"The WAR on error"
Chief Rabbi Jonah Metzger said he would warmly welcome Benedict XVI in Israel. "The moment the Pope is pleased to come to Jerusalem, we will welcome him warmly." Cardinal Kasper clarified that the Pope has accepted the invitation, but that he will visit the country when the "conditions are appropriate."
When people think of Rome, most associate Catholicism with the city. However, there are others - particularly historians - who recall the immense contribution of the ancient Jewish community who have been here since 161 B.C. when representatives sought help against Antiochus IV.
Satan's divided kingdom...
Religious rights group have underlined that religious persecution is on the rise worldwide and especially in Islamic countries.
Following a major debate in his Christian Social Union party over his leadership, Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber has announced that he will step down in September. Stoiber said he would step down as chairman of the CSU and premier of the German state on Sept. 30. As premier of Bavaria , he has not only ruled one of Germany's most prosperous regions but has also wielded unique power on the national stage, running a party that is outside Merkel's control, enjoying the use of royal palaces, dominating every aspect of administration and basking in the acclaim of the mainly Catholic population.
That was some political poker in Bavaria! At the very last minute, the head of the conservative CSU literally hit the emergency brake in order to prevent further damage to the party. The CSU chair and the post of the premier will be divided among two individuals - a move that many party members have been advocating for a long time already. For them, Stoiber was too powerful in his double role. With Günther Beckstein as the new Bavarian premier and Erwin Huber as new head of the CSU, Stoiber's successors already have a large part of the party and the voters behind them.
The man who would have been chancellor
If not for his late and somewhat befuddled response to catastrophic floods in eastern Germany back in August 2002, Edmund Stoiber might well have been Chancellor today. Stoiber had an opportunity to go to Berlin after the 2005 elections, to be a “super” minister with enormous economic responsibilities. But he never seemed at home up there, and he certainly didn’t seem inclined to play second fiddle.
Premier since 1993, he seemed to be driven by a never-ending quest to be the best and the (false) belief that he was irreplaceable. The 65-year-old workaholic is even known to study the footnotes of reports, never making a decision before having all the information. [Just like B16.] Stoiber was never the sovereign that the Bavarians wanted him to be. Instead, the bland Bavarian premier was more interested in paperwork than in winning the hearts of the citizens. [Just like B16.]
Press review
European editorialists commented on Edmund Stoiber's resignation.
* Switzerland: "Once more Germany has been fascinated, relieved and, at the same time, a little disgusted to watch one of its most prominent political leaders dissemble and be sent, as it were, to the underworld."
* Rome: "The end of an era in Germany. The (Christian) Union parties' camp loses one of its outstanding men."
* Milan: "By bringing together liberalism and state economic policies, modernity and tradition, laptop and lederhosen, Stoiber lent Bavaria his signature, which many people in Europe and in the world envy, with good reason."
[WAR: Well, well, well ... "what a difference a day makes" and "how the tide has turned"! BUT the fat German lady has not sung yet!! Being the ever-militant-pessimist-but-extreme-optimist ... ?? ... I am definitely not writing Stoiber's political obituary. September may seem just around the corner, but in politics and the current world situation, it can be very slow in getting here. I believe (speculating, not "prophesying") that world events will alter his plans - along with everyone elses - before then.
Take a look at the article below about Israeli jets on their way to nuke Iran being turned back by US jets. Look at the other key leaders, besides Stoiber, being under pressure: Bush, Tony Blair (leaving in May), Chirac (lame-duck), Olmert (about to resign?), Ahmadinejad (losing support), and also B16 (Polish priest spy scandal). As I mentioned before, I believe these pressures are for a purpose: to push them in a certain direction, and to harden their hearts and minds.]
In a related development?...
Hurricane force winds battered parts of Europe yesterday, killing 29 people and shutting down railway services in Germany completely. Winds of almost 170 kph were recorded in Germany.
German papers...
Chancellor Merkel has a long list of priorities for her stint at the helm of the EU. But how far will she get? German commentators aren't sure.
Europe says it is ready for more military action under the EU flag in 2007 after its "success" in Congo last year, with the German EU presidency putting Kosovo, Bosnia, Lebanon and Afghanistan at the top of its defence agenda for the next 6 months.
Chances of a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians are now "a bit closer," Germany's foreign minister said, calling on the international community to keep the momentum going by providing as much support as possible.
Prime Minister Olmert is in trouble. One day after the Israeli army chief of staff stepped down, many are calling for Olmert's head, too. The attorney general is also after him on a corruption investigation.
The prospect of "Star Wars" between China and the West loomed last night after Beijing used a ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space. The missile hit a 4ft-wide obsolete Chinese weather satellite 530 miles above the Earth.
China’s military and strategic assessment, “National Defence in 2006”, published in late December, is a highly political document that reflects Beijing’s reaction to growing Great Power rivalry. The White Paper, the fifth since 1998, is largely a response to increasing pressure from Washington. The Bush administration has repeatedly criticised China for its “secretive” defence expansion. But its own relentless military build up, as well as its aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, constitute the overriding destabilising factor in world politics and heighten the danger of war.
