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The hopes and fears of all the year

28 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Nearly two years ago, in April 2007, an undergraduate art student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago unveiled a papier-mache sculpture of Barack Obama as a messianic figure, titled "Blessing." David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama had received since first hinting he might run for the presidency. Run Obama did, and win he did, and his election was overwhelmingly voted the top news story of the year by U.S. editors and news directors polled by the Associated Press. But as we prepare to celebrate the Savior's birth, Obama must contend with the almost messianic-like hope that many people hold for his presidency. Artist Cordero's explanation for creating his sculpture may prove a healthy cautionary tale: "All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins. In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped." As Obama prepares to take office in a few weeks, he inherits a number of daunting challenges not of his own creation, not least of which is the nation's financial meltdown-voted the number-two story of the year in the AP poll. Obama will also be handed the long-running war in Iraq, another top-ten story of the year, not to mention the even longer-running war in Afghanistan. If that were not enough, the U.S. as well as other nations face the ongoing threat of terrorism, as demonstrated by another top story, the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, India that killed 164 people. The historic political campaigns of two women-Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin-also made the list of top-ten news stories. Though their campaigns were not victorious, both women finished the year with their political futures intact-Clinton as Obama's choice for U.S. Secretary of State, and Palin as a leading light of the conservative wing of the Republican Party. China and Russia were home to top stories of the year as well. China made the list for a triumph, its largely successful hosting of the Beijing Olympics, as well as a tragedy, a powerful earthquake in May that left more than 70,000 dead and led to the collapse of about 7,000 classrooms in shoddily built schools. The five-day Russian-Georgian war in August rounds out the list, a further reminder that Obama will inherit a number of complex and potentially volatile foreign-relations concerns. Stories that almost made the top ten included Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 84,000 people in Myanmar; Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which wreaked deadly damage in the Caribbean and on the U.S. Gulf Coast; and the seesaw fate of same-sex marriage in California, where a court ruling approving it was later overturned by a ballot measure. Several write-in votes were cast for two developments that occurred too late to be included on the AP ballot: the indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the efforts of struggling U.S. automakers to get a federal bailout. The alleged financial scam involving Bernard Madoff also was revealed too late to make the ballot. Several of the editors who voted commented on how two transcendent developments dominated the news in 2008. "As far as I am concerned, there were only two stories this year," wrote Linda Grist Cunningham of the Rockford (Illinois) Register Star. "Global economy collapses (sending every country into financial, political, and personal chaos) and Obama elected U.S. president, changing the way the America does business-financial, political, and personal." Source: Articles by Joel Roberts and David Crary for the Associated Press

automakers russia beijing olympics georgia cyclone nargis myanmar hurricane gustav hurricane ike same-sex marriage california bailout bernard madoff china sarah palin hilary clinton rod blagojevich barack obama david cordero school of the art institute of chicago associated press savior iraq war afghanistan war top-ten news stories terrorism mumbai global economy

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Terrifying dissenters in Sri Lanka

06 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"The Lord sets captives free," the psalmist intones this Sunday. Sri Lankan journalist J. S. Tissanayagam, singled out by President Barack Obama as an example of persecuted journalists around the globe, was sentenced Monday to 20 years hard labor under Sri Lankan anti-terrorism laws critics say are used to stifle dissent. Tissanayagam was arrested in March 2008 after writing articles criticizing the conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and accusing authorities of withholding food and other essential items from civilians in Tamil-majority areas as a tool of war. The government accused Tissanayagam of writing propaganda and sowing dissent. "The constitution itself gives freedom of press, but that doesn't allow anybody to spread false information to spur ethnic violence," prosecutor Sudarshana DeSilva told the court. Rights groups have accused the government of waging a broad crackdown on media freedom that has continued since it routed the rebels and ended the nation's quarter-century civil war in May. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 11 Sri Lankan reporters were forced to flee the country in the past year, and Amnesty International, which has labeled Tissanayagam a prisoner of conscience, said at least 14 Sri Lankan journalists and media workers had been killed since the beginning of 2006. Source: Articles by Ranga Sirilal for Reuters and Bharatha Mallawarachi for Associated Press

sri lanka committee to protect journalists sudarshana desilva j s tissanayagam freedom of the press prisoners of conscience amnesty international journalists tamil tigers antiterrorism

