Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Pope Benedict XVI plans to revise the prayer for the conversion of Jews that is part of the Good Friday service in the 1962 Roman Missal, according to leading Italian Vatican-watcher. Some Jewish leaders said that the prayer is offensive because it refers to the "blindness" of the Jewish people and asks that they come to acknowledge Christ and "be delivered from their darkness."
In a message to the 35th general convention of the Society of Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI has called for a revival of traditional Jesuit loyalty to the Catholic faith and the Holy See. "I heartily hope that the present congregation affirms with clarity the authentic charism of the Founder so as to encourage all Jesuits to promote true and healthy Catholic doctrine." The Pope also reminded the delegates of the special loyalty that Jesuits owe to the Holy See, confirmed "in a vow of immediate obedience to the successor of Peter."
Benedict XVI says he considers evangelization and ecumenism two of the greatest tasks facing the ecclesial community in the modern world. He spoke of the "social character of hope," a theme taken from his encyclical "Spe Salvi."
Days away from a regional election long billed as an easy win, the party of Chancellor Merkel is facing a contest that could see it suffer its first big electoral setback in 6 years. The Christian Democratic Union has suffered a marked drop in support in the western state of Hesse in recent days, opinion polls show. The state is 1 of 2 holding elections this weekend.
Last spring, Chancellor Merkel portrayed herself as the world's foremost fighter against climate change. With the EU set to pass a package of emissions regulations, though, she suddenly finds herself defending German industry. Will the real Merkel please stand up?
German Economics Minister Michael Glos, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union, was deeply critical of what he called an EU "campaign of destruction" being waged against the German auto industry.
The German government is not united on questions concerning its Middle East policy, it surfaced last week, after the foreign minister came under fire for inviting his Syrian counterpart to Berlin.
Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, has called a vote of confidence in Parliament tomorrow that could bring down his fragile coalition after the defection of a key Christian Democratic party.
EU diplomats are to start work in the coming days on clearing up the loose ends in the new EU treaty so that it can come into force without any technical glitches once it has been ratified.
The German commander in Kosovo told DW-World that the people of Kosovo expect a lot from Europe and the US. He said the situation in the Serbian province remains calm but not stable.
Serbia agreed Tuesday to a multibillion dollar gas pipeline project as part of an energy deal with Russia that would boost Moscow's control over supplies to Europe. A majority stake of the Serbian oil monopoly NIS will be sold to Russian energy giant Gazprom and Russia will route part of the gas pipeline through Serbia. A Serbian government statement announcing the deal did not reveal the financial terms. The deal is to be signed in Moscow on Friday.
Russia on Tuesday sent 2 long-range bombers to the Bay of Biscay, off the French and Spanish Atlantic coasts, to test-fire missiles in what it billed as its biggest navy exercise in the area since Soviet times. British and Norwegian Tornado and F-16 jets were escorting the Russian 'Blackjack' bombers, Interfax reported. The Russian bombers joined aircraft carriers, battleships and submarine hunters from the Northern and Black Sea fleets for the Atlantic exercises.
The West must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new NATO by 5 of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.
Calling for root-and-branch reform of NATO and a new pact drawing the US, NATO and the EU together in a "grand strategy" to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insist that a "first strike" nuclear option remains an "indispensable instrument" since there is "simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world".
Dubbed the country's grain warehouse, central Turkey's Konya plain has long been known for its beautiful lakes and vast fields, which produce 10 percent of Turkey's agricultural yield. But both are now threatened by a severe water shortage that dramatically illustrates a broader regional crisis. Across the Mediterranean, water is being pumped out of the earth at an unsustainable pace.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "needs to take responsibility and go home for his poor decisions... which led to the unnecessary deaths of Israeli soldiers," Meretz's Chairwoman declared Monday in presenting her alternative report on the Second Lebanon War.
Yemeni's president called on his fellow Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to discuss the Israeli lockdown of the Gaza Strip and military operations in the area, the state news agency reported. He called Israeli actions in Gaza "insulting to all Arabs."
(Also: Nazi practices in Gaza)
(Also: UNSC set for emergency meeting)
Sorry, I just couldn't resist...
One of Liberia's most notorious rebel commanders, known as Gen. Butt Naked for charging into battle wearing only boots, has returned to confess his role in terrorizing the nation, saying he is responsible for 20,000 deaths.
President Ahmadinejad said Monday evening that "mankind's gravest need today is a global government." Proposing that the rule of single law in the entire world is a bare necessity for the mankind, he said, "The existence of a thousand laws in the world, and then expecting that the global society would reach a status of equilibrium, justice, and tranquility is wishing for the impossible. It is not possible to observe global justice under such conditions that each country is ruled based on a different set of laws."
He said that the era for drawing border lines between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is now over, reiterating, "Unadulterated Christianity and Judaism are the same as they are entirely manifestations of the same Divine Truth."
The 5th nuclear fuel shipment from Russia for Bushehr nuclear power plant arrived in Iran this morning. Iran Atomic Energy Production and Development Company announced that the shipment has been forwarded to Bushehr nuclear power plant.
The world's major powers will try today to overcome differences over imposing more sanctions on Iran and to keep up pressure on the Tehran leadership to curb its nuclear programme.
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said on Monday that Israel may have to take military action to prevent its archfoe Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. "One can say with some assurance that in the next year the use of force by the United States is highly unlikely. That increases the pressure on Israel in that period of time ... if it feels Iran is on the verge of acquiring that capability, it brings the decision point home to use force. The pressure to act is intensive and the window of time available is narrow."
US soldiers are not able to stand against Iranian combatants, a senior Iranian commander said. "Evidence has revealed that no American soldier or military personnel is able to stand against Iranian combatants."
[WAR: It's not the US Army's soldiers that Iran needs to be worried about - it's the Air Force/Navy pilots with their nukes!]
