The evangelizing mission of the Church is the answer to the cry "Come, Lord Jesus," which runs through the whole of salvation history and which continually goes up from the lips of believers. Mary is the incomparable model of evangelization, she who did not communicate an idea to the world but rather Jesus, the incarnate Word.
Again this year, we celebrate Christmas still searching for a peace that seems impossible. The entire region, because of the conflict in the Holy Land, is in turmoil.
In recent times, there has been some talk about creating "religious " States in this land. But in this land, which is holy for 3 religions and for 2 peoples, religious States cannot be established because they would exclude or place in an inferior position the believers of the other religions.
Tony Blair's decision to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church has been welcomed "with respect" by the Holy See, according to a Vatican spokesman. The director of the Vatican press office commented: This is "good news that we welcome with respect. Catholics are glad to welcome into their community those who, through a serious and reflective journey, convert to Catholicism."
(Also: London Times cartoon)
Chancellor Merkel can look back on a busy year on the international stage, marked largely by her able stewardship of the EU and the G8. But not all her foreign policy efforts were equally successful.
Chancellor Merkel's government faces a difficult year in 2008. Economic and welfare reforms need to go further, but the electorate resists substantial change. With 4 major regional elections in 2008 and the general election in 2009, short-term tactics rather than long-term political prudence will characterize politics in 2008.
Beckstein's absolute majority in Bavaria is safe, but he may not reach the almost 60% that his predecessor Edmund Stoiber was used to.
Portugal's prime minister symbolically handed over the rotating EU presidency to Slovenia Saturday at a ceremony to celebrate Slovenia's entry into the border-free Schengen zone. Slovenia will be among the first in the coming months to ratify the Lisbon treaty, and will do its best to have as many EU members as possible ratify it in the first half of 2008.
Last week, the EU, under pressure from the US, sent a 1,800-strong "rule of law" mission to replace the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The EU mission's job is to reform the police, prisons and judiciary and pave the way for Kosovan independence, which the US wants the provincial government to declare early next year.
Serbia's Prime Minister told the Security Council that Serbia's fate was in its hands. He said his country defended its sovereignty "strongly and firmly" and would consider a declaration of independence illegal. Moves to "dismember" Serbia would create a precedent for separatists elsewhere in the world, he warned.
Russia's Ambassador warned that "any move toward a unilateral declaration of independence would clearly be outside of the limits of international law and Resolution 1244" and would set a dangerous precedent. Russia has warned that "the situation is threatening to slip towards an uncontrollable crisis if international law is not upheld."
Moscow is particularly concerned about the involvement of Washington, backed by Britain and the other European powers, in the future of Kosovo, which it sees as part of their attempt to limit its aspirations as a regional and world power. Moscow is eager to boost its position in the Balkans, where it competes for influence with the EU and where its companies have invested heavily, particularly in oil and gas pipelines.
(Also: Hopes dim for UN solution)
(Clueless: German fascism is conquering Kosovo!)
Turkish warplanes bombarded areas of northern Iraq for the 2nd straight day Sunday, according to an Iraqi Kurdish official, as part of Turkey's ongoing campaign to combat Kurdish guerrillas living in the mountainous border region.
The Israeli government says Jewish immigration to Israel has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, with fewer than 20,000 Jews arriving in 2007. The agency to promote Jewish migration to Israel said the Diaspora had less reason to leave countries of origin, while Israel was losing its appeal.
Iran's first nuclear power plant will be operational within 3 months, providing electricity to Iran's national power grid by the summer, according to Iran's Energy Minister. Iran also said Sunday it "will soon announce international tender for construction of 19 new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants.
[WAR: "In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war..." (2 Sam 1:1 / 1Chr 20:1)]
A study compiled by US Center for Strategic and International Studies explores several hypothetical scenarios for unconventional warfare in our region. The authors find 'Israel's residents and economy could weather nuclear war with Iran'. It could lead to the death of between 16-28 million Iranian civilians, and 200-800 thousand Israelis.
The study also examined what would occur if Syria would join the Israeli-Iranian nuclear fray. Syria could kill an additional 800 thousand Israelis with missiles armed with chemical or biological warheads. The Syrian side, however, could suffer up to 18 million casualties should Israel respond with a nuclear strike.
If Egypt should join its Arab neighbors in battle, the study finds, Israel would most likely respond with a nuclear strike at Cairo and other major cities, as well as by destroying the Aswan dam.
One moment, President Bush was warning of the danger of WW3 because of Iran's nuclear programme. In the next, peace was breaking out. It's been a strange year for Iran.
Will there be more surprises in 2008? Could Ahmadinejad be the man to lead a reconciliation with the US some 3 decades after the Islamic revolution? It certainly seems unlikely. But then Iran has shown in 2007 that it's a country that never fails to surprise.
Today's topic is the paradox - or one of them, anyway - of American Jewish political behavior. They think like enlightened liberals yet allow belligerent right-wingers and neocons who frequently demonize, distort and denounce their values to speak for them in the US political arena.
