Thursday

The Daily WAR (11-27)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
 
 
    Pope St. Leo the Great was the latest Church Father that Pope Benedict XVI focused on as he held his weekly general audience on Wednesday. Leo the Great, according to Pope Benedict, was one of the greatest pontiffs of all time because of his work as a pastor and his strength during difficulty.
    His pontificate lasted more than 2 decades and included "difficult times" during which "repeated barbarian invasions, the progressive weakening of imperial authority in the West and a lengthy social crisis forced the Bishop of Rome ... to take on an important role also in civil and political affairs.
    Benedict "explained how during Leo's pontificate the Council of Chalcedon took place, "the most important assembly in the history of the Church up to that time", which "affirmed the union in the one Person, without confusion and without separation, of the two natures, human and divine."
    [WAR: The Messiah had only ONE nature, and that was human nature -- just like you and me. He, as Yahweh the Elohim, emptied himself completely (100%), and became Yahshua the human, with human nature (100%).]
 
    Pope Benedict XVI is to rehabilitate Martin Luther, arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices.
    Pope Benedict will issue his findings on Luther (1483-1546) in September after discussing him at his annual seminar of 40 fellow theologians — known as the Ratzinger Schülerkreis — at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence.
    According to Vatican insiders the Pope will argue that Luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic. It is also designed to counteract the impact of July's papal statement describing the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as defective and "not proper Churches".
    The move to re-evaluate Luther is part of a drive to soften Pope Benedict's image as an arch conservative hardliner as he approaches the 3rd anniversary of his election next month.
    The Castelgandolfo seminar will in part focus on the question of apostolic succession, through which the apostles passed on the authority they received from Jesus to the first bishops. After the Reformation Protestants took the view that "succession" referred only to God's Word and not to church hierarchies but some German scholars have suggested Luther himself did not intend this.
    Some theologians argue that Luther did not intend to confront the papacy "in a doctrinaire way" but only to raise legitimate questions - a view Pope Benedict apparently shares.
    [WAR: The protesting daughters (harlots) are just a chip off the ol' Whore block -- especially sharing the foundational, trunk-of-the-tree, doctrine of Christianity: that the Messiah was a god-man, "God in the flesh", "fully God and fully man". They also bow to Rome by worshipping on Sunday, celebrating the holidays, and following her calendar.]
 
Good for them...
    American leaders of the Sikh religious community have declined an invitation to join in a Washington meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in April, after being told that they would not be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers.
    Sikh tradition requires men to wear a ritual dagger, called the kirpan, on all formal occasions. But the US Secret Service announced that no weapons of any kind would be allowed. Rather than compromise their tradition, Sikhs have withdrawn from the meeting.
 
 
 
    The German government denied a report today that it was considering reviving the Iron Cross military decoration to honour the bravery of its soldiers. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung was weighing up giving new life to 195-year tradition initiated by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III in 1813.
    The FAZ described the Iron Cross - which harks back to the crosses used by the knights of the German military orders in mediaeval times - as linked to the national democratic aspirations of Prussia in its conflict with Napoleonic France.
 
    Chancellor Merkel is facing strikes and political paralysis after more than 100,000 public sector workers walked out of their jobs. The workers have threatened an "open-ended protest" over their low level of pay at a time when Germany has enjoyed 3 years of solid economic growth. The strikes are part of growing discontent at the wage inequality between managers and workers.
 
German press
    The Social Democrats are poised to break an election pledge by relying on the support of the Left Party to form a minority government in the state of Hesse. German papers condemn the Hesse SPD leader Andrea Ypsilanti for breaking her word and predict that her party will be damaged in the long term.
 
    Barack Obama's popularity has soared in Germany in recent weeks with many comparing him to President John F. Kennedy. But experts say Clinton, who has revived her campaign, is well-liked across the Atlantic too.
 
 
 
    The UK's parliament has rejected a call for referendum on the new EU's Lisbon treaty, a move representing a victory for Labour Prime Minister Brown which has argued in the face of bitter opposition that there should not be a public poll. He said that, "If this was a constitutional treaty, we would hold a referendum. But the constitutional concept was abandoned."
 
