MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR SENDS ULTRA-SHARP PHOTOS

"Mars photos more than twice as sharp as normal, revealing the tracks of the Mars rover Spirit and the remains of an ancient flood, were released Tuesday," September 28, 2004, "courtesy of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft."

"By compensating for blurring caused by the spacecraft's motion as it orbits 235 miles (356 kilometers) over Mars. Malin Space Science Systems engineers are now able to take pictures that reveal features as small as 5 feet (1.5 meters) across, much better than the old 13-to-16-foot (4-to-5 meter) resolution."

"The new images clearly show the tracks left by NASA's Spirit rover and 'megaripples' in sand left over from an ancient flood in the Athabasca Vallis region of Mars."

"Arriving at the Red Planet in 1997, the Mars Global Surveyor has nearly completed 25,000 mapping orbits of Mars and is schedule to continue operating through 2006." (See USA Today for September 29, 2004, "Mars Surveyor sends super-sharp photos," page 6D.)

"Pope John Paul II set on the road to sainthood Sunday," October 3, 2004, "an emperor accused of using poison gas on the battlefield and a nun whose visions have been called anti-Semitic at one of the more controversial beatification ceremonies of his long reign."

Karl I, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian empire, "who reportedly ordered his troops to use poison gas in 1917, was among five historical figures beatified at a special Mass at St. Peter's Square" in Vatican City.

"Also honored was the mystical Nineteenth Century German nun, Anna Katharina Emmerick, whose vivid accounts of her visions of Jesus Christ's life and death inspired the controversial (2004) Mel Gibson movie The Passion of the Christ."

"The film has been condemned by Jewish groups as anti-Semitic, and the New York-based Anti-Defamation League expressed 'deep distress' at the beatification of the movie's muse."

"'Hatred and anti-Semitism were fomented in her name,' said the (ADL) statement, which criticized 'association of Jewish characters with the demonic' and 'the negative characterization' of Jews in her writing."

"Beatification is the last formal step toward sainthood" in the Roman Catholic Church. "It occurs only after a detailed and lengthy investigation into a candidate's life and virtues. Proof of at least one miracle is required, and full sainthood can be conferred only after a subsequent miracle is certified to have taken place."

"The pontiff also beatified two French priests-- Joseph-Marie Cassant and Pierre Vigne--and an Italian nun, Ludovica de Angelis, who tended to ailing children in South America."

"The pope, who is ailing from Parkinson's disease, delivered only portions of the Mass and spoke with difficulty."

"The crowd, which included descendants of Karl I's Hapsburg dynasty, applauded after he read the names earmarked for sainthood as their pictures were unfurled above the square."

"During his 26-year reign," Pope John Paul II "has beatified more than 1,300 people, surpassing all previous popes combined."

"In the case of Emmerick, who died in 1924, the Vatican cited evidence that she bore signs of stigmata-- marks resembling the crucifixion wounds of Jesus--during her life. The Vatican also found that her intercession in 1860 led to another German nun's recovery from tuberculosis."

"In his homily, the pope hailed Karl I, the last of the Hapsburg emperors who ruled over Austria, Hungary and parts of eastern Europe until the end of World War I, as a 'friend of peace' who lived an exemplary Christian life."

"In December (2003), the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which investigates claims to sainthood, credited" the emperor "with a 1960 miracle in which a nun in Brazil found herself able to walk for the first time in years after offering prayers for his beatification."

"Newspapers have revisited evidence that troops under the emperor's command used mustard gas against Italian soldiers in Slovenia in 1917, and the news magazine Profil ridiculed him as 'the patron saint of losers' because he presided over the collapse of the mighty Austro-Hungarian empire."

Karl I was the brother of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who, with his wife Sophie, was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian terrorist. The assassination triggered World War I. Karl inherited the throne in 1916, abdicated at the end of the war in 1918, and died in exile in 1922.

Another blot on the emperor's copybook was his belief in the authenticity of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. "Like his contemporary, Tsaritsa Alexandra of Russia, Karl went to his grave convinced that The Protocols were real," UFO Roundup editor Joseph Trainor explained, "In 1922, he was telling anybody who'd listen that his regime was done in by Freemasonry."

"It is not known whether Sister Emmerick ever read The Protocols or not, although they were widely available in Germany after 1919. Nine years after her death, during the nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned stores on April 1, 1933, Nazi crowds demonstrated in front of targeted stores in Augsburg and Reutlingen, carrying posters of Sister Emmerick. A fact which probably hasn't endeared her to the ADL." (See the Chicago Tribune for October 4, 2004, "Pontiff puts 5 on path to sainthood," section 1, page 3.)

"Agencies across the (USA's) federal government are launching an aggressive and open offensive aimed at thwarting terrorist plots before and during the presidential election" scheduled for November 2, 2004.

"Numerous law enforcement and counterterrorism officials also warned last week that a heightened threat of terrorist attack will persist through the January (20, 2005) inauguration."

"The government's strategy will include heavy surveillance by the FBI, increased checks of terrorism watch lists by local police and heightened security at polling places on Nov. 2, officials said."

"Counterterrorism officials concede they do not have new or specific intelligence outlining plans for an attack, but say they remain alarmed by indications that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups might seek to influence U.S. elections as they did in Spain last spring by setting off bombs on Madrid commuter trains. By publicizing the government's efforts, which will begin in earnest later this week, authorities say they hope to forestall any plans for similar attacks here."

"The FBI, which is sharply limiting personal leave and transferring hundreds of agents to the effort, will focus heavily on individuals within the United States who are suspected of having ties to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups or who sympathize with their causes, according to officials who have been briefed on the plans."

"Officials said the FBI's tactics, which will be outlined in an electronic communication to field offices, will include aggressive and often overt surveillance, widespread interviews, and, in some cases, arrests. Local police will be urged to run the names of suspicious people through the federal government's terrorism watch lists, even during traffic stops and other encounters." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for September 27, 2004, "Plans to thwart election terrorism begin," page5A.