Oh, no! POPE!

September 15/06

Now I am really fuming, the Pope should stick to patting little kids on their heads and keep his fingers out of politics, the world is mixed up enough, without that old man butting in!

Muslims assail pope over Islam comments
By Ian Fisher The New York Times
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2006

ROME As Pope Benedict XVI arrived back home from Germany, Muslim leaders Thursday strongly criticized a speech he gave using unflattering language about Islam and violence.Some of the strongest words came from Turkey, possibly putting in jeopardy Benedict's plan to visit there in November."I do not think any good will come from the visit to the Muslim world of a person who has such ideas about Islam's prophet," Ali Bardakoglu, a cleric who is head of the Turkish government's directorate of religious affairs, said in a television interview. "He should first of all replace the grudge in his heart with moral values and respect for the other."Muslim leaders in Pakistan, Morocco and Kuwait, and in Germany and France, also criticized the pope's remarks, with many demanding an apology or clarification.The extent of anger about the speech may become more clear Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, in which grievances are often aired publicly.As the criticisms gathered force, the Vatican moved quickly to snuff out a potentially damaging confrontation with Muslims. It issued a statement saying that the church seeks to "cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue toward other religions and cultures and obviously also toward Islam."The statement, from the pope's chief spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, said: "It should be said that what is important to the pope is a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation of violence."The pope mentioned jihad in his speech and Lombardi said Thursday: "It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to do an in-depth study of jihad and Muslim thinking in this field and still less so to hurt the feelings of Muslim believers."On Tuesday, Benedict delivered what some church experts said was a defining speech of his pontificate, saying that the West, and specifically Europe, had become so beholden to reason that it had closed God out of public life, science and academia.He began his speech at Regensburg University with what he conceded were "brusque" words about Islam: He quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as having said: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."The pope then used the word jihad, or holy war, saying that violence was contrary to God's nature and to reason.But at the end of a speech that did not otherwise mention Islam, he also said that reason could be the basis for "that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today."Lombardi said the pope did not intend to insult Islam. But many experts on Islam warned that Benedict ran the risk of offense in using such strong language, especially with tensions between religions so high.And criticism began flowing Thursday toward the 79-year-old Benedict, who has taken a more skeptical, hard- nosed approach to Islam than did his predecessor, John Paul II, who died in April 2005."I don't think the church should point a finger at extremist activities in other religions," Aiman Mazyek, president of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, told the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, pointedly recalling the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the Vatican's relations with Nazi Germany.The French Council for the Muslim Religion demanded that Benedict "clarify" his remarks. Dalil Boubakeur, president of the council and head of the Paris Mosque, told Agence France- Press: "We hope that the church will very quickly give us its opinion and clarify its position so that it does not confuse Islam, which is a revealed religion, with Islamism, which is not a religion but a political ideology."In Kuwait, the leader of the Islamic Nation Party, Haken al-Mutairi, demanded an apology for what he called "unaccustomed and unprecedented" remarks."I call on all Arab and Islamic states to recall their ambassadors from the Vatican and expel those from the Vatican until the pope says he is sorry for the wrong done to the prophet and to Islam, which preaches peace, tolerance, justice and equality," Mutairi told Agence France-Presse.In Pakistan, Muslim leaders and scholars said that Benedict's words widened the gap between Islam and Christianity, risking what one official called greater "disharmony.""The pope's statement is highly irresponsible," said Javed Ahmed Ghamdi, an Islamic scholar in Pakistan. "The concept of jihad is not to spread Islam with sword."The criticism from Bardakoglu, the Islamic leader in Turkey, was especially strong, and carried with it particular embarrassment if Benedict were forced to cancel or delay his visit to Turkey.Many Turks are already critical of Benedict, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger opposed Turkey's entry to the European Union in 2004.Bardakoglu, the head of the directorate of religious affairs, demanded an apology, saying that the remarks "reflect the hatred in his heart. It is a statement full of enmity and grudge."In Morocco, the newspaper Aujourd'hui questioned the good faith of Benedict's call for dialogue between religions."Pope Benedict XVI has a strange approach to the dialogue between religions," the paper said in an editorial. "He is being provocative."The paper also drew a comparison between the pope's remarks and the outcry in the Muslim world over unflattering cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper last year."The global outcry over the calamitous cartoons has only just died down and now the pontiff, in all his holiness, is launching an attack against Islam," the newspaper said.Theologian voices concernsThe dissident theologian Hans Küng faulted Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday for not reaching out more to Protestants during his visit to his native Germany, The Associated Press reported from Munich.He praised the pope, however, for his defense of religion's role in public life.Küng, a professor emeritus of theology at the University of Tübingen, said he was gratified to hear that Benedict had told President Horst Köhler, a Protestant, that he would work for reconciliation.


