"The WAR on error"
Religious leaders of all faiths must play a role in ensuring that spiritual and cultural aspects of life are not forgotten as mankind tackles the challenges of globalization, Pope Benedict XVI said today. "The need emerged to elaborate a new world political and economic order, but at the same time and above all, a spiritual and cultural one, that is, renewed humanism."
The Russian antimessiah...
"It is with joy in my heart that I greet you all on the great feast of the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Throughout these holy days we again in prayer relive the greatest event in human history. In his great humility the Lord desired to come down to earth in human form. God, who has come to us in the form of an infant..."
Merkel & Bush
With Saddam's execution, the Iraq crisis and the ongoing Middle East conflict, Angela Merkel met a president under duress in Washington on Thursday. But George W. Bush still had a few compliments to spare for his German friend during her blitz visit.
Merkel in DC
Chancellor Merkel went to Washington with an ambitious agenda of initiatives ranging from deepened economic ties between the EU and US to a plan to get the Mideast peace process back on track. Merkel risks political capital by pitching her ideas to a lame duck president. But the world can't afford to wait.
Chancellor Merkel has won the support of the United States and France for reviving the so-called Quartet to try to rejuvenate Middle East peace talks.
One year after Ariel Sharon had a stroke and slipped into a coma, Israel misses him more than ever. The government of PM Olmert has stumbled from scandal to scandal and has shown little ability to lead.
One outcome of the American invasion is that it has generated a much more uncompromising "fundamentalist" politico-ideological constellation in Iraq. This has led to a predominance of the pro-Iranian political forces there — the intervention basically delivered Iraq to Iranian influence. And now the US is continuing, through other means, this greatest crime of Saddam: his never-ending attempt to topple the Iranian government. This is the price you have to pay when the struggle against the enemies is the struggle against the evil ghosts in your own closet: You don't even control yourself.
Al-Qaida's 2nd-in-command has reportedly called on Muslims to fight a jihad against the government in Somalia and its Ethiopian allies.
Yes!...
The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier battle group (ACBG) is heading to the Persian Gulf to join the USS Dwight D Eisenhower ACBG currently on station there. Clearly, the Bush administration is planning to make a show of force to the Ahmadinejad regime in Iran. For two years, I have been arguing that a military solution to Iran pursuing nuclear weapons is the worst approach imaginable.
Scott Ritter, a former U.N. arms inspector in Iraq, has written a book, Target Iran, in which he accuses the Israeli government and its American lobby of pushing the U.S. into attacking Iran. He also blasts the Israeli lobby for its use of the Holocaust and for crying anti-Semite every time Israel is criticized. By coincidence, an Israeli general has verified everything Ritter says. So, sit back and watch the Israeli amen corner start the propaganda to push America to war with Iran.
The United States has no real friends. The US only has "interests." With the exceptions of Number 10 Downing Street and the militant Israeli leadership, it’s all business.
Them are fightin' words...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid declared yesterday that "it is time to bring the war to a close" and warned President Bush that sending more U.S. troops to Iraq would be unacceptable to the Democratic majorities that have just taken over Congress.
President Bush yesterday began an overhaul of his top military and diplomatic teams. The moves are part of a broad mission to surround himself, both in Washington and on the ground in Iraq, with officials who support increasing troop numbers, a move largely opposed on Capitol Hill and among the American public.
The Bush administration is making sweeping personnel changes in the top leadership of the US military, intelligence and diplomatic establishment in preparation for a major escalation of the war in Iraq.
Although the thought has crossed my mind many times in the past, I have to admit that my concern for the psychological stability (or lack thereof) of George Dubya has increased tenfold since his joint appearance with Tony Blair a few weeks ago. We were watching a man whose main concern was that his world was falling apart while failing to comprehend that the real world was also crumbling due to his ineptitude. But after a few minutes into the question and answer session, a troubling thought occurred to me; what if Bush’s infamous bubble is really beginning to break?
Light, sweet crude for February delivery dropped as low as $54.90 Friday — its lowest price in 19 months — before mounting a late rally and settling at $56.31. A warmer winter has meant less demand for heating fuels. Another factor is some investment and pension funds leaving commodities and moving money back into stocks.
The chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, defended the supervisory powers of the central bank on Friday, saying that they were critical to the execution of monetary policy and to preserving financial stability in times of crisis.
If there was a single theme expressed by Alan Greenspan from late 1987 to early 2006, it was this: "Inflation is a threat to the economy, and the Federal Reserve System is fighting it tooth and nail." The FED will continue to fight inflation in 2007, just as it did in 2006, 1996, 1986, and 1916.
"Who says you can't take an interesting astro-photo under a full moon?" asks Larry Landolfi of Rochester, New Hampshire. In fact, he says, "you can," and as proof he offers this 3-hour exposure under the full Wolf Moon of Jan. 2nd. The nighttime sky is blue! There's a simple explanation: The daytime sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter sunlight. The nighttime sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter moonlight. The physics is precisely the same. The blue of a moonlit sky is so faint, however, that a long exposure is required to reveal it.
