Pentagon buyers authorized to discuss budget cuts with industry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's top weapons buyer on Thursday authorized Defense Department purchasers and program managers to begin talking to industry partners about plans for implementing $46 billion in budget cuts on March 1 and what impact it may have on business.

The directions from Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, were the first time Pentagon contracting and acquisitions personnel have been authorized to consult with their industry counterparts about the upcoming spending cuts, known as sequestration.

Kendall said in a February 21 memorandum obtained by Reuters that Pentagon purchasers and program managers were "encouraged" to begin making contact with industry counterparts at the discretion of their managers and chains of command.

"It is important we keep industry informed about our plans and involved in our decision-making process to the maximum extent possible, particularly when ongoing or upcoming contract awards may be affected," Kendall said in the memo.

Company officials said they had been warning of the damage sequestration could cause and had been pressing for a solution.

"For over a year, Northrop Grumman has been vocal about the negative impacts sequestration will have on national security, the industrial base, the supplier chain, the workforce, and the national economy," Northrop Vice President Randy Belote said.

An official at another company, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "we're encouraged by any efforts, and we're working closely with our customers to understand how sequestration could impact our programs."

"Significant delays in funding for any production program could threaten the stability of our supply chains, increase costs, prolong delivery schedules and ultimately weaken our national security posture," the official said.

The authorization for Pentagon purchasing officials to begin talking to their industry counterparts comes a week before $46 billion in across-the-board spending cuts are scheduled to go into force on March 1.

Pentagon officials have issued dire warnings in recent days about the potential impact of the cuts. The cuts will be compounded by the fact that the department did not receive an appropriation for this year and is being funded by a "continuing resolution" that keeps spending at 2012 levels.

Officials say 2012 funding levels are about the same as 2013, but the budget priorities are different and much of the money is in the wrong accounts. The Pentagon, they say, has little flexibility to shift funds between accounts and is facing a significant shortfall in some areas.

Kendall said talks with industry would help both sides prepare more effectively.

"Engaging in this dialogue will allow industry to more productively make their own internal business plans to deal with potential sequestration impacts," Kendall said in the memo.

"Feedback from industry will provide valuable insights as government managers decide how best to move forward in attempting to meet the war-fighter requirements and DoD (Department of Defense) needs under severely constrained budgetary conditions."

Kendall's memorandum also encouraged program managers and grant officers to quickly notify companies and universities carrying out Pentagon research about any plans to reduce their grants or awards funding.

"Program and awarding officials ... should work together to notify recipients as soon as practicable after decisions about reductions are made so that recipients have as much time as possible to adjust their program execution plans," Kendall's memo said.

The acquisitions chief said communication would need to be more limited if proprietary information were involved or if the contract was in the process of being awarded.

"However, as a general rule, transparency with industry and academia while we plan for potential sequestration and CR (continuing resolution) is in the department's long-term best interests," Kendall said.

(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by David Brunnstrom and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-buyers-authorized-discuss-budget-cuts-industry-040926302.html

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Samsung's WiFi-only Galaxy Camera passes governmental inspection, bids farewell to SIM cards

Two days is a long time in tech. One day, a company's announcing a new iteration of its hybrid Android camera, next thing you know, it's already passing the FCC's tests. You probably know the drill by now and with even less radios than the original Galaxy Camera, there's less paperwork to browse this round. But if exposure reports are your sort of thing, then you should probably visit the source -- there's reading to be done. Two things not mentioned, however, is that darn release date and price tag.

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Pope considers new conclave rules, date uncertain

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI may enact a new law governing the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope amid continued uncertainty over when the voting can begin.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Wednesday that he didn't know for sure if the new law under consideration would address the timing of the conclave following Benedict's Feb. 28 resignation. He said it would contain some "clarifications" on certain points. But given the crush of interest surrounding the conclave date, it seems only natural it might clarify the issue.

