Some American Catholics seem to think that we should only pay attention Pope John Paul II's pronouncements on abortion and homosexuality. Yet the Pope himself realizes that the Church needs to connect with its members or risk becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Pontiff told American bishops that the Church in the US "is called to respond to the profound religious needs and aspirations of a society increasingly in danger of forgetting its spiritual roots and yielding to a purely materialistic and soulless vision of the world" adding that "Taking up this challenge, however, will require a realistic and comprehensive reading of the 'signs of the times,' in order to develop a persuasive presentation of the Catholic faith and prepare young people especially to dialogue with their contemporaries about the Christian message and its relevance to the building of a more just, humane and peaceful world."
An opinion piece Alter Net noted how Wal-Mart has received more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from states for its stores and distribution centers. The subsidies have come as many states are forced by White House tax cuts and reductions in federal grants to make tough budget decisions. The $1 billion was a significant chunk of the company's total $9 billion in PROFITS (not revenue) last year. The essay noted a key justification for corporate subsidies is the idea that a large project will expand overall business in an area; Wal-Mart executives tout their stores as a positive economic force in the community. But the Good Jobs First report argues that, unlike factories which add jobs and export products outside the region, big chain retailers like Wal-Mart "do little more than take revenues away from existing merchants and may put them out of business and leave their workers unemployed. It's quite possible that a new Wal-Mart will destroy as many (or more) jobs than it creates." And "since many Wal-Mart [jobs] are lower-paying and part-time, they will do less to stimulate the economy." Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First, says Wal-Mart's "negative effect on small businesses in the communities where it locates and its contribution to urban sprawl and traffic raise serious questions about the value of giving it sizable financial incentives to expand."
Similiarly, James Kunstler, a nationally known author and activist from my region, noted the irony that [i]n 1973, when the first shopping mall opened on the outskirts of my town, Saratoga Springs (NY), the local paper ran a special Sunday supplement touting its wonders and marvels. The advertisers who paid for it were all downtown merchants; and within ten years virtually all of them were out of business. He added that [t]hose local merchants were led into a very fundamental error in thinking that everybody in business -- mall builder and main street shop-owner alike -- wanted the same thing. "We mall builders are pro-business, and you Main Streeters are pro-business, so get behind this mall idea and there will be more business for everybody!" Plus, that thing they all wanted would be good for their country. What was that thing they wanted, anyway? A bright future, I suppose. The mall promised it in the way that a visit from an unusually benevolent UFO might signify shining gifts from on high, the perfect set-up for a "cargo cult."
A Christian Science Monitor article wonders if the military's officer corps is too political.
Iraq is not the only place where a "liberating" power is accused of eyeing the country's oil. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao has accused the Australian Government of pursuing a policy on the rich seabed oil reserves between the countries that "offends our intelligence". Mr Gusmao said he could not accept the [Australian] Government stance in negotiations that opened last month, and he wants to break off the talks and begin afresh. In an interview with the Herald he said the Government had failed to respect the legitimacy of East Timor's claim, and threatened to make his country "a permanent beggar - we will be like the Solomon Islands, like Libya, like Haiti." Denied access to its most valuable economic asset, the multi-billion-dollar oil and gas deposits under the Timor Sea, East Timor, one of the world's poorest countries, would depend on foreign aid permanently.
Canada's CBC reported on a landmark court case. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled against a Saskatchewan farmer Friday, saying since U.S. biotechnology giant Monsanto holds a patent on a gene in its canola seed, it can control the use of the plant... The company inserts a gene into a canola plant to make it pesticide-resistant. Monsanto holds patents over the gene and the insertion process, and argued the patent should extend to control of the plant. Though it's somewhat more controversial since the seeds from the mutated plant blew on to an adjacent field of another farmer, who Monstanto sued. Justice Louise Arbour, who wrote the minority dissenting opinion, argued that the gene and the process could be patented, but that patent protection cannot be extended to the whole plant.
The BBC's Focus on Africa magazine reported on the wave of democracy that has gripped Africa in the last 14 years as well as its setbacks. The piece also noted that accountable government was not introduced to Africa by European colonials. Legendary Nigerian singer Fela Kuti wanted Africans to look to their own traditions for political development. Pre-colonial Africa had its military dictatorships, but many regimes were bound by constitutions and forms of accountability. Oyo kings were obliged to commit suicide if presented with a calabash by a delegation of elders. Ashanti princes could be dethroned. African civil society, nice and nasty, goes back much longer than today's non-governmental organisations. Authoritarian dictatorships (and repressive pseudo-democracies, for that matter) are far less authentically African than representative democracies. Though the article does underline the fundamental hurdle sub-Saharan Africa must overcome if it wants to recapture its tradition of accountable governance: politics remains too often an expensive game with the spoils of office being shared between members of the same elite wearing different political colours. Economic uncertainties chip away at idealism and new style regimes find it easier to co-opt and corrupt rather than to bludgeon their opponents.
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