Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Schools should communicate moral principles as well as scientific information, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of Italian students. He told the group that education should equip young people to "grasp cultural, social, ethical, and religious messages." "Teachers cannot fail to perceive the moral dimension of all human knowledge, because man knows in order to act and action is the fruit of his knowledge."
The Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq who was kidnapped last month, has been found dead near the northern city of Mosul. The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI was profoundly moved and saddened by Archbishop Rahho's death.
The kidnappers told Iraqi church officials on Wednesday that Archbishop Rahho was very ill and, later on Wednesday, that he was dead. It is not clear whether he was killed, or died of natural causes. Nobody has claimed responsibility for his death.
Despite his devastating electoral defeat on January 27, Roland Koch (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) will remain prime minister of the state of Hesse. Koch owes the unexpected extension of his term of office to a right-wing gang inside the SPD, which prefers to support a CDU government rather than give any ground to growing social opposition.
The issue here, however, is not the right-wing politics of the SPD and the Left Party, but respect for a democratic decision of the electorate. The election result amounted to an earthquake.
At issue is national policy, not just the situation in Hesse. These forces are intent on ensuring that the Agenda 2010 program of welfare cuts introduced by the former SPD-Green government led by Gerhard Schröder continues to be implemented—irrespective of the result of the next federal election.
Due to the current level of division within the ruling grand coalition, it is quite possible that such elections will take place before the appointed date of 2009.
A business delegation from Bavaria, Germany's largest state and the home of many companies of international renown, heads to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
The delegation, headed by state premier Guenther Beckstein, is to hold talks with heads of government, ministers and business leaders during a week-long visit to the region. The delegation aims to secure lucrative infrastructure projects in the region.
The German BGA exporters group is concerned about how the sanctions imposed on Iran could impact Berlin's trade and industry sectors. This is not the first time that the President of the Federation of German Wholesale and Trade has warned his country's politicians that Germany could be among the key losers if sanctions were imposed against Iran.
[Europress] [Russopress]
Tensions between Germany and France, the 2 largest economies of the EU, whose common European policy was once called the "engine of Europe," have intensified strongly over the past several months.
The relationship has become so antagonistic, and the recriminations between the officials of the 2 countries so loud, that media reports now openly declare that the Franco-German "tandem" has ceased to exist. The tensions reflect conflicts over economic and foreign policy between the countries.
France is due to assume the presidency of the EU on July 1. There is widespread suspicion in the German economic and political establishment that the French government will use its position to promote its own national agenda and bolster its own political and economic position in Europe at the expense of Germany.
The tensions between the 2 traditional pillars of European unity are beginning to dominate Europe as a whole. The Franco-German conflict has been followed with great interest by the British press. The British bourgeoisie obviously senses an opportunity to drive a wedge between Germany and France and split the German-French alliance—a long-time aim of British foreign policy.
As European Union leaders gather in Brussels today, energy policy reforms and a proposed Mediterranean Union will top the agenda. Both issues continue to divide the bloc's members.
Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty -- a potential destruction of national sovereignty by fascist rule of the "Imperial EU" -- has come to a halt in Germany. Chancellor Merkel's cabinet wanted to discuss and pass a proposal for legislation, which would, if also passed by the national parliament in the next few weeks, pave the way for rapid ratification by no later than May 23.
However, the original cabinet agenda had to be changed, as the 16 state governments of Germany outrightly reject the procedure, in a conflict with the Merkel government over its unwillingness to fulfill promises made to the states after the failed first attempt to get a European Constitution through in 2005.
Without the 16 state governments, the upper house of the parliament, there is no ratification of "Lisbon."
No one can predict what the world will look like as this year draws to a close, so it is undecided whether Europe will be transformed into an oligarchical dictatorship with the Lisbon Treaty, or into a Europe of the Fatherlands, of sovereign nation-states.
European governments' attempts to smuggle through the Lisbon Treaty as a sort of stealth bomber -- under the noses of the population, in order to abolish democracy covertly and without the population's consent -- are meeting growing resistance.
