Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Vietnam Whoring around?,..
A Vatican delegation is expected in the "near future" in Vietnam for a visit that might lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations, the AsiaNews service reports. Diplomatic relations would benefit both Vietnam-- a country that is opening up to the world-- and the Holy See, which could address issues like religious freedom and fundamental human rights.
On April 30, former German President Roman Herzog appeared at a conference in the press centre of the German parliament alongside the former Social Democratic Party (SPD) "super-minister," Wolfgang Clement, to publicise the latest book produced by the "Citizens' Convent".
The Citizens' Convent is a right-wing think tank whose membership includes some of the most prominent members of the German political, business and banking establishment.
The comments made by Herzog (Christian Democratic Union) and others at the press conference in Berlin clearly demonstrated that the Citizens' Convent is intent on stepping up pressure on the German grand coalition government to proceed more ruthlessly with the attacks on jobs, welfare and social conditions.
At the same time, the Convent is critical of the country's political establishment and, first and foremost, the current coalition government for being far too hesitant in pushing ahead with far-reaching changes to Germany's political system.
Chancellor Merkel's conservative bloc Monday initiated a major debate over Germany's interests as it called for the establishment of a National Security Council to oversee the ministries and agencies responsible for implementing domestic and foreign policies.
It was the first time that a German governing party had called for such a council and published a strategy document that attempted to set out the country's national interests and how it intended to pursue those interests both in the context of the European Union and the trans-Atlantic alliance.
The 19-page paper, "A Security Strategy for Germany," says the country faces 5 main challenges: the fight against terrorism, nuclear proliferation, energy and pipeline security, climate change and the prevention of conflicts.
Until now, defining Germany's interests has been confined to research institutes. Indeed, successive governments have shied away from discussing national interests. They did not want to be seen to be exerting a strong national identity because of Germany's Nazi past.
Besides, for decades, its national interests were anchored to the integration of the EU and the trans-Atlantic alliance represented by NATO.
(And: NSC plans rile coalition)
Angela Merkel's CDU party is about to unveil a major new foreign policy platform -- and it's already drawing heated criticism in Berlin. Other major political parties fear it would mark an "Americanization" of the country's security policy -- with the possibility of "American-style" mistakes.
Nor should they...
A new survey reveals that most Germans feel their country has no special responsibility for Israel, despite Germany's official foreign policy of support for Israel. And only 13% of Germans are in favor of providing military support to Israel if the country came under attack.
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier on Monday urged accelerated efforts for the creation of a joint European military force, news reports said. The merging of military capacities should in the end lead to a European Union army, Steinmeier said during a security congress of his Social Democratic Party faction in Berlin.
The SPD leader pointed out that the new EU reform treaty allowed individual EU member states to press ahead in the sphere of European foreign and defense policy. He stressed France was a key partner for Germany in the area of merging military capacities.
The Irish government's official campaign in favour of the EU's Lisbon Treaty has been dealt a blow following the decision by a major union to speak out against the document. The union took the stance on the back of recent judgements by the EU's highest court which he said had shown that the pendulum had "swung against workers' rights and in favour of big business.
In a Spiegel interview, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn discusses the potential for his diminutive country's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to become the president of the European Council, the body that represents the 27 EU member states. Juncker is the candidate favored by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The EU's monetary affairs commissioner has called for far-reaching new powers for the European Commission. He would like Brussels to have greater control over economic policy in euro zone countries -- and even wants its members to speak with one voice on the international stage.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence was a mistake as was the EU's recognition of it.
Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of Georgia said today. Georgia, a vital energy transit route in the Caucasus region, has angered Russia, its former Soviet master with which it shares a land border, by seeking NATO membership.
President Putin on Monday signed into law limits on foreign investment in key sectors of the Russian economy in one of his last acts before stepping down on Wednesday. Putin signed the law on "The conditions for foreign investment in economic enterprises with strategic importance for the defence of the country and the security of the state" on Monday.
(Cartoon: No, Mr Putin's not in...)
Leading Kadima figures started talking about their party's future yesterday, 4 days after the latest probe of Prime Minister Olmert became known with speculation the suspicions against him would not allow him to remain in office.
Palestinian Authority officials said Monday that Israel was offering the Palestinians nothing more than a "mini-state of cantons" in parts of the West Bank. They told The Jerusalem Post that Israel's proposals were "completely unacceptable" and "provocative." They also claimed that the US Administration was supporting the Israeli position.
Lebanon's opposition Christian hardliner General Michel Aoun has called for demonstrations on Wednesday to topple the western-backed government of Premier Fouad Siniora and praised the activities of the militant Islamic group Hezbollah.
The Iraq war won't end, but in the Pentagon they're already arguing about the next one.
