"The WAR on error"
Preying on the young...
Benedict XVI exhorts young people to "dare to love," in his message for the upcoming diocesan-level World Youth Day. "Everybody feels the longing to love and to be loved," the Pope says in his message. "Yet, how difficult it is to love, and how many mistakes and failures have to be reckoned with in love! There are those who even come to doubt that love is possible. But if emotional delusions or lack of affection can cause us to think that love is utopian, an impossible dream, should we then become resigned?"
As monks of the Holy Mountain, we respect the Ecumenical Patriarchate, under whose jurisdiction we fall. We honour and revere His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and we rejoice about all his God-loving achievements and diligent works for the good of the Church. However, the events that took place during the recent visits of the Pope to Phanarion and of His Beatitude the Archbishop to the Vatican brought immense sorrow to our hearts. So we have to conclude that the Vatican is not orienting itself to discard its heretical teachings, but only to "re-interpret" them, or in other words, to veil them.
Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazi SS, made a secret wartime mission to an abbey in Spain in search of what he believed was the Aryan Holy Grail, a new book claims. Himmler visited the famous Montserrat Abbey near Barcelona where he thought he would find the Grail which Jesus Christ was said to have used to consecrate the Last Supper.
Every year thousands of educated Germans turn their backs on their homeland. There has been a steady exodus over the years, but it has recently become Topic A in a land already saddled with one of the most rapidly aging and shrinking populations of any Western nation.
Germany's economy minister [CSU] has upped the ante in talks to restructure Airbus, threatening to cancel defense deals with Franco-German parent company EADS if the revamp claims too many German jobs. But commentators say it's an empty threat, and Chancellor Merkel's spokesman has opted for a markedly softer tone on the issue.
Germany renewed its call yesterday for cutbacks at Airbus to be shared fairly among European countries, but it sought to play down a suggestion that Berlin could cancel defense contracts with Airbus's parent company, EADS. Over the weekend, the German economy minister, Michael Glos, was quoted as saying that "we will under no circumstances stand for the planned reduction of jobs and high technology in Germany." Glos won applause from some in Germany for his comments. The mayor of Bremen, the site of one German Airbus plant, told Deutschlandfunk radio that the reported threat was "legitimate."
Many politicians have failed in their attempts to revive the Middle East peace process. The Chancellor has made a modest step towards getting the ball rolling during her trip to the region.
Chancellor Merkel met Emirati President Khalifa yesterday as part of her efforts to revive the Middle East peace process. She used the talks to criticize Iran and Syria for their destabilizing roles in the region.
Speaking at an economic conference in Abu Dhabi, Chancellor Merkel said that negotiations on a free trade zone between the EU and the region needs to be completed.
The visit of Chancellor Merkel to the Middle East and in particular to 3 member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council comes at an opportune moment. Given its balanced approach to international relations, Germany is increasingly being sought as an important partner to solve key challenges confronting the world. Since many of these concerns are in the Middle East, her trip assumes greater significance.
Speaking to reporters from the GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Al-Attiyah said that during his discussions with visiting Chancellor Merkel he called for a greater role of the EU to persuade Israel to adhere to international resolutions.
Germany faces a difficult decision about deploying Tornado fighter jets in Southern Afghanistan. The Defense Minister said the mission could begin in April, but only if the Bundestag agrees.
The high-risk nature of Germany's bid to resurrect the EU constitution is only now sinking in as Berlin confronts the sheer scale of the task Chancellor Merkel has set her country's 6-month presidency. "There will be a major crisis in the EU if it cannot agree a collective approach this summer," an official said. "There is no plan B." Without a deal, diplomats say the EU could break up into smaller groups of countries functioning in ad hoc, issue-specific "coalitions of the willing."
As the decision over the future of Kosovo approaches, tensions are growing in the western portion of the province. A return to violence is a distinct possibility. Meanwhile, a presumed war criminal remains in power with the blessing of the international community.
Russia has once again resisted European pressure and repeated its opposition to signing a key energy pact that would open up competition and foreign access to its oil and gas fields. Russia is objecting to parts of the charter that relate to investment and would allow competitition between foreign and domestic energy investors, saying that the EU must offer more in return for this access.
The recent energy dispute between Russia and Belarus has raised further worrying questions about Russia's reliability as an energy supplier and given fresh impetus to discussions about the need for the European Union to frame a common energy policy. The Kremlin sees energy dominance as a way of restoring Russia's international influence.
BBC view...
Work has begun to repair an ancient mound near Jerusalem's holiest site, raising tensions between Palestinians and Israelis. The Israeli authorities say the work is needed to restore a walkway leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque or Temple Mount compound in East Jerusalem.
Iranian view...
Bulldozers of the illegal Zionist entity headed towards al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Islamic city of Bayt ol-Moqaddas to destroy part of its sacred wall.
In its attempt to manufacture a case for military aggression against Iran, the Bush administration has made wholly unsubstantiated allegations that Iranian agents were responsible for a January 20 raid conducted on a supposedly secure US facility in the Iraqi city of Karbala. "It has spawned bizarre theories including the idea that a Western mercenary group was somehow involved." What is the basis of this "bizarre theory?"
According to all accounts of the raid, the dozen or so who carried it out were waved through checkpoints surrounding the meeting site because they were traveling in a convoy of SUVs of the type used by American forces in Iraq, wearing US uniforms and carrying US-style weapons as well as ID cards. Moreover, they spoke English. According to the AP, "One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond." In short, if the attackers dressed, acted and looked like Americans and spoke English, there is always the possibility that they were indeed Americans.