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Trusted truckers step out of line at the border

29 Nov 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Be vigilant at all times," Jesus counsels his disciples in this Sunday's gospel. Guards at the U.S.-Mexico border vigilantly search for contraband but worry that a program that offers trusted trucking companies speedy passage across U.S. borders is being hijacked by Mexican drug smugglers. Large shipments of illegal drugs have been discovered in recent months. Most trucks enrolled in the program pause at the border for only 20 seconds before entering the United States. And nine out of ten of them do so without anyone looking at their cargo. But among the small fraction of trucks that are inspected, authorities have found multiple loads of contraband, including nearly 13 tons of marijuana seized in a three-week period last spring. Some experts now question whether the program makes sense in an environment where drug traffickers are willing to do almost anything to smuggle their shipments into the U.S. The trusted-shipper system "just tells the bad guys who to target," said Dave McIntyre, former director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M University. The government keeps the list of participants hidden, citing national security and trade secrets. But some of the 9,500 companies who are part of the system advertise their membership to drum up business, making them targets for smugglers who can then threaten drivers or offer them bribes. More than half of all U.S. imports now come from companies in the program, called the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT. Mexican trucking companies make up only 6 percent of global membership in the system but they account for half of its 71 security violations during the past two years. Stephen Flynn, senior fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said truckers do not feel safe rejecting bribes, no matter what agreements their companies have made with the U.S. government. "The basic vulnerability for a truck driver remains the 'plata-or-plomo' dilemma," Flynn said, using Spanish shorthand for taking a bribe or a bullet. Source: An article by Christopher Sherman for the Associated Press

united states c-tpat customs-trade partnership against terrorism trusted-shipper dave mcintyre trucking contraband us-mexico border smuggling drug trafficking mexico stephen flynn

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Fly the unfriendly skies

10 Jan 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"The Lord will bless his people with peace," sings the psalmist in this Sunday's responsorial, while the Book of Acts reading option tells us that God "proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ." In the aftermath of the Christmas Day terrorist attempt on a Detroit-bound airliner, however, the flying public is starting the New Year with anything but a peaceful feeling. Many passengers arriving on international flights this week reported they had been patted down individually or had their luggage inspected by hand—steps that have been in place on many international flights since the failed bombing. In addition to pat-downs and luggage searches, enhanced screening techniques would include full-body scanning and explosive-detection technology, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said. The new security measures were to go into effect Monday, but midweek a number of countries were still scrambling to digest and implement the new rules. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies could have prevented the bombing attempt and demanded rapid improvements in efforts to protect Americans from attack. "This was not a failure to collect intelligence," Obama said after meeting with senior national security and intelligence officials. "It was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had. . . . That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it." The administration has been criticized by Republicans and some Democrats for intelligence lapses that allowed Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly carrying undetected explosives, to board the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight despite reports that he had met with al-Qaeda-affiliated extremists in Yemen known to be planning to attack the United States. Other steps that have been taken include expansion of the U.S. "no-fly" list to include people with Abdulmutallab's profile; enhanced screening for anyone flying to the United States from an expanded list of "countries of interest"; additional screening and security on all domestic or U.S.-bound international flights; and an automatic check of terrorism suspects to determine whether they possess valid U.S. visas. The changes, including the addition of hundreds of people to airline watch lists, have prompted accusations by civil liberties groups that the administration is profiling passengers on the basis of national origin and religion. Source: Articles by Karen DeYoung and Michael A. Fletcher for the Washington Post and Eileen Sullivan, Ben Feller, and Eric McClam for Associated Press

