Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005), Rest in Peace
Canadian Woman Tortured in Iran
Smoking vs. Abortion
Miscellaneous: Jefferson on Patents, State Worship

Eric Margolis, Oct 20 '03: In Pope John Paul II, We Have Seen Greatness

There is much to agree with and some points to criticize. What stands out in my mind is that Pope John Paul II stood up against communism and the Soviet Empire, and in his later years he opposed the Iraq War of that other Empire.

"When President George Bush and PM Tony Blair decided to invade Iraq, Pope John Paul repeatedly accused them of preparing to wage an illegal, immoral war of aggression. In this, the pope spoke for much of the world's people. "

timesonline.co.uk, Apr 1 '05: Iranian secret police tortured woman to death, says doctor

"A Canadian woman photographer who died in Iranian custody after taking pictures of a protest outside the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, was beaten, tortured and raped, an Iranian doctor [Shahram Azam] who fled to Canada said yesterday. "

"Zahra Kazemi, 54, a Canadian citizen born in Iran, was arrested by secret police in June 2003."

Carlo Stagnaro, Jun 7 '03: World No-Abortion Day

"So, the WHO and the whole coalition for [World No Tobacco Day] warned that tobacco is "the first preventable cause of death in the world." ..."

"In fact, the first preventable cause of death in the world is another one, which the WHO, anti-smoking activists and health fascists never questioned. It is abortion. Every year, 40 million abortions are performed worldwide...

"... anti-smoking zealots aren’t interested in saving children, because they have no interest in human life. Rather, they often hate children for the very same reason they hate smoking (and, along the same line, fatty food, alcoholic drinks, cellular phones, and so forth). They despise all that may result in more joy and happiness...

" ... The problem is that modern society is experiencing a dramatic lack of conscience about true values. So, "health" or "nature" or "choice" are seen as values in themselves, no matter what this means for human beings. So, in order to protect "public" health, the government is allowed to tread on individual liberty; in order to save nature, it may deny that any property right has ever existed; and in order to give people a choice, it may even kill children. Because abortion is murder, whatever you may think. You may say that a fetus is not "alive," or a child is not a man; yet, a fetus is the same thing as a child, and a child is the same thing as a man..."

According to Albert Jay Nock, Thomas Jefferson Opposed Patents

Anticapitalist Mentality - State Worship: A Day in the Life of Public Health