The national broadcaster in Belgium, VRT, got into hot water not so long ago for featuring Adolf Hitler's favorite meal on a cooking show. The show was canceled.

Now another Hitler row has erupted. VRT is being criticized for using ads featuring Hitler to promote a travel show. The show airs on Canvas, a channel owned by VRT.

The Hitler ads depict the show's presenter, Tomas de Soete, giving the straight arm salute while posing stripper-style wearing only pants and a swastika armband.

The ads ran in a nationally circulated magazine associated with the daily De Morgan.

VRT claims the ads were part of an effort to expose 'travel cliches' in the travel industry. The caricature appeared under the headline 'Discover the real Europe. Not the cliches."

Not everyone gets it. Michael Freilich, the editor of the Antwerp Jewish weekly, Joods Actuel, said the ad proves VRT looks for any excuse to portray Hitler.

Freilich believes that the Hitler ad may be pay back for complaints lodged about Hitler's favorite dish on the cooking show. He added that the Jewish community was furious about the ads.

Last report VRT has withdrawn the ad after being deluged with complaints.

France currently holds the rotating EU Presidency. It drew up a draft resolution that condemns "discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity". All the countries of the European Union have signed on.

On December 10 France will submit the draft declaration to the UN - a date that as it happens is the sixtieth anniversary of the UN declaration of human rights.

The French resolution will help to give weight to the evolving international effort to counter discrimination against women and homosexuals. A declaration of this sort could well lead to a more formal UN resolution down the road, so from a human rights standpoint it is an important step in the right direction.

The Vatican ... surprise, surprise ... has come out in opposition on the grounds that such a move would formally condemn discrimination against homosexuals and so possibly encourage gay marriage.

The Holy See's permanent representative at the UN, Monsignor Celestino Migliore, said that a UN resolution might pressure countries opposed to same-sex marriage to soften their position. Migliore informed a French Catholic news agency that the Holy See would oppose such a resolution.

More to the point, Migliore and the Vicar-of -Christ don't want to see homosexual relations 'normalized' if they have any say in it - most especially if it pertains to the issue of marriage. They rest easier knowing that the tools of conformity are firmly in place in those countries that relegate homosexuals to the shadows or even to the gallows. Calling for an end to discrimination against gays from a UN platform might lead to ... well ... Lord knows what.

You don't have to look far to find evidence of deep seated homophobic attitudes among senior RC clergy. The recent 'psychological guidelines' that is used when evaluating candidates for the priesthood was released by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education. The head of that body, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, has described homosexuality as a "deviation," "irregularity" and a "wound."

Italy's mainstream paper, La Stampa, described the Vatican's opposition to a UN declaration as "grotesque." The editorial pointed out that homosexuality is punishable by death in some societies, and went on to say that the Vatican was afraid of "a chain reaction in favor of legally recognized homosexual unions in countries, like Italy, where there is currently no legislation."

Franco Gillini, president of the Italian gay rights group Arcigay, said the Vatican's reasoning smacked of "total idiocy and madness."

Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, said the parties reached the accord after watching the "sad spectacle" of Harper's conservatives doing nothing while other countries acted to confront the economic crisis.

Dion said: "Given the critical situation facing our fellow citizens and the refusal and inability of the Harper government to deal with this critical situation, the opposition parties have decided that it was now time to take action."

NDP leader Jack Layton called on Harper to accept the verdict of his colleagues in the House.

Layton said: "Prime minister, your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is going to be defeated at the earliest opportunity."

Harper, one of the biggest political game players around, reacted by accusing Dion of "playing the biggest political game in Canadian history."

He described the move as ... an attempt to govern under threat of veto by "socialists and separatists."

Harper has failed to win a majority each time he has asked Canadians for a mandate. His minority status though hasn't changed his high handed tactics. Harper can say what he wants about the parties opposing him, but acting together they will be more representative of Canadians as a whole than he could ever hope to be - even with a different hairdo.

The sea level on Monday was around 61 inches (156 centimeters). Most of the streets in the historic center were under water.

The flooding was so bad workers were unable to put the wooden walkways in place that are normally used during flooding.

A California priest, Joseph Illo, has urged his parishioners to attend confession if they voted for Barrack Obama. In Illo's judgment, they are unfit to take communion because of Obama's position on abortion.

Illo isn't the only Catholic priest to offer this caution. A priest in Greenville, South Carolina, said that those who voted for Obama had placed themselves 'outside the communion of Christ's church.'

