The Pope, The Hierophant and Earth Day

On the news I saw some guys cheer the Pope like he was Ozzy Osbourne. I never realized how popular the Pope was. Although I grew up Catholic and my mom is Catholic, they never mentioned to Pope at all. Or, at least I don't remember. I wonder how much the Pope has an influence on the daily lives of Catholics in NYC? True, his coming has made a major effect on traffic, but I wonder is his effect only limited to Fifth Avenue. Any catholics reading this feel free to comment.

On a spiritual perspective, the Hierophant, the fifth card in the Major Arcana was supposed to represent the pope in the early days of the tarot. In the Crowley Deck (which I use pretty exclusively to do readings) the zodiac association of the Heirophant is the earth sign Taurus. I bring this up because the Pope is coming to NYC during the weekend of Earth Day (which is a Taurean sign) where the zodiac moves from Aries to Taurus. HMMMMMMMMM!



POPE BENEDICT XVI ARRIVES IN NYC
Becomes Third Pontiff To Address United Nations In Speech Focusing On Preservation Of Human Rights
Will Visit Park East Synagogue Friday Evening
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Pope Benedict XVI arrived in New York City on Friday morning, receiving a hero's welcome on a red carpet at John F. Kennedy Airport. He was then quickly transported to the United Nations, where he delivered a speech to the General Assembly that strongly stressed the preservation of human rights across the globe.

At JFK, the pontiff emerged from "Shepherd One" at 9:40, waving to the overjoyed crowd, before being greeted by Edward Cardinal Egan and many other high clergy. Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also welcomed the pope as he made his way down the red carpet.

Following the small ceremony at the airport, Benedict was flown by helicopter to the Wall Street Heliport, where he was taken by motorcade to the United Nations, arriving around 10:20. After meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and taking part in several photo shoots, he delivered his speech to an anxious audience, the fourth time a pope has addressed the U.N.

In his speech, the pope touched on a number of topics, especially the safeguarding of human rights and the development of weaker countries.

"I am thinking especially of those countries in Africa and other parts of the world which remain on the margins of authentic integral development, and are therefore at risk of experiencing only the negative effects of globalization," he said.

He pushed the importance of first-world nations aiding those third-world countries that are overpowered by poverty and struggling with development, warning that ignoring diplomacy would "do the real damage."

"Every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made," he said. "If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments."

The pope also turned his attention to the separation of church and science. He praised the expansion of technology, but cautioned against allowing science to dictate humanity.

"Notwithstanding the enormous benefits that humanity can gain, some instances of this represent a clear violation of the order of creation, to the point where not only is the sacred character of life contradicted, but the human person and the family are robbed of their natural identity," he said.

He added that finding a happy medium between religion and science was a question of "adopting a scientific method that is truly respectful of ethical imperatives."

Benedict's New York visit will also include a visit to a synagogue. History will be made when he steps inside Park East Synagogue – it will be the first time a pope visits a synagogue in the U.S.

The pope's last scheduled event Friday is a meeting with leaders from various Christian denominations at the Church of Saint Joseph in Yorkville.

For many New Yorkers though, the most important aspect of the pope's visit will be figuring out how to get around town.

"Friday is gonna be a good Friday for New Yorkers, but it's gonna be a terrible Friday for drivers," former NYC Transportation Commissioner San Schwartz said.

Before and after the pope's visit to the U.N., nearby streets will be frozen. First Avenue from 42nd St. to 48th St. will be closed until 3 p.m.

East 72nd Street. will be closed from Madison Avenue to Fifth Avenue until 11:30 pm Sunday. East 67th Street and East 68th Street will be closed between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue until 8pm, as well as 87th Street from First Avenue to York Avenue. Even ferry service on the East River is going to feel it:

"The East Side will be completely bolloxed up so we have to move the traffic over to the West Side," Schwartz said. "Therefore, don't even drive into Manhattan. Don't even think of driving into Manhattan."