One thing is clear: A dramatic culmination of the world financial crisis, and of hyperinflation, will be setting the stage for both the US Presidential elections, and European parliaments' attempt to whip through a ratification of the EU Treaty. With the EU Treaty, we would be condemning ourselves to plunging into a new dark age.
Rewind: Letter to former Chancellor Schroeder
To all those still trying to get at the bottom of the recent US-led unilateral declaration of Kosovo's "independence" completely outside of the UN framework and America's willingness to destabilize not just relations with Russia but the entire international order, no document provides a clearer or more cogent explanation of the entire process than the following piece of correspondence.
Looking back at the events that have taken place since, and especially having in mind the "Kosovo parliament's" "Declaration of Independence", and the subsequent lightning-quick recognition of the new "state" on the part of the US and its closest, mostly Western allies, Willy Wimmer's letter is not just a prophecy, but a roadmap -- both of certain key events in Europe of the previous 8 years and of events (soon?) to come ("undermining the international legal order," "favoring peoples' rights to self-determination over all other provisions or rules of international law," etc.) on the international scene, including, most likely, a descent into disorder on a global scale.
Serbia and Russia have demanded that the UN administration in Kosovo halt the transfer of authority to the EU, calling a handover illegal and declaring they will never recognize the independence of the Serb province.
The EU is expected to take over UN administration of Kosovo and has sent a mission to implement Kosovo's pledges under a UN-drafted plan for supervised independence. The plan was never approved by the Security Council.
NATO urged Russia on Wednesday to tone down its "fiery rhetoric" after repeated Moscow attacks on the growing influence of the military alliance and US plans to base parts of a missile shield in Europe.
"We have seen too much rhetoric at too high a level... we would like to see it dialled down. Fiery rhetoric does make the headlines and there has been a little too much of it."
Medvedev has vowed to continue with "the Putin Plan" which simply means a tough stance when dealing with western/Zionist interests that want to bring Russia under the thumb of the New World Order.
There were protests by disgruntled candidates and groups long alleged to be creatures of western intelligence agencies aligned with or working for the U.S., Britain, Israel's Mossad or all 3. But the general mood in Russia is one of victory and confidence.
Chancellor Merkel's upcoming address to the Israeli parliament has inflamed passions here, with one lawmaker threatening Wednesday to storm out of the session.
He said he was furious Merkel has been allowed to address the Knesset at all because it is a privilege reserved for heads of state — presidents and monarchs. Allowing her to speak in German, instead of the more neutral English, makes it even more painful.
Merkel is traveling to Israel with members of her Cabinet and German lawmakers to underscore the strength of the countries' relations. Germany is one of Israel's staunchest allies in Europe and a leading trade partner. It has paid an estimated $25 billion in reparations to Israeli Holocaust survivors, and provided more than $700 million in goods and services to the Israeli government.
A group of rabbis identified with the extreme right called on Jews Wednesday to avenge their enemies "measure for measure." An anti-Zionist rabbi, meanwhile, called the massacre "divine punishment."
Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza is not helping to create a basis for peace and could cause lasting damage to Gaza's economy, the UN's top humanitarian official said on Wednesday.
"This doesn't look at all like a basis on which you can build a peace settlement, because at the end of the day, it's got to be built on political dialogue and trust and hope, rather than on despair and hatred and humiliation."
Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch has warned of what he described as "the tragic situation the Lebanese are sinking in." "The situation in Lebanon has dragged the country to the edge of the abyss. We can say that disturbance in the country is due to political affairs with which ulterior motives and selfishness have interlaced."
This report examines the current war and genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which started in the mid-1990s, placing emphasis on the roles of Western covert operations, corporations and the plundering of resources that has resulted.
The Congo is extremely rich in natural resources. Rwanda, Uganda, and the West, have all struggled to profit from the Country's wealth in part through destabilization campaigns.
Iranian artillery shelled villages in northern Iraq where Iranian Kurdish rebels are believed to be operating, according to a local official. The army of neighbouring Iran frequently shells villages in the mountains of Sulaymanyah where it says rebels from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan are based.
