THE HOLY ROMAN ...
Critics accuse Pope Pius XII of keeping quiet about the Holocaust. Documents soon to be released from the secret archives may provide insight on the Vatican behind the scenes, said church historian Hubert Wolf.
[WAR: Yes, they will shed light on the false accusations against him and establish the truth of what really happened ... and didn't happen.]
Throughout the tumult over Pope Benedict XVI's recent speech, he and Vatican spokesmen have beseeched journalists, critics and the public not to take the contentious passage "out of context." Let us try, then, to elucidate this context.
Given the intensity of the Christian movement in this country, you'd think someone would have stepped to the plate. No. In fact, the pope stands alone against half a world that lacks the courage to support him and the other half, which is furious about what he said and either hate him for it or want him dead – or both.
As the furor over Benedict XVI and Islam died down, people started to realize that the Pope was a victim of phrases taken out of context and reactions deliberately inflamed. In fact, this was what many Church officials and prelates were saying from the start.
Pope Benedict told Muslim envoys today that Christian and Muslim believers must reject violence, in an audience meant to defuse anger. The envoys invited included those from major Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, plus the Arab League.
A meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the vice-president of Sudan, scheduled for September 22, did not take place. No reason has been given for the cancellation.
... EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
Merkel told a forum on the future of the EU that there should be no further enlargement "for the foreseeable future," proposing instead a "good-neighbourly policy" to strengthen relations with states on the EU's outer borders.
When one takes into account Merkel's speedy defence of the pope's recent speech and her close relationship with Israel's main ally, the United States, then Lebanon should be very wary of German participation in the United Nations contingent.
EUROPE/RUSSIA
"Both Edmund Stoiber and the Pope are German [Bavarian!] and this is not accidental. There is a strong Christian anti-Turkish root in Germany."
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
Local newspapers began endlessly highlighting concerns about the rise of a "new anti-Semitism", a theme that was rapidly and enthusiastically taken up by the muscular Zionist lobby in the US.
Speaking to reporters, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has ben repeatedly criticised for remarks made against the Jewish State, said that rabbis are more critical of Zionism and the Zionist regime than the Iranians themselves.
The Middle East, says Syrian President Bashar Assad, seems to be teetering on the brink of chaos. He spoke with Der Spiegel about his country's difficult relationship with the United States, the pressure to go to war, and the consequences of the wars in Lebanon and Iraq.
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
A military confrontation between the US and Iran could force the global price of oil into the stratosphere and devastate the American and global economy.
How can Bush administration war plans be reconciled with expert opinion that the consequences would be too dire for the US? Perhaps the answer is that what appears as irrationality to experts is rationality to neoconservatives.Neocons seek maximum chaos and instability in the Middle East in order to justify long-term US occupation of the region.
The Cheney Cabal discovered early on that the only rationale acceptable to you soccer moms for invading Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea et al. would be a) their developing nukes and b) giving them to terrorists. So, the Cheney Cabal and their media sycophants launched an unrelenting propaganda campaign, falsely claiming that Iran, Iraq, Syria, and North Korea had illicit nuke-development programs.
Recently American politicians from both sides of the spectrum criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for asserting that George W. Bush is the devil. But was he really so wrong?
As of today, all that's required is to show proof of citizenship - just a birth certificate and photo ID.
Scientists have found that Britain owes its island status to a catastrophic flood that swept away in less than 24 hours the hills that once joined the land mass to France. The flood, which took place between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago, instantly turned Britain from being a peninsula of continental Europe into a separate entity
ECONOMY
Crude oil fell below $60 a barrel to a six-month low after Iran said it's open to talks on the country's nuclear program and BP Plc announced it will restart Alaskan oil wells earlier than expected. And hedge-fund managers and other large speculators cut their long positions, or bets prices will rise.
Iranian rials will be used as the main currency at the much-publicized oil bourse that the world’s 4th largest oil producing country and the 2nd biggest exporter within OPEC is to establish on the Persian Gulf island of Kish, Iran Daily reported. Mehdi Karbasian, who heads the board of directors of the International Oil Bourse Company, told Fars that the euro and the US dollar will also be used concurrently at the bourse. Lawmakers insist that oil bourse must be established as soon as possible, stressing that the implementation of the protracted project has now become a necessity.
Thus, with no clear alternative in sight, the financial health of other countries and currencies is heavily dependent on the US dollar Ponzi scheme. If the dollar goes down, they go with it, and as with the prisoner's dilemma, everybody is afraid to make the first move – the first one to abandon the dollar could set off a chain reaction that would backfire and affect them as well.
[WAR: "No clear alternative in sight"? But what about the euro? Forget the euro. Instead, contemplate the return of the German mark! Now that would be an attractive alternative!]
Europe, Japan and emerging economies around the world are weaning themselves from dependence on the American consumer. And as the U.S. economy decelerates, other economies are expanding.
MISC
The role of religion in political and geopolitical affairs has taken center stage in many periods in history, with disastrous results. Religion can be rewarding for individuals as a source of private morality and meditation. But when politicians and leaders start using religion for political purposes, disasters inevitably follow.
Now that is a moon! (no link)
[WAR: Look-up into the western sky tonight after sunset and see the moon lit by sunshine and earthshine. These 2 witnesses of light declare that tomorrow will be the beginning of a new month - the 6th one, as a-matter-of-fact.]