The current law says cardinals should wait 15 days after the papacy becomes vacant before launching a conclave to allow all eligible cardinals to arrive in Rome, making March 15 the presumed start. That delay, however, assumed a papal death and funeral. In this case, the cardinals already know that this pontificate will end Feb. 28 and can get to Rome in plenty of time.

Some canonists and scholars have said the current rules allow for some wiggle room on the 15-day wait given that most if not all the cardinals will already be in Rome for Benedict's final general audience Feb. 27 and his farewell meeting with cardinals on Feb. 28.

"The document says that the cardinals present in Rome must wait 15 days for the arrival of the others," noted Ambrogio Piazzoni, the vice prefect of the Vatican library. "That can mean that if the cardinals all arrive before the 15 days there is no need to wait. The phrase 'must wait' doesn't say that you can't start before 15 days."

However, leading U.S. canonist Edward Peters, an adviser to the Vatican high court, welcomed word that the pope himself might intervene.

"Advancing the conclave start-date would make obvious good sense, but actually doing so on anything less than express papal authority raises serious canonical and even ecclesiological problems," he said on his blog.

The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Palm Sunday Mass followed by Easter Sunday on March 31. In order to have a new pope in place in time for the most solemn liturgical period on the church calendar, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17, because of the strong tradition to hold installation Mass on a Sunday. Given the tight time-frame, speculation has mounted that some arrangement would be made to start the conclave on March 10 or thereabouts, earlier than a strict reading of the law would allow.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said the No. 1 issue on the agenda is when the conclave would start.

Speaking Tuesday on his radio show on Sirius XM's "The Catholic Channel," Dolan said most cardinals would prefer to have a conclave sooner rather than later to avoid a long vacancy in the papacy.

"On the other hand you don't want to rush it. We need prayer. We need to get to know one another. We need time to let Benedict's departure sink in," he said. "So we're going to need the virtue of prudence here."

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-considers-conclave-rules-date-uncertain-153416097.html

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Teachers ditch student desk chairs for yoga balls

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Students in Robbi Giuliano's fifth grade class sit on yoga balls as they complete their assignments at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Students in Robbi Giuliano's fifth grade class sit on yoga balls as they complete their assignments at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. The exercise gear is part a larger effort to modernize schools based on research linking physical activity with better learning, said John Kilbourne, a professor of movement science at Grand View State University in Allendale, Mich. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. Giuliano says "I'm able to get a lot done with them because they're sitting on yoga balls." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) ? In 11 years of teaching, ditching students' desk chairs in favor of yoga balls is one of the best decisions Robbi Giuliano thinks she ever made.

Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said.

"I have more attentive children," Giuliano said. "I'm able to get a lot done with them because they're sitting on yoga balls."

The giant rubber spheres, also called stability balls, come in different sizes, colors and degrees of firmness. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness.

The exercise gear is part a larger effort to modernize schools based on research linking physical activity with better learning, said John Kilbourne, a professor of movement science at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich.

Traditional classroom setups are being challenged as teachers nationwide experiment with yoga balls, footrests and standing desks, which give children outlets to fidget without disrupting class.

"It's the future of education," Kilbourne said.

Stability balls, frequently used in yoga, Pilates and physical therapy, have even begun appearing in offices in the wake of recent studies stressing the dangers of sedentary work environments.

The balls first began to surface in schools as aids for kids with attention problems or autism, said Michelle Rowe, executive director of the Kinney Center for Autism at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The equipment has since gone mainstream.

"It takes away the taboo of wiggling, which most kids do anyway," said Rowe, who also is a professor of health services.

Giuliano began using the balls in her class in West Chester, a Philadelphia suburb, about three years ago after her husband mentioned how they increased productivity at the holistic wellness company where he worked.

Student Ashley Hasson conceded that adjusting to her dark pink ball was tough at first.

"But once you get used to it, it's not that hard because basically you're just sitting down," she said.

