We have at the same time a Christophany and Theophany. Above all, Jesus manifests himself as the "Christ," the Greek term that is used as the translation of the Hebrew "Messiah," which means "anointed."
Pope Benedict celebrated parts of Sunday's Mass with his back turned on the congregation, re-introducing an old ritual that had not been used in decades. The Pope used the Sistine Chapel's ancient altar set right against the wall under Michelangelo's dramatic depiction of the Last Judgment, instead of the altar placed on a mobile platform that allowed his predecessor John Paul II to face the faithful. He also read his homily from an old wooden throne on the left of the altar used by Pius IX in the 19th century.
The conservative Bavarian-born pontiff is slowly reintroducing some of the old rituals phased out after Vatican II, which substituted Latin for local languages, modernized the Church and encouraged inter-religious dialogue.
Six months after Benedict XVI issued an apostolic letter on the extended use of the 1962 missal, the Vatican says it is seeing fruits of reconciliation with Catholics who objected to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
"Summorum Pontificum," allows for more availability of the Latin-language Mass, a rite the document dubs the "extraordinary form." The letter, issued "motu proprio" (on his own initiative), brought attention to the situation of schismatic groups such as the Society of St. Pius X, that refuse to celebrate the "Novus Ordo" Mass established by Vatican II.
Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos told Zenit that after the June 7 document, one group has already asked to return to full communion with the Church. "Many of the faithful have contacted us, written and called, to say they want full communion."
The UN could be a great organization if it were to commit itself to the fulfillment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, says a Vatican spokesman. "A climate of peace, security and stability are necessary for equitable and sustainable development. Not only this, but it is necessary to work on the solid basis of that which is permanent and essential to the human person, of his greatness and dignity. The roles of international institutions such as the UN could then be great, if they commit themselves to the putting into practice the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Girding Germans...
Germany has again lowered its 2008 economic growth forecast and hatched a plan to fend off a possible global recession, Der Spiegel magazine reported in its issue to be released Monday. The report cited the economy ministry's annual report, to be presented to the cabinet in coming weeks, that growth this year would only reach 1.8%. Exports, the traditional motor of the German economy, would falter due to the strength of the euro against the dollar and the high price of oil.
Paranoid Prussians...
Lebanese security officials have alerted Germany to possible revenge attacks by Al Qaeda sympathisers on important government facilities. Al Qaeda sympathisers are planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Germany following the recent arrest of several suspected Islamist terrorists by German authorities, media reports have said. The targets could include German justice ministry, military facilities and government buildings.
Tony Blair launched his campaign to become the first fully-fledged President of the EU yesterday by describing the notion of left- and right-wing politics as redundant. "Europe is not a question of left or right, but a question of the future or the past, of strength or weakness."
[WAR: Hmmm ... I wonder how the COG "prophets" will spin their vision of the EU being the coming gentile Beast power, if its president is an Israelite.]
Britain has defied a Russian order to close 2 offices of the British Council, a UK cultural organisation, worsening already tense relations between the countries. The UK ambassador, who was earlier summoned to the foreign ministry, said the British Council would continue to operate in Russia. He warned that any Russian action against it "would be a breach of international law".
Serbia would be forced to find new strategic partners if Kosovo gains independence, a state secretary says. If the West supports a unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence, Serbia would react and seek new strategic partners among countries that respect its territorial integrity. "Unilateral and illegal recognition of Kosovo would not be a friendly act. Serbia would be forced to turn towards new strategic partners, countries that support its territorial integrity."
President Abbas said the most serious peace talks in 7 years would begin on Monday and the final deal must address all the sensitive issues including Jerusalem. "All the issues will be discussed ... We told Bush that we will not accept delaying any of the final-status issues. Without all of these issues we will not be concluding a final deal."
Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) is set to meet today with Prime Minister Olmert. Lieberman will reportedly demand clarifications from Olmert regarding negotiations over the core issues with the Palestinians, to which he is opposed and which he considers to be the red line precipitating his resignation from the cabinet.
