Benedict XVI sent words of encouragement to the 10th Inter-Christian Symposium between Catholics and Orthodox, expressing his hope that the initiative will further the path to unity. "The theme of the symposium will offer the occasion to commemorate an illustrious Father of the Church venerated in the East as in the West - a valiant, illuminated and faithful preacher of the Word of God, upon which he founded his pastoral action." He invoked the aid of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary, under her title of "Theotokos," asking her mother intercession "so that our shared intentions will be crowned by the much wished-for spiritual successes."
(Zenit: Full text of B16's message)
(Zenit: Full text of B16's message)
Pope Benedict will make his first trip to the US next spring (expected for the second half of April or the start of May) in a visit that will likely try to heal some of the wounds caused by recent sexual abuse scandals. The Pope will visit New York and several other cities in the East, Vatican sources said, adding that the itinerary was still being worked out.
A spokesperson for Pope Benedict XVI announced today the Holy Roman Empire was readying a "secret weapon" with which to fight Islam and create converts.
1544 - Sweden's King Gustavus I forms alliance with France to counter Denmark's alliance with the Holy Roman Empire.
1739 - Peace of Belgrade is signed by Holy Roman Emperor and Turkey, whereby Austria cedes Orsova, Belgrade and Serbia to Turkey.
Oh puh-leaze!!...
German Cardinal Meisner has been labelled a 'spiritual arsonist' and faces resignation calls for using the word 'degenerate' in a speech about art. The word has strong connotations with the Nazi persecution of artists accused of producing 'degenerate art.' Media commentators are taking him to task.
The German defense minister's comments about shooting down hijacked planes set off a burst of political squabbling. But the debate raises important issues, even if it's motivated by political maneuvering, observers say.
If industry insiders are correct, the financial crisis at the troubled British mortgage financer Northern Rock could also have a knock-on effect on German investment funds and state-backed banks.
While you weren't necessarily watching, the Queen of Europe transmogrified into Ms. Soft Power. It's a kind of abdication. In trying to leverage her great popularity into a risk-free stroll to re-election in 2009, she's backing Germany out of a more assertive, taking-sides role on the world's nastiest problems.
The UN General Assembly Monday took the first step in calling on governments to reopen talks over the long-desired expansion and reform of the UN Security Council, on which Germany has wanted a seat for years.
Ever since Nicolas Sarkozy became French president, he has been bewildering the German government with one controversial idea after another. The latest shocker? The new man in Paris has offered Chancellor Merkel French nuclear weapons.
(UPI: French nukes for Germany?)
As France's president unveils a major welfare reform package, Franco-German relations are maneuvering a patch of rough water: Personality clashes between leaders and policy differences are the problem.
Tensions on economic policy between President Sarkozy and other European leaders burst into the open at the weekend. The president of the German Bundesbank said that Sarkozy had demonstrated "zero" understanding of economic realities in his constant criticism of the European Central Bank. The German and Austrian finance ministers and Luxembourg's Prime Minister also suggested that Sarkozy should concentrate on France's own economic failings, rather than keep up his constant drumbeat of complaints about the management of the euro.
The architect of the rejected European constitution has criticized ideas by Dutch politicians to hold a referendum on the EU's Reform Treaty.
Sex and the blogosphere are being employed in a new £2 million multi-media campaign by the Israeli government to improve the international image of the Jewish state.
The Iraqi government announced that it had revoked the license of one of the most prominent private US security firms operating in Iraq, a decision that is expected to cause friction with US occupying forces, which have increasingly come to rely on private contractors to meet their logistical and security needs. The decision to revoke the license of Blackwater USA came one day after a Baghdad firefight that left eight civilians dead, the latest in a string of incidents involving private security contractors that have engendered resentment among Iraqis.
With increased US pressure on Iran and Israel's small-scale invasion of Syria, the stage appears set for an ultimatum concerning Iran's nuclear aspirations that many analysts and even foreign dignitaries warn may result in war. While hawks in the West clamor for war with Iran, the energy conglomerates of the world proceed as if the region is in perfect order. For Central Asia, perhaps this is as orderly as it gets: doomed to be fought over like a juicy bone.
North Korea has denied allegations that it may be helping Syria develop a nuclear weapons facility. The foreign ministry in Pyongyang called the claims an "unskilful conspiracy" and "groundless". The suspicions were "nothing but an unskilful conspiracy" fabricated again by "impure forces".
America is waging a financial war on Iran designed to isolate its economy from the world banking system and compel Teheran to abandon its nuclear programme. Step by step, the US Treasury is tightening the noose by persuading European and Japanese banks to join their American counterparts and stop conducting any transactions for Iranian clients. For an economy largely dependent on oil revenues, these steps are severe.
Further details have leaked out about Israel's unprovoked air raid on Syria, underscoring its primary purpose as a menacing warning not only to Syria, but also Iran. The operation was a graphic demonstration of Israel's capacity to carry out its previous threats to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. And Washington's silent approval of Israel's military provocation is one more warning that the White House is quite willing and able to launch a military adventure of its own against Iran.
The chief UN nuclear inspector urged Iran's harshest critics to learn from the Iraq invasion and refrain from "hype" about a possible military attack. "I do not believe at this stage that we are facing a clear and present danger that require we go beyond diplomacy. We need not to hype the issue."