Tibetan Freedom Torch Rally

Egypt sentences 5 men for homosexuality

I think its amazing that in a place known in the past for its advanced spirituality that such barbarism can and still regularly happens.

Egypt sentences 5 men for homosexuality By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer
Wed Apr 9, 4:37 PM ET

An Egyptian court convicted five men Wednesday on charges of homosexual behavior and sentenced them to three years in prison, officials said.

Defense lawyer, Adel Ramadan, said the judge found the men guilty of the "habitual practice of debauchery" — a term used in the Egyptian legal system to denote consensual homosexual acts.

The convictions were confirmed by a judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

Homosexuality is not explicitly referred to in Egypt's legal code, but a wide range of laws covering obscenity, prostitution and debauchery are applied to homosexuals in this conservative country.

The five men were arrested in what human rights groups describe as a crackdown on people with the AIDS virus, using the debauchery charges as a means to prosecute them.

Four of the five men tested HIV-positive after all were forced to undergo blood tests in custody, Human Rights Watch says. The New York-based rights group issued a statement Tuesday signed by more than 100 other organizations around the world condemning the prosecutions.

Ramadan, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said the five men were abused and tortured over the past several months to "extract confessions" from them.

In addition to their prison time, the men were sentenced to an additional three years of police supervision, meaning they will have to spend every night at a police station, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., the lawyer said.

Ramadan said the four HIV-positive defendants were shocked by their convictions.

"Two of them cried, screamed and shrieked," he said. "The other two, they remained silent, but I saw anger in their eyes for the injustice they have been exposed to."

Ramadan said he appealed the verdict to Egypt's Court of Cassation, the country's highest appellate court.

Dozens of human rights groups have criticized this trial and other similar ones as being driven by ignorance and fear of AIDS. They have warned that the convictions could undermine AIDS prevention in Egypt.

The five convicted Wednesday were among 12 people arrested in a sweep that began in October, when police arrested a man during an altercation with another man on a Cairo street, Human Rights Watch said.

After one of the men said he was HIV-positive, authorities opened investigations into other men whose names or contact information were uncovered in interrogations of the first group of men, Human Rights Watch said.

Egyptian police have denied making any arrests because of a person's HIV condition.

In mid-January, four other HIV-positive men from the group of 12 were sentenced to one-year prison terms on similar charges of debauchery. Three others from the 12 were not prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said.

The Two Faces of the News

It's funny how people's perspectives influence situations. Usually birth's like this happen in America moreso than we like to admit. In our country we battle with the feeling that we are suffering because our children are born a certain way. Somehow, we believe that it reflects personally on us. However, in India they are treated like gods, goddesses and avatars. I don't mean to make a judgment if it sounds like one. I recognize it's easy for me to make an observation like this because I have no kids. I also must add quite honestly that I may feel the same way like other westerners will. Nevertheless, I still it is interesting to look at the different perspectives. I also wonder what it would be like if we looked at our kids and incarnations of deity even if they didn't have the outward manifestations of them.

This article is a few days old.

Two-Faced Baby Triggers Shock and Awe
Some Think Baby, Born With Two Faces, Is a Reincarnation of a God
By NICK SCHIFRIN
SAINI, India, April 1, 2008 —


Ask anyone along the dusty, pothole-filled road heading to the tiny village of Saini, and they'll know who she is. The one with four eyes. The one with two mouths. The one with two heads.

They are not ashamed of the extraordinary looking little girl, the villagers who live near her, the young parents, the overprotective local doctor. That's because while she may only be 2½ weeks old, she is far more famous than any resident of this part of the country has ever been. She is famous because she was born with a condition known as facial duplication. She has one body and two faces.

"At first I was a little bit afraid," Vinod Kumar Singh, the 24-year-old father of the girl who still does not have a name, told ABC News. "But then I accepted whatever God gives."

