Well GA. I think it’s right to mourn now. But I think it’s also hypocrite of many people who did nothing but badmouthing the pope, are now suddenly so moved by his passing. I always had respect for the man and his work, though I didn’t always agree with him. Media will ofcourse always try to bring as much emotions out of the people. I was really sickened by the fact that they start mourning already, extra biographies in the news paper while the man was not even dead but in the process of dying! I think it’s much wiser to talk about his work, maybe with some criticism (though I still believe he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest pope of all times) than to mourn for nine days after which the world will forget him (or at least “the public”). The Media – at least here in Belgium, but I guess it will be the same everywhere – made a circus out of it, but the Vatican handled the situation in a serene way.

As I said, the pictures of the old Irish lady touched me more than the pope himself actually. The whole idea of christianity is to share the suffering. The pope, as a human being, has also suffered, but he was not the only one. Thousands today died from AIDS, hunger, war …

You’re right. Sorry.

So that’s the true reason he ended up in hospital then?

Nope, he’s suffering from heart problems, like most politicans do after a while. Bad eating habits, few physical exercises and lots of stress. 🙂 But he’s already better. They should have pulled his teeth straight though since he was already in the hospital. :diablo:

Hey, you’re Belgian. You should have read enough Jef Geraards (sp?) to know how ééééééééééévil Opus Dei is. Just be glad Boudewijn no longer is your king… (oh Ben, you of all people should definately read Foucault’s Pendulum by Eco).

haha Jef Geeraerts. You know, some years ago, in the 2nd grade (age 12) I won a price (junior journalists) out of his hand :). He gave me a book (de PG) which I read carefully and found out he had two big themes, one is opus dei and the connection with the Belgian Gendarmerie and Justice and the second one is the Congo, where Jef had the time of his life ass***** local beauties as he described them.

And I read Eco’s Slinger van Foucault :D. Compared to Eco Dan Brown really is an amateur and a rip-off!!!! I do like to read Jef Geeraerts, especially because it’s easy and still better than most detective-novels.

Well, I also think the new simpson episodes are crap. But I do like Family Guy, I bought the DVD-set in London (not out here yet) and the jokes are even better than the Simpsons. Though inspired by the Simpsons (Peter is a lot like Homer), the humor is often more subtle. Better than South Park, which is often more shocking than funny.

Well, I really admire this man. There are few worldleaders which I admire the way I look at John Paul II. He supported Solidarnosc in Poland, which was a first step in ending the cold war. Unlike Pius XII he was not a strong supporter of the west (one of Pius secretary’s said he even wanted an alliance with the devil against the communists), but he wrote several philosophical articles on the dangers of totallitarian regimes. He KNEW what was going on in Poland, he WORKED in a factory, together with thousands of other workers and he was a professor in philosophy. He was by all means NO conservative. These “christian” values are not old fashioned, they can work today as well. Please make a distinction between Christianity or Catholicism and the bad popes that have ruled during history. John Paul II was not one of them. He will be remembered as the pope who set foot on Israel again, ending 2000 years of denying “Jewish existance”. He made contacts with Muslims, Budhists. He travelled more than any American president, and wherever he went people saw him as a warm-hearted, kind man. He even visited the guy who shot him in prison. The fact that he didn’t allow women to become priests is also because there’s a “rightwing” in the vatican as well.

Truely, a great man will be gone. He was certainly no hypcrite. He was a counterweight in a world full of terrorists and warmongers. 🙁 Also, I think it’s a bit outdated allways to blame the Roman Catholic Church. We all know what their leaders have commited in the past, but that doesn’t make the belief “evil”. In don’t know wheter “God” really exists, and we’ll never know. But I find the RCC – as it is today – an institution the worlds needs. There must be more evil organisations than the RCC. Give me one other organisation, not even the UN, were Cubans and Americans, Chinese and Japanese, Brazilians and Portuguese … sit around the same table and are treated in the same way. I just hope the new pope will be a non-European.

Gee Ben I wish I was 16 again. 😀 I would have taken some different steps I guess (and end up now with 2 lovely kids crying all day after which my GF runs of with another guy and I find out these kids are not even mine) 😀 😀

India to buy F-16s?

BBC World

‘India to consider buying F-16s’

India has said it will consider an offer by the United States to sell it F-16 fighter jets.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee described the offer as a “positive development” in comments made to journalists in Calcutta.

Last week the US said it was offering the planes to both India and Pakistan at the same time.

The two rivals, who went nuclear in 1998, have fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Arms race

India warned that the decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan risked creating an arms race.

On Friday the US said it was allowing US defence companies to bid for a large Indian order for combat aircraft, and said it was also considering offering India technology for civilian nuclear energy.

“This is the first time we have received an offer from USA,” Mr Mukherjee said.

“Naturally, when the offer is there, it will have to be actively considered by the government of India keeping in view the requirements of our armed forces.”

Media reports said both the F-16 and the multi-role F-18 combat aircraft were on offer.

India has historically relied on Russia, Britain and France for its military hardware needs.

But in the past few years, relations between Washington and Delhi have got warmer.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said America was looking to “solidify and extend relations” with both India and Pakistan at a time when Washington enjoyed good relations with both countries.

The decision to sell warplanes to Pakistan also marks a change in US policy, which blocked the sale of F-16s in 1990 over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme.

The revived sale will form part of a five-year, $3bn assistance programme.

The F-16 is built by Lockheed Martin and is one of the world’s most successful fighter aircrafts, with about 4,500 in commission globally.