Sunday

The Daily WAR (01-20)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
 
 
    The principles of solidarity and subsidiarity are the key to designing international rules and institutions that sustain development, the Holy See is proposing. This idea was affirmed in a note for discussion sent by the Vatican Secretariat of State as part of the preparations of the 12th UN Conference on Trade and Development. The paper mentioned a "crisis of multilateralism," noting in particular two criticisms of international organizations.
 
    The Holy See is asking for measures to keep the production of biofuels from bringing about increased food prices to the point of threatening starvation in many countries. The permanent observer of the Holy See at the Rome-based UN Organization for Food and Agriculture participated in the FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
    He proposed that the production of biofuels should not bring about a decrease in the production of agricultural products destined for the food market. He called on states to consider options, keeping in mind the "essential objective" of protecting and ensuring the right to food.
 
 
 
    A 2,000-year-old Roman gate thought to have been built by Emperor Nero has been discovered in the western German city of Cologne. The gate, and 11 metres of town wall alongside, were discovered by builders excavating Cologne's new metro line.
    Emperor Nero, who ruled from AD 54 to 68, had close links to Cologne because his famously beautiful but ruthless mother, Agrippina the Younger, was born there.
 
    While political parties are losing members and voter turnout is sinking, Germans are discovering direct democracy. Their referendums, such as this Sunday's on Tempelhof Airport, are beginning to make life difficult for politicians and the business community alike.
 
Der press
    German intelligence agents have been caught spying on a German journalist -- again. The controversy over e-mails collected from a Spiegel reporter has become a national scandal. Chancellor Merkel says her faith in her spy chief has been rattled, while German papers wonder if the service can be trusted at all and are upset that no one in the government was told about the breach in policy before Uhrlau made his apology.
 
    Diplomats fear the ongoing detention of a seemingly innocent German terror suspect by US forces in Afghanistan will develop into a major strain on trans-Atlantic relations. The case has developed into a diplomatic nightmare for US-German relations, because this time the Americans probably have the wrong man.
 
 
[Europress]    [Russopress]
 
Back to the future...
    Silvio Berlusconi's wife added her voice yesterday to the growing calls for Italy to be partitioned. In an interview with La Stampa, Veronica Lario said: "Italy has never been well-suited to being a single country, and has never matured enough to become one. There is no longer any value in a unified Italy."
    The prospect of a devolved Italy has grown significantly in recent weeks since the Northern League, a secessionist party, won strong support in the general election. Umberto Bossi, its volcanic leader, has repeatedly threatened to "take up arms" against the "corrupt" politicians in Rome who divert the wealth of Italy's North to the impoverished South.
    [WAR: "It would be a mistake to treat the Northern League as nothing but a xenophobic rightwing group. The party bears a stronger similarity to Germany's conservative Bavarian party the Christian Social Union than to France's far-right National Front." (Der Spiegel) And remember, northern Italy was part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which "died" in Bavaria.]
 
    The French Federation of Le Droit Humain represented by its president, Michel Payen, met on April 8, 2008 with the president of the European Commission, José-Manuel Barroso.
    This meeting constitutes a major event regarding the place of Freemasonry in the construction of Europe; this place was underscored not only by the interest and attentiveness that President Barroso showed to the delegation and the time he accorded them, but also by the commitments he made to the values espoused by liberal and adogmatic Freemasonry, its positions and its opinions on subjects of concern. It was the first time that Freemasonry, as such, was able to express itself to such a high level European institution.
 
    Groucho Marx once said that he did not care to belong to a club that accepted people like him as members. The European Union has a slightly different problem. Lots of countries want to get in, even though many of them, and indeed some that have already made it, are not fit to join.
    They seem to hope that EU membership will work miracles of its own, curing such ills as entrenched corruption, organised crime, judicial ineffectiveness and economic backwardness—all without their having to make painful reforms at home.
 
    The way the European Union draws up its trade policy baffles many outsiders, and it is about to get more complicated when new powers are granted to the European Parliament. The Lisbon Treaty is expected to come into effect next year, giving the legislature binding powers for the first time to approve or reject trade deals.
    It will also hand lawmakers a decision-making role on other aspects of the EU's common policy, potentially opening a new battlefield in the Continent's fight between free traders and states and industries that seek more protection from imports.
    "It's going to make things much more complicated. Many members of the European Parliament itself are concerned about what is going to happen."
    "Trade policy is going to be a lot higher-profile and more directly political as members of the European Parliament get their hands on one of the EU's main levers of power."
 
    The European Union hopes to launch talks on a wide-ranging political deal with Russia this week despite mounting tensions over trade, energy and foreign policy.
 
    The Serbian Orthodox Church urged its followers in an Easter message today to take a vow to defend Kosovo -- the ancient seat of the Serbian church and the Serbian medieval state.
    The head of the church and other top dignitaries said in the message that "Kosovo is part of every Orthodox Christian Serb's life. We are urging all, from scientists and politicians to the youngest and most modest sons and daughters of our nation, to deserve and preserve Kosovo with our work and honorable living."
 
