THE DAILY WAR!
Non-pagan/papal date: 11-01
THE HOLY ROMAN
Benedict XVI's encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" is a social encyclical, says the director of the Cardinal Van Thuân International Observatory on the Social Doctrine of the Church.
EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
DW press review
Editorials today were full of praise for Merkel's performance during her trip to the Middle East, saying she managed to set the guidelines for a possible cooperation with Hamas.
DW opinion
Solidarity with Israel may be second nature to Germany. But Merkel may have gone a bit too far during her visit to Jerusalem.
More than 4,000 British troops that fought in all the major battles of the WW2 and has been stationed in Germany for 25 years is to be withdrawn to England.
EUROPE/RUSSIA
The Christians of Europe have been invited to join a "pilgrimage of hope" toward unity. The invitation came from representatives of Christian denominations, bishops' conferences, movements and ecumenical organizations, who traveled from 44 countries to Rome.
Historian Martin Kugler and his wife have launched a project called "Europe for Christ!" The project's objective is to embolden Christians in order to help them influence the development of Europe.
As the current holder of the EU presidency, Austria has attempted to restart debate about how the stalled EU constitution project should move forward. Where do various member states stand on the document's future?
Today's papers mull the controversy surrounding the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark and the dilemma facing Europe after the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections.
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
EU discussions with Iran made little or no progress on ending the impasse over its nuclear program, and the German government publicly threatened Iran with sanctions.
European leaders last night struck a compromise deal with Russia and China, edging closer to hauling Iran before the UNSC. At a meeting in London the 5 permanent members of the UNSC, plus representatives from Germany - agreed to report Iran to an emergency meeting of the IAEA today.
Tehran's nuclear negotiator said referring Iran to the UN Security Council would spell the end of diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue of its nuclear program -- after the permanent Council members agreed to do so.
[WAR: The end of diplomacy = war!]
A dangerous escalation of tensions in the Middle East could produce a devastating new war there if diplomatic steps are not taken to head it off. The uncertainties are great. Saber-rattling on all sides could set off a chain reaction culminating in a truly intercivilizational war.
War with Iran is such a potential wildfire that Israeli Intelligence privately considers it a dumb move. The consequences of war with Iran are so far-reaching that even to place it on the agenda is to have exceeded the bounds of logical thought.
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
Al-Qaeda has released a new videotape threatening to launch another attack on the US, and the threat is delivered from the most senior levels of the terrorist organisation.
Al-Zawahiri confirms he survived the US air strike targeting him in Pakistan earlier this month and calls President Bush "the butcher of Washington and a failure ... (and) the war will be transferred to Bush's soil."
State of the Union, state of war: They have a nice ring. When Bush goes before the Congress and the nation tonight, he will present himself (again) as a war president. He will conduct himself as a man of sharp determination, with defiance born of the impression that his fight is to the death [of our country!].
Any terrorist with more than a 2-digit IQ knows that the NSA has the means to intercept any electronic communication. Terrorists don't need to read the Times to figure that out. The reason it is important for the American people to know is because the president appears to have violated both the law and the Constitution. This is a most serious issue.
The White House continues to proceed from the national interests, like any other state during any other historical epoch. Defending democracy in the whole world is not a priority for Bush and his administration.
The Bush administration is getting irritated with countries taking the same advice that President Bush himself took. The source of the advice was Condoleezza Rice, writing in Foreign Affairs 6 years ago, in an essay that spelled out what would become the new US foreign policy.
ECONOMY
The recovery is as phony as the slump that came before it. During the recession, Americans refused to cut back. Now, they have nothing to recover from. But they have nothing to recover with, either. No savings, and no new income.
The personal savings rate of American fell into negative territory in 2005, something that has not happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted savings to finance the purchases of cars and other large items. The savings rate was - 0.5%, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing.
The US set a record for foreign debt in 2005. The trade deficit is financed by foreign lenders. Ditto most of the federal budget deficit. The dollar was buoyed last year by foreigners' willingness to park their cash in higher-yielding dollar-based assets. But now Germany and Japan are rallying and the dollar is facing new challenges: China, for instance, recently stated its intention to invest more of the dollars it earns in other currencies.
OPEC has ruled out any change in production at its meeting but has a consensus to cut output in March. Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi minister and one of the most influential voices in OPEC, said that all 11 OPEC members had agreed they would keep the daily output quota unchanged at 28 million barrels when they meet today.
MISC
Banks planning for the worst... China plans... Nuclear Iran... foreign policy failures...
The vitamin composition of the fruit is unique. One grapefruit provides a daily dose of vitamin C that the human organism needs.
Almost 8,000,000 children world-wide are born with a serious genetic birth defect each year, a report shows.
[WAR: Now tell me again your assumption that we're all individually created by God! In reality, we're born in accordance to nature's laws 'n flaws!]
Wait, what's this?...
According to the first comprehensive estimate of the global burden of birth defects, France has the lowest incidence rate in the world, and researchers believe the Mediterranean diet could be the reason.
The Milky Way, it appears, has an ejection seat. Evidence is mounting that certain stars get kicked free from the gravitational pull at the center of the galaxy - rocketing outward into intergalactic space at breakneck speeds.
I regularly sit with my children and tell them that I really couldn't care less about their grades. For me, grades are nothing but a single gauge of something far more important: intellectual curiosity.
#11-01