Japanese Emperor Akihito, in a meeting with the new Iranian envoy to Tokyo, has called for strong ties between their countries. During the meeting, the Emperor sent his greetings to the Iranian president, government and nation and pointed out the rich cultures of both countries.
The Iranian Armed Forces' Chief of Staff says his country's armed forces are ready to teach the US another lesson if it crosses the line.
"America's enmity towards Iran stems from the fact that they know Iran's revolutionary ideology is against their quest for domination. We say that our nuclear energy is for peaceful purposes and we have proven it. Those who allege that Iran is a threat have to prove their claims. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always endangered the illegitimate accumulation of wealth by superpowers."
The White House said Wednesday it had "very low expectations" for Iran's parliamentary elections on Friday. "All I can say is we have very low expectations that people will be able to actually express themselves and their will because the Iranian people really don't want to be isolated and unfortunately the current regime further isolates them by their actions."
No one can believe that Fallon, a 41-year veteran of the Navy who flew hundreds of combat missions during the Vietnam War, is ending his career because of press distortions of his views.
Fallon's ouster touched off a barrage of speculation about imminent US military action against Iran.
Washington Post online columnist Dan Froomkin, in a comment headlined, "Are We Closer to War?", observed, "It's still not really beyond Bush and Cheney to order a full-scale preemptive attack on Iran. But the more likely scenario is that there will be an asymmetrical US response to a (possibly trumped up) Iranian provocation."
In other words, a commentator in the leading daily newspaper in the US capital takes it for granted that the Bush administration is prepared to manufacture a pretext for military aggression.
There was at least one online report of a White House war council meeting on Saturday, March 8, to discuss "plans to hatch a strike of some sort on Iran this spring."
Passage of the 3rd UN Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran makes a war between the US and Iran more likely. It is likely that the Bush administration will now move swiftly, within the next few weeks, to use this authority to create a casus belli for attacking Iran.
The US intercepting and boarding Iranian vessels provides Iran with little opportunity to avoid incidents the US could exploit to justify military action against Iran, should Bush make the decision to attack Iran, using self-defense as justification to bypass or game Congressional approval.
Should this or equivalent events occur, the potential for destabilizing consequences of extreme gravity would be substantial, approaching near certainty.
The more significant Iran's response or the more disruptive the economic and political consequences, the more likely it would be combined with or be followed by a formal declaration by Bush of a national emergency, possibly affecting US national elections, resulting in a de facto coup d'état and the most serious destabilization of the US since the civil war.
Given Bush wants to attack Iran, these appear to be the likely consequences. To further assess their likelihood, ask the question: If Bush wants to attack Iran, who is to stop him? Not the US Congress; not the UN; not the courts; not pubic opinion, nor the press.
(And: Iran still a target?)
Speaking of an EO...
The White House has issued an executive order to formally extend the US national emergency regarding Iran's threat for another year. "Because the actions and policies of the government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States," the emergency must continue, stated the order issued on Wednesday.
British intelligence is behind a fast-moving global insurgency against the nation-state system, with 2 major foci.
First, London is at the center of a drive in the US and Europe, for a trans-Atlantic fascist-corporatist consolidation by early 2009, with the US Presidential inauguration, and the launching of the new European Presidency, under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, abolishing sovereign nations in the European Union.
Second, London is promoting chaos, war, and ungovernability throughout Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Central and South America, activating longstanding assets and methods—to pile up crises beyond the ability of any government to handle.
Ultimately, a new European super-state would launch rearmament and prepare for WW3, taking aim at Russia and China, following the destruction of the last vestiges of the American republic.
All of these London-centered schemes are being pursued at breakneck speed now, due to the accelerating collapse of the world financial and monetary system. For London, the solution to this financial meltdown is genocidal war, and the establishment of a global monetary dictatorship, in the hands of private offshore financial interests.
An American Naval expeditionary force is now in the eastern Mediterranean, adding fuel to the regional fires. Sources in Washington warn that Vice President Cheney, an asset of London, is once again promoting a US bombing campaign against Iran, before the Bush Administration leaves office.
