I. REASON - Black Tea Party Protesters vs. Keith Olbermann
A couple of months back, in response to criticism about his multiple characterizations of Tea Party activists as racists, MSNBC oxygen-generator Keith Olbermann issued this agonized open letter to his antagonists: [A]sk yourself, when you next go to a Tea Party rally, or watch one on television or listen to a politician or a commentator praise these things or merely treat them as if it was just a coincidence that they are virtually segregated. Ask yourself: Where are the black faces? Who am I marching with? What are we afraid of? And if it really is only a President's policy and not his skin, ask yourself one final question: Why are you surrounded by the largest crowd you will ever again see in your life that consists of nothing but people who look exactly like you? Instead of asking himself, Nathanial Alexander Stuart took a video camera to one of the hundreds of Tax Day rallies April 15, and asked a handful of black protesters. This is what Stuart came up with - video.
II. YAHOO - Obama clashes with gay rights hecklers in L.A.
President Obama is used to hearing his name yelled angrily at conservative Tea Party protests. On Monday night, however, he faced hecklers at a more unlikely venue: a Democratic fundraiser in Los Angeles for California Sen. Barbara Boxer. And yes, the hecklers were attacking the president from the left. "Repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'!" the protesters yelled, referring to the 1993 military policy that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving. Obama responded, "We are going to do that; hey, hold on a second, hold on a second." During the 2008 campaign, Obama repeatedly pledged to kill the controversial policy, and in January's State of the Union address, he reiterated that vow. But progress has been slow. The administration claims that's because a full repeal would require a separate bill in Congress repudiating the congressionally approved 1993 law — and it's been hard to work such a bill into an already overcrowded Capitol Hill agenda. In March, the Pentagon announced it was relaxing enforcement of the ban, to clear the path for eventual repeal. Obama returned to the issue of repeal in his Monday speech. "When you've got an ally like Barbara Boxer and you've got an ally like me who are standing for the same thing, then you don't know exactly why you've got to holler, because we already hear you, all right," Obama remarked to applause. "I mean, it would have made more sense to holler that at the people who oppose it." But the hollering didn't let up. "It's time for equality for all Americans," shouted one. Obama again stressed his opposition to the ban, and again said, "I don't know why you're hollering."
III. YNET - Iranian missile may be able to hit US by 2015
Iran may be able to build a missile capable of striking the United States by 2015, according to an unclassified Defense Department report on Iran's military sent to Congress and released on Monday. "With sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could probably develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States by 2015," said the April report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
An Islamist politician whose party lost several members in a suicide attack blamed Pakistan's alliance with the U.S. for the violence and urged Islamabad on Tuesday to break ranks in the war on terror. The comments showed the depth of anti-Americanism in Pakistan, whose support Washington considers key to stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan. In the past three days, attacks in Pakistan have killed some 74 people in a new wave of violence. Although authorities blamed the Taliban in the immediate aftermath of the attack in Peshawar, the Islamist party's leaders have declined to do so, instead alleging the CIA or Indian intelligence were behind it. "It is because we have brought America's war to our own country," Sirajul Haq, a provincial party leader, said Tuesday in Peshawar after attending funerals for some of the victims. "Still, there is time to end this alliance with America" to avoid more bloodshed. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban and al-Qaida militants based in the Afghan border region — who are fighting Pakistani police and the army — have carried out hundreds of attacks over the last three years. They have frequently targeted security forces, government officials and their supporters or family members in mosques, schools and markets, showing no concern for civilian casualties. Peshawar, the capital of the northwest region, has been one of the hardest-hit cities because it lies close to the border area.