Another student, Kevin Kent, said the ball makes it easier for him to concentrate and keeps his back from getting stiff. Now, he said, sitting in a chair is "weird, because you're all bent up."

Some health experts cautioned against the possibility of student horseplay and falling off the balls. But Giuliano's 24 students know they must keep their bottoms on the balls and feet on the floor at all times, though they can bounce and bob as much as they like.

The same goes for Dannielle Doran's fourth-graders at Merion Elementary School in a nearby district, where misbehavior risks loss of the ball and a return to a four-legged seat.

"They like sitting on them so much, and they don't want to lose that privilege," Doran said. "It seems to almost ... motivate better behavior."

At Namaste Charter School in Chicago, which is guided by the philosophy that healthy and active kids perform better in class, all students learn to use stability balls during physical education.

Yet they're used as seats in academic settings only on a case-by-case basis, principal Allison Slade said.

"Fifth-graders are so antsy that, for some kids, this is really good for them," Slade said. "But for others, I think it could be really distracting."

To be sure, the balls are not mandatory in Doran's or Giuliano's classes, but Giuliano noted only one student in three years has opted to continue using a chair.

Parents have been supportive as well, voluntarily purchasing the $5 balls for their kids. Some even ended up buying balls for themselves to use at home and work, said Giuliano, who wants to spread the word to other teachers.

"I don't like sitting on a chair all day ... so I started sitting on a yoga ball, and I find I'm more alert," Giuliano said. "And my message is to try it with your class and see if it works for you."

___

Follow Kathy Matheson at http://www.twitter.com/kmatheson

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-20-US-Yoga-Balls-Classrooms/id-6bc0effa96c8431787c577ae28dbb1dd

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Chinese Army Latest in Hack Blame Game

Who should be blamed for the surging malicious exploits against US corporations and organizations over the last few years? Look no further than the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China. Or, at least, that particular army unit that operates out of a downbeat office block in a suburb of Shanghai.

Regular readers will remember that Iran was getting the blame last month for a series of attacks on US financial institutions. But this doesn't just mean the news media is fickle in handing out blame. These latest accusations arise from a report published Tuesday by the security vendor Mandiant, which states:

APT1 is likely government-sponsored and one of the most persistent of China's cyber threat actors. We believe that APT1 is able to wage such a long-running and extensive cyber espionage campaign in large part because it receives direct government support.

No prizes for guessing that:

People's Liberation Army (PLA's) Unit 61398 is similar to APT1 in its mission, capabilities, and resources. PLA Unit 61398 is also located in precisely the same area from which APT1 activity appears to originate.

Which brings us back to that office block.

Mandiant, the company that aided The New York Times in investigating its own recent hacking, is Kevin Mandia's creation. Mandia is not only a former Pentagon security officer, but also a former special investigator with the US Air Force.

The report is impressively thorough, and at least the information on which the allegations are based is transparently offered. In the case of the Iran accusations, we were offered little more than unattributed citations to government officials.

Whether China, Iran, or nongovernment actors are responsible, US enterprises should certainly be on notice, as never before, that their networks are being infiltrated with malicious intent. After all, if Burger King's Twitter feed can succumb ("Just got sold to McDonalds... FREDOM IS FAILURE" [sic]), nothing is sacred.

Back in 2011, McAfee was warning: "Every company in every conceivable industry with significant size and valuable intellectual property and trade secrets has been compromised (or will be shortly), with the great majority of the victims rarely discovering the intrusion or its impact." Eighteen months later, is the enterprise any closer to a solution -- or improved defenses, at least? Perhaps more importantly, are we any closer to securing vital networks like the power grid?

You see, at the end of the day, what matters is not so much whether the People's Liberation Army is running exploits against The New York Times or whether the Leader of the Revolution (in Iran) is personally going under the handle "Martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters."

After all, it might be in US interests to make these accusations stick. It might be in China's interests to direct US attention on Iran, or vice versa. And, of course, it might be in some third party's interest to stir trouble.