    A determined campaign by peers could in theory delay ratification of the treaty beyond the end of this year. This would throw the EU into confusion - because under current plans Brussels hopes that all member 27 nations will have ratified the treaty by this autumn, allowing it to come into force on Jan 1, 2009.
    The other possibility is a 'No' vote in Ireland's referendum on the treaty, which would prevent it coming into force.
 
    It has been than 3 weeks since the occupied Serbian province of Kosovo declared dependence, and gained recognition from a handful of countries presuming themselves above international law.
    Declaring "independence" of Kosovo, leader of the terrorist KLA and "prime minister" of the separatist province, Hashim Thaci, boasted how he would get a hundred recognitions in no time. So far, there have been less than 30, out of nearly 200 states in the world.
    Ten years ago, Kosovo was a local conflict, one that Serbs and Albanians have waged for control of the territory since the 1700s. By arming, training and funding the KLA, then stepping in as its air force, the Empire has made it into global issue.
    By recognizing the occupied province as an "independent," ethnically cleansed, Albanian Muslim state, it has rejected law in favor of force, and morals in favor of power. It is hard to predict what will follow, but whatever it is, it won't be good.
 
     A pro-Russian breakaway region in the Caucasus mountains said on Wednesday it had asked the world community to recognise its independence from Georgia following the West's support for Kosovo's secession.
    South Ossetia, which broke away from Georgia, drove out pro-Tbilisi forces and declared independence in the early 1990s, called on the UN, EU states and Russia to recognise it as a sovereign state. "The Kosovo precedent has driven us to seek our rights more actively."
 
 
 
    Arab countries will walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if Israel ever officially acknowledges it has nuclear weapons, the Arab League announced in a statement Wednesday.
 
    The US Navy switched out warships patrolling in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, maintaining a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon. Officials said it was a routine, planned deployment but it was an action sure to draw attention in the Mideast, where an announcement on US presence last week caused a political stir in Lebanon.
    The USS Cole guided missile destroyer and support ships passed through the Suez Canal at midday Wednesday, heading from the Mediterranean Sea into the Red Sea, canal officials said. In Washington, a Navy official said the Cole had been relieved by the guided missile destroyer USS Ors and the guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea.
 
    The Bush administration says the 2002 congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq gives it the authority to conduct combat operations in Iraq and negotiate far-reaching agreements with the current Iraqi government without consulting Congress.
    "We have authorization to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq. The situation in Iraq continues to present a threat to the United States."
 
    After a lull during Pakistan's elections, militants have reasserted themselves with a string of deadly suicide blasts that have killed more than 90 people, including an army general and tribal leaders fed up with the violence.
 
    The US urged the UN to quickly deploy peacekeeping troops to Sudan's Darfur region and stop procrastinating on logistical issues like helicopters for troop transports. About 9,000 troops have deployed to Darfur. The US has said it would send helicopters, but the Sudanese government has rejected anything from the US.
 
 
 
    Iran's first vice president who is visiting Damascus hold talks with Syrian president on bilateral issues and major regional issues. He said a strong unity among independent states will force the US retreat from its hegemonic policies.
 
    Sudan's president expresses support for Iran's civilian nuclear program, stressing that a developed Iran would benefit the Islamic world. Al-Bashir also voiced his country's readiness to expand ties with Iran, calling for more solidarity among Muslims.
 
    The US move at the IAEA to put more pressure on Iran over its nuclear program has failed, Iran's ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog says.
    "The Americans have a hidden agenda and they are trying with the political motivation to create problems. They made a lot of efforts in the IAEA but they were not successful. We had a lot of talks with ambassadors from other countries and invited the media for a video presentation about the facts and figures of Iran's nuclear program and this put more pressure on the US, UK and France."
 
    Rafsanjani says Security Council Resolution 1803 on Iran shows the bullying powers' hostility and grudges.
    "Iran has had positive cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency on its nuclear program. If the claimants showed goodwill and had no political or arrogant goals, they would have no need to adopt a new resolution. The recent resolution proves that the US has adopted a dual attitude at the IAEA and the Security Council which is not changing."
 