Sunni and Shia Arab politicians have united in opposing Kurdish attempts to claim the city of Kirkuk, and nearby oil fields, as part of the Kurdish territory in the north. This is drawing the line in the sand, between Arab and Kurdish attitudes on Kirkuk. Next step is a civil war, unless one side backs down.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday he will announce Turkey's national plan including concrete steps to boost intercultural dialogue and attain the targets of the Alliance of Civilizations Project during the forum in Madrid. Erdogan left for Spain upon an invitation by his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. He will attend the First Alliance of Civilizations Annual Forum in Madrid.
(Wiki: "The Alliance of Civilizations is a UN Secretary-General initiative intended to galvanize collective action across diverse societies in order to combat extremism, overcome cultural and social barriers between mainly the Western and predominantly Muslim worlds, and to reduce the tensions and polarization between societies which differ in religious and cultural values. It is expected to be voted into action by the end of 2009, and may initially be implemented in the Middle East in conjunction with the framework of the EU's European Neighborhood Policy.")
President Gül's official visit to the Egyptian capital, set to kick off today upon an invitation from his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, is expected to offer an opportunity for consultations between Turkish and Egyptian officials over Ankara and Cairo's apparent will to upgrade their bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.
Le New York Times a rapporté la semaine dernière que de hauts responsables de l'administration Bush, des chefs militaires et des services du renseignement américains se sont rencontrés en secret à la Maison-Blanche afin d'élaborer des plans pour un élargissement de l'intervention militaire au Pakistan.
President Amadinejad has written to the leaders of the 6 Arab states in the Persian Gulf, announcing Iran's readiness to implement proposals made at the Doha summit.
"Regarding the threat of a nuclear Iran, all options are on the table," Prime Minister Olmert told MKs at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting today. While Israel was considering even extreme possibilities, such as military action, "the threat of a nuclear Iran gives context to the options that we're putting on the table. Israel cannot reconcile itself against a nuclear Iran."
President Sarkozy said he wants international pressure stepped up on Iran over its refusal to halt its contested nuclear programme, in an interview published Sunday. Sarkozy, who begins a 3-nation Gulf tour Sunday in Saudi Arabia, asked if he thought President Bush could launch a military strike against Iran before he leaves office next year, said "our objective is a solution negotiated within the framework of a multilateral system."
[WAR: Is this coming from the French-side of his brain for legitimate French interests - or from the Jewish-side for illegitimate Israeli interests?]
This alleged crisis or confrontation on the high seas is really much less than what met the eyes of the American public as it was reported by news media. And the story really began from leaks from the Pentagon. So I think that the major thing to really keep in mind about this is that it was blown up into a semi-crisis by the Pentagon and that the media followed along very supinely.
There's no doubt that the motivation for the Pentagon to blow this incident up was precisely the timing of President Bush leaving on a trip to the Middle East, in which one of his major purposes was to try to keep together a coalition of Arab states - a very, very loose and shaky coalition - to oppose Iran and to support, hopefully, according to the administration's policy, the US pressure on Iran through diplomatic and financial means, through the Security Council and through its allies in Europe.
I must say that, as much as one might be tempted to laugh at the bizarre theatrical accounts of the incident involving small Iranian boats and US naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz, this is—as my old Russian professor used to insist—nothing to laugh. The situation is so reminiscent of what happened—and didn't happen—from Aug. 2-4, 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin and in Washington, it is in no way funny.
We all know what the president and vice president are lusting after—an excuse to attack Iran. It is my view that the only thing that has prevented Bush and Cheney from attacking Iran so far has been the strong opposition of the uniformed military, including the Joint Chiefs.
President Bush has used his trip through the Middle East to escalate his warmongering threats against Iran. Speaking at numerous stops in a region of the world where he is widely and deeply hated, Bush has mouthed democratic platitudes while seeking to build support among the Arab bourgeois regimes for a wider military conflagration.
Bush's repeated statements in the course of his 8-day Middle East tour make clear that some form of military action—either by the US or Israel—remains a very real possibility. On Sunday, Bush gave what the White House billed as a major foreign policy address in Abu Dhabi. Recycling his standard accusations, he declared that a prime cause of instability in the Middle East "is the extremists supported and embodied by the regime that sits in Tehran. Iran is today the world's leading state sponsor of terror."
