Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
When Shepherd One lands outside Washington, D.C., on April 15, the jet carrying Pope Benedict XVI to a 6-day visit in the USA will deliver a complex and surprising man.
His image is cast in a stern adherence to orthodoxy. He has been true to that, but his first 3 years as leader of the Roman Catholic Church also suggest he is not exactly the harsh disciplinarian some fans had hoped for — or many critics had feared.
(And: The American Pope)
Germany's regional banks have been hit hard by the global financial crisis, which has already cost them over €11 billion. The latest dire finanical results have led to renewed calls for mergers.
The finance minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia called on Germany's Finance Minister to help bring about the consolidation of the regional bank sector. He told Monday's edition of the business daily Handelsblatt that Germany's financial and economic standing in the world was at stake.
The most radical proposal to solve the state-owned banks' financial woes has come from the Green Party, who have called for all 8 regional banks to be merged into one institution, which would concentrate on regional economic development.
(And: State bank head resigns)
Germany has denied media reports of official involvement in an alleged scheme to provide anti-terrorism training to Libyan security forces, with several elite policemen and an army officer under investigation.
What government agency knew about the security training? Did Germany's intelligence service back the job? Was the training even a government-authored repayment for Tripoli's help in securing the release of German hostages in the Philippines?
These days, speculation is rife in Berlin over the secret anti-terror training that several former top security officials from Germany gave Libyan forces between 2005 and 2006.
[Europress] [Russopress]
According to the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, Europe is prone to a threat stemming from North Africa.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Serbia and Kosovo to refrain from unilateral steps that could spark violence in the region. "At this time it would be very important to maintain peace and stability on the ground, therefore I would urge the parties concerned to refrain from taking any unilateral measures which may provoke inside violence."
German press
President Bush met with his Russian counterpart Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi over the weekend. They went out of their way to be nice to each other. But as German commentators point out, plenty of problems remain.
President Putin affirmed there are serious discrepancies between the Russian Federation and the US in the political-military order. Referring to the content of the Declaration on the Strategic Framework for Bilateral Relations after a meeting with President Bush, Putin insisted on topics threatening national security.
President Putin hinted at last week's NATO summit in Romania that Russia would work to break up Ukraine, should the former Soviet republic join the military alliance. Putin "lost his temper" at the NATO-Russia Council in Bucharest during Friday's discussions of Ukraine's bid to join NATO.
"Do you understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state!" Putin told President Bush at the closed meeting. Putin threatened to encourage the secession of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, where anti-NATO and pro-Moscow sentiment is strong
The real legacy of Bush's Eastern European jaunt may well be his discussions in Kiev, as they have infuriated the Kremlin while essentially delivering nothing tangible to Ukraine and have effectively tarred President Yushchenko and his government as US stooges.
Virtually all of the Caspian's natural gas export pipelines for Turkmen, Uzbek and Kazakh gas transit Russia and are under the control of the Russian state natural gas pipeline monopoly Transneft, a state strategic asset so valuable even President Yeltsin didn't dare privatize it.
At a time of record-high energy prices, Transneft's capacities allied to Russian state monopoly Gazprom's natural gas have left the Kremlin flush with cash as European consumers dig ever deeper into their wallets.
Ukraine, as vital a transit country as it is bereft of natural gas reserves, is the most prominent victim of Russia's hardball "pipeline diplomacy," a situation Bush is unable to influence.
The abysmal performance of Western TV and radio interviewers when dealing with issues surrounding Israel – that "rogue regime" or "Zionist entity", as many now call it – is not only embarrassing, but a blot on the escutcheon of journalism.
Even the most fearsome inquisitors purr like a pussycat. Their rottweiler instincts evaporate, their investigative skills desert them, objectivity takes a nosedive. Penetrating questions are seldom asked, lies go unchallenged.
Any Israeli spokesperson or cheerleader is guaranteed an easy ride. Have the nation's truth-seekers fallen under some wicked Zionist spell? Are their researchers on strike? Did somebody nobble the programme editors?
Paranoid Protestants Parading...
American televangelist John Hagee led several hundred flag-waving followers across Jerusalem on Monday, a colorful display of the growing alliance between Christian evangelicals and Israel. Hagee, who calls himself a Christian Zionist, pledged his unconditional backing for the Jewish state.
It's springtime in the Middle East once again, and that usually means that fighting season may breakout soon. The current stalemate in the Middle East peace process compiled with the buildup of tension on several fronts may result in an explosion of violence before any new breakthrough, such as renewed peace efforts are seriously undertaken.
