Pope Benedict XVI is working on a doctrinal pronouncement that will condemn tax evasion as "socially unjust", according to Vatican sources. In his 2nd encyclical, the pontiff will denounce the use of "tax havens" and offshore bank accounts by wealthy individuals, since this reduces tax revenues for the benefit of society as a whole. It will focus on humanity's social and economic problems in an era of globalisation. Pope Benedict intends to argue for a world trade and economic system "regulated in such a way as to avoid further injustice and discrimination."
A book published under the auspices of an official body of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, has angered Catholics in Britain for its attacks on Pope Benedict. "Catholic Social Justice: Theological and Practical Explorations," been denounced as a "withering attack" on Pope Benedict XVI and his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. The book has been the subject of dozens of blog posts around Britain by mainstream Catholics, almost all denouncing it as an anti-Catholic Marxist diatribe.
Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier were reportedly involved in a minor dispute over the right to address the opening session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25. The right to address the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly is usually a privilege of the foreign minister.
Not just a symbol, but a sign?...
Germany has rescued its national symbol, the white-tailed eagle, from near extinction in a decades-long struggle.
The re-engineered ally (part 3)...
Germany had honed its ability to fly below the radar of international controversy to a fine art. Its dependence on foreign trade for its economic well-being required this and it resisted, moreover, for most of the last 40 years rather successfully American attempts to subject its economic relations with the world to the more extravagant demands of economic warfare.
The "French renaissance" was making waves abroad as well, particularly in Germany, where irritation has grown over a resurgent France striking out on its own. The rest of the world is watching with interest: potential foreign investors, particularly from Britain and America, who had been put off by the country's distaste for "Anglo-Saxon" capitalism, have been heartened by Sarkozy's pro-market rhetoric. Will France challenge German dominance of the EU?
With distinct warnings, the government in Berlin is pressuring the French government to relinquish some of its new president's main foreign and economic policy projects. With these complaints, Berlin is launching an offensive aimed also at the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy's central economic policy projects, that conflict with German interests. Soon after Sarkozy's election, political advisors began to warn that Sarkozy's program provides "considerable points of friction with Germany" and "nourishes the French miscalculation of the feasibility of an 'Europe à la française'." The warnings are precursors of the new one-upmanship struggles between the #1 European key power, Germany, and its junior partner in Paris, seeking to climb out of its 2nd place status.
The head of Europe's central bank has given warning that the new EU Treaty will erode his institution's independence, amid claims that France is trying to control the bloc's economy for its own benefit. The bank - which independently sets interest rates across the eurozone - was in danger of becoming an arm of the EU's bureaucracy due to text changes agreed in the treaty earlier this year. A former economics adviser to Downing Street said that Paris was using the new treaty to make an "overt political grab" for control over Europe's economy. "France has always sought political control of the ECB: the new treaty entrenches it."
Facing a salvaged version of the 2004 constitution, Blair asserted that a referendum on it would be "completely and utterly absurd". On taking office this year Gordon Brown agreed, despite his pledge to "listen to the people". There cannot have been a more instant and brazen U-turn on an election promise in modern history.
Poland's Prime Minister said his governing Law and Justice party will push for early elections to end the strife within his struggling coalition.
Europeans have developed a high level of anti-Americanism. An American expert on Germany says politics is just one of the many spheres where Europeans oppose the big and powerful US.
Germany's special energy relationship with Russia threatens energy security in Europe, critics say. Others argue Europe's largest economy needs to build up strong ties with Europe's biggest energy importer. Russia towers above the Middle Eastern and Caucasus countries as the continent's largest supplier of oil and gas. Germany, however, is in danger of losing its unique leadership role when it comes to energy relations with Russia.
America is preparing to pour thousands of extra troops into southern Iraq amid fears that Gordon Brown is committed to withdrawing British troops from the region early next year.
German press...
With the political opposition calling for his resignation, and Islamic radicals after his head, Pakistan's President Musharraf has been toying with the idea of declaring a state of emergency to quell rising unrest. German editorialists wonder how that will help cure the country's ills.
Some 100,000 Islamists have met in the Indonesian capital to press for the re-establishment of a caliphate across the Muslim world. A caliphate - or single state for Muslims - last existed in 1924.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is holding joint military exercises this week in Russia, with all 6 member nations participating for the first time. However, judging from the number of soldiers taking part, the significance of the maneuvers is more symbolic than practical. Some Western strategists are concerned that the SCO may become a new Warsaw Treaty Organization. However, it is not likely. More likely is that the SCO will gradually lose its cohesion along with the resurgence of Russia and the emergence of an "Asian NATO" headed by the US, Japan and Australia.
President Ahmadinejad said that a revival of the Qur'an is daily gaining ground around the world. He noted that Qur'an is the best guidance for mankind and emphasized its recitation, adding that contemplating and following the rules of the book is the only possible solution for mankind's ominous problems.
Iran on Saturday criticized President Bush's negative comments over Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki's close ties with Tehran, saying the US needs a "wise" leader to regain its damaged global image.
