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Igreja anula casamento de 9 anos e livra italiano de pensão à ex

Um tribunal civil italiano reconheceu a sentença de anulação de um casamento emitida por um tribunal eclesiástico da Igreja Católica e estabeleceu que o marido não precisa mais pagar pensão alimentícia à ex-mulher.

Após nove anos de casamento, um casal de Bari, cidade do sul da Itália, pediu o divórcio e ao mesmo tempo deu entrada na Igreja em um processo eclesiástico para anular o casamento.

Eles haviam se casado segundo as regras do rito conhecido na Itália como "concordatário", que é o mais comum no país.

Segundo este rito, o casamento é celebrado na Igreja Católica e regulamentado pelo código de direito canônico com validade civil e religiosa, devido a um acordo entre a Santa Sé e o Estado italiano, assinado em 1929 e ratificado em 1985.

Como justificativa para obter a anulação matrimonial pela Igreja, o homem disse que foi obrigado a se casar porque a mulher estava grávida. Ele alegou que não tinha certeza de que poderia respeitar os deveres exigidos pelo matrimônio.

No tribunal civil, entretanto, tramitava o pedido de divórcio. O juiz civil chegou a estabelecer que o marido deveria pagar pensão alimentícia para a filha, que é menor de idade, e para a ex-mulher, dona de casa sem renda própria. Faltava apenas determinar a quantia.

Antes que o juiz determinasse a cifra a ser paga mensalmente, o tribunal da Igreja Católica deu parecer favorável à anulação.

Baseado no acordo entre Santa Sé e a Itália, a sentença acabou sendo aceita também pelo tribunal civil italiano.

Diante disso, o marido se recusou a pagar os alimentos à ex-mulher, alegando que o casamento não existiu. A decisão dele foi reconhecida pelo tribunal civil.

O caso foi divulgado por um professor de direito da Universidade de Milão, Carlo Rimini.

Fonte: Assimina Vlahou- De Roma para a BBC Brasil

A homilia de hoje

State media in China spills a great deal of ink attacking reports on China by western organizations that subscribe to this or that anti-China theory - "China threat", "China collapse" and so forth. Like other catch-phrases in the media - "three represents", "peaceful rise" and such - the words are often bandied about without any explanation. Global People (环球人物), a magazine under the People's Daily group, promises to remedy that situation in its latest issue, which profiles the "China attackers" most closely-associated with a number of anti-China positions.

Here's a translation of the promo for that issue:

Global People: Who is viciously attacking China?

For several years, absurd theories like "China Threat" "China Collapse" "China Split" and "Yellow Peril" have continually attacked China from the west. These arguments and rhetoric are not worth refuting, since they have never been real and will not become reality in the future. However, they have harmed China's international image and have disrupted China's efforts at development and engaging the world, and for this reason they should be taken seriously by Chinese people.[more]

So who are the people planning and disseminating these irresponsible opinions? How have they maligned China, and what is their goal in doing so? For the answer, you must look to "China's vicious attackers." Only by gaining a deep understanding of their words can you truly uncover the means and motives of those attacking China, and by doing so lay bare their sinister machinations. To this end, this magazine has selected several "attackers" from the US, Japan, and Russia:

· Bill Gertz, The Washington Times: For 20 years he has been spinning the "China Military Threat Theory." Bogus news stories like "Chinese submarine tracks American carrier" and "China paid millions to steal B-2 bomber stealth technology" were entirely his creation. Most galling, this forger has won the support of the Pentagon and some members of congress.

· Larry Wortzel, former assistant army attache at the US Embassy in China [1988-1990]: This is a man who detests China to his very bones. He worked within the military intelligence system surveying China for 25 years. In his eyes, China's planes and guided missles come from Chinese exchange students and computers, and pose a "serious threat" to the US. In the first half of this year, the US State Department's purchase of Lenovo computers was scuttled by him at the last minute.

· Michael Pillsbury, Pentagon consultant: His greatest trait is that when he's in China, he speaks of "friendship," but when he returns to the US he talks of "threat." He claims to have "a good deal of undertanding of Sunzi's Art of War," but the strange thing is that he "discovered" from The Art of War a "threat" coming from China. He was the main author of the Pentagon's 2005 Report on the Military Power of the PRC that trumpeted the "China threat."

