Vlado, thank you for correcting me. If I recall correctly, the ÄŒapovski family came from Greek Macedonia. This makes the song that much more personal. I await the new album with tremendous interest.

I thought you might!

Silly Soviet. Haven't you gone the way of the brontosaur yet? Read this link and figure out why we find Eduard amusing.

Loser.

Ukraine, as a country, IS independent. It is NO LONGER part of the Russian state, despite the cackling of nationalists who want their empire back. The American Orthodox Church SHOULD be in existence, and there should be no ethnic ghettos in this country. This is precisely the attitude that makes Americans who are not Orthodox see our faith as little more than "ethnic Catholics," I'm not anti-ROC, but I'm certainly anti-Putin, anti-Medvyedev, and anti-Russian imperialist butting their noses in countries that they were sent away from in 1991. What the Church should concentrate on is one of two things: a) develop good relations and accept them as equals; or b) let the ROC support the imperial ambitions of Russia to take what isn't theirs anymore.

Dear Johan,

You're most welcome. Your questions have been fair and pointed. I would make the assumption that you don't believe much in religion, or at least not in what the Catholic Church teaches. I've no doubt that your research on Galileo will surpass mine. What I'd request is that you take a look at the documents from an ecclesiastical point of view.

The RCC, in my opinion, made the apology more to honor Galileo than to grovel over a judgment made three centuries past, though secular media took it as such. Regarding love, I'd have to say no one does more to help the world than Christians do. But with their size comes the opportunity for abuse. This is something that all of us, no matter what faith (or non-faith) we possess must look out for.

As for Christianity maintaining relevance in the modern world, we're doing fine as individuals. The churches should make sure to keep up, or at least hold true to good doctrine, rather than simply change with the times.

Dear Johan,

There are indeed errors and bad behavior in Christianity. I'll be the first to grant you that. Galileo's situation, however, shouldn't be counted in that hall of bad judgments, as Galileo was judged more for obstinacy, despite the pleading of his friend the Pope. Most of the proclamations of clerical ignorance come less from the minds of atheists, who despite their intellect in the sciences, tend to be woefully ignorant to Church history, but to English Protestants looking for anything, true or not, to attack Rome with. You seem to be as intelligent as you are kind in your words, so as someone whose intellect is so great, I behoove you to take the time and do the research on the history of science and the Catholic Church. Orthodoxy has its own love of science, but something tells me your interests, quibbles and curiosity may lean more toward Rome than to my Constantinople.

Dear Johan;

There's really no question involved outside of whether Islam will be once again compatible with the modern world as it was, and comfortably so in many aspects, until the 12th Century. They had a forward looking vision at one time, and it came crashing to an ugly halt. A pity, that. Allawi makes some good points, I think, in that he sees some truly beautiful aspects of the Islam he grew up in, but realizes that it's been a struggle for the "hard-core" to adapt to the rest of the world. Christianity had no real problems with science, though thanks to ridiculous items such as the concept of a "flat Earth," meant originally as an allegory, being made into ignorance of our living on a sphere, and other such twaddle.

In terms of a political aspect, Islam in itself isn't quite the problem from what I see, and not being a Muslim, I can only offer an observation after living among them some years ago. The problems tend to lie from a more cultural reason. It seems that even if the bedouin has left the desert, the mentality of the desert never quite left the bedouin. There is so much that is tribal, protective to the point of violence of family honor, and other issues that seem to be keeping Arabs from turning into a unified bloc rather than squabbling oil barons. They still have a chance to modernize, and I hope they do.

Dear Johan;

I must say I'm no theorist per se. I'm simply someone with an opinion. Those like yourself who choose to read it can make of that what you will.

In terms of Palin's effectiveness, until her resignation, her popularity was quite high, despite the fact that she was savaged in the press. Why? She kept oil companies in check, made sure Alaskans received money from these companies rather than what happened under the previous governor, who was seen more as a crony to "big oil" than a representative of his constituents. Her popularity will certainly drop because of her abandoning the post. She chose to do it, and she will have to live with the ramifications of her decision.

It may seem as a copout to you, Johan, and I understand why you would think so. She certainly did bail on her post. No one will argue that, if she wanted higher office, this would be a good idea. What I'm thinking is that she wants to make enough money to take care of her legal costs and then see what happens in the future. It doesn't seem like the RNC will back her for a run at president anyway, so any discussion of her running in 2012 may be moot. We'll see

Best regards to you as well,

Rudy

Johan,

It is not a matter of me being a fan of anyone, to be honest. I appreciate her effectiveness in governing Alaska before she was torn to shreds by the wild pack of dogs amusingly referred to as "the Press." I cannot say one way or another if it was wise for her politically to do so, but there is something one must keep in mind. She's been an honest member in this process, even if her opponents snidely insult her on every level. If she really wanted to just step down from office to get out of the crushing bills from the frivolous lawsuits and spare her family any more thrashing, then she is doing what she feels is the right thing, and I'll buy it. If she chooses to run for President, I have no problem with that, either. Will she get my vote? If she can prove herself over a campaign. I have no dog in the fight as it currently stands.

Good meeting you, Johan.

Rudy