Pope Francis ain't messing around

[Nanker]

I remember the last time the Pope visited Cuba.

The media was all over that... until a story about a little blue dress broke on Drudge.

[Deranged Rhino]

Pope Francis questions "Why didn't the Allies bomb the railway lines to Auschwitz?"

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/pope-world-powers-did-nothing-as-jews-were-taken-to-auschwitz/

 

 

“The great powers had photographs of the railway routes that the trains took to the concentration camps, like Auschwitz, to kill the Jews, and also the Christians, and also the Roma, also the homosexuals,” Francis said, citing the death camp in Poland. “Tell me, why didn’t they bomb” those railroad routes?

 

That's an interesting, and completely disingenuous, question to ask considering the church's own complicit history in the Holocaust. It's doubly disconcerting considering how much admiration Francis seems to have for Pius XII, a man who helped legitimize fascism in Europe.

[/dev/null]

Pope Francis questions "Why didn't the Allies bomb the railway lines to Auschwitz?"

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/pope-world-powers-did-nothing-as-jews-were-taken-to-auschwitz/

 

 

 

For starters there were no smart bombs in WWII. Those bombers were just as likely to drop their payloads on the prisoners in the camps as the railway lines.

 

Plus the Nazi's knew the backlash that would come when the world learned what they were up to. Bombing the lines into the camp would have tipped off that the Allies were aware of whats going on. This would have accelerated the exterminations as it did near the end of the war when the Allies pushed into Germany

[DC Tom]

Pope Francis questions "Why didn't the Allies bomb the railway lines to Auschwitz?"

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/pope-world-powers-did-nothing-as-jews-were-taken-to-auschwitz/

 

 

 

That's an interesting, and completely disingenuous, question to ask considering the church's own complicit history in the Holocaust. It's doubly disconcerting considering how much admiration Francis seems to have for Pius XII, a man who helped legitimize fascism in Europe.

 

Never mind that Osweicim was at the very edge of every air forces' (8th, 15th, Bomber Command, and ADD) operational range until mid- to late-1944. And never mind that there was no such thing as precision bombing (the most notable attempt - the bombing of the Peenemunde rocket facility - killed 500+ Polish laborers in the nearby camp), and never mind that railway bombing was notoriously useless (rail lines are so easy to repair that they're a worthless target. Destroying trains themselves proved more worthwhile - it's easier to repair a rail line than move a wrecked train off of it) And never mind that the SS had no problem - as they demonstrated in 1945 - marching prisoners to their deaths when the railways weren't available.

 

But which Auschwitz? The main camp, Birkenau, Monowitz, or any of the 60+ smaller Arbeitslager? What, exactly, should the target have been?

 

For that matter, why Auschwitz, when there were much worse camps?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

For that matter, why Auschwitz, when there were much worse camps?

 

Besides the fact that nearly 1/6th of the victims of the Holocaust died in Auschwitz-Birkenau?

[DC Tom]

 

Besides the fact that nearly 1/6th of the victims of the Holocaust diedchwitz-Birkenau?

And a sixth died in Treblinka. An eighth in Chelmno.

 

Know why Auschwitz is the archetype? Because there were survivors. Know how many people survived Chelmno?

 

One.

 

We have a bias for Auschwitz because survivors told stories about it.. We never heard stories about the Reinhardt camps because of the more than two million Jews sent to them, about 50 survived to tell about them.

 

That's the Holocaust. Not Auschwitz.

[OCinBuffalo]

The better question: why is this Pope reinforcing the same old, Argentinian, Nazi sympathizer stereotype?

 

Isn't he essentially asking: "Why didn't the Americans save the German Nazis from themselves/being themselves?" :rolleyes" This looks in every way like a lame attempt to nerf the Nazis responsibility from 100%, to 80%, and laying 20% of the blame on us for "not stopping them".

 

F You Francis. My grandfather flew 64 missions against the Nazis, which was doing 2X+ what was required(you could quit after 30). And 43 of those missions were against their heavily defended oil fields in Romania. Therefore, in total, he did 350% more than you did...to stop the Nazis, and practically all his friends were killed. They did more than enough to stop the Nazis. Blow it out your ass.

