Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Pope Benedict XVI today said Christians must help to ease the global food crisis which has seen soaring prices increase hunger in many poor countries. "Those who nourish themselves with the bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent in the face of those who, even in our days, lack daily bread."
Ending a 5-day Catholic convention in Germany today, the country's top bishop charged that Germans were turning into a nation of people demanding things instead of giving.
"The first issue shouldn't be, what do I expect from society, what can others do for me? The first issue is, what can I do for others, for society, for the church? In this country we are in danger of becoming a society of 'I want.'"
He said Christianity liberated people from "selfish regard for themselves" in favor of social solidarity.
Some conservative leaders warned Chancellor Merkel's grand coalition government could be in jeopardy if the Social Democrats nominate on Monday their own candidate for the ceremonial office of president.
The Christian Social Union is most vocal in criticizing the SPD. "If the SPD nominates Schwan it will be the end of the grand coalition," said a senior member of parliament for the CSU. "I don't know how this government will be able to hold on until the next election later next year."
"I'm coming to the conclusion it needs to be ended sooner rather than later," CSU deputy Stefan Mueller told Der Spiegel magazine. "A lot of people in Germany believe a quick end to the grand coalition would be better than 18 lost months."
An argument about tax cuts causes divisions within as well as between parties
The fuss was stirred by the Christian Social Union. Fearful that its 5-decade grip on power may be loosened in September's state election, the CSU called for tax breaks that would give low- and middle-income workers "more net from gross pay", starting next year.
Most CDU deputies have since joined their Bavarian colleagues in a plea for rapid tax cuts. And the economy minister, the CSU's Michael Glos, has become the first cabinet member to suggest that the balanced-budget target is not sacrosanct.
Press review
President Köhler has announced that he would seek a 2nd 5-year term. But with the Social Democrats weighing a challenge, German commentators say that the country could be in for a nasty fight.
Sky's falling...
In her weekly video message to the nation, Chancellor Merkel warned that there was all life on earth was in danger unless more action was taken to prevent the growing extinction of species around the world.
[Europress] [Russopress]
A leading Italian neo-fascist with a 9-year conviction for conspiracy after the bombing of Bologna train station in 1980 has taken a seat in the European Parliament.
(And: This week in the EU)
Serbia's ultra-nationalists
The next Serbian government could include the leader of the ultra-nationalists. In an interview with Spiegel Online, he shows himself uncompromising on the question of Kosovo and even raises the spectre of a new war in the Balkans.
They have bickered over NATO expansion, energy prices and how to commemorate a 1930s mass famine. Now, an old Soviet land swap is at the heart of a new diplomatic dispute between Russia and Ukraine. At issue this week has been the fate of a Russian naval base in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol.
Three or 4 times a year, as if on cue to feed a public purposefully kept hungry for unfounded diatribes against the "them" which creates the "us", a media outlet from the west in general and Britain in particular carries aggressive and nonsensical remarks about Russia.
This momentarily diverts the attention away from the ever more catastrophic state of affairs in these countries, while Russia's economy grows in leaps and bounds.
Syria will not accept preconditions over its resumed peace talks with Israel and will not compromise its relations with other states, the government daily Tishrin said on Saturday, referring to Iran.
The leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed on Saturday to carry on fighting NATO and US-led forces in Afghanistan regardless of negotiations for a peace deal with the government of Pakistan.
"Fighting between the Taliban and Pakistan is harming Islam and Pakistan. This fighting should come to an end immediately. Islam does not recognise frontiers and boundaries. Jihad in Afghanistan will continue."
(Op-ed: How the "good war" could fail)
The distance between the rival armies is shorter than the barrel of a gun. Hundreds of opposing troops are lined up on the border, staring each other down, from just inches away. A David versus David battle is shaping up here, with 2 of Africa's tiniest nations squaring off over a few piles of uninhabited sand.
The problem is, that sand happens to lie in a very strategic spot, at the mouth of the Red Sea. A war here could imperil some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and alter the precarious balance of power in the Horn of Africa.
The battle between Iran and the US/Israel bloc is a troubling situation for Arab and European states. This confrontation poses a serious dilemma for the Arab world, and especially for Saudi Arabia and its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Is a clash between Iran and the US/ Israel bloc in the Arab interest? Or could it well be, on the contrary, a very grave danger?
The Europeans, in turn, are watching the U.S.-Iranian confrontation with great anxiety. If Iran is prevented from developing its huge gas reserves, said to be the second largest in the world, Europe will be more than ever dependent on Gazprom, Russia's gas giant.
Israel's argument -- which is little short of blackmail -- is that if the international community fails to stop Iran's nuclear activities, Israel will have no choice but to strike.
Speculation is growing that the Jewish state will seriously consider unilateral military action against Iran within the next year. Israeli intelligence is now estimating that Iran will master centrifuge technology and be able to begin enriching uranium by the end of this year, 12 months ahead of schedule.
The Neocons would have already attacked Iran, but those patriots fighting to save America from the fascists and warmongers have successfully warded off the attack so far. The Neocons have gotten busted in so many lies and illegal acts, that they have had to push back their timetable somewhat for an attack against Iran.