· Gordon G. Chang, Chinese-American opportunist: "China's economy is in decline and has begun to collapse; the time will be prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games and not after...." His "China collapse theory" is so much sensationalism. Though he is "besieged" at every turn because of the utter nonsense that issues from his mouth, his wacky theories still find purchase across the globe.

· Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo: Chief among the anti-Chinese in Japan, forty years ago he started on the anti-China road. By cursing China to "split apart" and calling for a re-invasion of China, he has become a classic representative of vicious attacks on China. Worth being aware of is that his anti-China ideas run deep in the fringes of Japanese culture and have extremely negative effects.

· Mineo Nakajima, "anti-China hero" of Japanese academia: The earliest person in Japan to put forth the "China collapse theory," and an advocate of the "China split theory," he goes travelling every month for exchanges with anti-Chinese elements in other countries and to spread his anti-China fallacies. However, nothing that he has predicted has come to pass, so he had no recourse but to return to the "China threat theory."

· Evgeniy Nazdratenko, Russian official: He is one of the leading modern drum-beaters for the "Yellow-Peril Theory". "China has plans to expand its population across the Russian border," "Russia will inevitably fall to become a raw-material tribute-state for China" - during his tenure as governor of Russia's Maritime Region, he not only made noise about this sort of twisted theory, but also instituted discriminatory policies toward Chinese people and gave orders to expel tens of thousands.

Why do these people attack China so viciously? In addition to reasons of so-called "national interest", are they perhaps motivated by abnormal psychology? The latest issue of Globe People will give you a compete report and explanation.

To explain why anyone could possible attack China, Global People offers two analyses. The first (by special contributor Peng Xiao, for whom I have found no other information) identifies three types of attacks, and offers three possible motives. The attacks (in excerpted translation):

Exaggerating the "threat to world peace and stability" of China's development: What kind of effect on the Asian region and on the world does China's sustained stable development have? This is a major question that has attracted the attention of western scholars. The majority, through scientific research, believe that its influence is positive. However, a minority find evidence that "China is threating the world" in the areas of politics, military affairs, economics, and culture, and use that evidence to launch theories of a "China military threat," a "China economic threat," a "China economic threat," a "China technological threat," and a "China soft power threat."
Smearing China's image: A benign image is beneficial toward a country's entrance into world society and can gain the support and understanding of other countries and peoples. To contain China's rise, individuals opposing China do their utmost to smear and demonize China; they invent facts and conduct exaggerated, one-sided analyses, attacking China's domestic and foreign policy.
Making groundless conclusions that "China's outlook for development is dim," and attempting to blow China off: During the course of China's development, there have appeared a few problems are are entirely normal and are completely solvable. However, some anti-China elements have refused to let go of some specific issues, and explain them as "unsolvable, destructive conflicts," and continue on to conclude that "China's future development is fraught with danger; collapse is imminent."

The reasons Peng gives are (1) a Cold War mentality; (2) ideological, cultural, and structural differences combined with western-centered thinking; and (3) crass pursuit of fame and profit, since the media eats this stuff up.

The second analysis, by Huang Qing, a long-time People's Daily reporter who has been stationed for brief periods in Japan, Germany, and the US, performs a sort of "psychological analysis" of the China Threat theory. Huang divided the theory's supporters into patriotic types, who prove their affection for their own country by bashing others, moral types, who oppose China on a religious or ethical basis (he puts Pelosi here), and realpolitik types, who simply need a convenient enemy.

Links and Sources

• Globe People (Chinese): Who's taking a hatchet to China?
China-Bashing for Beginners

David Gilmour - Live in Gdansk will be released on September 22, 2008 - a double album and concert DVD.

David Gilmour's first solo live album captures the magic of his concert held in front of 50,000 fans in the Gdansk shipyards in Poland. This final performance from his critically acclaimed 2006 'On An Island' tour features Pink Floyd classics never previously performed with an orchestra. The concert marked the 26th Anniversary of the founding of trade union Solidarity in Poland and the historic importance of the date magnified the night's breathtaking atmosphere.