 

dev/null is right: in both Japan and Germany, we knew what was happening(in Japan they were setting our POWs on fire). We did the things we knew would keep the most people alive. It's an insult to both the men flying the missions, the intelligence people, and the top decision-makers, to suggest/assert that somehow they could/should have done more than they did. It's either a knowing insult, or ignorant babble. Take your pick.

 

I'll never understand why Argentinians routinely come out with crap like this, and then cry when we point out how many Nazis escaped to their country, and tell us we're the ones with a problem. Eichmann wasn't living in the US. Perhaps Argentina should STFU about WW2, as a rule?

Edited June 24, 2015 by OCinBuffalo

[B-Man]

In Condemning Arms Makers, Pope Francis Sends the Wrong Message at the Wrong Time

by David French

Over the weekend, Pope Francis made a statement that should be of deep interest to the many thousands of faithful Catholics who work in the American defense industry or to the countless more who’ve invested in American arms companies. Speaking Sunday, the pope said, “If you trust only men, you have lost.” He continued, “It makes me think of . . . people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit of a distrust doesn’t it?”

Interestingly, in that same speech the pope wondered aloud why the Allies didn’t do more to stop the Holocaust: “The great powers had the pictures of the railway lines that brought the trains to the concentration camps like Auschwitz to kill Jews, Christians, homosexuals, everybody. Why didn’t they bomb [the railway lines]?” Presumably this desire for specific air strikes can be reconciled with his condemnations of arms makers so long as the bombs are manufactured by, say, Hindus. And are the weapons that his security detail carries made by Buddhists?

I respect the pope and appreciate his deep concern for the poor and vulnerable, but these comments, while admittedly off-the-cuff, were incoherent. Even worse, they reveal a mindset that affects all too many of the world’s most influential Christians — where their heartfelt desire for peace has exactly the wrong impact, often sending a message that the West is weak-willed, its nerve lost. There was a time when the world’s great conflicts were fought largely between its traditional Christian powers, including nations with large Catholic populations and Catholic leadership. And not all these wars were launched or conducted according to just-war principles. Thus, there was a crying need for a powerful and — just as important — influential Christian witness for peace.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420194/pope-francis-condemns-arms-makers-christians-persecuted

 

[Azalin]

 

Over the weekend, Pope Francis made a statement that should be of deep interest to the many thousands of faithful Catholics who work in the American defense industry or to the countless more who’ve invested in American arms companies. Speaking Sunday, the pope said, “If you trust only men, you have lost.” He continued, “It makes me think of . . . people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit of a distrust doesn’t it?”

 

 

Doesn't the Pontifical Swiss Guard still purchase weaponry?

[DC Tom]

 

Doesn't the Pontifical Swiss Guard still purchase weaponry?

 

Yeah...halberds. Modern weaponry probably clashes too much with their clown costumes.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

 

Yeah...halberds. Modern weaponry probably clashes too much with their clown costumes.

They do have a modern arsenal, if you weren't aware. Which begs the question: why does the Pope need an army?

Edited June 24, 2015 by joesixpack

[LeviF]

Meanwhile, rumors are flying about that Hans Schellnhuber has been advising the Pope on climate change. The guy is an atheist and has some wacky ideas regarding the relationship between humans and the planet.

[DC Tom]

They do have a modern arsenal, if you weren't aware. Which begs the question: why does the Pope need an army?

 

And they have modern uniforms. I just love the halberds and clown suits.

[3rdnlng]

Unlike Pope Francis, I believe that air-conditioning and the capitalists responsible for the technology are blessings to the world.

Perhaps the head of the Catholic Church, who condemned "the increasing use and power of air-conditioning" last week in a market-bashing encyclical, is unaware of the pioneering private company that has donated its time, energy and innovative heating, ventilating and air-conditioning equipment to the Vatican's most famous edifice for more than a decade.

That's right. While the pontiff sanctimoniously attacks "those who are obsessed with maximizing profits," Carrier Corporation -- a $13 billion for-profit company with 43,000 employees worldwide (now a unit of U.S.-based United Technologies Corp.) -- ensures that the air in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel stays clean and cool.

