The 3rd encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI, dedicated to Catholic social teaching, could appear on March 19 of this year, according to a speculative story in the Italian daily Il Messaggero. The Vatican has not confirmed that the Pope is preparing a new encyclical -- although there have been many reports that the Pontiff is writing a document on Church social doctrine.
In a lengthy analysis of the Pope's homily at a Mass on the feast of the Epiphany, Il Messaggero gave particular prominence to Benedict's comments on the world's economic and social problems, and his statement that globalization has not eliminated the conflicts and inequalities among nations.
Benedict XVI will receive in audience Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who will visit Rome to mark the 90th anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Bartholomew himself received a doctorate from the institute.
"The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. It was this altar, believed dedicated to Zeus, that John of Patmos referred to as "Satan's Throne" in Rev 2:12-13. ... It can be seen alongside other monumental structures such as ... the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. - [which] was the 8th [Rev 17:11] gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north [Dan 11:40] side of the city."
The leader of the far-right National Democratic Party Tuesday praised a key ally of Chancellor Merkel who called for the deportation of foreign criminals from Germany. He said the NPD would benefit from the call made by Roland Koch, the Christian Democratic premier of Hesse state, who is seeking re-election at polls.
A new bill tightening abortion laws could split the Italian government's ruling coalition. Conservative Catholics across party lines are increasingly supporting the proposal.
Tony Blair is to return to the front line of European politics in Paris this weekend - amid growing signs of a campaign to install him as the EU's first fully fledged president. Blair has agreed to speak alongside President Sarkozy, who is actively promoting the former prime minister for a role that would make him the most influential figure in EU affairs.
It can appear at times that the EU has forgotten the little things in pursuit of the bigger picture. Working for European unity is all well and good but how can it succeed when members states themselves are divided?
The situation concerning the divided Flemings and Walloons of Belgium has been described by some observers as a microcosm of the problems facing the EU in its quest for unity. Some have gone as far as to say that Belgium's crisis today is the EU's crisis tomorrow. "The argument that some use is: How can you possibly create a unified Europe if you can't even bring a small country like Belgium together?"
Italy will join talks with leaders of Britain, France and Germany on tackling global financial turbulence. Germany had been pushing for Italy to be included in the talks. Gordon Brown told a news conference he would meet Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy and Italy's Prodi later this month to discuss measures to "deal with the global financial turbulence".
Thousands of Israeli nationalists formed a human chain around Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday to protest at peace talks with the Palestinians. "This human chain unites generations whose souls and bodies have been tied to Jerusalem. We want to show on the eve of President Bush's arrival that Olmert does not represent this nation that wants to keep its eternal capital united."
(Also: Temple Mount closed to rabbis)
Prime Minister Olmert and PA chairman Abbas agreed Tuesday to begin negotiations over the 3 "core issues" on which Israel is expected to make concessions: the division of Jerusalem, a return to pre-1967 borders and an influx of Arabs into pre-1967 Israel.
In his meeting on Wednesday with President Bush in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Olmert is expected to lay down Israel's red lines in regards to matters pertaining to security, economics, infrastructure and quality of life. He will also present Bush with recent Israeli intelligence in the hopes of convincing him that the latest US National Intelligence Estimate is inaccurate in its portrayal of Iran's nuclear program.
German expert:
As President Bush embarks on a multi-country tour of the Middle East, a prominent German expert says that his chances to achieve something are fairly slim.
Syrian paper:
President Bush is carrying "chaotic ideas" with him on his Mideast tour, which is doomed to fail, Syria's government Tishrin newspaper said. Bush carries "rotten produce in his pocket to market in the region and (comes) with some chaotic ideas in mind to further support Israel, undermine the Arab forces of resistance, antagonize Arab-Iran relations and justify US-Zionist hegemony."
