Nation

Iraq's Weapons of Mass Distribution
Arms for the Poor

Information on where Iraq gets its armaments is scant, but reports by the Wisconsin Project of Nuclear Arms Control provide an inkling of what's going on. The nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation—based in Washington, D.C., and operating under the auspices of the University of Wisconsin—records the following recent sales:

Spare parts and services for MiG-21 military aircraft, sold by Jugoimport and the Orao Company, both headquartered in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

Armored personnel carriers sold to a middleman in Syria, intercepted before reaching their possible destination of Iraq, sold by Terem, a Bulgarian state-run company.

Kolchuga anti-aircraft radar, in a deal approved by Ukrainian government leaders.

"Lithotripter" machines, ostensibly for treating kidney stones but also the source of a precision switch that can be used for triggering atom bombs, sold by the German electronics firm Siemens, each with two extra switches supplied by Thomson-C.S.F., a French military-electronics company.

Catholics See Jesus on a Computer Screen
Repent and Reboot

Confused and depressed Catholics this Christmas season can get a lift from their seemingly endless downer of priestly sex abuse by playing a new computer game called Catholic Challenge Bible Game, produced by Guiding Light Video for $19.95 and advertised as "the first and only church-approved Bible computer game for Catholics." Or for a more varied experience, also from Guidinglightvideo.com, try "Catholic Challenge Catechism Game (also $19.95), which "tests and expands your knowledge of the Catholic faith in an atmosphere that promotes fun."

Additional reporting: Josh Saltzman and Rebecca Winsor