Pope Benedict XVI is to visit New York for a 3-day visit in April, Spero News was told by sources in that city. According to the sources, who claimed to have access to the his schedule, the Pope is scheduled to be in New York from April 18 to April 20. This would be Benedict's first visit to the US as Pope. Included in Pope Bededict's visit will be a speech made to the UN on April 18, a mass on April 19 at St Patrick's Cathedral and a larger outdoor mass at Yankee Stadium on April 20.
There have been growing expectations over the Pontiff's first visit to the US. According to the Independent, the Pope could "use his first address to the UN to deliver a powerful warning over climate change in a move to adopt protection of the environment as a "moral" cause for the Catholic Church and its billion-strong following." According to the Independent, citing diplomatic sources, the Pope's UN speech "is likely to contain an appeal for sustainable development, and it will follow an unprecedented Encyclical (a message to the wider church) on the subject."
Beethoven's period of isolation and difficulty taught him to listen with a perceptivity akin to an interior or exterior liberation given by God, says Benedict XVI. He recalled that Beethoven composed his final symphony in 1824, after a period of isolation and difficulty "which threatened to suffocate his artistic creativity."
It is the rule of law that creates the mechanisms to promote justice and peace, ensures predictability and security to allow for the foundation of a stable economy, and protects the dignity of every person regardless of one's social, economic, or political status. At the international level, the rule of law guarantees respect for even the smallest of nations. My delegation believes there is need to pursue the debate and juridical codification wherein sovereignty is not understood as an absolute right and used as a shield against outside involvement, but as a responsibility not merely to protect citizens, but also to promote their welfare.
Poverty eradication, changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are overarching objectives of, and essential requirements for, sustainable development. My delegation believes that protecting the environment means more than defending it. Protecting the environment implies a more positive vision of the human being, in the sense that the person is not considered a nuisance or a threat to the environment, but one who holds oneself responsible for the care and management of the environment.
Beyond all the studies on environment and development, the primary concern of my delegation is the importance of grasping the underlying moral imperative that all, without exception, have a grave responsibility to protect the environment. While the duty to protect the environment should not be considered in opposition to development, it must not be sacrificed on the altar of economic development. My delegation believes that, at its core, the environmental crisis is a moral challenge.
No more iron lady...
Chancellor Merkel has failed to live up to her promise of being a reformer. Instead of acting like an iron lady she is barely putting up a fight as her coalition partner the SPD turns to the left and demands a reversal of key welfare reforms.
German press...
Germany's beleaguered Social Democrats have sought to re-invent themselves at its party congress on the weekend. Among the measures in the party's new platform are a speed limit for autobahns and a return to the party's traditional values. Observers are divided about the wisdom of the shift to the left.
During its 2 weeks of maneuvers in the Baltic Sea, the German Navy practiced new combat techniques for future combat deployments around the world. Units from 8 EU member states are operating under German command. The German Special Forces Commando and the Air force are also participating. According to the German military, the maneuver scenarios are tailored to fit international deployments. Given the fact, that the majority of the world's population is inhabiting coastal regions, naval deployment forces could serve as flexible operational bases during combat missions.
Experts predict that naval forces will also become more important for other reasons. Since the need to defend German territory has become more or less obsolete, the concept of "defense" has been expanded to include the "defense" of German ships and goods on the high seas in the service of the German export industry. Statistics show that for the economy to remain competitive, Germany must import raw materials and export finished products on the 7 seas. This corresponds to the above average participation of German naval forces in the Bundeswehr's current foreign deployments.
The continuing strength of the euro has business leaders across Europe squealing, but the reaction from German companies has been much more subdued. As the world's leading exporting nation, Germany has more than most to lose from the euro's gains. German manufacturers seem not only more resilient than competitors in countries such as France and Italy, but they also appear better able to cope than they were the last time European currencies hit such levels around 1995. This is mostly due to the big push German companies have made internationally.
Good for them!...
The German economy ministry has prepared a draft law under which the government could block foreign investors that threatened "national security" or "public order." The plan targets hedge funds, state-controlled sovereign wealth funds and foreign groups, and would give the government a veto over the purchase of more than 25% of a German company.
The US may delay a plan to reduce the number of its troops based in Germany, a military spokesman said Tuesday. The head of the US European Command, Gen. Craddock, has recommended to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that 2 of 4 Army brigades in Europe be kept there a year or so longer than had been planned. Those brigades are currently based in Germany and have been rotating through Iraq.