Last fall, Carrier unveiled a groundbreaking HVAC system for the Vatican to help preserve Michelangelo's masterpieces against pollution caused by the estimated six million visitors who descend on the Sistine Chapel every year to see its famous frescoes.

As the company described it, their new solution "uses two Carrier AquaForce® 30XWV water-cooled chillers with Greenspeed® intelligence, each with 580 kilowatts of capacity. It leverages specially designed software and components, as well as patented, energy-saving technologies to maintain optimal climate conditions for the protection of the paintings within the chapel." State-of-the-art intelligent controls "anticipate visitor levels and adjust its performance intuitively." It also "delivers twice the efficiency and three times the capacity of the former system, which was built and installed by Carrier in the early 1990s."

Here's the lesson about air-conditioning capitalists that Pope Francis fails to appreciate: Carrier's technological know-how and breakthroughs didn't just descend from the clouds. As I recount in my latest book, "Who Built That," every perfectly chilled home, office, movie theater, mall, factory, hospital, lab and museum owes its existence to the profit-seeking pioneers of manufactured weather: Willis Carrier and Irvine Lyle.

These early 20th-century inventive giants brought air-conditioning to the market and to the masses. Willis Carrier was the scientist-tinkerpreneur whose prolific stream of experiments and epiphanies, beginning in 1902, fueled historic technological advances in heating, refrigeration and air-conditioning. Irvine Lyle was the mechanical engineer-turned-salesman who imagined countless new commercial applications for Carrier's work -- and successfully turned those ideas into a multibillion-dollar business through relentless promotion, pitches, networking, advertising and outreach.

The scientists and their core team begged, borrowed and made stock sales to friends and neighbors. Carrier even enlisted his dentist for cash to get Carrier Engineering Corporation up and running in 1915. Carrier, Lyle and five founding engineers together pitched in $32,600 in start-up funds.

The Carrier capitalists risked it all in defiance of an economic depression and amid the tumult of world war. They couldn't afford their own factory and scrounged for made-to-order parts wherever they could find them. They dug into their own pockets to cover salary shortfalls. The wealth wasn't handed to them. Carrier and Lyle, farm boys who both graduated from Cornell, drove their men hard and themselves harder.

The Carrier team sold its products to businesses, large and small, that spanned the spectrum of human needs and wants. The pope should know that in addition to sparing countless lives from death by heat wave, Carrier designed a special system for Jonas Salk that helped maintain constant temperatures in the vats where Salk's poliovirus strains grew. The Salk vaccine saved thousands of lives and spearheaded the vaccine revolution.

Read more:

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/2015/06/24/holy-hypocrisy-and-hot-air/?subscriber=1

[/dev/null]

 

And they have modern uniforms. I just love the halberds and clown suits.

They look like Ronald McDonald got into Jason Voorhees private stash

[truth on hold]

This pope rules.

 

Pope Francis: Divorce can be morally necessary

 

It is morally necessary to break up bad marriages when the safety of women and children is at stake, Pope Francis said Wednesday, marking a massive shift in tone in the Catholic view about matrimony.

 

There are cases in which separation is inevitable, he told his weekly audience.

 

Sometimes, it can even be morally necessary, when its about shielding the weaker spouse or young children from the more serious wounds caused by intimidation and violence, humiliation and exploitation.

 

http://nypost.com/2015/06/25/pope-francis-divorce-can-be-morally-necessary/

Edited June 25, 2015 by JTSP

[Keukasmallies]

Pope Francis meddling in matter non-religious (and specifically, non-Catholic) compares to POTUS meddling in....Oh Yeah, maybe that doesn't compute....

[Deranged Rhino]

Vatican Formally Recognizes the Palestinian State:

 

 

 

 

The Vatican on Friday signed a treaty with the “state of Palestine,” a development that the church hopes will lead to improved relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

The accord, the result of 15 years of negotiations, covers “essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in the State of Palestine,” the Vatican said in a statement.

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/world/middleeast/vatican-palestinian-state.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

[LeviF]

The Pope trolling jews. Who woulda thunk it?

[unbillievable]

It's a weird time in history when there are two popes and one of them is nuts.