Jews have remained remarkably faithful to the values of liberal humanism. These views, however, have been obscured in our political discourse by an unholy alliance between conservative-dominated professional Jewish organizations and neoconservative Jewish pundits, aided by pliant and frequently clueless mainstream media that empower these right-wingers to speak for a people with values diametrically opposed to theirs.
Take a look at the agendas of some of the most influential Jewish organizations. In large part the trouble lies with the antidemocratic structures of these organizations and the apathy of most Jews with regard to organized Jewish life.
Fault can also be found with lazy editors, reporters, producers and the like who invite neocon and other unrepresentative people to speak for Jews and Jewish values. Most are Bush apologists, most supported the invasion of Iraq and most are sympathetic to the idea of an invasion of Iran. Not infrequently, leading Jewish pundits mock and ridicule the majority Jewish views.
We speak with a reporter from the Army Times who gives an inside account of how an army unit committed mutiny and refused to carry out orders in Iraq. After an IED attack killed 5 more members of Charlie 1-26, members of 2nd Platoon gathered for a meeting and determined they could no longer function professionally. Several platoon members were afraid their anger could set loose a massacre.
The US government is now actively directing the attention of the US military towards the American people. Using the phony war on terror, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) are creating a militarized control grid specifically to enslave the American people.
I've often said America faces danger from creeping fascism. The reason we face this danger is because the American people are just too willing to allow their corrupt and clueless elected leaders to pervert, distort and undermine the Constitution in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few short years ago.
This is command-and-control fascism worthy of the old Soviet Union and today's Cuba and Venezuela, not the USA. It is unbelievable. I feel like I am in a dream, or awakening to the realization that I actually live in the Matrix. This couldn't be the land of the free and the home of the brave. We couldn't be this stupid, could we?
The nannies in Congress know what's best for you. And they've made their decision. Where is the popular outrage? Why aren't more of you standing up and fighting back? Where are the voices of opposition to totalitarianism in this country?
If the oligarchs can get away with this, they can damn well get away with anything! This is madness. This is not freedom. This is fascism. This is not the United States of America.
(Also: From my cold, dead light socket)
(Video: Rick Burnley: A rush to fascism)
The sharp decline of the US dollar since 2000 is affecting a broad swath of the world's population, with its drop on global markets being blamed at least in part for misfortunes as diverse as labor strikes in the Middle East, lost jobs in Europe and the end of an era of globe-trotting rich Americans.
It marks a shift for Americans in the global economy. "The dollar was the dominant force in world economics for 100 years - we had no competition. There was no other economy close to the size of the US. But all that is now changing."
For untold millions worldwide, the weak dollar has emerged as a troubling dark spot. It has left many wondering whether the dollar has lost its bling for good.
An Associated Press analysis of financial data from the country's largest card issuers shows that Americans are falling behind on their payments at an alarming rate. It results in a surge of delinquencies and defaults by double-digit percentages in the last year, indicating that the problems are about to get a lot worse. Experts said these signs of the deterioration of finances of many households are partly a byproduct of the subprime mortgage crisis and could spell more trouble ahead for an already sputtering economy.
Representatives of 5 of Wall Street's dominant investment banks gathered around a blond-wood conference table on a February night almost 3 years ago. Their talks over take-out Chinese food led to the perfect formula for a US housing collapse. Those meetings of the "group of five," as the traders called themselves, became a turning point in the history of Wall Street and the global economy.
As central banks continue to splash their cash over the system, so far to little effect, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues things are rapidly spiralling out of their control.
[WAR: This was in yesterday's WAR, but after reading it, I wanted to repost it and strongly urge that you read the whole article.]
Nature will unwrap a heavenly present Christmas Eve: A rare celestial event that for once can be easily seen. Except for a fat full moon, Mars will be the biggest and brightest object in the sky. It won't be so large or luminous again until 2016, and it won't take as high a path across the sky until 2040.
The planet (named after the Roman god of war) will rise, along with the full moon, about an hour after sunset. It can be seen in the eastern sky, just above and to the right of the ascending moon.
The ever-impish Horkheimer seized upon this fact to have a few Yuletide yuks. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, he said, will enjoy a night off. "Santa won't need Rudolph this year with his red nose to guide his sleigh through the night. Rudolph's job is outsourced this year."
(Picture caption: "The planet Mars, left center, seen here rising as the brightest light in the Eastern sky, to the left of the constellation Orion...")
[WAR: When I started on today's issue, I was looking forward to my annual pointing out of the connection between Santa's ride through the night sky tonight and the constellation Orion making its ride through the night sky.
But now this Mars thing has thrown in a new twist, and I haven't quite nailed down the full picture and ramifications yet. Nor have I heard Sirius referred to as the "Xmas star". So since it's already after 9:00am (AZ time), I'm going to go ahead and send this issue out. Then I'll comment tomorrow about the possible connection between Rudolf's "red nose" and either Mars (red planet) or Jupiter (red spot) being in/near Taurus (leading the 12 "reindeer")...]