What matters to enterprises and organizations is security, and that begins at home.

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? Kim Davis , Community Editor, Internet Evolution

Thinkernetter

Wednesday February 20, 2013 7:31:25 PM

Great points, Kim, in acknowledging our need to "recognize" the threat and to build systems that increase our protection against the threats that could disrupt our power grids, economy, etc.?

Hopefully it is a wake-up call to the vulnerabilities and to a realization that these threats will grow, not diminish.? And, as Alison suggests, set up a collaborative network.? Note:? I totally agree, Alison, that fines are not going to impact the Chinese army.

This is somewhat similar to the awareness and reaction to the espionage and space threats we experienced with the Russians and the space program.? We woke up when we realized they were ahead of us.

DHagar

Thinkernetter

Wednesday February 20, 2013 5:02:16 PM

The AP is reporting that the president is planning to release his official response, if as Kim points out in his comment, the government can prove to its satisfaction that China is behind the attacks. Looks as though he's talking about fines, for the most part. While I realize you can't really publicly disclose a lot of things that go on in the diplomatic community, I don't think fining the Chinese Army is going to stop this from happening again.

Thinkernetter

Wednesday February 20, 2013 4:15:08 PM

I wonder how solid people think the Mandiant information is.? Tracing malefactors to a location said to be near a Chinese army base: is that good enough to conclude that the army was responsible, or that the hacks were officially sanctioned?

Thinkernetter

Wednesday February 20, 2013 3:29:39 PM

One of the most encouraging after-shocks was the fact that the New York Times, followed by the Wall Street Journal, cataloged a lot of information about the hacking and the steps it took afterward. This willingness to share was refreshing. But even more than that, it's smart. By pooling our efforts instead of viewing all this info as 'competitive,' we stand -- as a nation -- less likely to be brought under by a cyberenemy, no matter where it resides or who they are.

The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.

previous posts from Security Clan Editor's Blog

Shodan is the search engine of a CISO's nightmares. It's showing us just how vulnerable our systems are. Is Google stealing your images? Surely not; it's only indexing them. But wait. The newly re-tooled Google Image Search sometimes delivers a full-size image. So how can Google call that an index entry and not... an image?

US banks are to get a break from the recent wave of DDoS attacks.

The password system is broken. That seems to be one thing we all agree on. But we're stuck with passwords (or at best, passwords plus security tokens) until someone comes up with something better. Now Google has joined the quest for alternative validation solutions.

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YouTube's move to a partial pay-for-view model could help relieve a dearth of good new content but it could also complicate debates in many parts of the world over payment by content providers for delivery of their material to customers.

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Google Seeks Glass Explorers

Apple iWatch Vs. Smartwatches Past And Present

(click image for larger view and for slideshow) Google has launched a website to allow anyone to apply for an invitation to join the company's Glass Explorer program, an opportunity previously offered only to developers attending last summer's Google I/O developer conference.

The Glass Explorer program provides participants with the option to buy Google Glass Explorer Edition, the company's forthcoming Internet-connected eyeglasses, for $1,500 plus tax.

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A select group of developers in the Glass Explorer program recently had the opportunity to participate in Glass Foundry events in New York and San Francisco, at which details of the Project Glass Mirror API were revealed under a strict non-disclosure agreement. The API provides a way for third-party applications to exchange data with the cloud service Google is developing to communicate with its networked glasses.

[ Wonder what Google has up its tech sleeve? Read Google I/O: 10 Awesome Visions. ]

Google last summer staged an impressive demonstration that involved skydivers wearing its glasses to transmit a live video feed of their jump. But it has not previously released many details about how Project Glass might be useful to the average person.

So it has put this question to would-be Glass Explorers, inviting them to publish posts of 50 words or less on Google+ or Twitter that explain, "what you would do if you had Glass, starting with the hashtag #ifihadglass." Applicants, who must be 18 or older and live in the U.S., can include up to five pictures and a video of 15 seconds or less.