Karzai, who when he is in the US is expected to act as a puppet of the Bush administration, made the mistake of actually speaking his mind (and) described Iran as a positive player - "a helper and a solution" - in the region. But Bush told Karzai not to believe his own experience but instead to accept the neoconservative version of events. As Bush famously declared at a policy session in 2005, "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
Americans increasingly realize – despite a dearth of reporting by the mainstream media – that there is a widening gulf between reality and President Bush's characterization of it. And what's scary is that Bush may actually believe his mischaracterizations and act upon them, perhaps even nuking Iran. The Mullahs running Iran have proclaimed over and over that they have no desire to acquire nukes and that even desiring them, much less using them on their fellow men, would be seriously contrary to Islamic law.
Now that mainstream media bias is an established fact and recognized as such by the mainstream reading and viewing public, the revelation of Vice President Dick Cheney's total unilateral control over all levels and branches of American government has not only raised eyebrows and concerns of dictatorship, but for those politically astute, begs the question as to why the Washington Post would be the journalistic vehicle to publish the 4-part series exposing this reality. Apparently, something has happened to interfere with the bankers' plans and schedule. Perhaps Cheney-Bush have provided too much evidence of their criminal and treasonist intentions, and the threat of an armed rebellion is now looming larger than ever. Perhaps a military coup is in the wind. Or perhaps, the unpopularity of the Cheney-Bush dictatorship is causing even the world conspirators to fractionalize. Whatever it is, something must be up to have triggered the newspaper series.
President Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy affirmed their countries' friendship Saturday ahead of a casual lunch, a "heart-to-heart talk" and a brisk boat ride that could signal a new era of closer ties. "For around 250 years France and the United States have been allies and friends," Sarkozy said. "When we see, on the edge of the Atlantic, all the cemeteries with white crosses, those are the young Americans who came to die for us. That is more important than Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Bush. So do we agree on everything? No. Because in a family we can have disagreements. But we are the same family, that is the truth."
Germany has bailed out one bank burdened with American "subprime" mortgage risks, but the fun may not be over - as the earthquake in world markets this week demonstrates.
Britain's golden economic era is facing its final days with financial markets suffering their worst crisis in a decade, analysts warned. On one of the worst days in recent stock market history almost £56 billion was wiped off the value of London's leading firms amid worldwide panic. Experts predicted that the turbulence could have knock-on effects for all British households, depressing the housing market, potentially pushing unemployment higher and plunging pension funds into deficit.
Panic selling by hedge funds has emerged as the hidden cause of the contagion spreading through the global financial system. Billions were wiped from the value of listed companies around the world on Friday. Initially, turmoil was limited to credit markets but it quickly spread to global stock markets after central banks were forced to intervene to keep markets from collapsing completely.
Moving to quell fears of a burgeoning financial crisis, the world's major central banks injected billions of dollars into the global banking system Friday, helping Wall Street recover from steep losses after panic trading drove European and Asian markets sharply lower. "The US subprime crisis is no longer a localized event but a source of global financial market contagion."
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank, was yesterday under mounting pressure to cut American interest rates as early as next week as global stock markets plunged on fears of a worldwide credit crunch.
Nobody understands the threat of a credit crunch better than Ben Bernanke. So far, he has kept a cool nerve, ignoring a growing chorus of traders, bankers, and pundits on Wall Street pleading for swift action to prevent the sub-prime mortgage debacle spreading through the US economy.
The International Monetary Fund has moved to restore calm on financial markets after two days of turmoil. The IMF said the current crisis was "manageable", despite continuing falls in share prices around the world.
As the dollar goes into free fall and the housing market accelerates in sales yet plunges in price, the quickening of an agenda of economic catastrophe allied to the "solution" of predatory globalism spells potential disaster for the livelihood of all Americans. A global crash and a totally devalued dollar that can barely rival the peso spells disaster for all Americans who wish to maintain their standard of living and not find themselves barefoot on the street in a bread queue.
Summer's annual meteor shower promises to put on a dazzling show when it peaks this weekend — provided you're far from city lights. With no moon in sight to interfere with the Perseid meteor shower, skygazers can expect to spot streaking fireballs late Sunday into dawn Monday regardless of time zone. Astronomers estimate as many as 60 meteors per hour could flit across the sky at the shower's peak.
The theory that bacteria hasten our death has been questioned by research suggesting living in a sterile world would not boost life expectancy. It has been thought that the immune system response provoked by even harmless bacteria speeds up the ageing process by using up vital energy. But a study of fruit flies kept in a bacteria-free environment showed they did not outlive their grubby siblings.
[WAR: Proof that flies don't attract garbage!! Bacteria live off of dead/inorganic matter. So be healthy and don't give them a lot of food to eat. Garbage attracts flies, so don't have excess garbage!]
Oh my!...
Homosexual Lutheran clergy who are in sexual relationships will be able to serve as pastors, the largest US Lutheran body said on Saturday. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America passed a resolution at its annual assembly urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships."
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