Pope’s pleasure principles

The Washington Post

Pope Benedict XVI warned Sunday against seeking happiness in drugs and the self-centered quest for "pleasure at all costs." Instead, the pope held up Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who devoted her life to serving the poor in India and elsewhere, as an example. "Every day, she lived next to misery, human degradation and death," the pope told thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square during the noon Angelus. "Yet, she offered the smile of God to everybody." More info>

Unintended victims

The Los Angeles Times

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation underwrites, inspires or directs major efforts to prevent, cure or treat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa. An extensive Los Angeles Times investigation found, however, that the programs funded by the foundation have mixed influences on societal health and the specific focus on the three diseases has disrupted health care for other illnesses. More info>

Papal image consultant?

Reuters

Italian film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli, director of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Jesus of Nazareth,” is offering to help Pope Benedict XVI create a “happy image.” "Coming after a media-savvy pope like John Paul II is a difficult task ... Benedict XVI still communicates coldly, in a way that is not suited with what is happening around him," said Zeffirelli, who has directed some Vatican television events. More info>