Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
In an article published by L'Osservatore Romano, Italian historian Francesco Guglietta, an expert on the life of Pius IX, revealed how the Pontiff decided to consult with the bishops of the world to proclaim the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1854.
Naturalism, which rejected all supernatural truth, could be considered the "backdrop" for the Pope's proclamation of the dogma.
B16's Q&A session with Roman clergy (part 4)
To understand the papacy of Benedict XVI, one should become familiar with his formation as a theologian, affirmed the publishers of Father Joseph Ratzinger's 1957 thesis on St. Bonaventure.
Cardinal Ratzinger himself discussed his thesis in a Nov. 13, 2000, address, saying his study of the 13th century theologian uncovered untold aspects about the relationship of the saint "with a new idea of history."
"According to Joachim. this should be a time of universal reconciliation, of reconciliation between the East and the West, between Christians and Jews, a time without laws -- in the Pauline sense -- a time of true brotherhood in the world."
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the White House on April 16 during his first visit to the US as pontiff. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the president and the pope would continue discussions they began during Bush's trip to the Vatican in June 2007 on the importance of faith and reason in reaching shared goals.
He said the goals include advancing peace throughout the Middle East and other troubled regions, promoting interfaith understanding and strengthening human rights and freedom. The pope was also expected to address the UN, visit ground zero in New York and celebrate Mass in New York and Washington during his April 15-20 trip.
The Holy See permanent observer to the UN, addressed the 46th session of the Commission for Social Development of the Economic and Social Council.
In his English-language talk, Archbishop Migliore stressed 2 points: "First, that the lack of full employment and decent work and its associated poverty and social disintegration offend human dignity, and second, that we can only hold the trust of the people if we listen to them and concretely take their needs into account.
"The Holy See wishes to recall that the compelling needs of the poor have a priority claim on our conscience and on the choices financial leaders make."
Benedict XVI's personal commitment to safeguarding the planet, shown in part by his numerous public appeals, has inspired a change in lifestyles in favor of the environment, the Holy See permanent observer to the UN affirmed.
"The personal commitment and numerous public appeals of Pope Benedict XVI have generated awareness campaigns for a renewed sense of respect for and the need to safeguard God's creation.
(And: Full text of address)
Scarcely 3 weeks after the election of its state parliament a vigorous tug of war is taking place over the formation of a government in Hesse.
This campaign to integrate the Left Party into the Hesse state government has nothing to do with sympathy for left-wing policies. Instead the proposal is to use the Left Party to contain and control growing popular opposition.
A coalition of the SPD and Left Party in Hesse would not represent a step forward. In an alliance with the Left Party and Greens, Ypsilanti would base her policies on the demands made by the banks and big business federations in the same manner as the coalition in Berlin.
The social and political offensive against the working class would be continued, creating conditions whereby increasing disillusionment on the part of the electorate could easily be exploited by right-wing demagogues.
Back to the future...
A left-wing parliamentarian sparked outrage by calling for the return of the Stasi and defending the existence of the Berlin Wall. "I think that if a new society was created, we would need such an organization [like the Stasi] again, because we would have to protect ourselves against reactionary forces trying to weaken the state from within."
She also said that the Berlin Wall, which divided the city from 1961 to 1989, needed to be built in order to protect the East German economy from West Germans who wanted to cross the border to buy cheap goods.
[Europress] [Russopress]
President Sarkozy is spearheading an initiative to create an elite defence force made up of the 6 EU biggest states - France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland. A spokesman on defence for Sarkozy recently presented the idea and conditions for countries to join the defence "hard core" group.
Although it should be possible for all countries to join mini-groups within the EU - such as the defence elite - the idea is likely to ruffle feathers among some smaller countries. At the moment, even within the 6 biggest states viewed as potential members of the new club, only the UK and France would fulfil the criterion of 2% of GDP expenditure on defence.
The European Union has given its final "operational" go-ahead to the 1,800-strong mission of policemen, prosecutors and judges to be deployed to Serbia's breakaway region of Kosovo, with the actual deployment expected to start on Saturday morning.
(And: EU admits unity unlikely)
(Cartoon: Cutting Kosovo)
President Putin, in the last weeks of an 8-year administration that has secured his place as Russia's most popular politician, said Thursday that he intended to wield substantial and long-running power in the Kremlin after leaving office next month and becoming prime minister.
Putin reiterated his intention to become prime minister and lead the government of his presumptive successor, Dmitri Medvedev, a politician whose career he has sponsored. He also implied that Medvedev would follow the course that he had set.
The Palestinian Authority has been quietly attempting to establish elements of a functioning government in Jerusalem, WND has learned. In line with previous Israeli-Palestinian accords, the PA has been barred from conducting political activity in Jerusalem, although it maintained an office, called Orient House, in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood that previously functioned as a de facto PA headquarters.