To inspire potential applicants, Google has posted a new video and a website page demonstrating some of the capabilities of Google Glass. Assuming the video represents captured imagery rather than post-production visual effects, Glass has been designed to listen for a spoken prompt, "Okay Glass," and to then present a menu of options -- take a picture, record a video, hang out with, and get directions to -- that represent valid spoken commands.

Those commands invite further refinement using Google's search query auto-completion technology. For example, saying, "Okay, Glass, hang out with ..." shows a list of the user's Google+ contacts on the display screen to indicate names that can be used to complete the command (to start a Google+ hangout).

The video also shows how Glass can be used to submit spoken queries to Google search. "Okay Glass, Google photos of tiger heads," for example, returns a series of images of tigers' heads from Google Image Search. Glass can also access Google Translate to convert spoken words into text in another language that's displayed on the wearer's screen. The video also confirms that Glass includes support for Google Now, the company's predictive assistant technology. And it can be used to send speech-to-text messages.

Google will be accepting 50-word social media applications until February 27, at which point it will send Glass Explorer program invitations to an undisclosed subset of applicants. Those receiving invitations have the option, but not the obligation, to purchase Google Glass Explorer Edition. Invitees will be able to write code for Glass using the Mirror API, just like the developers who previously signed up for the Glass Explorer program.

Invitees who opt to buy will have to travel to special Glass distribution events to be held in New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco to pick up their glasses. Google said it will notify those accepted in mid-March. The company has not committed to a specific date to make Project Glass publicly available, though it has said it plans to deliver Explorer Edition hardware in "early 2013."

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Pope Benedict XVI and the road not taken (+video)

At one point, the young?Joseph Ratzinger looked like a budding church reformer. By the time he abdicated as pope this week, he had become one of the stoutest defenders of Catholic tradition.

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / February 13, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI attends Ash Wednesday mass at the Vatican Wednesday. Thousands of people are expected to gather in the Vatican for Pope Benedict's Ash Wednesday mass, which is expected to be his last before leaving office at the end of February.

Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

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By the time Pope Benedict XVI made his surprise announcement to abdicate, his image had become fixed as one of the stoutest defenders of tradition and an arch-enemy of change, liberality, and the reforming intent of the Vatican II council. But at the start of his career, he looked as if he might be a budding reformer himself. ?

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Worshippers crowded in to get a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI at his last public mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The pope, then Joseph Ratzinger, collaborated on changes during Vatican II with Karl Rahner, a Jesuit star from Munich who in the 1970s was talked about as pope material in liberal circles. Mr. Rahner advocated women?s ordination, supported seekers in churches outside the Catholic faith, and his theology arced more toward a universal spirituality than institutional rules, emphasizing ?a?human search for meaning ? rooted in the unlimited horizon of God?s own being experienced within the world.?

The young Ratzinger in the 1960s was brought to Tubingen University partly by Catholic theologian Hans Kung (later censored for views bordering on heresy) and taught in a progressive Protestant-Catholic faculty.?

Ratzinger's first faculty lecture at Tubingen, eagerly awaited and still remembered today, stressed the importance of the interpretation of the Bible via church fathers of the pre-medieval era, at a time of relative excitement in scholarly circles over new "subjective" and "spiritual" interpretations of scripture. Mr. Kung was disappointed, his colleagues remember.?

Later in the mid-1960s Ratzinger experienced student campus protests firsthand. For a shy scholar whose vision of church was hewn in the clean and well-ordered Alpine villages of Bavaria ? the experience deeply soured him on change as well as the often excessive experiments of Vatican II to open the church up "to the modern world," as the saying went.?

Vatican II was heady days at a time of ferment, but neither Ratzinger nor the church he eventually led, ever made the leap. Faced with a changing world, Benedict opted for a church of greater purity and reliance on past traditions ??even as his tenure will be marked by a priestly child abuse scandal that two years ago was described as the biggest challenge faced by Rome since the Reformation.