The 2.5 hour DVD accompanying the live album fully portrays the drama of the Gdansk concert, set against the industrial landscape of the shipyard and the crane-filled skyline. It includes both concert footage and a riveting documentary featuring David Gilmour and the Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Gdansk.

Pre-order on Amazon:
Live In Gdansk (2CD)
Live In Gdansk (2CD & DVD)
Live In Gdansk (2CD & 2DVD)
Live In Gdansk (3CD & 2DVD) [Box set]
Live in Gdansk (5 Vinyl Boxset) [VINYL] [Limited Edition] [Box set]

Live in Gdansk website
Videos on YouTube

Because everybody loves a good conspiracy:

'The USS Liberty': America's Most Shameful Secret

by Eric S. Margolis

On the fourth day of the 1967 Arab Israeli War, the intelligence ship 'USS Liberty' was steaming slowly in international waters, 14 miles off the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli armored forces were racing deep into Sinai in hot pursuit of the retreating Egyptian army.

'Liberty,' a World War II freighter, had been converted into an intelligence vessel by the top-secret US National Security Agency, and packed with the latest signals and electronic interception equipment. The ship bristled with antennas and electronic 'ears' including TRSSCOMM, a system that delivered real-time intercepts to Washington by bouncing a stream of microwaves off the moon.

'Liberty' had been rushed to Sinai to monitor communications of the belligerents in the Third Arab Israeli War: Israel and her foes, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

At 0800 hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon flights flew over 'Liberty,' which was flying a large American flag. At 1400 hrs, waves of low-flying Israeli Mystere and Mirage-III fighter-bombers repeatedly attacked the American vessel with rockets, napalm, and cannon. The air attacks lasted 20 minutes, concentrating on the ship's electronic antennas and dishes. The 'Liberty' was left afire, listing sharply. Eight of her crew lay dead, a hundred seriously wounded, including the captain, Commander William McGonagle.

At 1424 hrs, three Israeli torpedo boats attacked, raking the burning 'Liberty' with 20mm and 40mm shells. At 1431hrs an Israeli torpedo hit the 'Liberty' midship, precisely where the signals intelligence systems were located. Twenty-five more Americans died. [more]

Israeli gunboats circled the wounded 'Liberty,' firing at crewmen trying to fight the fires. At 1515, the crew were ordered to abandon ship. The Israeli warships closed and poured machine gun fire into the crowded life rafts, sinking two. As American sailors were being massacred in cold blood, a rescue mission by US Sixth Fleet carrier aircraft was mysteriously aborted on orders from the White House.

An hour after the attack, Israeli warships and planes returned. Commander McGonagle gave the order. 'prepare to repel borders.' But the Israelis, probably fearful of intervention by the US Sixth Fleet, departed. 'Liberty' was left shattered but still defiant, her flag flying.

The Israeli attacks killed 34 US seamen and wounded 171 out of a crew of 297, the worst loss of American naval personnel from hostile action since World War II.

Less than an hour after the attack, Israel told Washington its forces had committed a 'tragic error.' Later, Israel claimed it had mistaken 'Liberty' for an ancient Egyptian horse transport. US Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, and Joint Chiefs of Staff head, Admiral Thomas Moorer, insisted the Israeli attack was deliberate and designed to sink 'Liberty.' So did three CIA reports; one asserted Israel's Defense Minister, Gen. Moshe Dayan, had personally ordered the attack.

In contrast to American outrage over North Korea's assault on the intelligence ship 'Pueblo,' Iraq's mistaken missile strike on the USS 'Stark,' last fall's bombing of the USS 'Cole' in Aden, and the recent US-China air incident, the savaging of 'Liberty' was quickly hushed up by President Lyndon Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.

The White House and Congress immediately accepted Israel's explanation and let the matter drop. Israel later paid a token reparation of US $6 million. There were reports two Israeli pilots who had refused to attack 'Liberty' were jailed for 18 years.

