Vatican: Educate young for peace, pope says at New Year Mass | Reuters

Educate young for peace, pope says at New Year Mass | Reuters: "Educating the young "in knowledge of the truth, in fundamental values and virtues, is to look to the future with hope," he said in his homily. Young people needed all-round education, and this required a social commitment to justice and peace, the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics said. They must use advances in communications technology to promote peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, dialogue and understanding. "Young people ... are open to these attitudes but the social reality in which they grow up can lead them to think and act in the opposite way, even to be intolerant and violent," he said."

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US: Americans to Light a Candle to Stand Up for the Bullies of the Gun Lobby for there is No Season of Peace from Gun Violence

Dennis A. Henigan: No Season of Peace from Gun Violence: "No one who hears the stories of the victims -- those who survived the gunshots and those who did not -- can possibly believe that gun violence is an issue to be determined by the politics of the moment. No one who hears these stories can escape the conclusion that the unnecessary loss of life and untold suffering from easy access to deadly weaponry presents not a political issue but a moral issue. The politicians are not hearing, because they are not listening.

That's why, on Jan. 8, 2012, a year to the day after the Tucson shooting, Americans will join together to ensure that the voices of the victims are honored and are heard. From San Francisco to New York, from Austin to Duluth, Americans will light a candle in remembrance of those struck down, and in protest against the callous inaction of those in power who seem able to find every flimsy excuse for national policies that guarantee that the deadly drumbeat of gun violence will go on and on. The Too Many Victims Candlelight Vigil campaign allows ordinary Americans to make a simple yet powerful statement that our country deserves more than cowering politicians afraid to stand up to the bullies of the gun lobby."

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Israel: Palestinians offer to renew Israel peace talks without settlement freeze, official says

Palestinians offer to renew Israel peace talks without settlement freeze, official says - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News: "PA reportedly submits new Quartet offer to restart negotiations, demand Israel releases 100 Palestinian prisoners; Israel rejects offer fearing renewal of only low-grade talks."

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Vatican: Pope expresses sadness over ‘senseless’ violence against Christians in Nigeria

Channel 6 News » UPDATE 1 — Pope expresses sadness over ‘senseless’ violence against Christians in Nigeria: "According to Nigerian media reports, the Boko Haram Islamist militant group has claimed responsibility for the deadly Christmas Day attacks. The group has been blamed for most of the region's terrorist attacks and seeks the imposition of an extremist stance of the Shariah law, which is a Muslim code of conduct. The group's name, in the local language of Hausa, roughly translates as 'Western religion is sacrilegious' or 'non-Islamic religion is a sin.'

In early November, a series of bomb and shooting attacks targeting police stations, mosques and churches in northeastern Nigeria left at least 82 people killed and more than 100 injured. The attacks, also claimed by Boko Haram, happened just before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha."

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EU: Moments of Margaret Thatcher in Meryl Streep Film and EU Debates

Meryl Streep Film and EU Debates Bring Maggie Thatcher's Moment - The Daily Beast: "A British Prime Minister, splendidly isolated, faces down a phalanx of scowling European leaders, all harrumphing censure in accents that are German, French, Italian. We've witnessed the scene before. Decades ago Margaret Thatcher warred with her European counterparts just as David Cameron did this month in refusing to yield control of national budgets to Brussels. The difference is that the Iron Lady did not speak softly when she wielded a big stick. She lambasted ambitious bureaucrats; the artificial Utopian megastate you want to build, she told them, will be a "tower of Babel" dominated by Germany and riven by economic crises. Though she was ousted in 1990 over her refusal to join the monetary union, her skepticism seems to be vindicated with every euro crisis. December 2011 is very much Maggie's moment, and with serendipitous timing, she's there on the big screen in a biopic, The Iron Lady, portrayed with preternatural realism by Meryl Streep."

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Guatemala & El Salvador: U.S. government suspends training for new Peace Corps volunteers while it assesses security concerns

US Nixes Peace Corps Class For Guatemala, Salvador - From the Wires - Salon.com: "A Peace Corps statement says a training course for volunteers scheduled for January will not take place, but those already serving in the two countries are “safe and accounted for.” The corps said Wednesday that “due to ongoing security concerns, the agency is enhancing operational support to currently serving volunteers.” Corps spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson says the corps will try to place volunteers who planned to serve in Guatemala or El Salvador in other countries. Both countries have suffered waves of violent crime and drug-related violence."

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India: Parenting is no kidding- We have moved fr joint families to nuclear families & single parenthood, leaving young parents w/more responsibilities

Parenting is no kidding : North News - India Today: "Family structures have changed over the years. "We have moved from joint families to nuclear families and single parenthood, leaving young parents with more responsibilities," says Komal Mathur, counselor, transaction analysis. "Juggling between careers and home makes it increasingly difficult for parents to keep tabs on their children," admits parent-child counselor, Jessina Merchant. The multiple distractions and options available to kids these days make a parent's job even harder. The influence of the peers is not limited to school and neighborhood any more. "While parents want to keep track of their kids' activities at school, they don't want to intrude too much either," says Reena Nath, family therapist. "

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