Without providing any evidence, he repeated the assertion that Iran "sends arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Shia militias in Iraq." Finally, he insisted, that Iran "defies the United Nations and destabilizes the region by refusing to be open and transparent about its nuclear programs and ambitions."
Underscoring the main purpose of his trip, Bush declared: "Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. So the United States is strengthening our longstanding security commitments with our friends in the Gulf—and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late."
Bush appears unlikely, based on the regional reaction to his address, to find many Arabs to heed his alarms against Iran, a powerful neighbor and trading partner.
Not that it really matters much, but threats of that sort - like the ones issued all year by Bush to invade Iran - are clear violations of the UN charter which, as a treaty to which we are a party, happens to be (yawn) binding law in the US pursuant to our Constitution's Article VI: "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."
The incident in the Gulf of Tonkin — excuse me, Gulf of Hormuz — this past week confirms how easy it is for an American ruler to send the entire nation into war, especially given that he is now permitted to ignore the constitutional provision requiring a congressional declaration of war. What's the point of sending a fleet of battleships and destroyers into the Middle East if it's not to poke hornets' nests?
Pentagon's psyops
The Pentagon's plans for psychological operations or PSYOP in the global information environment of the 21st century are wide ranging and aggressive. How useful do you think your new MySpace or Facebook account is in helping the Pentagon develop a detailed psychological profile of you? Do you think they would be shy in exploiting such a valuable source of personal data?
Oh, okay...
Since "unrestricted' private ownership of guns clearly threatens the public safety, the 2nd Amendment can be interpreted to allow a variety of gun restrictions, according to the Bush administration. The argument was delivered by the Solicitor General in a brief filed with the Supreme Court.
He suggested that gun rights are limited and subject to "reasonable regulation" and said all federal limits on guns should be upheld. "Given the unquestionable threat to public safety that unrestricted private firearm possession would entail, various categories of firearm-related regulation are permitted by the 2nd Amendment."
British monarch Queen Elizabeth was targeted by al-Qaida-linked suicide terrorists posing as TV crews at November's Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Uganda, but the plot was discovered by authorities and "neutralized" before it could be carried out, an Ugandan official has confirmed.
The price of gold continued its stunning start to 2008, rising to a new record of $914 an ounce, as traders betted the US Federal Reserve will slash interest rates, weakening the dollar and boosting the investment appeal of the precious metal.
Citigroup could write down as much as $24 billion due to subprime and credit-related losses, CNBC has learned. In addition, the company could lay off as many as 20,000 workers as part of a comprehensive plan to slash costs and raise capital.
It's no longer a matter of if a recession happens but when it will happen and how long it will last. The basic problem faced by the US economy right now is excessive debt caused by recklessly low interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
Right now the Federal Reserve is treating this situation as a "liquidity crisis", meaning they are literally throwing money at the problem. They are hoping that by flooding the markets with money the money will get spent in the form of loans and credit. However, the market has ample liquidity. The problem is we are in the middle of a debt crisis.
To make matters worse are two inter-related issues. First, the US economy is very much based on credit creation. As a result, the financial sector sits at the center of the US economy. The second problem is the accounting nature of the financial system. It is essentially based on a "fractional reserve" system. In summation, the US economy is at the beginning of a huge problem.
(Also: Responding to recession)
Yes!...
The economic rescue brigade finally arrived in something like full force last week, about a year after experts dismissed warnings of a US economic downturn with global consequences, and 5 months after world credit markets were thrown into turmoil by the collapse of the US housing boom.
For about the last 30 years, our nation has been traveling the deregulation highway, a road with no rules or direction. We have let enterprise be free, business go unfettered, the good times roll. And roll they have, but to where? Let's take a look at how we got here before the deregulation highway takes us over a cliff.