Peace security barack obama terrorism air travel umar farouk abdulmutallab

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Russians reel from terrorist attacks

04 Apr 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul encourages us in the reading from 1 Corinthians to celebrate the feast "not with the old yeast" of malice and wickedness "but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." The old yeast appears to be alive and well, however, evidenced Monday by a suicide bombing in Moscow's subway system that killed 39 people and injured scores of commuters during rush hour. A Chechen militant claimed responsibility Wednesday for the deadly subway bombings as well as two new suicide bomb attacks that occurred Wednesday. The new attacks targeted police officers in Dagestan, a volatile southern province east of Chechnya, and left at least 12 people dead. Doku Umarov, who leads Islamic militants in Chechnya and other regions in Russia's North Caucasus, said that Monday's twin suicide attacks were an act of revenge for the killing of civilians by Russian security forces. He blamed ordinary Russians for turning a blind eye to the civilian deaths in the Caucasus and warned that more attacks on Russian cities were coming. Police and security services are a frequent target because they represent the Kremlin--the militants' ideological enemy--but also because of their heavy-handed tactics. Police have been accused of involvement in many killings, kidnappings, and beatings in the North Caucasus, angering residents and swelling the ranks of Islamic militants. A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 916 people died in the North Caucasus in 2009 in violence related to the clashes, up from 586 in 2008. Another monitoring group, the Caucasian Knot, reported the region suffered 172 terrorist attacks last year. Many said the Kremlin can no longer ignore the social and economic problems of its southern fringe. "The question is whether there will be accomplishments with social development to give people an alternative to blowing themselves up," said Sam Greene, a political analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center. Source: Articles by Agence France Presse and Arsen Mollayev, Lynn Berry, and David Nowak for the Associated Press

terrorism north caucasu suicide bomb chechnya dagestan chechens moscow subway sam greene russia doku umarov

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“Christian” militia members charged with conspiracy

04 Apr 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from the Acts of the Apostles Saint Peter summarizes the mission of Jesus succinctly: "He went about doing good." Nine members of a militia group calling themselves "Christian warriors" were rounded up Monday for allegedly being up to no good. They are accused of planning an attack against law enforcement officials involving weapons of mass destruction. Eight of the suspects were arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, including the alleged ringleader, 44-year-old David Brian Stone. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet said in court that an undercover agent had infiltrated the militia group and built explosives under Stone's guidance. In arguing for their detention, Waterstreet told the court the suspects' conduct was at issue. "It's not about a religious group," Waterstreet said. "It's not about the militia. It's about a group who decided to oppose by force the U.S. by using violence and weapons." In Indiana Judge Paul Cherry ordered the ninth suspect, Thomas W. Piatek of Whiting, Indiana, held without bond and transferred to Michigan to face weapons and conspiracy charges with the other defendants. FBI agents reported finding 46 guns and 13,000 rounds of ammunition in Piatek's home. The so-called patriot movement has grown dramatically since the election of President Barack Obama, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil-rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama that tracks hate-group activity. Analysts see a combination of factors contributing to the rise in militias: a faltering economy, changing roles within the traditional family structure, and shifts in the racial makeup of the country's population among them. They said that shared anxiety among lower-to-middle-class people is often a catalyst for generating conspiracy theories that have the potency to provoke people to take up arms and commit violence. Source: Articles by Ben Schmitt, Niraj Warikoo, and Tammy Stables for the Detroit Free Press, Mark Guarino for the Christian Science Monitor, and David Runk, Corey Williams, Jeff Karour, and John Seewer for the Associated Press

terrorism hutaree patriot movement michigan thomas w piatek ronald waterstreet david brian stone militia groups

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Attempted car bomb rattles New York City

