Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
In a message to a UN conference on food, Pope Benedict XVI said that "hunger and malnutrition are unacceptable" in today's world. "The great challenge of today is to globalize not just economic and commercial interests, but also the call for solidarity," he said in his message to the FAO meeting.
He acknowledged the role for agricultural advances in increasing the food supply, but argued that technical solutions "are not enough to meet shortfalls in food." The most pressing problem, he said, is not increasing production, but "effective distribution of that production."
He said that every human being has a right to life, and that right implies the accompanying right to the things necessary to sustain life. Thus the "primary right to food is intrinsically linked to the safeguarding and defense of human life," he concluded.
(And: Full text of address)
(Cartoon: 1 solution to world food crisis)
Pope Benedict XVI was unable to meet with heads of state who were in Rome this week "because of the number of requests, the limited time available, and prior commitments," according to a statement released by the Vatican press office.
The press office reminded journalists that in April 2006, the Secretariat of State had announced a new policy regarding papal audiences, saying that Pope Benedict could not routinely grant requests for meetings with government leaders attending international conferences.
(And: B16 not avoiding Ahmadinejad)
Germany's biggest-selling newspaper has printed a guide to help readers going abroad to avoid British tourists.
The German government decided today to give police more rights to monitor homes and phones, fueling a heated debate about privacy laws in a country shocked by a snooping scandal at Deutsche Telekom.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the draft law, which still must be approved by Parliament, would strengthen the means available to Germany's Federal Crime Office (BKA) to investigate terrorist suspects and fight international crime.
No business like Shoa business...
Through the sale of property Nazis stole from Jews in eastern Germany that was later signed over to the organization, the Jewish Claims Conference has made a profit of about $2.5 billion. But not all of that money has been given to Holocaust survivors. Criticism of the powerful organization is growing in Israel and many are calling for greater transparency.
Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish scholar who has taught political science at City University of New York (Hunter College) and DePaul University in Chicago, says in his book, The Holocaust Industry, that "invoking The Holocaust" is "a ploy to delegitimize all criticism of Jews."
"By conferring total blamelessness on Jews, the Holocaust dogma immunizes Israel and American Jewry from legitimate censure ... Organized Jewry has exploited the Nazi holocaust to deflect criticism of Israel's and its own morally indefensible policies."
He writes of the brazen "shakedown" of Germany, Switzerland and other countries by Israel and organized Jewry "to extort billions of dollars." "The Holocaust," he predicts, "may yet turn out to be the 'greatest robbery in the history of mankind'."
A shroud of secrecy will be drawn over the workings of the European Union under new proposals to limit access to documents and in some cases deny that they even exist, the European Ombudsman cautioned in a strongly worded attack.
The European Parliament is seeking to bolster its role in the bloc's common foreign and security policy, with senior MEPs saying it is time for Europe to become a "player and not just a payer" on the world stage.
Turkey on Tuesday slammed a French reform project making a referendum obligatory for accepting new EU members, saying it was aimed at raising new barriers to Ankara's bid to join the bloc.
President Medvedev dismissed Russia's top military officer Tuesday in an apparent effort to assert Kremlin control over the armed forces and smooth the path for reforms.
The chief of general staff and other top brass have clashed with Russia's civilian defense minister, who was appointed by former President Putin last year with a mandate to streamline the military's finances, cut corruption and fight graft in the Defense Ministry.
For Israelis, the past month has been one of celebration marking 60 years since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. Culminating on June 2 with Jerusalem Day, the national holiday commemorates Israel's annexation of the Old City after the Six-Day War, a move declared illegal by the UN.
Syria's official press lashed out at the US and Israel on Tuesday over claims it was building a secret nuclear reactor, and said the Jewish state's own atomic facilities should be subject to international inspection.
A leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) today threatened to storm Egyptian border if Israeli blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip remains in place.
The lack of institutionalised government in Egypt means that future change could take any form between autocracy and revolution.
The US suspended talks with Sudan on normalising relations on Tuesday, saying leaders from the north and south were not serious about ending clashes that have stoked fears of a return to civil war. At stake in Abyei is control of lucrative oilfields and a pipeline supplying about half Sudan's daily 500,000 barrel output.
Iranian shelling of 5 villages in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq close to the Iranian border wounded at least 2 people today.
President Ahmadinejad says after 60 years the time has come for Israel's 'black box' to be opened to the world. "It's about time that we opened the Zionist regime's black box and revealed its secrets. What is the closely guarded secret, locked away in this phony regime's past which compels some governments to support it unconditionally? Why do they turn a blind eye on human rights violations committed by the regime?
Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz says Iran has the right to achieve nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The Israeli air force has fine-tuned aerial bombardments of Iran's key nuclear facilities. But these number at least 27 that are widely scattered, and built underground close to population centers.
Iran would then assume that such an operation could not take place without a green light from the White House. And the mullahs' formidable retaliatory capabilities with asymmetric warfare would then target the US and its Persian Gulf allies. Oil at $400 a barrel wouldn't take long.
After the fiasco of US policy in Iraq, Fischer and an influential layer of the German political and business elite fear that Israel, in alliance with the US, is threatening to plunge the entire Middle East into a military and political maelstrom with barely imaginable consequences.
Germany's current Foreign Minister is currently touring the Middle East. Following a stop in Lebanon, he went on to visit Israel. While maintaining the front of a unified position within the ruling German coalition, Steinmeier is evidently intent on developing a German-led European axis intent on a diplomatic solution to the issue of Iranian uranium enrichment, as opposed to the increasingly warlike rhetoric from Tel Aviv and Washington.
The US and Israel said Tuesday the rest of the world isn't doing enough to stop Iran from getting the bomb and accused Iran of continuing a covert drive for nuclear weapons.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israel's embattled leader, Prime Minister Olmert, both used speeches to a pro-Israel lobbying group to complain that European and other nations are undermining the hard line against Iran's nuclear program by pursuing business relationships with Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert said on Tuesday that Iran's quest for nuclear capacity must be stopped by all possible means, and urged the world to warn Tehran of its devastating repercussions. "The Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means. International economic and political sanctions on Iran, as crucial as they may be, are only an initial step, and must be dramatically increased."
Israeli foreign minister Livni says a military option to halt 'Teheran's nuclear ambitions' will Not be taken off the table. "Iran needs to understand that the threat of military action exists and has Not been taken off the table. The time for a decision is Now" and "any hesitation" in action against Iran creates an impression that "Israel and international community" are weak, she claimed.
For many months, the propaganda line that explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) that could penetrate US armored vehicles were coming straight from Iran has been embraced publicly by the entire Bush administration.
Vice President Dick Cheney was able to get around objections and get his Iranian EFP line accepted only because of arrangements he and Bush made with General David Petraeus before he took command of US forces in Iraq. Cheney will continue to use his alliance with Petraeus to advance his proposal for an attack on Quds Force bases in Iran.
Should Barack Obama win in November, many think that Republican Senator -- and Bush critic -- Chuck Hagel could become part of his cabinet. Spiegel spoke with him about the current administration's mistakes and the disarray in his own party.
The Bush administration responded to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon with an assault on US civil liberty that Bush justified in the name of the "war on terror." The government assured us that the draconian measures apply only to "terrorists." The word terrorist, however, was not defined.
They're all here - and they're all ready to party. Such star power wattage, a Washington version of the Oscars, is the stock in trade of AIPAC. McCain opened this year's AIPAC jamboree; Clinton and Obama are closing it today.
(And: Inside the US-Israel lobby)
(And: John McAIPAC)
The idea that Obama is going to save us from World War IV, as the neocons gleefully refer to the impending conflict, is, it turns out, a pipe dream. If Bush takes the hint and imposes a military blockade, will Obama get on board, or will he stand up to the War Party? I'm not betting the ranch on it.
Lyndon LaRouche today denounced Democratic National Committee Chairman and George Soros/London stooge Howard "Scream" Dean, for conducting a flagrantly fraudulent operation, against the vital interests of the US and civilization as a whole.
By steering the Democratic Party Rules Committee to take the fraudulent action of literally stealing Hillary Clinton delegates in Michigan and Florida, and disenfranchising millions of citizens of equal representation, in order to impose a loser candidate, Barack Obama, on the Democratic Party, against the will of the American people, Dean has shown his true colors.
LaRouche declared that "Dean and company have conducted what must be assessed in its consequences as a fraudulent operation against the vital interests of the US. "This is not an issue of which, among two candidates, to back. It is an issue of fraud against the US Constitution and relevant laws."
Republicans are preparing to save Hillary Clinton's doomed bid for the Democratic nomination and answer the question of why she has refused to concede a losing race, with the release of a shocking video tape featuring Michelle Obama going off on a racist rant.
The tape allegedly shows Obama's wife, sitting on a panel with Louis Farrakhan, making racist remarks about white Americans and using the term "whitey" during a speech at the then Jeremiah Wright-helmed Trinity United Church of Christ.
