2-17-2009

2-17-09--Countries that have adopted a “war on terror” response to terrorism have done “immense damage” to international law and human rights, according to a special panel set up b the International Commission of Jurists, a Geneva based group of lawyers and judges. ... The panel said increasingly secretive action was becoming widespread in democratic states. NYT A8

--A leading scientific group has announced its intention to boycott Louisiana because of a new state law that could open the door to teaching creationism in the public schools. NYT A14

--...Benedict ignited another [firestorm ]by appointing the Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner, known for his Katrina comment [that New Orleans’ sins brought Katrina] and for saying that homosexuality was curable, as the auxiliary bishop of Linz. ...In Mexico, another crisis is undermining confidence in the church: this month, the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative religious order, said that its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, had led a double life and fathered a child in an affair. Before his death last year at 87, Father Maciel was forced by the Vatican to leave his ministry after allegations that he had sexually abused seminarians. NYT A5