The new EU Reform Treaty is effectively the same as the constitution it was designed to replace, according to a leading architect of the constitution. The treaty differs from the abandoned constitution in "approach rather than content", says former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. He led a committee drafting the constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2004. Several European governments hope to avoid a referendum on the new treaty. In an article in The Independent, he says the treaty makes important concessions to the UK.
Kosovo's mostly Albanian, mostly Muslim activists will declare independence for the Serbian province before Christmas, a leader told the super-secret internationalists at the Trilateral Commission over the weekend. "Our deputies in the Kosovo Assembly will seek to have a date before Christmas this year set for the proclamation of independence, as well as to inform the international community about this," Veton Surroi told a group founded by David Rockefeller during meeting in Vienna Saturday. Surroi also added that Kosovo now needs "a functional state."
From the beginning of the break up of Yugoslavia the policies followed by the US and NATO countries have been marked by duplicity, double standards and cowardice. More seriously, western intervention in the former Yugoslavia has shaken the global framework of international peace and security that has governed the relationship among sovereign states since the founding of the UN.
The origins of that framework date back to the peace of Westphalia in 1648 which ended the horrors of the religious wars that devastated Germany and other parts of Europe for more almost half a century. Westphalia laid down the basic tenets of sovereignty—the principle of territorial integrity and of non-interference in the affairs of national states. These are principles that have proven invaluable through the years in the prevention of armed conflict between states. The Westphalian order has frequently been violated, but age has not diminished the principles themselves. They remain the essential components of international law.
The determination of the US to remove Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia and to grant independence to the Albanians living there is a threat to the Westphalian order and an unequivocal violation of international law. It also has far reaching implications for global peace and security.
Ethnic cleansing...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman drew his red lines on Saturday night in an official document presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of the US-sponsored Mideast peace conference scheduled to take place in Annapolis by the end of the year. Lieberman demanded that the permanent agreement with the Palestinians include an exchange of populations and territories, in a way which will guarantee the Jews a majority of 80% in the State of Israel. Lieberman also demanded that Olmert determine Jerusalem's borders in a way that will leave the "holy basin" under full Israeli sovereignty, while implementing the religious ritual arrangements.
In the closest that Israel has come to confirming a mysterious air raid in Syria, Prime Minister Olmert acknowledged to his Cabinet on Sunday that Turkish airspace might have been violated during the operation. Israel has not officially commented on the raid or acknowledged carrying it out. But at Sunday's Cabinet meeting, Olmert offered an ambiguous apology to Turkey, which has complained to Israel that its aircraft dropped fuel tanks on Turkish territory during the incursion.
Everyone agrees that a Turkish invasion of Iraq would be catastrophic. But with Kurdish separatists staging attacks almost daily, pressure for an attack is growing within Turkey. The time to find a solution may be running out.
The serial numbers of arms captured from PKK fighters have been traced back to US shipments to Iraqi military and police units. Responding to Turkish complaints, the Americans claim these arms were diverted by the Iraqis – presumably the Kurdish regional government – but the Turks aren't buying it. If the large quantity of US-made arms turns out to have been directly provided to the PKK by the Americans, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned, US-Turkish "relations would really break apart."
As Seymour Hersh has reported, the US and Israel are financing and otherwise aiding the Kurdish Party of Life, known as "Pejak," founded to "liberate" western Iran, which has a large and restive Kurdish population. Furthermore, the ties between the PKK and Pejak are more than merely fraternal: they are basically the same organization, sharing not only bases in the mountainous Quandil region of Kurdistan, but also common personnel and leadership.
In America, the "news" media hasn't really said anything about the FBI investigation and the possible involvement of Americans, nor do we hear much about the US – or Israeli – connection to the Kurdish "liberation" groups. As far as the "mainstream" media is concerned, what's going on between the Turks and the Kurds is just another of those ancient, endless Middle Eastern blood feuds. No one bothers to ask: Why is this old problem escalating now? That the PKK and Pejak have turned themselves into pawns of the War Party is quite understandable: after all, they want to liberate their people and unite them in the age-old dream of a "Greater Kurdistan." Like Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, they are ready, willing, and able to use the Americans in order to advance their own agenda.
As Ethiopia and Eritrea edge toward another conflict, refugees in a border camp are watching with trepidation. Both sides say publicly they want peace and accuse the enemy of warmongering.
Reality...
Chief UN atomic watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday he had no evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons and accused US leaders of adding "fuel to the fire" with recent bellicose rhetoric. "I have not received any information that there is a concrete active nuclear weapons program going on right now. Even if Iran were to be working on a nuclear weapon ... they are at least a few years from having such a weapon. At this stage we need to continue to work through creative diplomacy ... as I don't see any other solution than diplomacy and inspections."