Russian and Italian officials have warned against any US military intervention in Iran over the country's nuclear standoff. "Generally speaking, bombings of Iran would be a bad move that would end with catastrophic consequences. We are convinced that there is no military solution to the Iranian problem. It's impossible. Besides, it is quite clear that there is no military solution to the Iraq problem either."
The French Foreign Minister's statement Sunday that the world should prepare for war over Iran's disputed nuclear program has increased the fraught tensions with Tehran and highlighted divisions in the West.
(IRNA: France out of tune within EU)
Six hundred Iranian Shihab-3 missiles are pointed at targets throughout Israel, and will be launched if either Iran or Syria are attacked, an Iranian website affiliated with the regime reported on Monday. "Iran will shoot at Israel 600 missiles if it is attacked. 600 missiles will only be the first reaction." According to the report, dozens of locations throughout Iraq, which are being used by the US Army, have also been targeted.
Iran threatened to fire long-range missiles at American targets in the Middle East yesterday as the war of words between Teheran and the West continued to escalate. "Today the Americans are around our country but this does not mean that they are encircling us. They are encircled themselves and are within our range. If the United States is saying that they have identified 2,000 targets in Iran, then what is certain is that it is the Americans who are all around Iran and are equally our targets."
I am not a "conspiracy theorist," but, like any old newspaperman, I am a skeptic. In the years of my misspent youth as a reporter I saw police chiefs, mayors, newspaper executives, and other dignitaries lie and distort and suppress the truth. I am inclined to suspect that such is even more likely among the feds, for whom the stakes are much greater. Is the US government capable of such an atrocity? I take this to be true: the politicians who wield the immense powers of the US government will murder Americans if it serves their agenda and they can get away with.
"Professional Blogger" John Hawkins says "there is nothing to the NAU conspiracy theory." We invite him to abandon his delusion and face facts: The architects of the NAU plainly admit that they seek to build regional and global government.
"How many neocons does it take to screw in a light bulb? The answer: Neocons don't believe in light bulbs, they declare war on evil and set the house on fire." A mark of a fundamentalist mindset is that one's own personal virtue is the ultimate value.
Americans of European ancestry are declining as a share of the US population, down from near 90% into 1960 to 66% today. Anglos, as they are called now, are now minorities in our 2 largest states, Texas and California. If demography is destiny, the West is finished.
Oil soared to a record near $81 a barrel on Monday on worries that global energy supplies could shrink to critical levels this winter heating season due to strong demand growth.
The global elite are conspiring to send oil prices crashing through the $200 dollar a barrel mark as part of an organized agenda to hike profits, bring about a global economic crash and torpedo the middle class, and they're not afraid to attack Iran as a means of achieving their goal.
All eyes will be on the stock market this morning when it opens for trading. It will be the Government versus the forces of global capital.
(LT cartoon: A witches brew)
There's not much "regular" about today's regularly scheduled meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers in Washington. As they say at the anti-war demonstrations in the nation's capital, the whole world is watching. At stake, if you believe the buildup by financial analysts and traders, is much more than the next blip in interest rates.
Investors should brace themselves for a prolonged period of market turmoil, Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, said yesterday as he held emergency meetings with the Chancellor and the French Finance Minister. Mr Paulson flew to London to discuss the financial crisis as markets remained in the grip of anxieties over the continuing toll from the global credit squeeze.
Alan Greenspan said it is possible that the euro could replace the dollar as the reserve currency of choice. According to an advance copy of an interview to be published in Thursday's edition of the German magazine Stern, Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that "it doesn't have all that much of an advantage" anymore. He said the European Central Bank has become "a serious factor in the global economy."
We have to deal with the fundamental reality that Americans are addicted to debt. Debt today in the United States is at an all-time high in each of the three primary sectors: public, corporate and consumer debt. Central banks worldwide have reacted to the crisis by injecting over $700 billion into the global financial system. It has intensely human consequences that will affect each and every one of us. For the average worker who is already struggling to make ends meet, this could have devastating consequences.
A run on the Northern Rock bank in Britain has increased the possibility that a mystery trader could stand to collect around $2 billion should a panic send markets tumbling during the course of this week, as investors have predicted. Following the run on the Northern Rock bank in Britain, specialist investors are now warning of an imminent and severe correction in the markets.
For the 30 days of the 9th month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk - a time of penitence, care for deeper things, including needs of the poor, and familial solidarity. But Ramadan has come to have less godly significance, as well. What began as a manifestation of devotion becomes, in periods of conflict, a prompt to zealotry that can include savage violence.
Speaking as a stargazer, our own calendar is quite annoying. The Moon phases fall behind about 11 days each year. What a pain! Wouldn't it be handy if you knew that the Moon would always be new on the 1st, instead of having to look it up all the time? It's pretty remarkable that Julius Caesar decided to "regularize" the calendar by cutting months adrift from the Moon. Presumably, the Romans decided that the administrative hassles of having a variable number of months per year outweighed the benefits of having meaningful months. Romans were big on regularity. All in all, I still like the old-fashioned lunisolar calendar best. But as far as I know, no country today uses a lunisolar calendar for civil purposes.
[WAR: "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell (civil transactions) unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number." (Rev 13:16-18)]
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