    Russia to neighbor and friend Iran: Study the incentives the world's key powers are offering — including improved relations with the US — and suspend uranium enrichment as the UN Security Council is demanding.
 
Proving a negative...
    A senior British diplomat has for the first time challenged the findings of a crucial American intelligence report which was considered to have removed the justification for military strikes against Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions. "I haven't seen any intelligence that gives me even medium confidence that these programmes haven't resumed."
 
    The Bush administration is prolonging the hunting season against journalists. The latest victim is James Risen, The New York Times reporter for national security and intelligence affairs. Risen has been asked to testify as part of an investigation aimed at revealing who leaked apparently confidential information about the planning of secret CIA and Mossad missions concerning Iran's nuclear program.
 
 
 
    KBR, or Kellogg Brown & Root, was a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corporation until 2007, when bad publicity and indictments against KBR forced Halliburton to sell its shares in KBR.
    The contract (from the DHS and ICE) awarded to KBR, a construction firm, "provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the US, or to support the rapid development of new programs."
    Further, "The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other U.S. Government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster."
    As the preparations of martial law are being put in place, it is of vital important to identify the specific corporations involved in this process. Administrations change, politicians go in and out of power, but the corporation is a consistent powerhouse. In this case, KBR has been a force to be reckoned with since the rise of Lyndon Johnson. Today, it has reached new heights.
 
    The extension of the campaign for the presidential nomination suggests that the political crisis within the Democratic Party will intensify and the underlying policy disputes will emerge more clearly and publicly.
    There is little likelihood that either candidate will gain the required 2,025 delegates in the course of the remaining contests. One of the 2 will be in the lead, with the outcome in the hands of the automatic delegates (so-called superdelegates).
    The expectation on the Republican side is that if Obama wins the nomination, a significant section of the Democratic Party establishment will follow the example of Senator Joseph Lieberman and openly or tacitly give its backing to McCain.
 
    President Obama would be a warmonger. He would be a wide-eyed, zealous interventionist who would not think twice about using America's "military muscle" (his words) to overthrow "rogue states" and to suppress America's enemies, real and imagined.
    He would go farther even than President Bush in transforming the globe into America's backyard and staffing it with spies and soldiers. He would relish the "American mission" to police the world and topple tyrannical regimes.
    After 8 years of Bush's military meddling in the Middle East, if you want more war, vote Obama. It is a myth, pure bunkum, that Obama is a brave anti-warrior.
 
    The Catholic voter, 64 million strong, is the elephant in the room. Since 1972, Catholics have ended up supporting the popular vote winner -- Democratic or Republican -- in every presidential election.
    Catholics that go to Mass regularly vote Republican, while those who go irregularly, vote Democratic. We can be sure that in the coming general election, the Republicans will once again trot out Rovian anti-abortion, anti-gay issues to whip Catholics into line.
 
    Nothing could be better for the country that cancelling the 2008 election. Leave the office of the presidency empty. I can see only one possible justification for having a president of the United States: to preside over the dismantling of the federal government.
    The best solution would be a government that would destroy itself. The second best solution would be a government that does nothing at all – then, at least, matters will not get worse. This is what canceling the election would do. It would introduce enough confusion and chaos to keep government from acting either domestically or internationally, which would be a wonderful thing.
 
 
 
    The price of crude oil has set a new record in New York, climbing to $105.1 a barrel as the US dollar declined in value and amid concerns about supply. The weakness of the dollar is pushing prices up because producers charge more to make up for the currency's slide.
 
    The European Central Bank has kept interest rates unchanged at 4% as concerns about inflation persist. High food and oil prices have pushed up the cost of everyday essentials such as bread and petrol, sending inflation to record levels in previous months.
    One of the main concerns for businesses is the strength of the euro, which is being underpinned by the interest rate level. A rate cut, they argue, is needed to weaken the euro and stoke up exports. "The euro's continuing appreciation is becoming alarming," the European Trade Union Confederation warned.
 
