In a provocative article, an Italian medical professor argues that Pope John Paul II didn't just simply slip away as his weakness and illness overtook him in April 2005. Intensive care specialist Dr. Lina Pavanelli has concluded that the ailing Pope's April 2 death was caused by what the Catholic Church itself would consider euthanasia.
In the parable of the dishonest, yet sharp steward, Christ teaches his disciples the best way to use money and material riches; share them with the poor and in this way earn their friendship, in view of the Kingdom of heaven. Money is not "dishonest" in itself, but more than anything else it can close man up within a blind egoism. What is needed therefore is a sort of "conversion" of economic goods: Instead of using them for one's own interests, we need to also think of the necessities of the poor.
Benedict XVI is concerned about the future of the planet, according to the Vatican spokesman. "Various times during his pontificate, he has referred to the important theme of safeguarding creation and the urgency of doing so."
1688 - France's King Louis XIV declares war against the Holy Roman Empire, called the War of the League of Augsburg.
The German interior minister's anti-terror remarks have managed to threaten the stability of the left-right grand coalition government. On Thursday, several center-left lawmakers of the SPD attacked the Interior Minister (CDU) so harshly the head of the CDU's parliamentary faction left the building in protest.
The public owners of the 2 biggest German public sector banks have begun talks that could lead to a new banking giant in Europe, press reports said today. A merger of Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bayern LB would create the 2nd biggest German bank and one of the biggest in Europe with assets of more than $1.27 billion. The regional prime ministers of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria, Guenther Oettinger and Edmund Stoiber, met Friday in Berlin to discuss the public banking sector and agreed to hold more talks.
President Sarkozy strode into the Napoleon III salon of the Élysée Palace and staked his claim to the leadership of Europe. "I can't be criticized for wanting first place for France. If France doesn't take the lead, who will?"
Uh-oh...
Two people have been killed and 11 injured in an explosion in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, police say. The blast struck a shopping and business area early this morning. Police said they did not know the type of explosives or who was responsible. Police and troops from NATO-led peacekeepers have sealed off the area.
Israeli rabbinic authorities have abruptly called on Jews to shun a major Christian tourism event, baffling and upsetting evangelical groups that traditionally have been big supporters of the Jewish state. More than 6,000 Christians from over 90 nations are expected to arrive in Jerusalem this week to take part in the 28th annual Christian celebration of the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, according to the event's organizers, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
Arab states including Syria - a bitter opponent of Israel - will be asked to a Middle East peace meeting in November, the US secretary of state has said.
Turkish Army Commander General Basbug warned the US about the PKK activities in Northern Iraq. "Turkey has the power to prevent developments and tıo increase the costs in Iraq. The US should understand that the time is not to speak but to act, and it should do something."
President Ahmadinejad said Tehran is neither building a nuclear bomb nor headed to war with the US in a television interview. "Well, you have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb? In political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use. If it was useful it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union."
(CBS: Interview with Ahmadinejad)
Germany is supporting armed separatists in Western Iran, in their struggle against the Iranian government. In spite of repeated protests from Teheran, a leader of the Kurdish secessionist movement is continuing to recruit insurgents in Germany - in plain view of German intelligence services.
(WSJ: Iran's German enablers)
The contest of control over Iraq between the US and Iran is the largest potential crucible of disaster for the planet between now and January 2009.
The UN General Assembly meets this week under the shadow of menacing demands by the US and its allies for tough new UN sanctions against Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons programs. The Bush administration's "diplomacy", in which the French government has been playing a very visible role, is aimed in the first instance at bullying Russia and China into line by threatening to impose US and EU penalties on Tehran. In the background, the rising drumbeat of war is unmistakable.
Vice President Dick Cheney had at one point considered asking Israel to launch limited missile strikes at an Iranian nuclear site to provoke a retaliation, Newsweek magazine reported on Sunday. A military response by Iran could give Washington an excuse to then launch airstrikes of its own, Newsweek said.
Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski likened US officials' saber rattling about Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions to similar statements made before the start of the Iraq war. "I think the administration, the president and the vice president particularly, are trying to hype the atmosphere, and that is reminiscent of what preceded the war in Iraq."