Either candidacy could implode instantly, at any time, as the result of a gaffe or some unguarded moment.
(And: World welcomes Obama win)
Divided we fall...
The Republican Party and its presidential candidate John McCain are preparing to wage their 2008 campaign on the same essential issue that the Republicans have used to contest the last 3 national elections: terror.
The drumbeat over terrorism has a very definite purpose. The 2008 elections are being held under conditions of bitter divisions within the US ruling elite itself over the future of American policy.
Sharp opposition has emerged within ruling circles to a continuation of the course set by the Bush administration, particularly in the Middle East. This finds its political expression in the groundswell of support for Democrat Barack Obama both in the foreign policy establishment and on Wall Street.
In his brilliant LRC article, "The Yankee Problem in America," Clyde Wilson describes how America came to be ruled by a peculiar sect of religious, statist fanatics that originated in New England and became known as "Yankees."
He was referring to "that peculiar ethnic group descended from New Englanders, who can be easily recognized by their arrogance, hypocrisy, greed, lack of congeniality, and penchant for ordering other people around."
They "have never given up the notion that they are the chosen saints whose mission is to make America, and the world, into the perfection of their own image." Today we would call them "neocons" or "Hillary Clinton supporters."
It appears certain that the highly secret meeting of western political-military elites will take place from June 5-8 in Chantilly, Virginia. The Bilderberg Group is a genuine "shadow government" of the West that, some critics say, decides the fate of the world to suit the interests of the restricted oligarchy it represents.
Ben Bernanke made it clear that the Fed does not want to see a weaker dollar, which he blames for the rise in inflation. The Financial Times made the point that it was highly unusual for a Fed chairman to comment on the dollar, and that this comment marks a deliberate attempt to influence foreign exchange markets.
Estimated losses could hit $69 billion, with taxpayers picking up the tab for nearly half that amount.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development today cut its forecast for economic growth in the US and the 15-nation euro area this year and next.
The report said that financial market turmoil, sharply higher oil and commodity prices and cooling housing markets are battering global growth and making it harder for policy makers to gauge the right response.
Meantime, the OECD said that the Federal Reserve should keep interest rates at 2% until mid-2009 and then raise them rapidly to keep inflation expectations under control.
US commercial bankruptcies soared 46%in May from a year ago and many more are expected as the slowing economy chokes consumers and businesses.
Consumers in the US are changing their driving habits so quickly. With sales plummeting, General Motors said Tuesday that it would stop making pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles at 4 of its North American plants. The company is also considering selling its Hummer brand.
(And: Chrysler sales down 25%)
(And: Ford sales down 16%)
EU finance chiefs were struggling to table measures against future food and oil price hikes, with a clash between countries favouring more market-oriented solutions and those calling for tax-related tools.
A UN summit in Rome gathering together world leaders and food and agriculture experts has seen a showdown on EU and US biofuels policies and agricultural subsidies. One UN official called the policies "incomprehensible," while development organisations and the biofuels industry campaigned fiercely to try to influence the meeting's outcome.
Driving style has a big impact on fuel economy. Backing off can save big. You can get 35% better fuel mileage out of your current vehicle by using a device most drivers already have. That would be your right foot.
All over the world, people are trying to figure out how to get off of the energy grid using personal solar technology and back-to-basics lifestyles. It's not necessarily that they are trying to protect the environment—they're trying to protect themselves.
A quiet movement is slowly gaining traction among people who fear the worst when it comes to the future of an oil-reliant economy. They've always existed on the fringe, but that fringe is getting wider by the day as news of a recession and an oil supply crash hit headlines.
President Ahmadinejad on Tuesday blamed the West for the soaring food prices. Addressing a world summit on food security, hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, he said the current high food prices were due to a set of major reasons.
"The devaluation of the dollar and the global inflation, and some others consider environmental changes and droughts, the increase in consumption, the inappropriateness of agricultural methods and the low level of production efficiency, and the witness of farmers."
But he accused the West of intentionally devaluing the U.S. dollar, fueling the rise in oil and food prices. "Today the planners of the big powers act in order to devaluate(the) dollar," he said, adding the western countries intended to "impose their will on the market."
(Analysis: The global food crisis)
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A noted hurricane researcher is predicting 8 hurricanes will form in the Atlantic this year, and says 4 of them will be major. Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast 12-16 named storms, including 6-9 hurricanes.
It seems that sharks, those cold-blooded creatures, have declared a war on the human race.
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