My poor Texas...
Texas is getting its first Roman Catholic cardinal — a nod to the influx of faithful from Mexico and Central America. Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo's appointment was to some degree unexpected, but Vatican watchers say it shows Pope Benedict XVI clearly understands where the American church is growing — and who is behind the growth. "It says something about Texas and how wonderful Texas is in the terms of the growth of our Catholic faith."
"If Turkey's threat of the use of force does not receive an answer from the Iraqi government, from the Iraqi Kurds and from the US in ending the existence of the outlawed PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the Turkish invasion of northern Iraq will come soon," said a senior Turkish diplomatic source.
One of the Bush administration's key foreign policy successes — brokering an end to a 21-year war between northern and southern Sudan — is coming apart even as UN and African diplomats step up peace efforts in Sudan's other crisis, the conflict in the western Darfur region.
Deng Xiaoping based his growth programme on a benign international environment. But Taiwan is different, if only because China sees it as a domestic issue as much as Tibet. Military action would be a folly, given its effects on China's economy and global standing. But the stakes across the Strait should not be underestimated.
European governments are deeply divided over how far and how fast to go in imposing new sanctions against Iran, in what could undermine a new US effort to mobilize allies to act outside of the UN according to European officials. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed to consider modest steps but not necessarily the kind of dramatic moves that Washington is now considering, the officials said. The session over what Europe should do to pressure Iran was described by officials as "fractious," "intense" and with "a bit of blood left on the carpet" from the debate.
The letters, according to DEBKAfile's Iranian sources, have been posted to Jewish families in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. They are captioned: Danger! Danger! Danger! and tell recipients to try and reach the West with all possible speed. Iranian Jews like the rest of the population face grave danger from impending events, the anonymous writers warn.
[WAR: Yes, they face grave danger - not from Iran itself, but from the bombs/nukes the US/Israel is fixin' to drop!!]
We are not living a sound and rational World where far-reaching decisions by the US President are based on an understanding of their likely consequences. A WW3 is no longer a hypothetical scenario. US foreign policy under the NeoCons is based on a diabolical and criminal agenda. The "war on terrorism" is a lie; Iran does not constitute a threat to global security as confirmed by a recent IAEA report, Iran does not constitute a threat to Israel. The US president is a liar, who believes his own lies. The US Head of State, who has a limited understanding of geopolitics, let alone geography, is hinting that if Iran does not give up its nonexistent nuclear weapons program, we might be reluctantly forced into in a WW3 situation. Bush has insinuated that as Commander in Chief, he could decide to launch a war on Iran, which would result in WW3.
It would appear, according to news reports, that the hard-liners in the Bush administration, led by the vice president, are pushing for a war with Iran. The tactics are the same. Once you've played the fear card to start one war, the second time is easier. Will the shell game work again? Certainly Congress could pass a joint resolution now against such a war. But they would need half a dozen Republican senators to support it. That's not likely to happen. And the president could claim that he has the inherent power to ignore such a resolution. When it comes to war in this administration, Dick Cheney always gets his way.
The Air Force has decided to relieve at least five of its officers of command and is considering filing criminal charges in connection with the Aug. 29 "Bent Spear" incident in which nuclear-armed cruise missiles were mistakenly flown from North Dakota to Louisiana, two senior Air Force officials said yesterday.
China slammed the US today for awarding the Dalai Lama one of its highest honors and summoned the US ambassador in Beijing to complain, saying its actions had "gravely undermined" relations. "The move of the United States is a blatant interference in China's internal affairs, hurts the feelings of the Chinese people and has gravely undermined relations between China and the United States."
Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the US in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields. Data from the US Treasury showed outflows of $163bn from all forms of US investments. "These numbers are absolutely stunning." Asian investors dumped $52bn worth of US Treasury bonds alone, led by Japan ($23bn), China ($14.2bn) and Taiwan ($5bn). It is the first time since 1998 that foreigners have, on balance, sold Treasuries.
The 3 biggest US banks have announced a plan to amass $80-100 billion in capital to prevent the collapse of highly speculative investment funds, which could in turn trigger a meltdown on financial and stock markets and cripple major Wall Street banks. This government-backed bailout plan underscores the increasingly parasitic and socially destructive operations of American and world capitalism. The role of the SIVs exemplifies the degree to which immense wealth is generated for a layer of mutli-millionaires and billionaires on the basis of financial manipulations almost entirely divorced from the process of production and socially useful investment.
The Fed has been creating money at a phenomenal clip all year with the M-3 growing at a 14% rate, a 34-year high. But since the meltdown of the sub-prime mortgage market, the Fed has really been shaking its moneymaker. "M2 now has risen by $111.1 billion for the last 2 weeks, rising at an annualized fortnight growth rate of 48.2%."
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