Fantasy...
The US brushed aside the UN nuclear watchdog agency chief's warning that there was no proof Iran seeks atomic weapons, and invited him to stay out of diplomacy with Tehran. Whit House spokeswoman Dana Perino said there was no doubt about Iran's plans because "this is a country that is enriching and reprocessing uranium and the reason that one does that is to lead towards a nuclear weapon."
With one notable exception, the German media and government circles have largely refrained from making any open comment about the growing threat of a US military attack against Iran. Reactions to the threat of war have been muted in the German press and have largely concentrated on repeating points drawn from an interview with one leading politician, published in the Sunday edition of the Tagesspiegel.
He is Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag and a leading member of the ruling conservative Christian Democratic Union. While couched in the diplomatic tones of a politician with years of experience in foreign policy, Polenz's full-page interview in the Berlin-based Tagesspiegel was explicit in its criticism of the Bush government's policy toward Iran. "The crisis regarding the Iranian nuclear programme is the conflict with the greatest potential for danger, not only for security and stability in the region of the Near and Middle East, but for the whole world."
A US attack on Iran would undoubtedly provoke massive antiwar sentiment in Germany. At the same time, it would have the potential to turn the Afghanistan conflict into a much larger conflagration across broad regions of Central Asia and the Middle East. This helps explain why the possibility of US strikes against Iran is currently being handled with kid gloves by the German government and press. Germany also has material interests at stake in Iran and the surrounding region—interests that are under threat from US sanctions and would likely be wiped out by a war.
[WAR: As I've been stating for a few years: by directly attacking Iran, the US will be indirectly attacking Germany - and Germany will be forced to respond...]
Washington's latest sanctions on Iran up the pressure on America's European allies to follow suit and tighten the screws on the Islamic state or see it attacked, analysts say. "The principal intention of the announcement was to send a signal as much to the Europeans, the Chinese and the Russians, as well as to the Iranians." The new sanctions sent a message to the Europeans that if they do not support the US stance, they heighten the risk of the US taking military action.
Here we go again. As in the case of Iraq, US intelligence has been assiduously looking for evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran; but, alas, in vain. The Israeli ambassador to the US let the cat out of the bag while speaking at the American Jewish Committee luncheon on Oct. 22. In remarks paralleling those of Rice, he said Iran is the chief threat to Israel. Heavy on the chutzpah, he served gratuitous notice on Washington that effectively countering Iran's nuclear ambitions will take a "united United States in this matter," lest the Iranians conclude, "come January '09, they have it their own way." He stressed that "very little time" remained to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The only thing that seems to be standing in the way of a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is foot-dragging by the US military. How about Congress? Could it act as a brake on Bush and Cheney? Forget it.
(UPI: The great illusion)
The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, according to military sources. The improvement of the B1 Spirit jet infrastructure coincides with an "urgent operational need" request for £44m to fit racks to the long-range aircraft. That would allow them to carry experimental 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs designed to smash underground bunkers buried as much as 200ft beneath the surface through reinforced concrete.
The Bush Administration, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, has again escalated its drive for senseless military action against Iran. At no point in recent history, has there been so much high-level diplomacy aimed at averting world war. But by the same token, the 9/11 "poltical coup d'état" at the White House, led by Cheney's team of berserkers, has not been defeated, and therefore, the danger of global conflagration cannot be underestimated for a moment.
(WSWS: The NYT and Bush's threat of WW3)
(TN: Tricking Iran into WW4)
There has been much talk in recent months of a return to the Cold War, as increasingly there is growing disparities and tensing relations between the West, namely the Anglo-Americans, and the Russian Federation, the former Soviet Union, as well as China. "Is the Cold War Back?" as the headline of a Reuters article asked?
In February, Zbigniew Brzezinski "delivered a scathing critique of the war in Iraq and warned that the Bush administration's policy was leading inevitably to a war with Iran, with incalculable consequences for US imperialism in the Middle East and internationally." His startling warning should not be taken for granted.
Even though many factions of the ruling class are divided, for example someone like Brzezinski, who is very much opposed to the neo-conservatives, they are all still playing the same game. The game is hegemony and empire, the only difference is that some people and some countries have different methods of playing.
In previous centuries, the battle for control of Central Eurasia was called what it was, the Great Game, a game for control, a game for power. The difference between 200 years ago and today, is that we are in a much more globalized, integrated society, which has turned this Great Game into, as Brzezinski aptly named his blueprint for American hegemony, the Grand Chessboard. It's no longer simply just a great game, but is now simply a board game for the global ruling class. Sacrificing pawns, a simple act for them, can be seen in the eyes of the moral society as the destruction of entire nations and peoples.