Surviving 'Liberty' crew members would not be silenced. They kept demanding an open inquiry and tried to tell their story of deliberate attack to the media. Israel's government worked behind the scenes to thwart these efforts, going so far as having American pro-Israel groups accuse 'Liberty's' survivors of being 'anti-Semites' and 'Israel-haters.' Major TV networks cancelled interviews with the crew. A book about the 'Liberty' by crewman James Ennes' was dropped from distribution. The Israel lobby branded him 'an Arab propagandist.'

The attack on 'Liberty' was fading into obscurity until last week, when intelligence expert James Bamford came out with Body of Secrets, his latest book about the National Security Agency. In a stunning revelation, Bamford writes that unknown to Israel, a US Navy EC-121 intelligence aircraft was flying high overhead the 'Liberty,' electronically recorded the attack. The US aircraft crew provides evidence that the Israeli pilots knew full well that they were attacking a US Navy ship flying the American flag.

Why did Israel try to sink a naval vessel of its benefactor and ally? Most likely because 'Liberty's' intercepts flatly contradicted Israel's claim, made at the war's beginning on 5 June, that Egypt had attacked Israel, and that Israel's massive air assault on three Arab nations was in retaliation. In fact, Israel began the war by a devastating, Pearl-Harbor style surprise attack that caught the Arabs in bed and destroyed their entire air forces.

Israel was also preparing to attack Syria to seize its strategic Golan Heights. Washington warned Israel not to invade Syria, which had remained inactive while Israel fought Egypt. Bamford says Israel's offensive against Syria was abruptly postponed when 'Liberty' appeared off Sinai, then launched once it was knocked out of action. Israel's claim that Syria had attacked it could have been disproved by 'Liberty.'

Most significant, 'Liberty's' intercepts may have shown that Israel seized upon sharply rising Arab-Israeli tensions in May-June 1967 to launch a long-planned war to invade and annex the West Bank, Jerusalem, Golan and Sinai.

Far more shocking was Washington's response. Writes Bamford: 'Despite the overwhelming evidence that Israel attacked the ship and killed American servicemen deliberately, the Johnson Administration and Congress covered up the entire incident.' Why?

Domestic politics. Johnson, a man never noted for high moral values, preferred to cover up the attack rather than anger a key constituency and major financial backer of the Democratic Party. Congress was even less eager to touch this 'third rail' issue.

Commander McGonagle was quietly awarded the Medal of Honor for his and his men's heroism – not in the White House, as is usual, but in an obscure ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard. Crew member's graves were inscribed, 'died in the Eastern Mediterranean..' as if they had be killed by disease, rather than hostile action.

A member of President Johnson's staff believed there was a more complex reason for the cover-up: Johnson offered Jewish liberals unconditional backing of Israel, and a cover-up of the 'Liberty' attack, in exchange for the liberal toning down their strident criticism of his policies in the then raging Vietnam War.

Israel, which claims it fought a war of self defense in 1967 and had no prior territorial ambitions, will be much displeased by Bamford's revelations. Those who believe Israel illegally occupies the West Bank and Golan will be emboldened.

Much more important, the US government's long, disgraceful cover-up of the premeditated attack on 'Liberty' has now burst into the open and demands full-scale investigation. After 34 years, the voices of 'Liberty's' dead and wounded seamen must finally be heard.

Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html 

Read even more: Surviving Sailors Break Their Silence 40 Years After Israeli Attack on US Navy Ship

O indivíduo que baleou os vizinhos por acreditar que um deles, pelo facto de ser homossexual, estaria a sodomizar o seu gato foi hoje condenado, no Tribunal São João Novo, Porto, a cinco anos e seis meses de prisão efectiva.

"Dar um tiro em alguém por ser homossexual e por supostamente ter tido relações sexuais com um gato que ajudou a resgatar, e por isso o animal ter ficado homossexual, é talvez o motivo mais torpe que eu já vi na minha vida", frisou o magistrado.

A não perder a história completa em: http://jn.sapo.pt/paginainicial/policia/interior.aspx?content_id=972605

Comentário:
Pobre gato que tem um dono assim...
Update: Com o dono em cana parece que o gato foi viver com o vizinho...