Copyright © 2006 The International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/

Whispering....

September 13/06 7:07 p.m.
Yeah, and very softly,that the type, jynxing our latest travel plans does not listen in. We are making another try, to Luxembourg, this time to the very nice Hotel Leweck . We have been there last year exactly at the same time,before our river cruise in France. -

Problem is, what clothes to take, rigt now we still have that terrific late summer, but I bet, that the weather will chance around latest at the weekend, when we want to leave. Then we might have green winter again. Of course Herr Hund will come along too, logo.
We will be seeing our friends, who live in Luxembourg -town,looking forward to them,especially to K.,whom I have been rolling around on the street with the last time.Well, nothing beats a strong Landfrau to hold onto, n'est-ce pas?

And some pics are promised herewith(cross my heart), have to put my new camera into action, finally!

9/11

September 11/06 3:10 p.m.

That date, 5 years ago, changed the world and it turned a proud, self- confident, open nation into an overanxious, mistrusty and unsecure country. -
Heard a tape played this morning on the radio about the desperate cry for help from a woman, locked into one of the towers. Made my hair rise and I keep thinking about that call all the time. It's those individual stories, which make you realize the horror of the desaster, not statistics and numbers.
I sincerely hope, that justice is done to the survivers,helpers and relatives of the deceased by the US Government, things do not seem to go exactly right for those poor people, just as for the victims of Katharina.

I Am NOT Nice Today!

September 08/06 3:43 p.m.

Friend sent me a list of NEW DRUGS FOR WOMEN today (thanks, Chris!), so I took

DAMNITOL
Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours

FLIPITOR
Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and its urge to flip off other drivers

and must have been fed DUMBEROL
by someone - drug can cause dangerously low IQ, resulting in enjoyment of country music and pickup trucks(and cowboys) !

but then, as a revenge, I put NAGAMENT into man of my life's drink -
when administered,provides the same irritation level as nagging him.

So, and now : STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!

September Song

September 07/06 4:02 p.m.

No, I'm not talking about that great song by Sammy Davis, Jr., from whom I still hold a most cherished 45 single, dating back 1956, but about my own ,personal September song about Birthday party, Pflaumenkuchen ( the translation prune cake of this deleecious pastry just won't do justice) sitting in the last warm rays of sun in my parents' garden and of wasps, enjoying "Pflaumenkuchen" alongside with us. And, of course the cake had to be topped with whipped cream,nice,yummy, fattening! - Also used to be a day of family gathering, the kids still small and romping around in the garden. My father had set up a swing and the sandbox for the small fry. - Nice memories! - My mother, having been a very stern mother for us three kids, ( I had been into the subject) turned into a marvellous adoring grandmother, probably the lack of resposibility did the trick. -
The weather always had been great, we had such a day yesterday, and have been promised more for the weekend by the weatherman. Had been a long day for me yesterday, a patientpick- up at 8:00 a.m. at the clinic in beloved Krefeld, and had to walk the dog before. Woke up very early and decided to get up instead of dozing off again, would have never made it then in time. I think it's keen, kicking out patients at such an early hour. Took the opportunity to visit a nice at the maternity ward, who has to wait out her time for the arrival of her baby-son , he wanted to show up too early into this world, now the little mom is stuck and claiming, that she is outliving her own "groundhog" day -time. So, all of you, keep your fingers crossed for her!