Yesterday Vatican officials affirmed the outgoing Benedict will not personally direct the choice of his successor. But the outgoing pontiff has been so instrumental in shaping the policies and personnel of the Roman Catholic church that his presence won?t matter, analysts say.

For 24 years Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, ruled the roost in the Vatican as Pope John Paul II?s enforcer, the powerful head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and he has overseen a tightening, not a loosening, of church doctrine.

Since 2005 he further consolidated power as pope. So the conclave of cardinals and bishops meeting in Rome next month are there precisely due to their loyalty to Benedict?s vision of the Roman church.

The effect of Benedict?s reign as pope in this sense cannot be understated.

To take one example: In recent years under direct Vatican influence one of the largest Benedictine training schools in the US has, against the sentiment of its teaching clergy, been forced to disallow males and females to study in classes together. So the "Benedict effect" is not something found only in books and encyclicals; it has had an effect?"on the ground," as one Benedictine theologian reports, off the record.?

In a church still quite divided on moral issues, sexuality, modernity, the concept of priest, and so on, it is unclear whether the pope?s resignation, itself an unusual break from the past, may lead to other changes.

Benedict oversaw a 2,000-year-old church with an all-male hierarchy that struggled to respond to a child abuse and pedophilia scandal that reached new excesses two years ago on both sides of the Atlantic during the "year of the priest."

The German pope did not create what some hoped would be a ?Benedict generation? with his robust defense of church doctrines and a controversial return to a more traditional liturgy. While?some conservative religious orders have seen some new applicants in the US, the overall numbers remain a far-cry from those before 1960. Instead, church issues among youth seem pressing, at least in the post-modern West that Benedict had hoped to appeal to with a new Catholic moment. If that moment never comes, says?one New York-based Jesuit, ?The church is going to go one way and the rest of us are going to go another.?

The child abuse scandal, which many dissidents in the church say is a result of the policies of all-male clergy and celibacy (the Vatican denies this) did allow, however briefly, space for different voices to be heard, and for issues treated by church fathers as settled for all time, to be raised.

The issues run from sex and gender to spiritual authority inside the church. They track the shrinking of Mass attendance in the West, the sharp downturn of youth desiring to be priests, and the angry reaction of females (again in the US and Britain) who see roles as clergy closed off when in many churches they are the most faithful.

In the midst of the priestly child abuse scandal, the church issued a circular that put women?s ordination into the same category of disciplinary crimes as heresy, pedophilia, and promoting schism.?Benedict was given credit for suggesting that wearing a condom is acceptable in certain odd cases, such as that of a male prostitute. But with many Catholics no longer even following church teaching on condoms, and with the pope visiting Africa and talking about abstinence and no wearing of condoms, many can?t relate.

The pedophile cases also sparked what many Catholics say is a need for a greater spiritual awakening in a church that has placed a great emphasis on institutional authority; they placed a critical focus on old assumptions that male priests, through the act of their ordination, are holier or more spiritually endowed than ordinary members of the laity.

The British newspaper The Guardian pointed out in an editorial that it could not find a single current liberal candidate for pope, and quoted from Carlo Maria Martini, a cardinal, who said before passing last year that, ?The church is tired in Europe and America. Our culture has aged, our churches are large, our religious houses are empty, and the bureaucracy of the church climbs higher, our rituals and our clothes are pompous?[the church] must recognize her mistakes and must follow a path of radical change, starting with the pope and the bishops.?

Yet many following the daily operations of the Holy See feel there is unlikely to be any revolutionary ?Papal Spring.? Some reform-minded Catholics and many who have left the church say the Vatican is so deeply into the wrong questions, and has been relying so heavily on those who are not interested in questioning in the first place, that any positive reforms will only be on the margins.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/Xi3En-sq4ow/Pope-Benedict-XVI-and-the-road-not-taken-video

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