In fact, given the current conditions permeating the region, a stalemate would have been a positive sign. What we're seeing is a steady regression into the danger zone, the end result of which may trigger a new Arab-Israeli conflict.
Coalition forces are losing control of the situation in Iraq, reports of the past few days say.
General Petraeus ought to level with the American public about the dire state of affairs in Iraq in his testimony to Congress this week.
Breaking...
General Petraeus has recommended a suspension of troop withdrawals after July to protect gains in Iraq. He praised "significant" but "uneven" improvements in security and said troop levels would need a period of evaluation in the summer. And he also condemned Iran for playing a "destructive role" in Iraq.
A draft agreement between the US and Iraq shows that they are including a provision for an open-ended American military commitment to the war-torn country, The Guardian reported today.
Citing a copy of the draft strategic framework agreement dated March 7 that it obtained, the newspaper said that the document is designed to replace the current UN mandate, which expires at the end of the year.
President Musharraf believes that if he steps down, the US will launch direct military attacks on Pakistan's restive tribal areas and take away disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan for interrogation about his proliferation activities.
The Indo-German naval exercises commenced this morning with 3 German warships and 2 Indian naval vessels participating in it. After the basic exercises with the Southern Naval command, the vessels will move to the Goa coast for exercises with the Western Naval Command for more advanced and technical exercises, including Anti Submarine exercises.
Sudan's government has failed to do enough to help the south develop since a civil war and risks renewed fighting if it does not spend more there, Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi said on Monday. He also said UN and African Union efforts had failed to bring peace to Darfur.
Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, state television quoted President Ahmadinejad as saying today.
Iran's defense minister said on Monday the world needs a missile shield to protect against threats from Israel and the US. "If the world needs an anti-missile shield, it must be used to counter missiles and the nuclear menace coming from the U.S. and Israel, which directly or indirectly threaten different countries with aggression and war."
He said US claims that the European missile shield would defend against Iran's missiles were nothing but a sham. "Our country's missile arsenal is purely defense-oriented and is only a threat to aggressors."
Israel imports Iranian oil on a large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. The Iranian oil is liked in Israel because its quality is better than other crude oils.
It is not clear if the Iranian exporters know about Israeli purchases of their oil. At the other end, the Israeli buyers and governmental offices are well aware of where the high-grade oil comes from, although it is a blatant defiance of the boycott.
Senior diplomats of the 5 U.N. Security Council permanent members and Germany plan to meet in mid-April to discuss a strategy they hope will persuade Iran to rein in its nuclear program, the US State Department said.
Satire...
Today, the White House issued a press release stating that Iranian agents were responsible for the Wall Street financial crisis and that serious steps were being taken to "clear up this issue" once and for all.
"The President's Summit Halting Iran's Threat (S.H.I.T.) Task Force has undergone a long and thorough review of Wall Street, in a tireless effort to root out these people that hate our freedoms."
Not satire...
In isolation and without context, all these rapidly breaking events are mere unrelated point events. However, in the light of the none-too-secret White House and Pentagon's overarching agenda, these are not isolated events. They are now culminating in the build-up of pretexts for nuclear attack on Iran!
(And: UK: We trust Tehran no more)
The new Australian prime minister today declared his Republican credentials and pledged to open a debate about the future of the monarchy only hours before his first audience with the Queen.
On April 16, the New Hampshire legislature will consider House Resolution 24, a resolution petitioning Congress to commence impeachment procedures against Bush and Cheney.
Is our political system too far gone to even discuss the predicaments of the volatile dollar, run-amok debt and Middle East disasters?
Our nation's coddled, insulated journalist class reaches these conclusions about what Regular Folk think using the most self-referential, self-absorbed thought process imaginable. The proof that the Regular People are interested in these things is that . . . the journalists themselves chatter about it endlessly.
Faced with $4-per-gallon diesel fuel, truck drivers -- who deliver 70% of the nation's goods -- are hitting the brakes. And the truckers' protests have ramifications far beyond the owner-operators' plight -- first, because trucking is hardly a marginal business.
The actions of the first week in April were just the beginning. There's talk of a protest in Indiana on April 18, another in New York City, and a giant convergence of trucks on DC on April 28.
Asian shares extended losses today, after news of a possible capital injection at the largest US savings and loan company failed to eliminate concerns about more bank write-downs and weakening company earnings.
Gold futures hovered near a 1-week high as rising crude prices again stirred inflation fears, while Japanese government bond futures and Treasuries climbed. The euro rose against the dollar and the yen as investors sought higher yielding assets in the face of steady euro zone rates and potentially lower interest rates in the US.