09 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The new Jerusalem is front and center in this Sunday's reading where the old order has passed away and pain and death are no more. That we have yet to accomplish this new order was painfully obvious with the recent attempted terrorist attack in New York City. Investigators are looking at links to the Pakistani Taliban after the arrest late Monday of Faisal Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, accused of a failed car bombing in Times Square last Saturday. Federal authorities said Shahzad has provided valuable intelligence in addition to admitting that he drove the car bomb into Times Square and received bomb-making training in the tribal regions of Pakistan. The Taliban in Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing, saying it was planned to avenge the killing in April of al Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq as well as U.S. involvement in Muslim countries. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he believed the failed attack was a retaliation for the U.S. targeting Taliban followers."This is a blow back. This is a reaction. This is retaliation," he said. "Let's not be naive. They're not going to sort of sit and welcome you to eliminate them. They're going to fight back. And we have to be ready for this fight." "It is clear that this was a terrorist plot aimed at murdering Americans in one of the busiest places in the country," Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. said at a news conference on Tuesday in Washington. In the wake of Shahzad's arrest aboard an airplane at JFK airport, the Obama administration has changed the procedures for the no-fly list. The changes come following questions about how Shahzad was able to board an Emirates flight bound for Dubai despite being identified as a suspect and added to the no-fly list earlier in the day. A White House official said Emirates seemingly didn't check the new update for Shahzad before he was allowed to purchase a ticket and board the plane. He was captured after a customs agent noticed the name and called the plane back to the gate before takeoff. Source: Mark Mazzetti, Sabrina Tavernise, William K. Rashbaum, and Jack Healy for the New York Times, CNN News, Kevin Hechtkopf for CBS News, and Jeremy Pelofsky and Edith Honan for Reuters

new york city terrorism taliban shah mehmood qureshi faisal shahzad times square car bomb

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Christian minority under attack in Iraq

07 Nov 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s first reading relates a terrifying scene of religious persecution and violence targeting Jewish people because of their faith. An al Qaeda attack that killed 58 worshippers and wounded scores more in a Catholic church in Baghdad last Sunday was aimed at driving the embattled Christian minority out of the country, said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Survivors of the attack recounted tales of hiding in the church vestry after gunmen burst into the building during evening Mass and began shooting worshippers. Two priests were among the dead in what was clearly designed to terrorize Iraq’s already dwindling Christian minority. Madeline Mikhal survived the siege and offered reporters details of the harrowing attack. She was among more than 70 people who pressed together in the priests' vesting room after it began. The group blocked the door with a dresser and knocked out the fluorescent lights and waited in the dark. In the sanctuary parishioners dived beneath the pews seeking cover. But the dozen or so gunmen, some wearing vests covered with explosives and carrying grenades and other weapons, took aim at the scrambling congregation. "Those who couldn't find a place to hide were killed," Mikhal said. A priest, whom Mikhal identified as “Father Rafael,” had taken shelter with them and later shielded her from the shrapnel of a grenade tossed into their midst by one of the terrorists, sustaining serious injuries in the process. The Christian community in Iraq, which once numbered nearly 1.5 million, has dwindled by at least two thirds. Hundreds of thousands have fled the country amid the sectarian violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion. The community has been hounded by Islamic militants who view them as U.S. collaborators. The attack was widely denounced. Pope Benedict XVI called it "senseless violence, made even more ferocious because it struck defenseless people who were gathered in the house of God." Source: Articles by Ahmed Rasheed for Reuters, Raheem Salman and Ned Parker for the Los Angeles Times, Martin Chulov for Guardian.co.uk, Brian Hutt for christianitytoday.com, John Leland and Anthony Shadid for the New York Times, and thetablet.co.uk

iraq terrorism benedict xvi baghdad al qaeda christians

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Cargo shipments latest terrorist target