"It is only the anarchists who are really conservative." The rank-and-file Republican will recoil at that statement, believing it to be unpatriotic, impractical and foolish. The Republicans' blind allegiance to the flag, the GOP and the state is unwavering: convenient for those who wish not to tax themselves with thinking.
God's profits:
A look into the shady finances and manipulative politics of America's leading televangelist hucksters.
While it presents itself as a benign message of hope and purpose, critics of Word of Faith charge that it is a heresy that robs its followers of spiritual fulfillment, an affinity fraud that robs them of their money, and a distortion of the Scriptures, run by authoritarian preachers who rob their followers of their autonomy.
Like Bush's 2000 campaign slogan, Compassionate Conservatism, Word of Faith preachers often give lip service to their church's community service projects yet worship at the altar of hyperindividualism and unregulated capitalism. Many of these televangelists spend millions of dollars of church funds on luxury jets, take huge salaries out of church coffers to build themselves mansions, and treat themselves to other luxuries like clothes, vacations, and high-end dinners.
They use the free advertising of their churches and television shows to sell countless books, tapes, and DVDs of their sermons, raking in millions that go into for-profit church-related enterprises that line their own pockets.
All of this activity is rationalized as obeying Jesus' command to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Yet it is all possible precisely because there is virtually no oversight of the preachers' activities. Tax-exempt churches do not file tax returns and are under no obligation to divulge their finances to donors or the public.
Where profit-driven church meets the cornerstone of conservative economic ideology, televangelists have been enriching themselves in an unregulated marketplace trading on God, the cult of personality, and American dreams of riches and success.
MLK Day really was Black Monday!...
In what is widely being called "Black Monday," a worldwide sell-off today has sent stocks into a nose dive, with global markets from Hong Kong to Europe experiencing the sharpest one-day losses since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
[WAR: I didn't catch this until a reader pointed it out: That it is kind of ironic that while the US was "observing" Martin Luther King day on Monday, the world observed their own "Black Monday" in the stock markets.]
The Federal Reserve, responding to a growing financial market crisis, slashed interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point today. The Fed's move came a week before the central bank's regularly scheduled meeting, a sign that the Fed recognized the seriousness of the world financial situation.
It was the worst day for European equities since September 11, and it continued overnight in Asia, as investors realised that the credit crisis is far from over, and that the US is really headed for a recession. Moreover, it was the overwhelming consensus of analysts that the bloodbath would continue.
(Also: World markets continue skid)
(India: Market falls 13%, trading halted)
(China: Bank of China shares suspended)
(Australia: $150,000,000,000 gone)
(Europe: $360,000,000,000 gone)
(Europe: European press review)
(Brazil: Clean your own mess, US)
(Analysis: Why are markets falling now?)
* "It's a complete meltdown, everybody just wants cash," one trader told The Irish Times.
* This Is London: "[Just British] Pension schemes have lost around £40 billion in the past week due to stock market movements, wiping out all of the gains made during 2007, and Aon warned that worst could still be to come. ... It is the worst start to the year for the stock market since records began in 1936 and left the Bank of England facing acute pressure to slash interest rates."
A bad day for German banking: WestLB, the latest victim of the subprime credit crisis, has reported a 2007 loss of €1 billion. Meanwhile, stock prices are tanking amid fears of global recession. Banking stocks are among the worst hit.
The announcement came a day after German financial watchdog Bafin and the country's central bank, the Bundesbank, attended an emergency meeting of WestLB to discuss stabilizing the lender. The presence of Germany's 2 top financial regulators at the meeting illustrated the urgency of the situation. "There's naked panic here -- we're seeing a classic crash," said one share trader.
Ambac and MBIA, the 2 largest bond insurers in the world, are careening toward collapse. Barring a miraculous rescue, their demise could promptly deliver a massive blow to the US bond market ... severely damage America's already shaken big banks ... and largely trash the net worth of millions of investors. Yet, strangely, except for investors who owned Ambac and MBIA shares themselves — and who have now driven those shares into the gutter — few are paying attention.
Our leaders in Washington are out to lunch. They have no idea of the real challenges our country faces and America's dependence on foreign creditors. The US is moving into a situation in which the government could find it impossible to close the twin deficits without massive tariffs to curtail imports and offshoring and without pursuing peace instead of war. The outlook for the US will continue to worsen as long as hegemonic superpower and free trade delusions prevail in Washington.
Is economic history about to change course? Among the chieftains of politics and industry gathering in Davos for the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, a consensus appears to be building that the capitalist system is in for one of those rare and tempestuous mutations that give rise to a new set of economic policies.
As the prospect of a US recession overshadows a tense and drawn-out election campaign in the world's most emblematic market economy, a corrosive cocktail of factors is eating away at old certainties: Power is steadily leaking from West to East. Income inequalities are rising in rich countries.
And signs of a protectionist backlash are multiplying as worries about climate change, the rise of state-run investment funds and the bursting of the recent credit bubble give novel ammunition to those in the West who question free markets and clamor for more shelter from globalization.
What exactly will emerge when the dust settles is hard to predict, economists and executives say. But this much seems clear: With the frontier between state and market once again up for grabs, the era of easy globalization is over - and big government in one form or another is back.
(Also: Davos 2008's beautiful timing)
A huge natural gas field has been found a short distance off Rio de Janeiro's coastline, Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, says. The company believes the new field, Jupiter, could match the recently discovered Tupi oil field in size. Tupi is thought to be one of the largest fields discovered in the past 20 years.
Today in the Scriptures
"In the 10th year, in the 10th month on the 12th day, the word of YAHWEH came to me..." (Eze 29:1 - 30:26)
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E-mail format for military: YAHOO! WARriors
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"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 gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city."
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