Discussion on CNN with Col. Sam Gardiner who clearly states that the war in Iran is already underway and that a 2nd phase of overt military action will soon begin.
(MSNBC: Prelude to a nuke crisis?)
But not the WARroom!...
Dan Rather said that the undue influence of the government and large corporations over newsrooms spurred his decision to file a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company. "Somebody, sometime has got to take a stand and say democracy cannot survive, much less thrive with the level of big corporate and big government interference and intimidation in news."
Praise Jesus, it's the collapse of evangelical Christian rule in America. Rejoice!
Tornadoes cut a destructive swathe across the heart of England this morning, ripping roofs off houses, upending vehicles and flattening trees on a day of freak weather across the country.
The euro has set another record high against the dollar, as the value of the greenback continues to fall following last week's cut in US interest rates. Separately, gold prices are near a 28-year high, while oil has fallen to $81.04.
Secretary of State Rice has acknowledged a communique from Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Levni which requests that all foreign aid payments and loans from the US be made in Euros rather than in Dollars. Foreign Minister Levni cited the rapidly declining dollar and it's disfavor as a world currency as reasons for the request.
The one thing holding back the floodgates has been the USD's position as reserve currency to the world. Basically, foreigners (especially governments) have been buying massive quantities of dollar-denominated debt instruments to finance our unprecedented trade imbalances. But now with the recent cut, it's that much more likely that people around the world will find the spell broken. This could cause a stampede away from the dollar.
Do not believe the talking heads who claim that the mortgage mess is limited to the subprime stratum. As the housing bubble continues to implode, the financial fallout will result in nothing short of an international economic disaster. The Federal Reserve's .05% cut in the fed funds rate will not do anything to head off America's looming household-insolvency crisis.
The consensus among economic forecasters seems to be that we are headed for a soft landing from the current turmoil in financial markets – a bit of a slowdown but nothing too serious. This is the tone, for example, in the latest global forecast from the Economist Intelligence Unit. But don't bet on it.
Now that flight from the dollar has begun it will accelerate until we hit the bottom and the US dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency. Thus, the Wall Street-banker bailout, via 2 deep interest cuts – dooms the dollar and puts the problem of confidence and trust front and center. The short term palliative will push up long-term interest rates, which will drive up mortgage rates and drive the property market into deeper crisis. The money and credit creation will increase, bringing on hyperinflation, creating a major recession if not depression. The dollar is collapsing and next bonds will collapse sending yields rocketing.
Citizens from the EU's biggest countries are pessimistic about the bloc's chances of standing up to economic competition from Asia and they overwhelmingly reject US-style capitalism, a new poll has shown. There is a widespread feeling among Europeans that multinational corporations are more powerful than national governments, with Germans and Spaniards most in favour of trade unions maintaining a role in influencing labour market conditions.
I recently returned from a 3-week visit in a different Europe, one that deserves consideration by left and right alike. There's a lesson in their gardens, woodpiles, chickens and butcher shops.
We know that state socialism doesn't work – but is the unrestrained free market the only alternative? In his forthcoming book Third Ways: How Bulgarian Greens, Swedish Housewives, and Beer-Swilling Englishmen Created Family-Centered Economies – And Why They Disappeared , social historian Allan C. Carlson explores 20th-century economic experiments attempted by democratic Europeans who didn't want traditional society bulldozed by either big business or big government.
Parallel universes really do exist, according to a mathematical discovery by Oxford scientists that sweeps away one of the key objections to the mind boggling and controversial idea.
Submerged stone structures lying just below the waters off Yonaguni Jima are actually the ruins of a Japanese Atlantis—an ancient city sunk by an earthquake about 2,000 years ago. Each time he returns to the dive boat, Kimura said, he is more convinced than ever that below him rest the remains of a 5,000-year-old city.
Today's white knights are in trouble. Women must ride to the rescue.
Psychologists have found a justification for the male strangehold on Nobel prizes – there are twice as many men as women in the brightest 2% of the population. But although men may win the top prizes, they cannot claim a clear-cut victory in an intellectual battle of the sexes. The study shows that men also cluster at the opposite extreme, with twice as many men as women stuck in the least intelligent 2%.
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