07 Nov 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s second reading promises that the Lord will “guard you from the evil one.” It appears that a Yemen-based plot to bomb U.S.-bound cargo planes was disrupted at the last moment by an al Qaeda defector who was once a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. He alerted Saudi officials to the plot to bomb planes headed to Chicago, and intelligence agencies managed to find bombs hidden in planes in Dubai and London before they took off. Informant Jabr al-Faifi is reportedly one of several former detainees at Guantanamo Bay who were returned to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation in December, 2006. After the rehabilitation program he rejoined al-Qaeda in Yemen before deciding he wanted to go home to Saudi Arabia for good. He turned himself in to Saudi authorities several weeks ago and apparently brought with him news of the bomb plot underway. The foiling of the plot was a sobering reminder to officials around the world that quick response to timely intelligence rules the day. Despite the billions of dollars governments have spent on elaborate airport technology to guard against terrorism threats, the packages would probably have been loaded onto the planes had it not been for the intelligence tip. “We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do,” says the author of 2 Thessalonians. That has not been the case with regard to 2007 legislation that mandated all air cargo to be inspected before it is loaded onto passenger planes. As of the August, 2010 deadline for compliance, only about 65 percent of the cargo headed to the United States on passenger planes from abroad is inspected--and a far smaller proportion coming to the U.S. on all cargo flights is physically checked, because these planes are not subject to the mandate. Even when the cargo is checked, air carriers in certain countries use equipment like X-ray detection devices or a visual check by an airport worker that often cannot identify packages with bombs because the small amount of explosive material needed can be carefully hidden inside a routine electronic device like a computer printer. Both bombs used in the latest plot were hidden inside printer toner cartridges and contained the powerful plastic explosive PETN, which is difficult to detect. Source: Articles by Kim Ghattas for BBC News and Mark Mazzetti, Robert F. Worth, and Eric Lipton for the New York Times

terrorism al qaeda bombings cargo planes yemen jabr al-faifi

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Will Muslims get a fair hearing?

13 Mar 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In contrasting Adam’s legacy to humanity to Christ’s, Saint Paul states that “through one transgression condemnation came upon all.” A number of Muslims feel the same way about the legacy of Osama bin Laden as they cast a wary eye at U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee hearings opening this Thursday on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism and radicalization among American Muslims. Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has alarmed Muslim groups, some counterterrorism experts, and even a few former allies with assertions that 85 percent of leaders of American mosques hold extremist views and that Muslims do not cooperate with law enforcement--a claim contradicted by a study issued last month by Duke University and the University of North Carolina. “This hearing is not focusing on the acts of a criminal fringe but is broad-brushing an entire community,” said Alejandro J. Beutel, policy analyst at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington, D.C. Beutel, who has compiled a database of terrorist incidents since 2001, said the problem of radicalization of young Muslims is serious, but broadly accusing Muslims of complicity will hamstring the fight to prevent extremism, which depends on tips from citizens willing and unafraid to contact authorities. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has written to King asking him to postpone or reframe the hearings. It said his single-minded pursuit “will inevitably stoke anti-Muslim sentiment and increase suspicion and fear.” Terrorists should be identified by behavior, not religion or ethnicity, the group said. President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser visited a mosque on Sunday to reassure Muslims that “we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the actions of a few,” Denis McDonough told an interfaith but mostly Muslim audience. “In the United States of America, we don’t practice guilt by association.” At the same time McDonough made no explicit mention of the hearings or King and also warned that al Qaeda was bent on radicalizing American Muslims against their own country and was finding a "minuscule but receptive audience. . . . The threat is real, and it is serious.” According to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, the public remains divided over whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers. Currently, 40 percent say the Islamic religion is more likely than others to encourage violence while 42 percent say it is not. These opinions have changed little in recent years, but in March 2002 only 25 percent saw Islam as more likely to encourage violence while twice as many (51 percent) disagreed. Sources: Articles by Scott Shane for the New York Times, Lloyd Grove for the Daily Beast, Michael McAuliffe, Lore Croghan, and Richard Sisk for the New York Daily News, and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Muslims denis mcdonough hearings muslim public affairs council alejandro beute peter king homeland security committee united states terrorism radical islam

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