V. SETIMES - Sarkozy stands between Turkey, EU
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting in Paris earlier this month with French President Nicolas Sarkozy has led to some optimism -- however cautious -- that France may rethink its opposition to EU membership for Turkey. Erdogan met with Sarkozy on April 8th. The French president's strong opposition has been a persistent roadblock for Ankara. Sarkozy has argued that "Europe must give itself borders" and that "not all countries have a vocation to become members of Europe." Turkey has no place within those borders, the French president has insisted. This has been Sarkozy's official line since he took power in 2007. But a recent visit by Erdogan -- to be followed by a Sarkozy trip to Ankara -- may signal a shift in Turkey's favour. "The most significant outcome of Erdogan's visit is Sarkozy's acceptance of his invitation to [visit] Turkey late this year," Dr. Cengiz Aktar of Bahcesehir University in Istanbul told SETimes. "Since he assumed the presidency, Sarkozy has changed his mind on almost all policy topics but Turkey," Aktar said. Erdogan said that he and the French president discussed all aspects of bilateral relations, including economic and military ties, along with the possibility of co-operating to address regional and global problems. But Sarkozy has openly challenged Turkey's full membership and blocked the opening of five of the necessary 35 chapters of accession talks. The fact that Ankara could not get strong political support from France in efforts to resolve the Cyprus dispute is another source of trouble.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Israel and that it will never be divided - "neither directly nor indirectly." "Today," he said, "I stand before you in Jerusalem, and confirm Begin's words: the city will remain our capital and will never be divided." Lieberman stressed that the government of which he is a member seeks peace as long as there is a genuine partner. "The State of Israel has proven time and again that it is prepared to pay a high price for peace with its neighbors and has already evacuated territory three times its size," he said. "We must now create a new reality in the region based on security for Israelis, economic prosperity for Palestinians, and stability for both. Only then will it be possible to negotiate a final agreement between the parties." The foreign minister also addressed reports of possible future demands on behalf of the U.S. administrations that Israel and the Palestinians make certain moves towards a peace settlement. Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he was determined to press Israel and the Palestinians to renew negotiations and make confidence-building measures. In response to this, Lieberman said Tuesday that "any attempt to force a solution on us without building a foundation of trust between the two sides will only deepen the conflict. Peace can't be forced - it must be built."
VII. PRAVMIR - Prayer & Life: Bringing Life to Deadness in Prayer
It is not a rare thing for zealous Christians to experience what the Church father call "dryness" in prayer. A daily rule of prayer requires effort and will, and these can be weakened by tiredness, and distracted by activity. Yet familiarity with prayers can often make them a mere set of words or - even worse - sounds. Much like students singing the national anthem each morning the heart of prayer, the life of prayer, can soon become deadness. One Church Father (perhaps Saint Dorotheos of Gaza) reminds us that even in cases where are prayers are said by wrote, with little attention and little feeling, we should still persevere: even if it benefits us little, it still bothers the devil. Yet this is not the ideal for which we should strive. The Lord looks upon our efforts in prayer - particularly the times when we truly struggle - as our sacrifice of prayer to Him. These struggles are blessed. Yet between these times of struggle, the practice of holy people down through the centuries offers us something more, which enriches, strengthens, and enlivens us, that we should not fall away to become "prey to the wolf of souls" (as we read in the prayers before Communion). In the practice of the Church, both in monasteries and in the world, the saying of the Jesus Prayer may be used if daily services must be missed. In this we must use great care, lest the practice become a routine one, simply to allow us to skip the trip to Church. The use of the Jesus Prayer, before or after our regular rule of prayer, can help to warm and to humble our hearts, and to prepare it to receive the holy words of other prayers. The Jesus Prayer is also ideal for the numerous "in between" times of contemporary life, in waiting rooms or on busses, in class or while on the telephone. With the help of a spiritual guide, the prayer rope may also be used to pray for the pressing needs of the day, such as the repeated Lord, have mercy for our spouse, our children, our colleague whose mother is chronically ill, or our boss who is disagreeable. Similarly, we might put to use more fully the inherited short hymns of the Church, particularly the Akathist Hymns (literally, the hymns that are sung or read without sitting). Since the composing of the first Akathist by Saint Romanos the Melodist, with prayer and praise to the Mother of God, a wide variety of other Akathists have been composed and blessed for use in the Church. It is most appropriate to read these prayers in time of real, everyday needs, including Akathists to St Xenia (for those seeking a spouse, a job, or a home), St Nectarios (for those with cancer), St John Maximovitch (for travellers, those in storms, and those far from home), and numerous other saints. Many of these are available online, and are worth printing out and using. The prayers of these saints make a real difference, granting us strength as well as help from God. It is good to endure periods of spiritual dryness in prayer: from these spring forth great stability of faith. But in our weakness, we also require spiritual tools we may use in the midst of those periods of spiritual dryness which might otherwise be a danger to our soul. It is these tools which help to return our prayers to a strong, lively state, and to connect the needs we feel in our hearts, with the words and purpose of our prayers.