    The Italian treasury has taken the highly unusual step of intervening in the debt markets to prevent a further surge in government bond yields as hedge funds with heavy exposure to the region scramble to raise liquidity.
    A report in Italy's financial paper Il Sole said the sudden surge in spreads recalled the dramatic events of 1998 when the US hedge fund Long Term Capital Management was forced to liquidate huge positions in Italy and Spain, setting off a systemic chain reaction.
    The ECB said the action did not violate the rules of monetary union. The Italian central bank is prohibited from buying Italian government debt under EU treaty law as this would inflate the common currency, but the treasury can adjust debt maturities if it wishes. The latest action is nevertheless highly sensitive. ECB lawyers are likely to keep a close eye on all moves by Rome to support the bond market.
    A bond expert said there had been a mass dumping of risky assets worldwide as banks and funds sought to cut exposure to the swap markets. "This has not yet become a serious issue because bond yields are low. It becomes a nightmare is if the yields start backing up again."
 
    It is not quite official, but when Warren Buffet says there's a recession, and when Alan Greenspan says growth is zero, there is a recession. The only question is how long and how severe it will be.
    All the numbers are looking bad. The credit markets are seizing up, because banks need to hoard their capital for fear of further write-downs on their dubious mortgage-backed assets. Banks are reluctant to lend to each other because they cannot be sure how wobbly their partners' finances might be.
    There is not much point in making credit easier if businessmen look at this market and decide they would rather not borrow, however cheap the loan might be. That is the systemic breakdown that worries economists, who say this means that the link between monetary policy and credit creation has been broken. This is not supposed to happen.
    Every single US recession since the end of WW2 has been triggered either by a housing crisis or a surge in energy prices. We have now been hit by both of these blows, with a credit crunch and banking crisis thrown in for good measure.
 
    Carlyle Capital Corporation, the fund manager backed by the giant private equity firm Carlyle Group, has not been able to meet several payment demands. The company said it received margin calls from 7 financing groups that totalled $37m and it was not able to meet 4 of those requests.
 
 
 
    Latin America's leftist leaders heaped more criticism on Colombia, leaving it increasingly isolated today in a crisis that has threatened political stability in the Andes.
 
The early signals are there, but the world seems to be sleepwalking towards disaster
    To explain the exact connection between a newly opened hamburger joint in Beijing, Sir Richard Branson's biofuelled planes and the strip of wild flowers running round my farmer friend's field in Cambridgeshire would take more than the 970 words allotted to me here but, believe me, they will be on the front page of this and every other newspaper before long, because they spell the beginnings of a full-blown food crisis.
    You can see the early signals already - the doubling of wheat prices, the mounting cost of bread, the steepest increases at the supermarkets for 14 years, demonstrations on the streets by pig farmers threatened with bankruptcy, "tortilla riots" in Mexico, the drying up of aid to the Third World.
    And this is only the start of it. In the words of Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at the University of Leeds: "We are sleep-walking into a crisis." At the very least he predicts the end of the era of cheap food, which will of itself amount to a big shift in our eating habits.
    But if the process of rising costs and diminishing supplies of grain accelerates, as it may well do, we could witness actual shortages of basic foostuffs.
 
    Brian Fagan believes climate is not merely a backdrop to the ongoing drama of human civilization, but an important stage upon which world events turn.
    As it turns out, the anecdotal evidence of climate change in this, the 21st century, shares much in common with a historical antecedent, the Medieval Warm Period (circa AD 800-1200), that radically shaped societies across the globe.
    The Medieval Warm Period was a time when the capacity of agriculture rapidly expanded and enabled people to flourish in Europe. Yet elsewhere, extended lack of rainfall, or too much of it, brought famine, plagues, and wars.
    This bout of global warming was followed by the Little Ice Age that lasted roughly from AD 1300 until the middle of the 19th century and cast Europe and North America back into a big chill.
    By taking readers back to the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age, Fagan argues that history "shows how drought can destabilize a society and lead to its collapse."
    "The Great Warming" is a riveting work that will take your breath away and leave you scrambling for a cool drink of water. The latter is a luxury to enjoy in the present, Fagan notes, because it may be in very short supply in the future.
 
 
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