Kurdish rebels could launch suicide attacks against American interests to punish the US for sharing intelligence with Turkey after Turkey bombed rebel bases, a spokeswoman for a wing of a rebel group warned.
"We have changed our stand toward the United States government and we are standing against them now. Maybe some day ... individual combatants might launch suicide attacks inside Iraq and Turkey, and even against American interests."
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf asked France on Monday for military help to calm the chaos that has reigned in his country for almost 2 decades. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Paris would offer logistical and maritime support as part of international efforts to combat piracy along the Horn of Africa, but ruled out sending any ground troops.
The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad says Tehran has handed over a group of al-Qaeda terrorists who were captured in Iran to their countries.
An Iranian envoy said Monday his government will not submit to extensive nuclear inspections while Israel stays outside the global treaty to curb the spread of atomic weapons. "The existing double standard shall not be tolerated anymore by non-nuclear-weapon states."
Statements made by the UK foreign secretary following Iran-6 talks in London on May 2 do not reflect the opinion of all the participants, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"David Miliband's statement reflects his own point of view rather than the collective opinion of the Iran-6, at least, it does not reflect our [Russia's] position. There was no discussion of new threats allegedly posed by the Iranian nuclear program or new approaches toward Iran during the recent ministerial meeting."
The war drums are again beating. The bad guys' list, which is remarkably similar to a roll call of Israel's enemies, seems to have expanded both vertically and horizontally.
The critique of Iran has sharpened and intensified and new friends of Iran have been discovered in Afghanistan and Gaza. Even Venezuela is accused of being a tad too close to the mullahs. Lest there be any misunderstanding, doing business or even talking nice with Iran will not be tolerated.
And there is no hope from the Democrats. Barack will do whatever it takes to make The Lobby like him, and Hillary's finger is already on the trigger. Eighty million Iranians will be obliterated as soon as that 3:00AM phone call comes in. One presumes that John McCain will not even wait for the phone call.
(And: Candidates on Iran)
We are likely headed either for negotiations with Iran or war, after Bush returns from the 60th anniversary celebration of Israel's birth.
Three weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks, former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of not only removing the Saddam Hussein regime by force but overturning the regimes in Iran, Syria, and 4 other countries in the Middle East.
This aggressive aim of remaking the map of the Middle East by military force and the threat of force was supported explicitly by the country's top military leaders.
Gen. Wesley Clark recalls in his 2003 book Winning Modern Wars being told by a friend in the Pentagon in November 2001 that the list of states that Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz wanted to take down included Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia.
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who was among the original experts to question Bush Administration claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, now says he believes an attack on Iran is a "virtual guarantee."
John Bolton, America's ex-ambassador to the UN, has called for US air strikes on Iranian camps where insurgents are trained for war in Iraq. He said that striking Iran would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq.
On Sunday, 5,500 sailors and Marines left San Diego on a 6-ship convoy, though no one would say where they were headed. In a brief news conference, Navy Capt. Jonathan Padfield said he had not been told the ships' destination.
Former NSA analyst and Navy intelligence officer Wayne Madsen tells the The Alex Jones Show that one of the key motives behind the DC Madam's murder may have been the information her call girls picked up from Washington's top brass concerning foreknowledge and government complicity in the 9/11 attacks.
Madsen also connected another suspicious death - that of former CIA agent Roland Carnaby who was gunned down by Houston police last week - to another individual who was involved in both the 9/11 cover-up and the DC Madam scandal, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Madsen added that most of Palfrey's call girls had been active around the area of McLean Virginia, which is where the CIA and other intelligence agencies are based and where Dick Cheney lived at the time.
Host Alex Jones recalled that during interviews Palfrey had told him that her escort service was in fact being used as an intelligence operation to gather intelligence on individuals who used the service, particularly those connected to the military.
The meetings of the G8 and the World Economic Forum in Davos are the focus of massive attention from the media and no-global movements. Those of the Trilateral Commission, far more crucial, take place in almost complete media silence.
No one knows when they take place, no one talks about them, and no one protests against this private body for planning global politics, consisting of the political and economic elite of the US, Europe, and Japan.
Two hundred heads of state, government ministers, bankers, directors of multinational corporations, economists, and generals meet every year for 4 days in one of the cities of the triad to decide, behind closed doors, the guidelines for the international politics and economics that the member governments are to follow.
This year the meeting was held in Washington, beginning on April 25th and ending on the 28th.
We will now see the elements of the fascist society emerge – point by point. First we must note one important difference between Communism and Fascism which becomes clear here.
Socialism has a definite philosophy, based upon clearly enunciated principles which had long been debated and were widely understood. Socialists disagreed among themselves on certain points and upon programs of action. But socialism as a system of social structure with an organized body of doctrine was well understood.