 
 
    For thousands of years it has withstood fires, floods and earthquakes. But now a portion of Jerusalem's Western Wall is crumbling. The rabbi charged with watching over the structure has warned that a section repaired more than a century ago is again at risk of falling.
    The damage was discovered just before Passover as religious leaders cleared thousands of written prayers tucked into the stones of the wall.
 
    Israel is about to celebrate 60 years of human rights violations against the region, Palestinians and destruction of their ever diminishing lands, revelling, in effect on graves, ancient bulldozed groves and over half a century of decimation of dreams, homes, heritage.
 
    On the same week the Ben-Ami Kadish espionage affair  threatened to harm US-Israeli relations, the US Congress has passed a resolution in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary that describes the bond between the two countries and pledges to boost it in the future.
    In the resolution, the US "recognizes the historic significance of the 60th anniversary of the reestablishment of the sovereign and independent State of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people."
 
    Israel's rejection of Hamas' ceasefire proposals means a declaration of war, a senior leader of the Islamic movement said today. "The mutual lull is for the benefit of all sides in the region, including Israel, and if Tel Aviv rejected this calmness, this means it likes to declare a war and Hamas will be ready for this option and all other choices."
 
    Syrian President al-Assad denied in remarks published today that a site raided by Israel last year was a nuclear reactor under construction as charged by the US. Last September's Israeli air strike "hit a military site under construction, not a nuclear site as Israel and America claimed. Does it make sense that we would build a nuclear facility in the desert and not protect it with anti-aircraft defences? A nuclear site exposed to (spy) satellites, in the heart of Syria and in an open space? We don't want a nuclear bomb even if Iran acquires one. Where would we use it?... War in the region will effectively remain conventional."
 
    Syria's ambassador to the US said that the CIA fabricated pictures allegedly taken inside a secret Syrian nuclear reactor and predicted that in the coming weeks the US story about the site would "implode from within." "The photos presented to me yesterday were ludicrous, laughable."
 
    Mike Chinoy, from the Pacific Council on International Policy, says the claim needs to be taken in its political context, as North Korea's denuclearisation reaches a critical stage.
    "Everything I'm hearing from my own sources in Washington is that what you have now is a kind of push back by Vice-President Cheney and his office and other hardliners who are opposed to diplomatic dealings with North Korea. [They are] hoping that by making public these allegations of nuclear cooperation it will torpedo the diplomatic process."
 
 
    Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has called on British and American troops to stop arresting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, saying that their operations undermined his government's authority and were counter-productive.
    The stinging attack, made in an interview with the New York Times published Saturday, is the latest in a series of rows between Western governments with troops in Afghanistan and the elected leader of the country.
 
So as a result, he gets this...
    Afghan President Karzai survived an assassination attempt at a military parade in central Kabul today, when suspected Taliban insurgents fired mortars and bullets at the dignitaries assembled in the spectator stand.
 
 
 
    Iran's conservatives have consolidated their victory in the country's parliamentary elections, after taking more seats in a run-off. The first round had already given conservatives a big majority, but many are critical of President Ahmadinejad.
 
    By landing his plane in New Delhi on what was to have been a routine refueling stop, President Ahmadinejad has provoked a diplomatic contretemps between India and the US that reveals the fragility of their emerging alliance. New Delhi remains deeply wary over being seen to be doing Washington's bidding when it comes to dealing with other countries.
 
    A high-ranking Russian delegation headed by the secretary of Russia's National Security Council will arrive in Tehran tonight. The 2 sides will discuss cooperation on security issues between Tehran and Moscow, as well as international and regional developments.
 
    Even though US officials say they have gathered the most detailed evidence so far of Iranian involvement in training and arming fighters in Iraq, significant uncertainties remain about the extent of that involvement and the threat it may pose to US and Iraqi forces.
    Some intelligence and administration officials said Iran seemed to have carefully calibrated its involvement in Iraq over the past year, in contrast to what President Bush and other US officials have publicly portrayed as an intensified Iranian role.
 
    An article published in the Wall Street Journal on Friday reported, "Officials in Washington and Baghdad said the purported Iranian mortars, rockets and explosives had date stamps indicating they were manufactured in the past 2 months. The US plans to launch a public campaign over the alleged weapons caches in coming days."
 
    The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.
    Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be "extremely stressing" but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.
 
    Some reading this article will probably point out that "stories" of an attack on Iran have been floating around for a long time, but nothing has happened. This is true, reports of this nature have been going around for a long time, and nothing has happened (yet!).
    But it is no secret that the Bush administration have been trying very hard to make a case against Iran and hoping that others will support them (just as they did with Iraq). With Iraq, the 9/11 "attack" proved to be a turning point in getting the support needed, and a similar event might in theory produce the same results.
    Wouldn´t it be a strange coincidence if such an event should occur? As for the election, that will be cancelled, and George Bush will remain at the helm until the "emergency" is over.
 
