, "but because of the topic." < snip > The final part of Keller's book will be the most difficult for many readers to accept. He contends that the God of space and time...

Yet another sure sign that spring is here: It's time to sign up for a growing season's worth of fresh food from local farms offering community supported agriculture (CSA) shares. This year, 11 new farms joined the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC), which will hold its annual open house March 29 at Olbrich Gardens. Go to www.macsac.org for event details. That's about a 30 percent boost in the organization's membership, which links people to producers through a host of services. MACSAC's 34 member farms offer a wide range of direct-to-consumer products ranging from vegetables of all kinds to...

NASHUA, N.H.—A senior adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to plead guilty to drunken driving and will lose his right to drive for 16 months, police said. Sidney Blumenthal of Washington was arrested Jan. 7, the day before the New Hampshire primary, and charged with aggravated drunken driving. Police said Blumenthal was traveling 70 mph in a 30 mph zone. The case had been set for trial last week, but Blumenthal has agreed to plead guilty to a reduced driving while intoxicated charge, said Nashua police Capt. Peter Segal. In addition to the suspended license, police...

Listen to the good Rev. in his own words, defend Farrakhan.

The Stars and Stripes reporter states that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo make up 90 percent of the population. Actually, a more precise number is 97 percent. It is also necessary for your readers to understand just how the Kosovo (Muslim) Albanians became the majority — considering the Christian Serbs were once the majority until hundreds of thousands of them were either ethnically cleansed or killed by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi troops, followed by the communist Josip Broz Tito, who, in his hatred for the Christian Orthodox Serbs, encouraged Albanians to cross illegally into Kosovo. While training for the situation as it...

NORFOLKA man thrown from the motorcycle he was operating after a high-speed wreck early today was pulled ashore by two Navy men who jumped into the Hampton Roads Channel to rescue him.A third sailor also assisted.The cyclist, identified as Brian Anthony Davis, 22, of Grand Rapids, Mich., also is in the Navy, stationed aboard the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.Davis remains in critical condition this afternoon at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.The wreck happened about 3:45 a.m. on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, said Sgt. Michelle Cotten, a State Police spokeswoman.Davis was westbound on Interstate 64, allegedly “in excess of 100 mph,” Cotten said,...

AS HE TROOPS about Europe, with notebook and camera crew, guidebook author Rick Steves witnesses what the late historian Barbara Tuchman called "The March of Folly," the sites of wars and witch hunts waged by feckless rulers. Steves has come home with a mind to take on our leaders' folly, the federal government's enduring, woefully unsuccessful War on Drugs, and the battle front against marijuana. He would replace a strategy of locking people up with a policy designed to lessen harm. It's a lot like the "Four Pillars" approach to drug use adopted by Vancouver, B.C.: treatment, harm reduction, prevention...

Beatles try to block historic bootleg By David Harrison Last Updated: 8:43pm GMT 22/03/2008 The Beatles are trying to block the release of an album of "lost" songs recorded during Ringo Starr's first performances with the group. The Beatles built their reputation at Hamburg's Star Club. A plaque now marks where it once stood The eight unreleased songs date from 1962 when the Fab Four agreed to do a few final gigs at Hamburg's Star Club, where they had performed as a fledgling band. The songs include Paul McCartney and John Lennon singing an early B-side, Ask Me Why, McCartney...

Demand for an Afrikaans sex magazine that targets married, Christian women and shatters prissy Calvinistic stereotypes has increased so much that an English version will hit the shelves next month. The launch edition of Intimacy - which features lap-dancing, submission and a tricky question about parental sex on the cover - follows a 300 percent growth in demand for Intiem magazine, which was launched in 2006. “We strive to empower Christian women not to feel guilty for enjoying this God-given pleasure which is sex, but rather to embrace it,” said managing editor Liezel van der Merwe. Writing on sex from...

