Greetings and salutations!

In the News:

The Vatican
Pope John Paul II was hospitalized in Italy this week due to complications from Influenza. He is reportedly recovering but his already frail health (the Pope suffers from Parkinson's disease) limits the extent to which he can improve. The likelihood of a possible succession is certainly growing. Irrespective of religious associations, the Pope is a significant figure in global affairs and of great importance to millions of people. I, for one, pray for his recovery.

The Middle East
In further developments of late, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been invited by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik instead. Mr. Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan (who will also attend the meeting) represent the two Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel and add weight to the Palestinian voice at the table. With small steps toward democracy in the region, hope for the prospects of peace are also on the rise.

In other news, noting the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, German President Horst Köhler spoke before the Israeli parliament. While many politicians received him warmly (Germany is now one of Israel's strongest allies), many others chose not to attend the session, refusing to hear the German language spoken in Israel's legislature.

The United States
George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union address last night. While I won't go over the speech in detail, there are a few points I found to be quite interesting. Firstly, regardless of it's sincerity, there was a noticeable effort to project a sense of unity and cooperation in Congress, which is tremendously important following the difficult first term. Wisely, the President quickly focused on U.S. domestic policy, zeroing in on the controversial Social Security debate. While the majority of the arguments on this issue have to do with numbers, the concern should be over the effect of privatization. Years ago the U.S. government privatized retirements savings plans in the form of 401K plans, which have suffered greatly since their inception.

Bush also returned to his strong stance on moral issues, stating that he was in favor of a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage. I find it interesting that advocates of gay marriage pose the question, "who are we to refuse the gay community the same rights everyone else has?" Considering the fact that, until the 21st century, no country in the world recognized same sex marriage, and that the institution of marriage predates any state and is nearly universally held as a bond between a man and a woman, who are we to think we have the right to change that?

Surprisingly, it took over half an hour for the President to mention Al Qaida and surrounding issues of foreign policy. While his approach was much less aggressive than his last State of the Union Address (careful around Iran and North Korea), he was pointed in his remarks to Syria, demanding they stop aiding terrorists "or else." He also paraded out an Iraqi woman who had voted in the recent election, in what proved to be a dramatic but ultimately effective piece of propaganda. Emotions in the legislature were high on all sides. Of course, the billions of dollars he is requesting to continue funding the Middle Eastern campaign indicates that the U.S. economy is clearly still a back burner priority to the White House.

With Hope,
Joseph