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Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the world’s largestcirculation Jewish magazine, TIKKUN, and rabbi ofBeyt Tikkun Synagogue in San Francisco, took the unusual stepof criticizing the choice made by the Catholic Church for itsnew Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Ratzinger has pressedthe elevation to sainthood of Pope Pius XII, who failed tocondemn the slaughter of Europe’s jews even though he wasconvincingly informed of it.

Ratzinger himself has gone farther than even the mostreactionary public leaders regarding homosexuality, sayingthat it should be outlawed.
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Agence France-Press – All samples of adeadly fluvirus that were mistakenly sent abroad by a US institutehave now been accounted for, according to the World HealthOrganization. The H2N2 strain is similar to the 1957 fluvirus that killed up to four million people around the worldin the late 1950s, and should not have been sent out inroutine test kits for pathogens, according WHO. Lebanesehealth authorities found the missing sample at Beirutairport and it will be destroyed or removed soon.Authorities in South Korea reported that the missing sampleswere found to have been destroyed after initial”administrative confusion.”
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Newswise – There are plenty of things that go on in Europe that most UScitizens don’t want to happen here. Among them are hightaxes (for a correspondingly high level of social programs) andID cards that must be carried at all times and shown upondemand (our drivers licenses serve that purpose, but manymore Europeans do not drive). Another one is the camerasthat have been set up at intersections to take quick flashphotos of cars that are breaking the law (the cars areidentified by their license plates and the drivers arecontacted later by traffic authorities). In London,especially, citizens are on camera a good deal of the time,since video cameras have been set up in many busy areas tophotograph pedestrians. This is a technique that began inthe days of IRA terrorism.read more

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A paralyzed US man has become the first person in the worldto have an brain implant that can read his mind. 25-year-oldMatthew Nagle, who was paralyzed from the neck down afterbeing attacked with a knife four years ago, can now controlobjects by thought alone. His implant reads his mind andsends the thoughts to a computer. For example, he can turnhis TV on and off, as well as change the volume andchannels, with a robotic arm that is controlled by hisimplant, reacting to signals, sent to a computer directlyfrom his brain.
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