And we are planning on a small trip (hopefully), in two weeks time. I believe it, when I'm there, more about it some other time!

Monday,monday....

September 04/06 8:43 a.m.

...mean, fat monday! So. for all monday haters, here is something to "Cher?" - cheer you up! And Landfrau has to get going, bye for now.

Scents, a Childhood-Reminiscence or How to kill a Rabbit

August 29/06 7:04 p.m.

Scents can, at least with me, trigger off memories. Think, I'm guided a lot by my sense of smell. Today I was cutting tomatoes for a salad. Had bought them at the local market at a farmers stall, and that fruity, genuine fragrance reminded me of the garden of my childhood, where we grew vegetables, fruits and also those delicious tomatoes. In this garden, we also had a box with two rabbits, not for us kids to play with, by no means! You must know, that it had been war time, with not so much to eat (especially meat) anymore, so the rabbits were no cuddly playmates, but food for the Christmas dinner. Of course we kids loved to take them out and stroke them, but were only allowed to do so under surveillance. So, one afternoon mother had to go shopping into town, that beeing a half hours walk to get there and back, no folks, no cars at that time! Strict orders, to leave the rabbits alone, were disobied as soon as mother turned her back. My brother and myself thought, that we would be very smart, building a little arena out of bricks, so the rabbits, beeing still babies, could not get away. Everything went fine, till my brother, by stepping over the "wall" knocked over a brick,which, -plum - fell upon one of the rabbits. It fell over, twiched for a bit, blood ran out of its nose and it was a goner. We tried to revive it, by shacking it and massaging it, no deal, it stayed dead. So then we tried begging a replacement off neighbours ,(everyone in the vicinity had rabbits) but people were stingy (wartime, remember) ,so we had to face our mother and confess, which led to beeing locked into the bathroom and beeing beaten with a whip. Must have been at that time, that I made that oath, that ,should I ever have kids myself, would never lay hand on them. And I kept my promise. Well, once a while my hand probably slipped, but I never did beat them up. - Well, in defence of our mother, I must say, that she was suffering all her life from a nervous condition. For her, raising us without my fathers help (him beeing an officer in theGerman army and at war), must have been a handful, and we were rascals! - The picture shows little Landfrau in the garden, all dressed up, tomboy- pics were not taken at that time.

So, up to today, I wont eat rabbit, neither horse, but there is not the traumatic experience of killing one!

Eventing- Cross Country

Aug. 26/06 5:11 p.m.

GREAT GOING!

Germany leading, so far,keep your fingers crossed!

GROUNDHOG DAY

August 26/06 1:30 p.m.

Have you seen the film ? (German:..und täglich grüsst das Murmeltier), of course, everyone has! Well, Landfrau is in such an continious loop of every day the same routine, fixing breakfast, taking the bike and the dog, climbing the fence to feed and look after my ,by now 3 horses (have adopted the two mares), fixing lunch, shopping(every day hateful, not fancy!) doing the chores around house, garden etc.,watching television at nite and falling into bed, that she thinks, that she must have created her own groundhog day. Think by now I could do the most foolish things, nothing would happen, would wake up the next morning and could start allover again. - Last Thursday, however, had been an exception, trip to downtown (dentist!!) , so man of the house came along, since he does not walk around anymore, for him it was parking lot hopping, for me rushing about afoot, which resulted in missing each other all the time. We managed to have lunch together, however. But the scream was me, watching the entrance of the parking garage elevators , where crowds kept popping out, to catch,my again lost, companion. So finally I saw him and made unmistakable signs, that he should come to me, only it has not been him, but a strange guy, ugh, very embarassing. He came so obidiently and when I apologized, that I had mistaken him for someone else(did not say:my husband) he just grinned and said that I resembled a woman he knows. And I thought, that I am somewhat unique! Which reminds me of a similar story, which happened to me several years ago,during one of our trips to U.S. -Will try to copy it in. And by the way, stopped smoking a year ago!
So, above, you see the copied story from my diary from years ago, have been too stupid, to put it in a link,but you can enlarge the scripts.