But trying to argue that they are not still hell-bent on bombing Iran is like the rancher's neighbors saying that the mountain lion has only pacifist intentions towards the sheep.
President Bush and his tag-along buddy John McCain are repeating almost word for word about Iran the pattern of lies and threats they used to justify the war against Iraq. Bush makes speeches as if he's never heard of any intelligence agencies. That's what worries me about him. His words very often defy and contradict reality.
This guy might actually launch an attack on Iran before his term expires. If he does, you can kiss the world economy goodbye. You don't like $4-a-gallon gas? How about $10 a gallon?
Just as you thought the chances of the US going to war with Iran were diminishing, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, goes to Israel, presumably to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of al-Nakba, but also to discuss "the threat posed by Iran" to Israel.
According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Olmert told Pelosi that the international community "needed to take more drastic steps to stop Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons." What efforts to obtain nuclear weapons?
Will our next[?] president be willing to blockade Iran, to starve Iranian women and children, to effectively launch a war against Iran because the Likudnik paranoids, here and abroad, consider Iran's Safeguarded nuclear programs a "threat" to Israel?
In Churchill, Hitler and 'The Unnecessary War': How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, I will argue that it was colossal blunders of British statesmen, Winston Churchill foremost among them, that turned 2 European wars into world wars that may yet prove the mortal wounds of the West.
In the past few months, President Sarkozy has announced the 1st French military base in the Middle East, christened his country's costliest nuclear submarine and advocated returning troops to NATO command.
Sarkozy's efforts to project the image of a militarily powerful France reasserting itself on the global security stage mask a behind-the-scenes struggle over withering defense budgets that threaten to reduce combat-ready forces by as much as 40%, sideline major new weapons programs and eliminate bases in Africa.
Gore Vidal says America has forgotten its constitutional roots.
(Video: The chemical dumbing down of America)
Clinton's remark is simply politics as usual. Assassination is part of the political mix, especially here in the US. Here is the reality behind Clinton's remark — political crime families, like Cosa Nostra crime families, on occasion kill the competition.
Last October, the elite's enthusiasm for Hillary was revealed when Lynn Forester de Rothschild, wife of Sir Evelyn Rothschild, said "Hillary will be good for America," that is to say good for Rothschild and the elite. Lord Rothschild supports John McCain, but then there really is little difference between McCain and Clinton.
As for Obama, he is considered an outsider, never mind he is supported by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Trilateral Commission, and the Ford Foundation. Call it a New World Order family feud. And like the legendary Hatfield-McCoy family feud, people may end up dead.
Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare.
These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.
Markets in peril of coming down, Inflation threatens to destroy consumers, bonds without a market are worthless, the bane of a privately owned central bank, truckers threaten action, hedges blow up, Bush spreads manure on White House Lawn ...
The next move in UK interest rates may have to be up rather than down, the world's leading economic authority has said in a further blow to struggling households.
Double-digit price rises are about to afflict two-thirds of the world's population
Loose money in America and rigid exchange rates in emerging economies are a perilous mix.
(And: An old enemy rears its head)
Pessimists used to wear a sandwich board announcing "the end is nigh"; now they just set up a website. [;-)] And Jeremiahs are no longer solitary figures, particularly when it comes to the housing market.
This is reality, energy is in the hands of profiteers and has lost touch with the real expenses. There is no logic here – Davor Stern (former director of Croatia's largest oil company INA, as well as an oil expert) told us in a telephone conversation.
He stresses that the market itself has some sort of logic, however, the current situation is in a state of psychosis. "By summer we can expect oil prices of $200 per barrel, and that is not the opinion of the trade, but my own prediction. It is impossible to give any projections of the prices, but one thing is certain, the sky is the limit."
(And: If $4 gas is bad, just wait)
The Rockefeller family confronts the board of Exxon Mobil
Of the 78 adult direct descendants of John D. Rockefeller Jr, 72 have endorsed a resolution to split the jobs of chairman and CEO at Exxon Mobil, which eventually emerged from the antitrust break-up of the family oil monopoly, Standard Oil. Exxon strongly opposes the resolution.
OPEC chief Abdala El Badri on Thursday said members were unhappy with surging prices he blamed on speculators and a weak US dollar. "We are not very happy with this increase in oil prices. Volatility has nothing to do with the fundamentals. It has nothing to do with world demand," he said, stressing that a dropping dollar was driving prices higher.
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A mission to discover the wreck of the Titanic was actually a cover a story for examining the remains of 2 Cold War nuclear submarines, the man who located the liner has revealed. He has admitted that he had to locate and inspect the remains of the vessels, which sank during the 1960s, in a top secret mission for the US Navy before he was allowed to look for the Titanic.
When USS Thresher and USS Scorpion sank, more than 200 men lost their lives and suspicions were raised that at least one of them, Scorpion, had been sunk by the USSR.
Today in Scripture
"Each morning everyone gathered as much [manna] as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away." (Exo 16:21)
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