A recent strike by nuclear-armed Israeli Air Force fighter-bombers bound for targets in Iran was turned back after being intercepted by US fighters over Iraq. Two sources have independently confirmed the encounter, which took place on January 7th. Though the first informant offered few details beyond an initial tip, a second source long-known by this reporter to have well-placed US and “non-U.S.” military and government contacts provided specific information regarding the raid.
Benjamin Netanyahu met yesterday afternoon with the prime minister and discussed the appointment of a new chief of staff with him. "A chief of staff must be chosen that will recover the IDF's pride, reinstate Israel's deterrence, and who will prepare the army for the threats facing the country, firstly the Iranian threat."
Iran has discovered a new onshore oil field with an estimated reserve of 2 billion barrels, state-run television reported.
Iran’s outspoken president appears to be under pressure from the highest authorities in Iran to end his involvement in the country’s nuclear program, a sign that his political capital is declining as his country comes under increasing international pressure. Less than a month after the UN imposed sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear program, 2 hard-line newspapers, including one owned by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the president to stay out of all matters nuclear.
President Ahmadinejad lashed back over the US military buildup in the Gulf, saying that Iran is ready for any possibility in its standoff with the West over its nuclear program. The US deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf appeared to have alarmed some in Iran's hard-line leadership. A prominent member of a powerful cleric-run body warned that the US plans to attack Iran in the coming months.
Increasingly tough talk on Iran from the Bush administration – with vice-president Dick Cheney warning of the “growing threat” from the Islamic republic – has rattled politicians and diplomats in Washington worried that the war in Iraq is set to widen.
Substitute Friday prayers leader of Tehran today warned against the US and UK attempts to divide Shiites and Sunnis and said the world, including the Middle East and Muslim world, have become growingly aware. He called on Shiite and Sunni leaders to be vigilant against the US and UK conspiracies and said, "Unity between Shiites and Sunnis should be real, from bottom of their hearts and for the sake of God; and it should not be geo-politically and economically motivated."
Historians will differ as to when, exactly, we climbed into this particular Hell-bound handbasket. But on January 10th, with a casualness only the Idiot King could muster, the US also declared war on Iran and Syria. Congress had better hop a clue train, and fast. Same for corporate media and the American public. What Bush did last week is to start a region-wide Middle East war that will inevitably involve the United States, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and any combination of the Gulf States. And don't forget Afghanistan, with the rapidly advancing Taliban, and Pakistan.
A resolution introduced in the US House of Representatives calls on President Bush to obtain approval from Congress before using military force against Iran. "The indications of the initial saber-rattling are everywhere. I'm not here to tell you that I trust Iran, but I am here to say that I don't trust the administration."
In its secretive purge of key US attorneys, the Bush administration is needlessly giving comfort to any number of individuals now under federal investigation.
The engine that drives the radical Christian Right in the US, the most dangerous mass movement in American history, is not religiosity, but despair. This despair crosses economic boundaries, of course, enveloping many in the middle class who live trapped in huge, soulless exurbs where, lacking any form of community rituals or centers, they also feel deeply isolated, vulnerable and lonely.
Enjoy while you can...
Oil prices briefly fell below $50 per barrel yesterday for the first time in 20 months, after the US government reported larger-than-expected jumps in crude oil and gasoline inventories.
Warning against complacency over the federal deficit, Ben Bernanke said that recent positive trends on the budget were a "calm before the storm" masking a long- term economic threat posed by looming deficits in Social Security and Medicare.
The US Federal Reserve will need to slash interest rates three times this year as the housing slump goes from bad to worse and the American consumer begins to buckle, Goldman Sachs has warned. "Americans have shown a complete lack of self-control. The personal savings rate is at its lowest point ever, and has actually been negative since April 2005. We believe that housing will soon become the proverbial 'straw that breaks the camel's back'."
Wall Street commodity funds that have been investing heavily in energy futures are now loading up on agricultural commodities. The flood of investment has raised concerns among grain traders and agricultural producers that speculative money was gaining an undue influence over their markets, which help set the prices of raw commodities for a host of consumer food products.
Thanks to the aggressive spirit of many newly elected Democrats, this Congress offers an encouraging opening for opponents of corporate-led globalization to go on offense. Democrats with the nerve have a chance to challenge the self-satisfied status quo and expose many of globalization's fallacies and contradictions.
Venezuela's National Assembly has given initial approval to a bill granting the president the power to bypass congress and rule by decree for 18 months.
Southern Hemisphere envy...
Last night "motorists in Bloemfontein, South Africa, stopped to look at a strange 'bush fire' on the horizon." Even experienced astronomers have never seen anything like it - a sweeping fan of comet dust visible to the unaided eye despite city lights and twilight.
A retired Air Force colonel who photographed mysterious, colorful lights hovering over western Arkansas last week has ignited a frenzy of interest in unexplained airborne phenomena, as WND has received numerous reports of similar sightings across the US, while a digital expert has filtered the pictures to reveal startling images of what he says could be the "pilot" of the unidentified craft.
The great ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, contains numerous legends about the powerful force of a mysterious weapon.
An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1,700 years ago - much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.
Der Spiegel presents an atlas of the world's religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Eastern faiths as well as religious trends in Germany.
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