Not smellling the coffee...
    Iran said today that a "disastrous situation" facing the US in Iraq and Afghanistan coupled with Washington's domestic issues made any US attack on the Islamic Republic unlikely.
    "We think it would be unlikely the Americans would take the decision to get themselves into a new fiasco, the consequences of which they themselves have acknowledged would be painful for the region and the world."
 
 
 
    The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, has echoed calls for Western leaders to be charged with war crimes over the illegal invasion of Iraq. Speaking at Imperial College in London, he singled out President Bush, Tony Blair and Australia's former prime minister John Howard as he wants to see them tried "in absence for war crimes committed in Iraq".
 
    Hillary Clinton's convincing victory over Barack Obama in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary ensures that the bitter contest for the Democratic presidential nomination will continue for weeks, if not months. More importantly, it highlights the crisis that is overtaking the party.
    The election revealed a party that is fracturing along racial, ethnic, gender and other demographic lines. It is becoming increasingly likely that significant forces within each of the camps will sit out the election if their candidate fails to obtain the nomination. But the party leadership seems overwhelmed and powerless to put a halt to the internal bloodletting.
    The primary contest has degenerated into a spectacle of political crisis laced with fraud and deceit. It has demonstrated how hopeless and delusional is the notion that the Democratic Party can serve as a vehicle for progressive social change.
 
    Could a strange substance found by an Ark-La-Tex man be part of secret government testing program?  That's the question at the heart of a phenomenon called "Chemtrails."  In a KSLA News 12 investigation, Reporter Jeff Ferrell shows us the results of testing we had done about what's in our skies.
 
 
 
    Investors raised their bets on higher interest rates Friday, dumping bonds in the belief that leading central banks were switching from nursing economies hobbled by a credit crisis to battling inflation.
    The main Japanese bond futures contract suffered its biggest daily fall in 5 years, prompting the Tokyo Stock Exchange to call a trading halt for the first time ever. The effects were felt by other fixed-income assets. Euro-zone government bonds initially fell Friday and US Treasury bonds took a hit in Asia and Europe.
 
    Investors who believe that financial markets have a reached a turning point will get to test the thesis this week with the latest on central bank thinking, major corporate earnings and US and European economic health.
    The renewed risk appetite is fragile, making this week's checklist of monetary policy, economic data and corporate profitability potentially something of a watershed.
 
Is America's aggressive monetary easing about to end?
    Yet another big rate cut: until recently that is exactly what many investors were expecting of the Federal Reserve's next policymaking get-together on April 29th and 30th. After all, bold rate cuts have become the Fed's hallmark.
    No longer. Expectations have shrivelled in recent days, and the price of Fed funds futures now imply that investors see no chance of a half-point cut and an almost 20% likelihood of no cut at all.
 
Sociopathic Economics, Denial, and the Weakening Dollar
    Caligula Bush still in denial about the R word, sociopaths running the economy, the disconnect between news and reality, puffed up markets, fairy tales, three times the jail term for USA...
 
Manipulations in time of War and Hunger
    The Fed pumps out reserve notes, elitist politics position to control, no new petro refineries since the 70s wtf? GM food and bio fuel scams, food price rise is an orchestrated scam based on currency manipulation, news from the Plunge Protection Team, disinformation in WSJ, no victory in Iraq, so blame Iran...
 
    Not since the siege of Leningrad have so many felt so trapped. The Coping Classes may not be eating sawdust, but our noses are being shoved in the dirt.
    Just as the Inuit have scores of words for snow, so the fiscal crisis has spawned a flurry of fresh terms for the nouveau pauvre. A summit on Wednesday addressed the plight of the "fuel poor", but we're all in there somewhere. None of us is immune. Read on - and weep.
 
    Roughly 58% of Nigeria's oil pumping capacity remained shut Saturday following an ongoing oil worker's strike and a series of recent militant attacks on energy infrastructure in Africa's biggest crude producing nation.
 
    On top of record-breaking rice prices and corn through the roof, wheat is now rusting in the fields across Africa. Officials fear near total crop losses, and the fungus, known as Ug99, is spreading.
    Wheat prices have been soaring this week on top of already high prices, and futures contracts spiked, too, on panic buying. Experts fear the cost of bread could soon follow the path of rice, the price of which has triggered riots in some countries and prompted countries to cut off exports.
    "The ramifications are serious. Food rioting continues to expand around the world. We saw the most recent in Johannesburg. So far this unrest has been directed at rising prices. Actual shortages are still to come."
 
    As the price of food continues to soar, the impact is being felt by people around the globe.
 
 
 
    Thousands of people in Africa will be paid to avoid unsafe sex, under a groundbreaking World Bank-backed experiment aimed at halting the spread of AIDS. The $1.8m trial – to be launched this year – will counsel 3,000 men and women aged 15-30 in southern rural Tanzania over 3 years, paying them on condition that periodic laboratory test results prove they have not contracted sexually transmitted infections.
    [WAR: As I've been saying for years, the AIDS agenda is all about population control -- getting all those "dark 3rd-World people" to wear condoms, so that they will quit having so many babies.]
 
 
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