Politicians of every stripe are running scared - and for cover. Yet Republicans and some Democrats (lining up at the Wall Street trough) are actually still calling for less regulation of US markets. It is time - it is past time - to get off this deregulation highway. We need more government, not less, to protect us against banks and conglomerates and the sheer concentration of power they portend.
[WAR: This is both right (about the problem), and wrong (the solution). The answer to the problem is not more human government - faulty/evil men ruling over other faulty/evil men! Who will then protect us against "the sheer concentration of power" it will (does) have?
No, it's a change in human nature - a change of the heart that will ipso facto lead a person to not just think of themselves and their wallet, but will consider the benefit of others and the community. But this will not happen during this current age. It will only happen when the current societies and human governments are replaced by the coming Kingdom.]
The 2003 series U.S. $100 bill was a fake, but not just any fake. It was a "supernote," a counterfeit so perfect it's an international whodunit. The Bush administration and members of Congress 2 years ago loudly accused North Korean leaders of being behind the counterfeiting of US currency, but a 10-month McClatchy Newspapers investigation raises questions about those charges.
As a currency changer told a reporter, "The ones from Europe are much better." Whatever the origin of the bills, "it's by far the most sophisticated counterfeiting operation in the world," said James Kolbe, a former congressman from Arizona who oversaw funding for the Secret Service. "We are not certain as to how this is being done or how it's happening."
Klaus Bender, the author of Moneymakers: The Secret World of Banknote Printing, said the phony $100 bill is "not a fake anymore. It's an illegal parallel print of a genuine note." He claims that the supernotes are of such high quality and are updated so frequently that they could be produced only by a US government agency such as the CIA.
As unsubstantiated as the allegation is, there is a precedent. An expert on the CIA has written how the agency tried to undermine the Soviet Union's economy by counterfeiting its currency. The Secret Service declined repeated requests for interviews for this story, as did the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department.
President Chavez, whose country is the biggest foreign supplier of asphalt to the US, ordered exports halted to save material for domestic use. He also said he'd nationalize companies that monopolize road materials. "The biggest cities in the US are paved with Venezuelan asphalt. They get it from here very cheap. The best asphalt in the world. New York, Washington. Boston. These cities and highways all across the US are paved with our asphalt. How can it be that here, our people are fighting for roads."
Britain plotted to support a coup d'état in Rome in 1976 because of grave fears that the Italian Communist Party would win the election and form a government, according to declassified documents.
The papers, uncovered by an Italian researcher at the National Archives at Kew, reveal a flurry of anxious correspondence between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its diplomats, as well as with Henry Kissinger, European officials in Brussels and even the Vatican in the months before the election.
A director who shares the ideas of Iran's hard-line president has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the "common ground" between Muslims and Christians. He sees his movie, "Jesus, the Spirit of God," as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which he praised as admirable but quite simply "wrong".
"Gibson's film is a very good film. I mean that it is a well-crafted movie but the story is wrong - it was not like that," he said, referring to 2 key differences: Islam sees Jesus as a prophet, not the son of God, and does not believe he was crucified. The director is also keen to emphasize the links between Jesus and one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam, the Imam Mahdi. The majority in Iran, believe Jesus will accompany the Imam Mahdi when he reappears in a future apocalypse to save the world.
Tonight's sky
The brightest star of nighttime – Sirius – shows up close to the horizon in early evening, rising upward as evening deepens into night. Almost opposite of Sirius at nightfall, the star Vega shines over your northwest horizon. Be sure to catch this bright star at dusk or nightfall, because it sets shortly after dark. Vega marks the general direction toward which our sun is traveling through space, called the "solar apex," whereas Sirius highlights the general direction from which the sun is traveling.
Today in Scripture
* "Now the evening before (the 10th month on the 5th day) the man arrived, the hand of YAHWEH was upon me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent...
"As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from YAHWEH.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice." (Eze 33:22-33)
* "The word of YAHWEH came to me: 'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what Adonay YAHWEH says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! ... Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?" (Eze 34:1-19)
=============================================
E-mail format for military: YAHOO! WARriors
WAR fund: PayPal (payable to thedailywarrior@gmail.com)
==================================================