In the Balkans, bordering Russia, a similar separatist/terrorist operation is being engineered, to blow up that fault-line region. Kosovo's recent unilateral declaration of independence threatens to unleash a new Balkan war, by means of which Russia could easily be drawn into confrontation with the West.
The nutty imperialist and warmonger McCain
If you've followed Senator John McCain at all, you've heard about his tendency to, well, explode. "The thought of his being President sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper, and he worries me."
(And: Big labor targets McCain)
Officials in Yuma are considering a medieval technique to dig out a 'security channel' and fill it with water to secure US-Mexico border. "The moats that I've seen circled the castle and allowed you to protect yourself, and that's kind of what we're looking at here," said Yuma's County Sheriff, who is backing the project.
Sorry mates...
Gloom over back-to-back interest rates, petrol prices and increasing food costs are the main reasons why 1 in 4 Australians believe they are worse off financially than they were a year ago.
"Some of the social issues are becoming of less concern and economic issues are increasing on the list. We are seeing people raise issues such as the global economic situation, and the US economic situation, which is something we don't usually see raised in large levels at all."
The price of gold reached a record, trading at $1,000 an ounce for the first time, pushed higher by a weak US dollar and fears about the US economy.
Global stocks tumbled and the dollar fell further today as the effects of Federal Reserve efforts to restore liquidity to financial markets faded and the investment fund Carlyle Capital succumbed to the credit crisis.
By accepting privately originated mortgage-backed securities—in the past the Fed had accepted only securities issued by the government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the US central bank agreed to take as collateral some $1 trillion in securities that previously would not have qualified.
The Fed's action on Tuesday sparked a frenzied rally on US stock exchanges. However, credit markets remained more subdued, and the price of many forms of debt continued to fall, reflecting underlying anxiety about the solvency of major banks and financial institutions.
"It's only a stay of execution. It gives them some time to work through their problems, but it doesn't solve their problems. We believe this euphoria is temporary."
The crash threatens a social catastrophe—with record home foreclosures and growing unemployment—and a financial breakdown of historical proportions.
Several hedge funds with assets of more than $4 billion were on the brink of collapse last night or had halted withdrawals, despite moves by the US Federal Reserve this week to ease America's deteriorating credit crisis with a $200 billion collateral lending facility.
The potential closure of 6 funds came as a leading private equity executive, who declined to be named, said that such funds were "snapping like twigs", with one failing every day.
Not since 1930 has any Chancellor offered an accounting more certain to be swept away by hurricane forces of global finance. In the words of former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, we are facing "the most serious combination of macro-economic and financial stresses in a generation, and possibly, much longer than that."
The emergency action by the US Federal Reserve this week amounts to a back-door nationalisation of the housing loan system.
The Rubicon has been crossed. If the rescue fails, the markets know that Bernanke will raise the ante to $500bn, or $1 trillion, until the job is done. "The determination of the Fed to fend off financial armageddon cannot be doubted," said Société Générale.
Washington is exploring - and now invoking - measures that have not been on the agenda since the Great Depression, and for a good reason. "We're in a vicious downward spiral. The initiatives are doing little to stop the crisis spreading. Banks are running out of capital. They may have to start shrinking lending by $12bn for every $1bn in losses, so the risk of a credit contraction is incalculable."
The global contagion from America has been fitful so far, with lethal bursts followed by bouts of eerie calm, just like 1930.
(Op-ed: Coming crunch)
(Cartoon: Titanic economy)
International Forecaster
Many economists are downplaying the recession, we are contemplating financial implosion, central bank ineptness, the gutted manufacturing sector, lies about the economy from inflating the money supply and failing to talk about inflation, and what losses really represent.
Boston gave us the "Big Dig," Socorro, New Mexico hosts the "Very Large Array," but from Wall Street and Washington, D.C. we get the "Big Lie," soon to be followed by the "Very Large Depression."
Oil prices are high today not due to a temporary disruption in the global flow of petroleum but for systemic reasons that are becoming more pronounced.
US sanctions against Venezuela over its alleged support of a leftist Colombian rebel group would cripple its oil industry and cause a worldwide spike in already record-high oil prices, experts say.
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