According to a wide range of reports, several nuclear bombs were "lost" for 36 hours after taking off August 29/30, 2007 on a "cross-country journey" across the US, from USAF Base Minot in North Dakota to USAF Base Barksdale in Louisiana. Reportedly, in total there were 6 W80-1 nuclear warheads armed on AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles that were "lost."
It is also worth noting that on August 27, just days before the "lost" nukes incident, 3 B-52 Bombers were performing special missions under the direct authorization of General Moseley, the Chief of Staff of the USAF. The exercise was reported as being an aerial information and image gathering mission. The base at Minot is also home of the 91st Space Wings, a unit under the command of Air Force Space Command.
The 6 nuclear warheads were not meant for use in theatre operations against Iran. This is obvious because if they were then they would have been deployed via the proper procedural routes without the need to hide anything. Besides, there are already theatre-level nuclear weapons ready and armed in Europe and the Middle East for any possible Middle Eastern mission. There was something more to the incident...
In America's darkest hour, Franklin Delano Roosevelt urged the nation not to succumb to "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." But that was then. Today, many of the men who hope to be the next president - including all of the candidates with a significant chance of receiving the Republican nomination - have made unreasoning, unjustified terror the centerpiece of their campaigns. Consider, for a moment, the implications of the fact that Rudy Giuliani is taking foreign policy advice from Norman Podhoretz, who wants us to start bombing Iran "as soon as it is logistically possible."
Most Americans have now regained their balance. But the Republican base, which lapped up the administration's rhetoric about the axis of evil and the war on terror, remains infected by the fear the Bushies stirred up - perhaps because fear of terrorists maps so easily into the base's older fears, including fear of dark-skinned people in general. And the base is looking for a candidate who shares this fear.
Is the religious right ready to get their hands out of America's underwear? Is the shame margin not paying off the way it used to? New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick takes apart "The Evangelical Crackup" in this past Sunday Magazine, in what is sure to be one of the most talked-about stories of the pre-election season. He interviews a number of pastors and politicos from the conservative churches - the bedrock of the "Moral Majority" and the base that won the Bush family their votes. By Kirkpatrick's assessment, the coalition is now blown to smithereens, for a number of reasons. I was disappointed with his analysis, but the raw material is fascinating to review
Businessmen or manufacturers can either be genuine free enterprisers or statists; they can either make their way on the free market or seek special government favors and privileges. They choose according to their individual preferences and values. But bankers are inherently inclined toward statism. Commercial bankers, engaged as they are in unsound fractional reserve credit, are, in the free market, always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Hence they are always reaching for government aid and bailout. Investment bankers do much of their business underwriting government bonds, in the US and abroad. Therefore, they have a vested interest in promoting deficits and in forcing taxpayers to redeem government debt. Both sets of bankers, then, tend to be tied in with government policy, and try to influence and control government actions in domestic and foreign affairs.
OPEC is likely to discuss creating a basket of currencies for oil pricing at its next summit due to the steady decline in the dollar, said Venezuela's Energy Minister. "The need to establish a basket of currencies ... will probably be a point of discussion in the next OPEC summit. The dollar as a benchmark currency has been weakening quite a lot and it creates distortions in oil markets."
Over the 2 weeks, between US Treasury Secretary Paulson's strange Oct. 15 announcement about a mysterious "Master Liquidity" scheme to save huge banks from huge losses, and Moody's Investors Service's Oct. 26 move to a massive international downgrade of bonds collateralized by mortgage securities, every economic sign has flashed the raw red of depression collapse underway. The credit collapse of July-August—after roughly $1.5 trillion in liquidity injections has been thrown at it by the Fed, BoE, and ECB through October—is back on again going into November, and on a bigger scale. The financial system is collapsing. Congressional leaders who are denying this systemic collapse, and basing their response to the foreclosure crisis on that denial, will have to eat their words—and soon.
Two groundbreaking new papers looking at our failed trade policy's negative impact on American wages and inequality have been written by economist Josh Bivens and quietly released by the Economic Policy Institute. These papers brilliantly summarize half a century of economics research into the topic, and make fascinating projections of future increases in inequality if current trends continue. The papers expose what has been hidden in plain view: our trade policy is putting substantial downward pressure of all US workers, yet policymakers are trying to push more NAFTA-style trade policy to Peru and beyond despite mounting evidence that it is bad for Americans.