Relations between Mideast heavyweights Iran and Saudi Arabia are bumpy at the best of times, and have become tenser in recent months as Shiite-Sunni troubles have risen. But trouble in Lebanon and Iraq is prompting the two giants to engage in frank new talks in an effort to head off regional crisis.
As the African Union summit drew to a close last week there was still no sign that other African forces were ready to take over from Ethiopian troops in Somalia who have already begun to withdraw. African leaders meeting in Addis Ababa agreed that a force of 8,000 peacekeepers were needed. Despite pressure from the US Assistant Secretary of State, however, and a February 2 appeal by the UN Security Council, only an 8-man fact finding mission has been despatched to Mogadishu by the AU to assess the security situation.
An Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped by gunmen in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Tehran has confirmed. The embassy's second secretary was abducted from his car on Sunday in central Karrada district by men wearing Iraqi army uniforms. Iran condemned the kidnapping and said it held the US responsible for his life.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said that he would take part in a major annual security conference to be held in Munich this weekend. The US delegation attending the conference will be led by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Often dubbed the "Davos of the security world," the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy will be held Feb. 9-11.
France's Foreign Minister reiterated Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology, saying Iran cannot be deprived of its lawful right.
Political and propaganda circles of the illegal Zionist entity are trying to create a new scenario in continuation of their anti-Iranian policy. The daily Haaretz quoting a report by a research institute said there are 3 choices regarding Iran's nuclear activity and Iran is forced to choose one. This new Zionist policy against Iran is continuation of the US-Zionist propaganda axis that includes 3 choices: creating a coalition against Iran, depicting an ambiguity regarding Iran's peaceful nuclear activity and sowing sedition in the region.
Campaign Iran has pointed out that the current media spin about Iran, some of which appears to originate from MI6, bears more than a passing resemblance to the WMD hype that preceded the ongoing slaughter of 650,000+ Iraqis. So are we on the verge of a massive escalation of the criminal US-UK imperial war?
In spite of being hopelessly bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush/Cheney administration appears set on a collision course with Tehran. Evidence continues to accumulate that the B/C Administration is planning an air and naval war against Iran in spite of a rising chorus of protests by serving and retired senior US military officers and diplomats. With disturbing déjà vu, the US Congress and American media are swallowing the administration's torrent of unproven accusations against Iran precisely the way they lapped up grotesque White House lies about Iraq.
Gen. Wesley Clark is concerned by Iran's nuclear ambitions and cautioned the Islamic republic to take US warnings "very, very seriously." Clark is worried that the rising tension between the US and Iran could escalate to a point of no return.
Iran's Defence Minister said last night that the Islamic Republic is prepared to teach any would-be invader an unforgettable lesson.
A group of prominent British Jews will today declare independence from the country's Jewish establishment, arguing that it puts support for Israel above the human rights of Palestinians. "We come together in the belief that the broad spectrum of opinion among the Jewish population of this country is not reflected by those institutions which claim authority to represent the Jewish community as a whol.,"
With the elections over and the 110th Congress settling in, the media have been reporting ad nauseam about who has assumed new political power in Washington. We're subjected to breathless reports about emerging power brokers in Congress; how so-and-so is now the powerful chair of an important committee; how certain candidates are amassing power for the 2008 elections, and so on.
Nobody questions this use of the word "power," or considers its connotations. It's simply assumed, in Washington and the mainstream media, that political power is proper and inevitable. The problem is that politicians are not supposed to have power over us – we're supposed to be free. We seem to have forgotten that freedom means the absence of government coercion. So when politicians and the media celebrate political power, they really are celebrating the power of certain individuals to use coercive state force. Political power is inherently dangerous in a free society: it threatens the rule of law, and thus threatens our fundamental freedoms.
Growing political instability in the US will weigh heavily on the dollar during 2007. This weight, combined with growing political pressure for dollar devaluation and a slew of negative economic factors, is likely to prompt significant dollar depreciation against most other currencies. The dollar's decline will help send asset values in the US sharply lower and precious metals prices soaring. The dollar's swoon appears inevitable in the coming months.
Ending gifts to elitists, part of what is needed at Doha round of wto talks, more on the Plame - Libby saga, inflation numbers, gdp, price of a barrel of oil, employment numbers, the split between rich and poor, golden parachutes for ceos, torturing german citezens, job cuts for homebuilders...
The story of how Ambassador Leo Wanta was commissioned by President Reagan to make $trillions for the American people in shrewd (but legal) currency trading that concentrated on buying Russian rubles at a discount to destabilize the Soviet economy surfaced in 1992. As events unfold and independent researchers put the pieces together, Ambassador Wanta is emerging as a real man whose activities produced $trillions that are stashed away in real banks and invested in real properties. If this story is true—and the evidence is becoming unavoidably compelling—then it will not be long before all the world will know.
In a wooded ravine tucked away from the water parks, restaurants and mega-resorts that dominate this tourist town, a piece of history is quietly dying. After more than half a century of wowing tourists (and causing probably more than a few cases of nausea), the Wonder Spot, a mysterious cabin where people can't stand up straight, water runs uphill and chairs balance on two legs, is no more. Now, the Wonder Spot, one of more than a dozen sites around the nation dubbed "gravity vortexes" has a date with a bulldozer.
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