O Sol revela hoje que o papa Ratzinger gosta de gatinhos:

"O Papa Bento XVI tem fama de ter um carinho especial por gatos e autorizou mesmo uma biografia em que a história da sua vida é narrada por um gato. Chico e José é a história de um gato real, com esse nome, que Bento XVI tinha na Alemanha enquanto era Cardeal Ratzinger.

O gato pertencia à casa onde Ratzinger viveu antes de se mudar para Roma, em 1981. Na capital italiana, o futuro papa acolheu outro gato que encontrou na rua e tomou conta dele até ser eleito Papa."

A noticia não esclarece, mas acredito que apesar de ele gostar de gatinhos estamos perante um crime de abandono de animal. Ao mesmo tempo, não se coíbe de fazer estas figuretas, que levaram activistas italianos a criar uma petição-online contra o uso de peles de arminho nos seus barretes.

A picture from Xiquinho Rome album that I took last year has been selected to feature on Schmap Rome for the iPhone and iPod.

Details here.

The winning picture is here.

Enjoy the entire album here.

Maybe it's time for I change my job...

The three remaining Pink Floyd members get in a car wreck and all three die. They're standing in front of the pearly gates to heaven when St. Peter comes up and says "Oh hi guys, we've been expecting you! You're really gonna love it here, Heaven is a great place for musicians. We even have our own band and you guys are welcome to join. We've got Elvis Presley singing, Jimie Hendrix is playing guitar, Frank Sinatra is on piano and Roger Waters is writing lyrics!" Dave replies "Roger's here? When did he die?" St. Peter leans over and whispers in his ear "It's really just God, but he thinks he's Roger Waters!"

Para escrever este livro, John Cornwell levou a cabo uma longa e meticulosa investigação, inclusive nos próprios arquivos do Vaticano. Aliás, foi mesmo o primeiro leigo a ter acesso a toda uma documentação acerca do papa Pio XII (Eugenio Pacelli, 1876-1958), até então inacessível a investigadores laicos. À partida, John Cornwell propunha-se, pura e simplesmente, escrever uma biografia de Eugenio Pacelli, sobretudo enquanto papa Pio XII. Mas a riqueza, a diversidade e o contraste dos documentos que foi encontrando - fora e dentro do Vaticano – fizeram com que se visse obrigado a encarar os factos e a transmitir-nos, com a honestidade e a coragem a que só os verdadeiros historiadores são capazes de se mostrar fiéis, toda a verdade em questão.

A favor de John Cornwell e da verdade histórica que se esforçou por atingir e respeitar, bastará dizer que estamos perante um autor que, embora ex-seminarista e ex-católico, não é anticatólico nem anticlerical: «Amo a Igreja e quis defende-la». Convencido de que seria infundamentada a acusação de a Igreja Católica, na pessoa do papa Pio XII, nada ter feito para denunciar o extermínio dos Judeus (e não só) por Hitler e pelo aparelho nazi, autor da presente obra não mascara a verdade histórica. No decurso das pesquisas que efectuou nos arquivos da Secretaria de Estado do Vaticano e dos Jesuítas, de Roma, os factos começaram a impor-se: «Ao fim de um ano, cheguei à conclusão de que estava enganado. Não só Pio XII era culpado, mas era-o de uma maneira que eu jamais tinha imaginado» (entrevista ao Corriere della Sera, 8/9/99).

Mas culpado de quê? De um imperdoável silêncio: conseguiu permanecer mudo, perante um dos maiores crimes de toda a história - o extermínio de quase seis milhões de judeus na Europa, dominada pela infernal máquina montada por Hitler e pelos nazis. Está inequivocamente provado que, pelo menos desde o Outono de 1942, o papa Pio XII se encontrava claramente informado acerca das acções de extermínio desencadeadas pela Alemanha nazi, quer no território alemão, quer nos numerosos países que ela invadiu e ocupou. Mas, é claro, não se trata aqui apenas dos Judeus. E os muitos milhões de civis não judeus que também foram chacinados por essa mesma máquina infernal?

Fonte: Diário Ateista

Once-reclusive China commandeered the world stage Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pageantry and pyrotechnics.

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