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[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Gregory: "Tradition dies a slow death, sometimes a bloody death"On Wednesday 6 December, the Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Cardinal Gregory, took part in an event at the Catholic University of America as part of their Presidential Speaker Series, entitled "Celebrating Diversity" (h/t Diane Montagna). The full video can be found below, as well as on YouTube. In this talk, His Eminence notes that "even our American Catholic comfort zone can be rattled by the vastness of God's family of cultures, languages, and expressions of Catholic worship; so much diversity can throw some people off balance and quite...

A city in Belgium has cancelled a scheduled Christmas event in which a black female ‘Santa Claus’ was set to reeducate attendees about “colonial ideology” and how “generations of Flemish people are racists.” The Telegraph reports that people in Ghent have pressured the mayor to call off the appearance of one Queen Nikkolah, a character created by artist Laura Nsengiyumva, who would have ‘reworked’ Christmas fables about Santa for children at the event. The report claims that the character was set to be dressed in the colours of the Palestinian flag (for some reason) while handing out gifts to children....

Ships don't come with much more historical ballast than the MV Liemba. The steamer still shudders and belches its way across Lake Tanganyika every Wednesday and Friday, a century after it was built as a warship in Germany. In its time it's been a pawn in the colonial scramble for Africa. It's been scuttled and then raised again from the deep. It may have been the model for the warship sunk by The African Queen, a steam-powered launch in the film of the same name, starring Katharine Hepburn as a prim spinster and Humphrey Bogart as the rough captain. And...

A Michigan man who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 says he witnessed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab trying to board the plane in Amsterdam without a passport, and believes at least one other person from the flight was arrested on Friday at Detroit Metro Airport. Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., who posted an earlier comment about his experience, talked exclusively with MLive.com and confirmed he was on the flight by sending a picture of his boarding pass. He and his wife, Lori, were returning from a safari in Uganda when they boarded the NWA flight on Friday. Kurt HaskellLori and...

Man on Flight to Detroit Claims Al Qaeda Ties; Obama Tightens Security DETROIT -- A passenger on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight tried to detonate an explosive device that was strapped to his leg and later told investigators that he was trying to blow up the plane and had affiliations with al Qaeda, according to a senior U.S. official. The man, who has not been publicly identified by officials, told investigators that he was given the device by Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen, where he was also given instructions on how to detonate it, the official said. The Associated Press...

I watched The African Queen, again this week. That classic movie, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, offered a clear explanation of several current news events this week. What is the lesson of The African Queen? It is this: Understand your circumstances, and set your goal based on that. In that movie, the goal was to sink the German warship, The Louisa. And that goal dictated the tactics which had to be taken, regardless of danger or odds against them, to reach that goal. As a reminder of that fine movie, the tactics were for Charlie Allnut and Rose Sayers...

If she becomes first lady, Teresa Heinz Kerry intends to champion the cause of health care reform, much the same way Hillary Clinton did in 1994. And just like Hillary, Teresa has her husband's backing. In Jan. 2003, Heinz Kerry told the Boston Herald that she expects to be an "activist first lady." And her first priority would be to create a "Department of Wellness" that would stress preventive health reforms. Until recently, Teresa's Department of Wellness had been consigned to the dustbin of wacky campaign ideas. Or so it seemed. Then In September, John Kerry told a North Carolina...

The ever-colorful Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose ``shove it'' comment to a journalist made headlines earlier this year, says some of the words she chooses may be inappropriate because English is her second language.      ``My intent and my expression is real, but the actual use of the words may be out of place,'' she said on the daytime talk show ``The View.''      Heinz Kerry is a native of Mozambique, where Portuguese is the official language.      But the potential first lady said she does not regret anything she's said this campaign season. ``I have not said very much at all except people...

LOUISVILLE, KY. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry warned his political opponents on Monday against attacking his outspoken wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, saying, "They're going to have to go through me." The Massachusetts senator also sought to dispel the notion he was aloof, asking one television interviewer: "Have you had a beer with me yet? I like to have fun as much as the next person, and go out and hack around and have a good time." Worth an estimated $500 million, born in Mozambique and fluent in five languages, Mrs. Kerry can be controversial and blunt, disclosing her...