Info or dis-info?...
Thursday night, Syrian officials fanned out among Arab broadcasting stations with a warning: Damascus will attack Israel shortly following a decision by Syrian leaders to end its policy of restraint against its territorial violations.
Israeli land, sea, air and homeland defense units were earlier ordered to prepare to defend the country's northern borders against attacks by Hizballah, including rocket strikes, and Syria. Reinforcements were rushed to the north.
Israel has received a stream of intelligence confirmations that Iran, Syria and Hizballah have determined not to let Mughniyeh's death pass without an immediate response. They are working together to mount a revenge operation.
Western sources watching the funeral of the Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh earlier Thursday noted the absence of Hizballah's entire command echelon and the Revolutionary Guards officers serving at Iran's Beirut embassy. They were assumed to have gone to ground to plan a combined offensive against Israel whom they accuse of the Mughniyeh killing.
(And: Who killed Mughniyah?)
(And: Iran, Syria to probe killing)
Pakistanis vote in an election on Monday that could bring about the downfall of President Musharraf if it returns a hostile parliament with a prime minister who wants to be his own man. An expected low turnout, and possible rigging could help Musharraf ride out the storm. But if any rigging is overdone it would risk sparking agitation that could precipitate his end.
Germany seems likely to increase the number of troops it is willing to send to Afghanistan. But concern is mounting that the NATO mission could fail entirely.
(And: ...But not in south)
In American military parlance, it's gut-check time for NATO in Afghanistan, and President Sarkozy appears ready to answer allies' calls for more forces to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida. For Sarkozy, it's a chance to put muscle where his mouth is.
French forces transported munitions from Libya and other countries to Chad's army during a rebellion in the Central African country earlier this month, a French Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.
Kingdom of the South rattling its sabre...
In speech to Sudanese clerics in Khartoum, President Al-Bashir called on all Muslim clerics wherever they are to rise up against the battle being waged by "liberal forces" against the Islamic ummah on the pretext of fighting terrorism. He also demanded that they stand alongside the Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia until the forces of imperialism were expelled from these lands.
(And: Sudan cabinet reshuffled)
The US has recently shared new intelligence with the International Atomic Energy Agency on key aspects of Iran's nuclear program that Washington says shows Tehran was directly engaged in trying to make a bomb, diplomats said Thursday.
Interview (audio/transcript)
Former UN chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter warns that another war is inevitable, unless we defy Bush's attempts to spin the facts about Iran.
Just as American Free Press predicted over a month ago with the release of the National Intelligence Estimate the Neocons – as irrational and uncontainable as sharks in blood-tainted water – would not be deterred from getting the war they demand.
Since the release of the NIE in early December, Israel's supporters – both in the Jewish state and in the US – have made it clear by their collective rhetoric that the NIE should be ignored as if it were an issue of Reader's Digest or a Marvel comic book and that a nuclear Iran ruled by fanatical Mullahs will result in Armageddon.
Now, one of the most dangerous, irrational and power-mad gangsters operating within the Neocon mafia – Normon Podhoretz – is again bringing his gruff, threatening voice to bear on the necessity of going to war against Iran for Israel's sake.
They'll never let him become president
We are told that the ideological differences between Obama and the Clintons aren't all that great, that in fact they barely exist, which I think is a highly dubious proposition, but, in any case, on this issue – the vital question of war and peace – the gulf between them could not be wider, or deeper.
She, after all, voted for the war, and she's been saber-rattling over Iran – much to AIPAC's delight. Obama, on the other hand, has taken a clear and consistent antiwar position on the Iraq war. This is the real source of Obama's streak of solid victories.
In the face of this nationwide upsurge of Obama-mania, the War Party is making threatening noises.
Another accusation to be hurled at Obama: his chief foreign policy advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinksi, has praised The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, a book that exposes the all-pervasive role of the pro-Israel lobby in this country and its distorting effect on American foreign policy.
The Lobby will fight tooth and nail before they'll let Obama – and Brzezinksi – anywhere near the White House. This is the fate that befalls all antiwar candidates for the presidency: the Smear Bund knows its job, and it never sleeps.
The same forces that went after Ron Paul have Obama in their sights, and for precisely the same reason. The War Party's agenda is clear and simple: de-legitimize anyone who advances foreign policy ideas that go against the grain of militarism and slavish appeasement of Israel.
Anyone who questions why we are in a war in the midst of Mesopotamia for no apparently good reason is going to be smeared, and brought down.