In this case, God has given what many in this rural part of India consider a reincarnation of Ganesh, the Hindu God who is half person and half elephant. At first, hundreds of locals came to Saini to touch the girl's feet, dance at her bedside and offer the family money, thinking she was as divine a person as they would ever see.

"People from corner to corner from all India and all abroad come here to take the knowledge about this child," said Harsharan Singh, the village math teacher. "It's a gift of God& Some people say she is like a goddess. They call the baby a face of a goddess."

Her two faces and the single dimple on their shared cheek are as placid as any baby's. She is the first child of a farming family, one of about 100 people living in a village 40 miles outside New Delhi. Here, the average income is less than $2 a day, and the locals either work the field or support those who work the field in any way they can.

During a recent visit by ABC News, villagers fanned the baby, swatting dozens of flies away so she could sleep. The village, like so many in India, is modest. There is no electricity, there are no toilets, and there is no technology.

The parents did not know that anything was wrong with their daughter until she was born. Tens of millions of pregnant women in rural India do not receive prenatal care.

"They're not aware enough that they should come in for treatment," said Dr. M. Ashmosd, the resident medical officer of nearby Saifi Hospital, where the girl was born.

Ashmosd was part of the team that delivered her vaginally. Still, he does not know the details of the baby's condition because the parents have not agreed to let the hospital perform a CT scan or an MRI on her head.

"I've told them we're ready to do the CT scan for free. But they have ignored me," he told ABC News.

Experts in the United States who have performed surgeries on children with similar conditions say they can't know what the baby's prognosis will be without scans.

"A brain MRI would be illuminating, to say the least. Without it we only can presume about what could be possible or what her quality of life would be with or without reconstructive surgery," Jorge Lazareff, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles, told ABC News.

The parents and the villagers have turned inward. Visited by a dozen media outlets, they at first refused to allow an ABC News team to ask any questions or shoot any video, accusing reporters of "making stories for their own profit." Eventually, they relented, but the local doctor refused to allow the mother to speak and interrupted an interview with the father.

"She is very normal," Dr. Brigdal Nagar yelled, pointing at an ABC News reporter and shoving Vinod Singh aside. "We don't need the media here. She's not an abnormal baby. It's just that she has two faces. And she's living a very normal life. And if she dies in the future, it's as God wishes."

Villagers have tried to make her life as normal as they can. The visitors who welcomed the baby's birth are no longer coming around. She is surrounded by only her family and their friends.

But perhaps she is too protected. Because the parents won't agree to allow the hospital to perform a CT scan, there is no way to know exactly what she is suffering from, no way to know if her life is in danger.

In 2004, a Dominican baby was born with a second head that was attached only to the first head, not the rest of her body. That condition, in which the second head is the product of a conjoined twin that stops developing in the womb, is known as craniopagus parasiticus. Surgery to remove the parastic twin killed the baby.

In 2005, an Egyptian woman named Naglaa Mohamed gave birth to Manar, who had two heads but also the remnants of an unformed twin's torso attached to her abdomen. Her surgery was successful, and eventually she appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey" show.

But for the Indian baby, there is no way to tell whether she has two spinal columns, whether there are multiple internal organs, or whether she will survive until the CT scan is completed.

"She's normal right now," Dr. Brigdal said. "But in the future she might face problems."

Lazareff was slightly more optimistic, writing by e-mail that "I presume that there is no reason for her not [to] live a long life. Stress on presume."

As for the parents, they are a bit overwhelmed by all the attention. They are overwhelmed by the terrifying thought that they have to raise a child who is so visibly different.

"She's just a simple baby," Vinod Singh says, before admitting with a touch of sadness, "she's not well."

If she survives, despite the odds, she might match her reputation.

"If everything below the neck is fine, and she could keep her head up, then she could walk around and live," said Henry Kawamoto, a Los Angeles-based specialist in facial plastic surgery. "And if she did that, she really would be a goddess."