...and around here today we have big celebrations,Nordrhein-Westfalen, our state, has its 60th birthday, there is the mobile homes and trailers-exhibition(not interested) and of course Aachen, Aachen, Aachen - military (cross country) today, my favoured discipline.

Wow, I'm GREEN LANTERN!

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 90% Hulk 80% The Flash 80% Catwoman 80% Spider-Man 70% Robin 67% Superman 65% Iron Man 50% Supergirl 47% Wonder Woman 47% Batman 45% August 26/06 10:37 a.m. So friends, here it is - anotherQUIZ (no more "begging" for a while!) - Have fun! -

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Obituary For Two Fish

August 23/06 5:41 p.m.

Sad happening, this morning our two kois, Harald and Wanda, were afloat in our little pond, but not alive, dead as dead fish. Now only Max and Moritz, the two smaller goldfish, are leftover orphans, might hand over the spoon too, if the water should have turned bad. It looked kind of milky yesterday, but last night had been o.k. - Well, we had an unceremonical burial ,dropped them into the brown bin (for the organic waste,remember?) and since it is only to be emptied a week from next monday, I hope they do not start to smell too soon. You see,there it is again, our garbage problem.

Nice happening today,that our dressage-equipe took gold today in Aachen and are once again the world champions! Do I ever enjoy to watch those horses perform, they are so perfect, like dancers, could make your eyes water, even if you are not "horsecrazy".
Watching some on TV every day, yesterday had been "endurance", where the Maktoums all got disqualified. They were so pissed off,since they had counted on gold, (its their discipline), ripping off their tents, TV -station-set ups and everything in no time, all what was left over, were the bathroom facilities with golden faucets. Serves them right, those upnosed Arabs, although I felt a bit sorry for the Princess Haya , who is the president of the FEI. She is so nice to look at and a very smart lady.

Aachen live is great, we had been there before, but nowadays we dread the traffic line ups and the immense crowds. So we are couch potatoes, like mostely, lately.

The Healthy Alternative.....

August 22/06 8:06 p.m.

...for all of you, who have to watch out for the waistline. Doesn`t my "late summer arrangement" look good? But folks, no use showing up at my doorstep, most of the fruit have been gobbled up, by greedy Landfrau! The flowers are still there, but who wants to eat flowers? although, know a couple of guys who do, but only after a few beers too many. - No names dropped!

About Garbage Pick Up

August 18/06 8:37 p.m.

Well, friends, wouldn't you think that was no issue? Not for Landfrau. First: we Germans are well organized, brown bin for the organics, yellow bin for the plastics and the grey one for the rest of the daily waste. And the system had been that in turn the bins had been picked up alternately the same day every week, i.e. the brown and the grey one, the yellow one has been allowed every three weeks for company. Can you follow me? Good: So far Landfrau could follow up too. But now they have changed the system around and the bins are picked up in a wild arrangement, I'm too mega- goofy to remember. Of course there is a nice plan, where its all put down, but if you forget to look??alas! So a week ago I got stuck with the brown one, this morning it has been the grey one and it's so nice to be woken up at 5:30 a.m. by the riot of the pick-up truck,and then its definitely too late to jump out of bed and rush the thing out, there is that big,fat Mercedes sitting in the driveway and in the garage in front of the bins my small car (look post April 16/06!),which would have to be moved too. Fat chance, alors! -
So, the next evenings, when its dark already, I might creep out with my alibi dog, dragging behind, a bag full of garbage under each arm, which then I will sneak meanly into exposed bins of various neighbours! (little joke!)

P.S. ..and notice the nice,shiny new bike of man of the house,additionally sitting in front of the garbage bin assembly.

A Lot about Chocolate!

August 16/06 8:27 p.m.

Here is something for all of you who like chocolate and are lucky enough to not get fat. Landfrau wishes she could eat a pound! Klick the link ,will make a puddle under your tongue!

My patient is home safe and sound.



....and why, for heavens' sake, do I get such a huge page for those two sentences???

A Great Movie!

Aug.15/06 6:45 p.m.