The Federal Reserve, still working to combat the effects of a severe credit squeeze, said today it had auctioned another $50 billion to cash-strapped banks. The Fed auction marked the ninth in a series that began in December that so far have pumped $310 billion in short-term loans into the nation's banking system.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that potential losses from the credit crunch will reach $945bn and could be even higher. It says that losses are spreading from sub-prime mortgage assets to other sectors, such as commercial property, consumer credit, and company debt.
The IMF's Global Stability Report warns that "despite unprecedented intervention by major central banks, financial markets remain under considerable strain, now compounded by a more worrisome macroeconomic environment, weakly capitalised institutions, and broad-based deleveraging."
The IMF, which oversees the global economy, says that the effects of the credit crunch are likely to be "broader, deeper and more protracted" than in previous downturns, due to the "degree of securitisation and leverage in the financial system".
(And: IMF: Radical action needed)
Japan has joined the calls for co-ordinated action to tackle the credit crisis to be discussed at the G7 summit in Washington on Friday. The head of the International Monetary Fund has also called for co-ordinated action.
The International Monetary Fund has proposed selling some of its gold holdings as part of radical plans to shore up its troubled finances. It hopes to raise at least $6bn from the sale of 12.97 million ounces of gold, about 12% of the total held. As the IMF's role as a lender to troubled economies shrinks, so it needs to find other ways to access funds.
Russia is ready to join the World Trade Organization this year, President Elect Medvedev said at a conference with top executives of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
"We're really ready to joint the WTO and we can complete the process before the end of this year. However, we must join the organization on the normal condition of equality like all other countries do, not on the conditions of poor cousins."
Oil prices steadied today after jumping by almost $3 a barrel in the previous session on concerns about falling gasoline supplies and expectations that US interest rates will be cut again.
(And: Gas could hit $4)
The right-wing government of President Calderon is about to present a plan which opponents fear will entail the privatization of Mexico's government-owned petroleum industry. Battles are already developing within and between the major political parties about how to respond to this governmental plan.
It appears that the shell of the state oil company, PEMEX, would be preserved while one function after another is contracted out to major international monopolies.
What's behind the world food crisis? These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis. But there's another world crisis under way - and it's hurting a lot more people. I'm talking about the food crisis.
Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs have doubled or tripled, with much of the increase taking place just in the last few months. There have already been food riots around the world.
How did this happen? The answer is a combination of long-term trends, bad luck - and bad policy.
The run on rice is threatening to disrupt world food supplies as much as banks' lack of confidence in each other has seen global credit markets dry up. China, Egypt, Vietnam and India, representing more than a third of global rice exports, curbed sales this year, and Indonesia says it may do the same.
The price of rice, the staple food for half the world, rose 2% to a record $20.910 per 100lbs in Chicago, double the price a year ago and a fivefold increase from 2001.
[CFR Opinion Roundup][Newseum][Global Incident Map][Earthweek][Day-Night Map][Tonight's Sky][Moon phase]
The Higgs boson is often called "the God particle" because it would supply the crucial missing piece of the jigsaw of the so-called Standard Model by which scientists describe the building blocks of nature - namely, the reason why matter has mass.
Without mass, the Universe, and life, would be impossible. So particle physicists know the Higgs boson logically must exist, but they've never been able actually to identify one.
New Year's Day...
Today in Scripture
* "By the 1st day of the 1st month of Noah's 601st year, the water had dried up from the Earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry." (Gen 8:13) [WAR: I've been doing a daily count from when the rain started in the 2nd month, and today is/was the 313th day.]
* "This month is to be for you the 1st month, the 1st month of your year." (Exo 12:2)
* "Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the 1st day of the 1st month. ... So the tabernacle was set up on the 1st day of the 1st month in the 2nd year." (Exo 40:2,17)
* "They began the consecration on the 1st day of the 1st month..." (2Chr 29:17)
* "He had begun his journey from Babylon on the 1st day of the 1st month..." (Ezra 7:9)
* "And by the 1st day of the 1st month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women." (Ezra 10:17)
* "In the 27th year, in the 1st month on the 1st day, the word of YAHWEH came to me..." (Eze 29:17)
* "'This is what the Sovereign YAHWEH says: In the 1st month on the 1st day you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary." (Eze 45:18)
Tonight's sky
Tonight is a great night to view the young moon in the western twilight sky. This very young, very thin waxing crescent moon will be right next to the Pleiades within the 1st hour or so after dark.
[WAR: I hope some of you saw the beautiful new Moon hanging in the evening twilight, and night sky with the stars. The setting here in SE Arizona was perfect.]
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