Newspapers in the Middle East are generally doubtful that President Bush's forthcoming visit will achieve a breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Sudanese soldiers shot at a convoy of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, critically wounding a local driver and destroying a fuel tanker barely a week into the force's new mission in the region. South African peacekeepers protecting the convoy did not return fire, and UN troops suffered no casualties.
Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son made his political debut in a London hotel and gave warning that Pakistan could simply break up if democracy was not respected. "I fear for my country. I fear that if free and fair elections are not held it may disintegrate."
As the American people amuse themselves with the illusion that they have any say in the way they are presently governed, our rulers are moving toward war. Two recent incidents underscore the imminence of this prospect.
The Iranian "provocation" in the straits of Hormuz has set the stage for a new "crisis" manufactured wholly by the War Party, the rationale for which is uncritically accepted by our passive "mainstream" media. We are expected to believe that 5 minuscule speedboats "menaced" the USS Hopper, a destroyer armed with missiles; the cruiser USS Port Royal; and the USS Ingraham, a frigate. That's rather like 5 gnats "menacing" a trio of elephants.
In any event, this is a provocation, all right – on the part of the Bush administration. As our president travels to Israel, the fulcrum of our policy of Mideast expansionism, there can be little doubt that this is all part of a carefully stage-managed effort to portray Iran as an aggressor. This ongoing game of cat-and-mouse is tailor-made for setting the stage for an all-out war.
The commander of one of the US warships has been quoted as saying that they were "a heartbeat away" from opening fire on their Iranian tormentors, and that just about sums up the chances of an armed conflict breaking out – we're an incident away from going to war with Tehran, and there is every indication that the administration is marshaling its forces, political and diplomatic as well as military, to launch an assault before Bush leaves office.
Iran on Wednesday accused the US of "clumsily" fabricating footage claiming to show Iranian speedboats harassing US ships. "The pictures that the Pentagon broadcast of the naval incident are file pictures and voices have all been fabricated," the Fars news agency quoted a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards as saying. The Revolutionary Guards have said that their naval forces merely identified the US vessels before both sides went on their way without any disturbance.
German press...
The fight for the Democratic presidential nomination has turned into a clash between style and substance, write German media commentators. An editorialist at one top paper expresses serious doubts about Barack Obama's readiness for the top job.
Declining wages and the unchecked outsourcing of jobs are cause for concern in the US. The doctrine of free trade, the core of US economic policy, is faltering. Has the age of protectionism begun?
The system is doomed, there are no "monetary" solutions to the crisis; and higher-ups in the City of London financial oligarchy are fully aware of the accelerating, irreversible crash of the whole global financial system. The London Daily Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard ... has been pouring out a steady stream of remarkably accurate accounts of the financial crash process for months.
Indeed, in the past months, an estimated $1.5 trillion in bank assets have been wiped off the books, and an equal amount of equity has evaporated on world stock markets. The idea that central banks could "solve" this crisis by a hyperinflationary flow of new money, is clinically insane. Crises set to blow during the 1st quarter of 2008, including a blowout of the insurance sector and a looming derivatives explosion, make the disasters of 2007, like the wipeout of the US mortgage bubble, seem small in comparison.
It is in this context, and only this context, that the global pattern of assassinations, ethnic, religious and tribal eruptions, and all-around chaos, can be understood. None of these are local or regional events. They are all part of a single British strategy—aimed at one, single global objective: The destruction of nation-states, the launching of worldwide asymmetric warfare—to last for generations, and the consolidation of a vise-grip control over the strategic raw materials wealth of the planet.
Some readers of this report are no doubt squirming over the idea that London is any longer a center of imperial power, capable of unleashing global chaos. Indeed, the British, themselves, have championed the idea that the Sun long ago set on the British Empire, and that the US, not Great Britain, is now the reigning world imperial power. At best, a new "Anglo-American" consort, led by Washington, with London as its junior partner, is the epicenter of global power.