You want to talk scary political scenarios? Imagine Hillary Clinton does anything short of winning three stunning and overwhelming primary victories in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. If she doesn't blow out Barack Obama in these final big states in which she is favored, the Democratic National Convention this summer is going to be one ugly affair.
In racial and gender terms normally reserved for use by Democrats, it will be the establishment white woman vs. the young black outsider. The Democrats have made their bed, and now they have to sleep in it.
I don't mind telling you, I'm looking forward to that spectacle. It's what a bunch of socialist race-baiters and phony feminists deserve.
(And: Bush Sr to endorse McCain)
(And: Vice President Rice?)
German press
The race for the US Democratic presidential nomination is being followed in Germany with an amazing degree of attention. In the lull before the decisive March 4 primaries, German commentators are mulling over the odds.
The Federal Bureau Thursday put its domestic terror squads on alert for any threats against synagogues and other potential Jewish targets in the US following the death of Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh.
The FBI also ordered terrorism task forces throughout America (located in some 100 cities across the country) to reach out to community sources for any information about stepped-up Hizballah activity. This high-priority order is unusual.
[WAR: Are these "domestic terror squads" or "terrorism task forces" employees of the FBI, or the InfraGard? From their website: "InfraGard is an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States.
"InfraGard Chapters are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories. Each InfraGard Chapter has an FBI Special Agent Coordinator assigned to it, and the FBI Coordinator works closely with Supervisory Special Agent Program Managers in the Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C."]
Pentagon officials have announced plans to shoot down a failing spy satellite orbiting over Ireland with a missile from a US navy warship to prevent debris from showering the Earth. The dramatic operation will target the secret satellite identified as USA 193, which is expected to fall from orbit in the first week of March.
Oil rose above $96 a barrel today, surging to a 1-month high as investors fixated on the possibility -- however slim -- of Venezuela halting supplies to the US.
OPEC plans to discuss a proposal by Iran and Venezuela to price oil in non-dollar currencies. Iran, OPEC's 2nd largest exporter, has already cut all of its ties with the greenback with respect to oil transactions.
Using words like "sluggish" and "deteriorated," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a starkly pessimistic assessment of the nation's economy on Thursday and signaled that the Fed will cut interest rate cuts further if needed to combat the adverse effects of a prolonged housing slump and a severe credit crisis. "The outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months and the downside risks to growth have increased."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has unleashed another flurry of jabs on Washington, ridiculing the federal government's rebate checks as being "like giving a drink to an alcoholic" on Thursday, and said the presidential candidates are looking for easy solutions to complex economic problems.
The billionaire and potential independent presidential candidate also said the nation "has a balance sheet that's starting to look more and more like a third-world country."
His harsh words reflect the view among some of his associates that the country's economic woes present a unique opportunity for him to launch a 3rd-party bid for the White House.
New York state governor Eliot Spitzer warned Thursday that bond and credit woes afflicting Wall Street and global markets could turn into a more damaging "financial tsunami." "If we do not take effective action, this could be a financial tsunami that causes substantial damage throughout our economy.
Fear that a hobbled banking sector may set off another Great Depression could force the US government and Federal Reserve to take the unprecedented step of buying a broad range of assets, including stocks, according to one of the most bearish market analysts.
That extreme scenario, which would aim to stave off deflation and stabilize the economy, is evolving as the base case for Bernard Connolly, global strategist at Banque AIG in London, and worked for the European Commission analyzing the European monetary system in the run up to the introduction of the euro currency.
While Connolly already sees some parallels with the 1930s, he expects that a more pro-active central bank and government will probably help avert a repeat of that scenario today. The build up of a credit bubble in recent years was similar to the late 1920s run-up to the Great Depression, he said.
The meltdown in the US subprime real-estate market has led to a global loss of $7.7 trillion in stock-market value since October, a report by Bank of America showed Thursday.
The crisis, which has spread beyond US shores to banks and other sectors worldwide, is "one of the most vicious in financial history. It could take months or even years before Wall Street and others get a handle on the true cost of the US subprime meltdown and the attendant global credit crunch. In the end, the current financial crisis is one for the record books and one, more ominously, not over yet."
CFR.org Executive Editor Michael Moran and Economist International Correspondent Lane Greene preview major world events in the week ahead
Jericho is a show that nationalists, fundamentalists, and libertarians can enjoy together
The post-9/11 nightmare animating the show involves the annihilation of a couple dozen of your favorite American cities. The government is telling the citizenry that this is the work of Iran and North Korea. Robert Hawkins, who professes to be an undercover CIA agent, holds that the bombs were detonated by a coalition of extremists.
Whom can you trust? What can you do? Where the hell is this going? Like Alias or The X-Files, Jericho has enough wheel-within-wheels, double agents, and ad hoc alliances to draw in viewers who love a long-playing puzzle.
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