The Roman Catholic stance on abortion has become so dogmatic in some circles it has become an obstacle to progress. It is a position arrived at by theologians and others. It certainly doesn't reflect any stated concern of Jesus in relation to abortion, since the words attributed to him in the New Testament include no such reference.

This wasn't because abortion wasn't practiced in his day. It was. Jewish law in fact requires abortion when the mother's life is at risk. Moreover it doesn't dignify the early-growth fetus with the status of 'babyhood' as do many pro-lifers.

The extremist position of many so-called pro-lifers, is as much part of a cultural and political crusade as it is religious. At times anti-abortion activists are so fanatical, their attitude flies in the face of the very Christianity they claim to profess.

Vittorio de Filippis, an executive and former editor-in-chief of the Paris newspaper Libération, recently awoke to the sound of knocking on his door at 6.40 AM. Three cops were at the door - two men and a woman.

When the police entered the journalist's home, they informed him that they had a warrant to take him before the Tribunal de grande instance (TGI) high court in Paris. They refused to allow him to contact his attorney. An argument ensued, witnessed by de Filippis' children.

The journalist was ordered to get dressed and transported to Raincy police station, located near his home. He was informed that he had been arrested in connection with libel cases brought by Xavier Niel, founder of the internet company Free, in relation to articles written by Renaud Lecadre that appeared in both Libération and the paper's web site.

Vittorio de Filippis was managing editor of Libération in 2006 when the Renaud Lecadre articles appeared in Libération and its web site.

It appears investigating magistrate Muriel Josie issued the arrest warrant for de Filippis because she believed he had ignored her mailed summons. This was an extreme move on the part of Josie because de Filippis' lawyers were fully apprised of the details of the case and could easily have been contacted - their numbers are listed in the phone directory, as is the number of Vittorio de Filippis.

After being handcuffed de Filippis was transported to the main courthouse in the center of Paris. He was forced to strip and subjected to a humiliating body search before being locked in a cell.

The following morning at around 10 AM, he was again forced to undress and once again subjected to a body search. This occurred because Marie Josie insisted that police follow procedure to the letter.

Following this treatment, he was taken to Josie's office. She refused his request to call his lawyers, and as a consequence, de Filippis refused to answer any of her questions. Josie formally notified de Filippis that he was being investigated in a libel case and he was released onto the sidewalk at the front of the court.

The Paris newspaper Libération is a left-wing daily. It has been a strong critic of president Sarkozy. The extensive powers of French police under Sarkozy's law-and-order initiatives allow much leeway when it comes to the treatment of alleged suspects. So it appears to be no coincidence that de Filippis was singled out for extraordinary treatment over what was simply a two-year old libel case that may have drawn a fine, but certainly not a prison sentence.

There is little doubt that these proceedings were designed to humiliate and 'punish' de Filippis. The police conduct under these circumstances was outrageous and has caused an outcry from those who believe that freedom of expression in France is under threat.

This from Reporters Without Borders:

It's one thing for FOX news bully boy Bill O'Reilly to take flack from the left, he's used to that. But when criticism comes from the board room of News Corps., and yes, from upper echelons of FOX itself, it's another matter.

Politico received a pre-publication copy of Michael Wolff's upcoming biography of Rupert Murdoch, titled The Man Who Owns the News. Turns out that Murdoch is embarrassed by his ownership of FOX news. In addition, he "absolutely despises" Bill O'Reilly.

Seems Murdoch isn't alone. CEO of FOX, Roger Ailes, shares Murdoch's extreme distaste for O'Reilly.

According to Wolff, Murdoch's purchase of the Wall Street Journal was motivated in part by a desire to distance himself from the "the belligerent, the vulgar, the menacing, the unsubtle ... for the better-heeled, the more magnanimous, the further nuanced."

O'Reilly epitomizes a certain type of macho bravado with his almost pathological control needs and intimidation tactics. He's a journalistic thug with a big following.

When he brings on comedian-of-sorts Dennis Miller it's kind of like watching two middle-aged self-congratulatory smart asses pleasuring each other and it's not pretty.

But O'Reilly appeals to people out there who like his authoritarian ways. They get off on watching him savage liberals or jump all over people he loves to hate, such as Barney Frank.

O'Reilly is an old dog who will never learn new tricks and he's reaching his expiry date fast. It's ironical though that Murdoch of all people, is embarrassed by the Factor host. Perhaps advancing years has a way of mellowing out even cynical and hard nosed news hustlers.

The Wolff revelations create a perception problem for O'Reilly because it's not just liberals doing the dissing any longer. It's big daddy upstairs.