Now folks, have not given a good link in quite a while,and instead of a walk with my little friend and guardian (pouring rain) , I' m busy with my not so good friend, the compi,which I could kick out of the window once a while, like the guy in the trailer!
Enjoy the trailer, and if you have a chance to watch it,dont miss that movie, its real good! The background song is damn great!

Biking against the Wind..

August 16 /06 11:45 a.m.

...have you ever tried it? I prefer horseback- riding against the wind, but unfortunately beeing put down to fenceclimbing to visit my former "buddy". I'm not so sure, think he still dislikes me for forcing a horse's life upon him . As for myself, I will check out a gym for "oldies", reccomandation of a neighbour, not so fond of getting all flabby on account of no horse excercise, a little bit of fenceclimbing wont do.

And now a big Wellcome home tomorrow for my patient, who, I'm sure, will peek into my blog right away!

Oh, and found a balloon card from a kid in Wuppertal this morning on the horse meadow,will send it back, maybe the 5 year old might get a price, Wuppertal is not so close for a little ,yellow balloon.

Gee,whizz, my dentist cancelled my appointment,she has a bad stomach, ain't I lucky, no gagging today!

The Junkie, Generosity and a locked Safe!

August 13/06 2.33 p.m.

So every day, I`m going to park my car at the Hospital`s parking lot,and there is that junkie, we are almost friends by now. He posts himself next to the pay-box, and when people come to draw a ticket, he sells the ones with leftover time, which he has begged off parkers, not using up their time completely. Sundays parking is for free,then he beggs for a token. I try to support him and once a while I give him a little bonus. -Now today, being hopefully the last Sunday to make those hateful trips into K refeld, I planed to be generous and give him a little more. My good intentions were killed by the safe in my patients room.We wanted to go for a little walk in the park and I decided to lock my wallet into the safe,and - bingo - pushed in a wrong key, which of cse. I did not remember, since I felt I had pushed in the right one. Shit happens, Sunday - no mechanics - so here I am, minus wallet and minus generosity and minus all my papers.

Man of my life, having time on his hands, has been fiddeling around with the "maybe" numbers I had timidly voiced, and believe it or not, he got the safe opened. An emergency opening today would have cost us(me?) € 150,--, the "for free" mechanic would have come only tomorrow, thats why I decided to leave without my identity, and the poor junkie got nada, will make it up to him the next time, he wont get lost on me.

This morning already had been dog- and horse time,remember, I have been an early bird today,but did not get the worm!

Ghosttime?

Aug.13/06 7:05 a.m.

The Mercedes(sitting at the curb - (too big for Landfrau to fiddle in and out of the driveway every day) started to scream and the burglar lights in the driveway came on,and that at 6 a.m., where it has been daylight already. Now I am wide awake, want my breakfast, where is my maid? - As goodie for the day .- a pic - I had been taking with my new camera - present for the not taken place trip to Vancouver - Also taken in the morning, but not soo early, this should not become a habit! Cute, my "watchdog" proudly accompanied me, when I went to check on the car, probably would have wagged his tail at every potential burglar!

Thinking About....

August 11/06

...life in general and my life and how time flies. Got into fotos of our youngest grandson (the birthday child) and really gasped,how I had aged in those 9 years ! - But,such is life and now enough about life! Climbed the gate (daily routine by now), to feed old horse his apple. He is now out on the meadows day and nite, running with two mares, which are really bitchy,although its getting better. It has been hard, to put him out, but there only was the alternative to send him to horse heaven. He started to have his falling spells again and I decided, to put an end to our riding activities, before we both turned the salto mortale. He is in no pain,so I told him, that he better gets used to live like a horse, he is not people anymore. - I am surrounded by oldies, my oldie in the hospital is getting better, hope to take him home next week. That really was close! -
So, as the saying goes "lets count our blessings".
Now I really feel,that I have put out the word for sunday, and we only have friday,so enough of that! Tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett O'Hara used to say!

Wieder ein Geburtstagskind!

August 11/06

Dieser kleine Mann ist nun schon 9 Jahre gross! Happy Birthday, Timm! ..und bleib so,wie Du bist (wachsen darfst Du natürlich). Gee, time flies!