This was not true of Fascism. Whether it was capitalist or anticapitalist, labor or antilabor, no one could say until the leaders themselves decided upon a course of action. It was improvised as the movement went along.
What a difference a year makes. A divorce from his 2nd wife and the subsequent marriage to Carla Bruni have not helped President Sarkozy's popularity, but the bigger problem seems to be disappointment with the French economy.
As the euro began to make life difficult for exporters, fuel costs soared, and growth began to slow, Sarkozy was unable to do what the French public demand of a government when they are in trouble—bail them out!
(And: Hopes in Sarkozy plummet)
Swiss bank UBS, hard hit by the US subprime crisis, reported a 1st-quarter loss of $10.97 billion and said it will slash almost 7% of its work force. The company also said it would unload $15 billion in subprime and other mortgage-based securities from its portfolio.
Fannie Mae, the largest provider of US home financing, on Tuesday reported its 3rd straight quarterly loss as the US housing crisis took another turn for the worse during the 1st quarter of 2008.
The federally chartered company also said it would reduce its common stock dividend beginning with its 3rd-quarter payout as it sees significant credit losses stretching into 2009. It will raise $6 billion in new capital through public securities offerings, it said in a regulatory filing.
Fannie Mae posted a net loss, after payment of preferred dividends, of $2.51 billion, or $2.57 per share, for the 1st quarter. That comes on the heels of a record $3.6 billion loss in the 4th quarter.
As home prices continue their free fall and banks shy away from lending, Washington officials have increasingly relied on 2 giant mortgage companies — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — to keep the housing market afloat.
But with mortgage defaults and foreclosures rising, Bush administration officials, regulators and lawmakers are nervously asking whether these 2 companies, would-be saviors of the housing market, will soon need saving themselves.
A rising tide of late mortgage payments and home foreclosures poses considerable dangers to the national economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned anew as he urged Congress to take additional steps to alleviate the problems.
"High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy. Therefore, doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It's in everybody's interest."
After years of weakness, the US currency may be at a turning point. Who would gain -- and lose -- from a greenback comeback?
Experts have described the Russian ruble as the world's most promising currency. World's leading banks recommended to snap up Russian rubles, since under the current conditions it is one of the most lucrative investments, Bloomberg said.
The recommendations are based on expectations that Russia's new President Medvedev will take a course for strengthening the ruble against the world's currencies.
Oil futures blasted to a new record of $122 a barrel today, gaining momentum as investors bought on a forecast of much higher prices and on any news hinting at supply shortages. Retail gas prices edged lower, but appear poised to rise to new records of their own in coming weeks.
A report by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecasts that oil prices will reach $150-$200 a barrel within 2 years, a figure in line with the ultra-elite Bilderberg's plans to squeeze the middle class and lower the living standards of westerners.
"Crude oil may rise to between $150 and $200 a barrel within 2 years as growth in supply fails to keep pace with increased demand from developing nations. The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next 6-24 months."
(And: Original Bloomberg article)
As soaring petroleum prices bring recession home to US consumers, the fact that much of our oil comes from unstable parts of the globe means things can only get worse in the months and years ahead.
Exxon's enormous gains from the US keep growing
Apparently, Exxon could have made more profit, had it not chosen to hold back further gas price hikes. Instead, earnings in its refining business (which converts crude oil to gallons of useable gas) weren't as strong as it had wanted. Yes, that's right - Exxon would have made even more money had they passed more pain onto the public. They were just being "nice." Right.
The speakers at a seminar called for improved domestic policy-making and implementation mechanisms to deal with ongoing unbridled price-hikes and food crisis in the country. They alarmed the current crisis would further worsen if the government failed to come up with an informed policy and decisions, the majority of the people particularly the poor would be the greater sufferer.
Indian politicians have lambasted President Bush for saying the South Asian country's increasing prosperity is partly to blame for the rising price of food around the world.
The defense minister called Bush's comments a "cruel joke" and the Hindu nationalist opposition, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, threatened Monday to force a parliamentary debate on the matter.
Soaring food prices could push millions of people in Asia back into poverty and lead to social unrest, regional leaders warned Sunday at the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting in Spain.
[CFR Opinion Roundup][Newseum][Global Incident Map][Earthweek][Day-Night Map][Tonight's Sky][Moon phase]
For northern hemisphere viewers, a grand attraction adorns the western sky shortly after sunset. The slender waxing crescent moon partners up with the planet Mercury at dusk and early evening. Scan the moon with binoculars to witness the soft glow of earthshine on the dark side of the moon!
(And: Sky map)
[WAR: I looked for, but didn't see any crescent yesterday evening. Even if there was one, it wouldn't have been the "new moon". The crescent tonight will be the "new moon" -- that reigns together with the stars. So tomorrow will be the 1st day of the 2nd month. And no binoculars are necessary to see the earthshine.]
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