The rising cost of healthcare cutting into retirement plans, 2 years of no building, California burning up in debt, looking around we find more declines, DynCorp gets 1.2 billion that is unaccounted for.
There are only 2 categories of foods: whole foods and processed foods. A healthy balanced diet should be primarily whole foods with restricted consumption of processed foods. There are numerous ways to differentiate between them.
An amazing British invention actually creates more energy than is put into it. If you asked the inventors how it works – they honestly do not know. But, as reported in the Daily News, a UK news publication, independent scientists have carried out similar experiments with the devise, the thermal energy cell, and have gotten the same results. Energy cannot be created from nothing – so where does the extra energy come from? The scientist hypothesize that it is from an unrecognized form of energy, stored at a sub-atomic level within the hydrogen atoms in water. The system is simple. An electrical current is passed through water, potash (potassium carbonate) and liquid catalyst (chrome based) that is proprietary knowledge of the inventors inside a simple plastic tube. The reaction created releases a lot of energy – much more than was inputted from the current.
Halloween is date of astronomical interest. It has to do with seasons: Halloween is a cross-quarter date, approximately midway between an equinox and a solstice. There are 4 cross-quarter dates throughout the year, and each is a minor holiday: Groundhog Day (Feb. 2nd), May Day (May 1st), Lammas Day (Aug. 1st), and Halloween (Oct. 31st). "Long ago, the Celts of the British Isles used cross-quarter days to mark the beginnings of seasons. Winter began with Halloween, or as they called it, Samhain," says John Mosley of the Griffith Observatory. "Halloween marked the transition between summer and winter, light and dark - and life and death."
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
Today in Scripture
* "The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of 150 days the water had gone down, and on the 17th day of the 7th month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." (Gen 8:3,4)
[WAR: Back at the beginning of the month, in issue #07-01, I wrote: "Wow!! I've also gone through the verses for the remainder of this month to note them on the calendar form I made - to 'number my days correctly' (Psa 90:12) - and have found a most amazing and unexpected thing about Noah's flood, the calendar, and the assumptions that have been made..." Well here's the details ...
The rain started on the 17th day of the 2nd month, and the ark rested on the 17th of the 7th month - for a total of 150 days. Therefore this presents us with the equation: 150days / 5months = 30days. The most reasonable and logical conclusion from this is that it indicates that back then the months had exactly 30 days each - and not 29,30,29,30 like the lunar/solar calendars. So something must have happened after the time of Noah to alter the length of months. Everyone ("learned" and "unlearned") has accepted this most likely probability.
Here's what Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says: "[Seventh month]-- of the year (cf. <Gen. 7:11>)-- not of the flood, which lasted only 5 months, 30 days in a month. This computation, which seems to have prevailed in Noah's time, since the sacred narrative was probably derived from some Noachic document, is the same as the unintercalated solar year of the Egyptians; and its adoption here by Moses is remarkable, as the lunar year, consisting of 12 months, which began with the appearance of the new moon, and varied in length, was the mode of reckoning used by the early Hebrews."
I leaned toward that conclusion (it appeared true), but I was never totally convinced. But I have now proven that this reasonable and logical conclusion is nothing but an assumption!
Over the past year, I've been keeping track of the days - which day/month, twilight times and the % of the moon phase. And for no particular reason - other than just to do it - I also started keeping track of the flood. And today is the 150th day ... and it's also the 17th day of the 7th month. When I first saw this at the beginning of the month, I couldn't believe what I was seeing - it's not supposed to be possible.
So I got out my printed monthly calendars, layed them out and started looking and counting - just to make sure I didn't mess up somewhere. But I didn't see any mistake anywhere. But what I did notice - and what I usually don't pay attention to - was the number of days in each month for the past 12 months. A pattern appeared that was not expected at all (starting with last year's 8th month):
8th: 29 days
9th: 29 days
10th: 29 days
11th: 29 days
12th: 29 days
1st: 30 days
2nd: 29 days
3rd: 30 days
4th: 30 days
5th: 30 days
6th: 30 days
7th: 29 days (projected, not confirmed)
So all the "experts" have been wrong to assume that either a solarAnd JFB is wrong to assume that Moses had "remarkably" adopted "the unintercalated solar year of the Egyptians"! He did no such thing! He was using a lunar/stellar (the "lights" in Gen 1:14) calendar that would have allowed for 150 days to fit into 5 months exactly - just like it has happened this year in the calendar I've been observing for the past 12 years. Does this happen every year, or just every so often because of the differing variables in the cycles/orbits of the Earth and Moon - like how some years have 13 months? I just don't have the accumulated data to say right now - but at least it has now happened to prove that it's possible.]
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