Chinese bishop arrested: to silence Pope's message?

I came upon this article in a thread over at Phatmass. The persecution of Christians (and other religious people) in China is nothing new, particularly with Bishops. I know the late Cardinal Kung suffered greatly under the communist government, imprisoned for more than 30 years for refusing to betray his faith. But the final paragraph in this article struck me as shocking and amazing.

The 73-year-old Bishop Jia has spent more than 15 years in prison. In the past 3 years he has been arrested at least 11 times, usually to be interrogated, subjected to pressure to join the Patriotic Association, and eventually released. His last previous arrest was on June 5 of this year; he was released on June 22.

And I think one of the posters on phatmass made a very astute observation...

Unfortunately, the American public did not start to care about China until the recent food and product safety scares regarding pet food, toothpaste, and lead paint on toys.

I guess if it doesn't harm our kids or pets it will not make the news.

Zimbabwe

I received this article through one of my yahoo groups, and what caught my attention of course was the engaging first paragraph.

No one is surprised when a Roman Catholic bishop condemns the violence of war. But when was the last time you heard of one pleading for a military invasion?

True that, so I read on.

If you take a moment to read the whole thing you will find that it is about Zimbabwe and the appalling conditions that exist in that country today. I have read some before about the horrible conditions in Zimbabwe, but this column really brought it back to the forefront in my mind. Some of the stats mentioned in the column.

Eighty percent of Zimbabwe's adults are now unemployed. Life expectancy has plummeted to 36 years. The death rate for children 5 and under has soared 65 percent since 1990. While Mugabe's kleptocratic cronies and thugs drive expensive cars, build elaborate mansions, and amass fortunes by manipulating the currency market, ordinary citizens are reduced to unspeakable degradation. Schoolteachers sell themselves for sex in order to feed their children, the Times of London reports. A man in Rushinga was convicted of killing his 10-year-old son with an ax handle for eating four mice meant for the family's lunch. One-time accountants, bankers, headmasters, now refugees in South Africa, survive through menial labor or begging in the streets.

Help won't come of course.

The world will stand and watch, just as it has done with Darfur, as it has done many times before.

I did enjoy this comment from Jacoby though, how true.

A detachment of U.S. Marines could do the job on its lunch break.

Saparmurat Niyazov

Turkmen leader dies, uncertainty on succession

Turkmenistan's President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov died suddenly on Thursday after 21 years of iron rule, raising a risk of political instability in the energy-rich country that some feared could have an impact on Europe's gas supplies.

Saparmurat Niyazov was on Parade Magazine's list of the world's ten worst dictators, he was #8. Here's what they had to say about him back in January...

8) Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan. Age 65. In power since 1990. Last year’s rank: 8

Niyazov has created the world’s most pervasive personality cult, and criticism of any of his policies is considered treason. The latest examples of his government-by-whim include bans on car radios, lip-synching and playing recorded music on TV or at weddings. Niyazov also has closed all national parks and shut down rural libraries. He launched an attack on his nation’s health-care system, firing 15,000 health-care workers and replacing most of them with untrained military conscripts. He announced the closing of all hospitals outside the capital and ordered Turkmenistan’s physicians to give up the Hippocratic Oath and to swear allegiance to him instead.