Marine Reunited in San Diego With Dog He Rescued in IraqA San Diego-based Marine major was reunited on Saturday with one of his closest war buddies — a 2-year-old dog named Nubs. Nubs greeted Maj. Brian Dennis at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station when the fighter pilot returned from Iraq. It was the first time the two were together since Dennis' family and close friends helped raise $3,500 to fly the dog to San Diego about a month ago. Nubs wasn't allowed to stay on base in Iraq. Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had spotted the mongrel dog...

The phrase "Death with Dignity" may or may not be familiar to many citizens of the United States. However, it is yet another new term our society has had to learn and face in order to keep up with the polarized ethical debates which mark our time. It is the idea that as humans, we deserve to pass away in a dignified matter. However, for many citizens in our society, dignity means control. Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is the practice in which a physician provides the means by which a patient takes his or her life. The most common manner...

Why is China behaving as it is in Tibet? What makes Tibet so important to the government in Beijing? At the heart of the matter is the fact that nothing worries China's rulers more than when the country's unity is called into question. Kosovo's recent declaration of independence sharpened the Chinese government's anxieties over the protests in Tibet. Although supporters of Kosovo's independence argue that it sets no international precedent, China's rulers fear otherwise. Moreover, Taiwan's presidential election has further ratcheted up the tension for China's government. ... This is the fear gnawing at China's rulers as they confront the...

Why is China behaving as it is in Tibet? What makes Tibet so important to the government in Beijing? At the heart of the matter is the fact that nothing worries China's rulers more than when the country's unity is called into question. And nothing makes them more anxious than their fear that a regional dispute might, if not brought to an end quickly, steamroll into national disintegration. Kosovo's recent declaration of independence sharpened the Chinese government's anxieties over the protests in Tibet. Although supporters of Kosovo's independence argue that it sets no international precedent, China's rulers fear otherwise. Moreover,...

Bill Clinton has become embroiled in a new race row after he appeared to question the patriotism of Barack Obama, his wife Hillary’s White House rival. Supporters of the Democratic frontrunner promptly branded Mr Clinton a modern-day version of Joe McCarthy, the red-baiting senator who led a government witch hunt for communists in the 1950s. The former president was accused of taking a dig at Barrack Obama's patriotism. Discussing the prospect of a presidential election between Mrs Clinton and the Republican candidate, John McCain, the former president told a group of war veterans in North Carolina: "I think it would...

  Music for Easter Easter formulary Introitus: Resurrexi (Graduale Romanum) Time: 4:05 - 5.754 MbVirum Schola Gregoriana Pontificii Instituti Musicæ Sacræ; Mons. Alberto Turco, director. Gennaro Becchimanzi, Francesco Ercolani, Igor Glushkov, Blazenko Juracic, Rafael Martinez Ramirez, Raimundo Pereira Martinez, Hubert Siekierka, Harry Singkoh, Djedje Thomas, Jan Velbacky. Psalmus Responsorius: Confitemini Domino (Graduale Simplex) Time: 1:46 - 1.456 MbMulierum Schola Gregoriana Pontificii Instituti Musicæ Sacræ; Nino Albarosa, director. Letizia Butterin, Miriam Cicchitti (soloist), Eun-Young Cho, Hi-Jung Jun, Yeon-Hee Kang, Mun-Joung Park, Hye-Jung Son, Masako Toeda. Alleluia: V. Pascha nostrum (Graduale Romanum) Time: 2:18 - 1.893 MbMulierum Schola Gregoriana Pontificii Instituti...

Hispanics With Clogged Arteries At Greatest Risk Of Stroke, Heart Attack, Study Shows ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2008) — Hispanics who have even a small amount of plaque build-up in the neck artery that supplies blood to the brain are up to four times more likely to suffer or die from a stroke or heart attack than Hispanics who do not have plaque, according to a study published in the March 19, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. For the study, researchers used ultrasound to determine the thickness of the plaque in the...