Portugal, which took over the 6-month presidency of the EU on Sunday, is heading for battle with President Sarkozy over issues ranging from Europe's future economic direction to already fraught talks on admitting Turkey into the bloc.
President Ahmadinejad said that the pillars of world arrogance are unstable, and resistance would bear fruit. "The world arrogance is getting weaker thanks to the anti-imperialism movement worldwide, particularly in American countries."
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Venezuelan President Chavez slammed arch-foe the US and pledged to boost trade ties. "The United States is incapable of hurting Iran and Venezuela ... cooperation between the two independent states is natural and it must be expanded. America's greatness has deteriorated and it faces many problems, independent countries should consider this and expand their cooperation."
For close to two years, the media has stubbornly clung to a long discredited story about the Iranian president's alleged threat to "destroy Israel" with nuclear weapons Iran doesn't have and denies any intent to acquire. And yet suddenly, after all this hoopla, at least 2 of the biggest media titans, the BBC and the AP, appear to be backing away from the incorrect "wiped off the map" quotation they've been drilling into people's minds for so long. It's happening quietly and undemonstratively, but some recent subtle changes in their presentation indicate a tacit acknowledgment of their previous misreporting.
After 6 years of kowtowing to the White House, Congress is finally challenging President Bush's campaign to trample all legal and constitutional restraints on his power.
Thanks, but no thanks...
The major theme of this year's Worldview conference was a call for an ongoing push by Christian fundamentalists to tear down democracy and replace it with theocracy. Far from being super, it was rather scary. "By God's grace, we will work together to make America a truly Christian nation for our children's children."
Gordon Brown will this week propose surrendering historic powers delegated to previous prime ministers by the monarch as part of a wide-ranging programme of constitutional reform. The reforms are expected to involve Mr Brown giving up royal prerogatives traditionally exercised by the prime minister, such as the power to declare war without parliamentary approval or to appoint bishops to the Church of England.
Oil steadied above $71 a barrel on Monday, underpinned by falling gasoline inventories in top consumer the US and expectations for a recovery in refinery use.
The near collapse of 2 Bear Stearns hedge funds has lifted the rock on our 21st century mutant capitalism, exposing the bugs beneath to a rare shock of naked light. "This is the big one: all investment portfolios will be shredded to ribbons."
The Bank for International Settlements issued a warning this week that the Federal Reserve's monetary policies have created an enormous equity bubble which could lead to another "Great Depression". The IMF and the UN have issued similar warnings, but they've all been shrugged off by the Bush administration. Neither Bush nor the Federal Reserve is interested in "course correction". They plan to stick with the same harebrained policies until the end.
Bear Stearns, a major US underwriter of mortgage-backed securities, is now reeling from the worst housing decline since the 1930s. As foreclosures climb, Wall Street's lenders and investors are claiming a bigger chunk of Main Street. Home values and the $6 trillion US mortgage-backed securities market are locked in a downward spiral.
It's interesting how a discussion about vaccination can quickly become heated and sometimes even hostile. Vaccination is built around a "belief system." (And) belief is based on faith, not necessarily on fact.
It is better to put your trust in the Lord than in man. If you are sincere in your desire to get well and start living God's way, pray about what you've read here and seek direction from the Lord. He will lead you perfectly in the way that you should go. He has never let anyone down who has honestly sought Him with clean hands and a pure heart and He never will.
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