But a more careful look reveals a very different picture. There is no "Anglo-American" consort. There is London, the British System of Empire, and a collection of wanna-be British assets and agents, who reside in Washington, on Wall Street, and around the globe. The purpose of the British promotion of the "Anglo-American" partnership is to conceal the historic fault-lines between the American republican system, and the British empire.
The Commonwealth of Nations, headed by Queen Elizabeth II, is made up of 53 nations, spanning the globe, accounting for one-fifth of the land mass of the Earth, and a very high percentage of its strategic resources and population. Though nominally an alliance of independent states, the Commonwealth was itself founded, in the late 19th Century, as a perpetuation of the British Empire.
(Also: It's the British Empire, stupid!)
(Also: The US & UK in Prophecy)
Crude oil rose for a 2nd day on threats of renewed violence in Nigeria and speculation that US inventories declined for an 8th week. The Energy Department report today will probably show that crude supplies dropped by 2.1 million barrels from their lowest in 3 years, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Militants in Nigeria warned of an "imminent attack" in Africa's largest oil-producing nation.
Gold futures surged above $880 Tuesday to their highest level ever, not accounting for inflation, propelled higher by rising oil prices and a weak US dollar. An ounce of gold for February delivery climbed as high as $884.
Wall Street skidded lower in another erratic session Tuesday as investors grappled with the possibility of further trouble for the housing market and mortgage lenders like Countrywide Financial Corp. In the morning, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its index tracking pending US home sales fell 2.6% in November, a larger decline than the market expected.
Jitters about Countrywide and KB Home, which posted a disappointing fourth quarter loss, kept Wall Street on edge throughout the day, and comments by President Bush in reiterating the problems facing the economy likely added to the market's uneasiness. Many traders have been betting recently that the lender might need to file for bankruptcy.
December did not bring Americans any jobs. To the contrary, the private sector lost 13,000 jobs from the previous month. If December is a harbinger of the new year, it is going to be a bad one. The past year, hailed by Republican propagandists and "free trade" economists as proof of globalism's benefit to Americans, was dismal.
Just as Americans have been betrayed by "their" leaders in government at all levels, they have been betrayed by business "leaders" on Wall Street and in the corporations. US government and business elites have proven themselves to be Americans' worst enemies.
The demise of Wall Street's securitization machine will impact the economy and the lives of people in ways that few have considered. Debt lies at the very heart of our economy; for households, businesses, and government, borrowing has become a fact of life, a way to subsidize normal operations for some, a lifeline for others. Debt, its issuance and management, has become perhaps the biggest business in the country, and it is a business that has died.
Could the US presidential race be bad for the world economy? That is a distinct possibility, according to some experts who believe a new mood of American isolationism could emerge from voter discontent over economic issues and the campaign rhetoric it has spawned.
Experts say the campaigns for the November election are picking up on the uncertainties that ordinary Americans increasingly face in the impersonal world of economic globalization. A dramatic economic deterioration could raise the odds of a protectionist backlash. "You might see a trade war developing. You could see other countries including China getting mad enough to take measures against us."
From the War on Poverty to new farmers' markets, a food expert tackles America's dangerous dietary split.
Companies don't take responsibility for their actions any more – except when they fear that sales might be affected if they don't. Even when they do get caught committing fraud, they often show no true signs of remorse. Rather than take full responsibility, they downplay their role or make up excuses.
Many prescription drugs have effects similar to those of illegal drugs. But we still view some users as criminals - the others as patients. The illegal-psychiatric drug hypocrisy in the US is an ugly triumph. It is a triumph of marketing over science. It is a triumph for pharmaceutical corporations and America's ever-growing prison-industrial complex.
It is a triumph for those comfortably atop society who would rather Americans view their malaise as exclusively a medical rather than a social problem. And ultimately, it is a triumph of injustice and greed over human rights and a sane society.
Tonight's sky
There are various estimates for the speed the Sun travels through the galaxy, but its speed is about 140 miles per second. Our sun's direction of motion (and thus our Earth's corresponding motion) toward Vega has a special name. It's called the "apex of the sun's way."
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