MercatorNet’s pick of 2005

Since our launch last May, MercatorNet has published an amazing range of reading. Here are a dozen of our readers' favourites in 2005.

Manga mania
The Japanese have invented a unique genre of comic books for all ages and tastes -- and they are flying off the shelves even in the US. • Matthew Mehan

To clone or not to clone
Whether or not embryos should be cloned and then destroyed for their stem cells has been one of the hottest issues in science this year. In this exclusive MercatorNet interview James Sherley, a professor at MIT, says that the use of cells from cloned embryos is scientifically and ethically dubious.

Project Benedict confounds German critics
World Youth Day in Cologne dumbfounded a sceptical German media. Here’s how an unassuming Pope tore up their agenda.  • Hartwig Bouillon 

The incredible reappearing family dinner
Don't sell the dinner table — family meals are making a comeback. There is even a book about their surprising power. • Carolyn Moynihan

It's a Wiki world
A defamatory entry in the on-line encyclopaedia Wikipedia has put one of the internet’s great success stories under the spotlight. • Michael Cook

My grandma would trash this Marxist rubbish
Publishers keep churning out how-to-find-a-guy guides for young women. Why haven't they asked my grandmother to write one? • Guiomar Barbi  

The dictatorship of moral relativism
The Pope has warned of the emergence of a dictatorship of moral relativism. But how can having no fixed principles be a dangerous principle? • Christopher Martin

Is intelligent design really science?
Is intelligent design really science? Or is it a kind of disguised creationism? MercatorNet interviews Santiago Collado, a philosopher who has been tracking the debate.

The Myth of Hitler’s Pope
A fresh look at the evidence has convinced a Jewish rabbi that the controversial Pius XII should be honoured as a “righteous Gentile”. • Francis Phillips

In search of a scapegoat
Was John Paul II responsible for the deaths of millions of African AIDS victims because he refused to sanction the use of condoms? • Michael Cook

Rapping for life
A hip-hop artist with a background in action-comedy films is causing a stir with his song and video about a prenatal brush with abortion. • Carolyn Moynihan