Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Debate at the UN about the causes of the global food crisis does no good if it does not lead to "immediate and effective action," the Holy See says.
"Despite its different manifestations, it stems from a series of concomitant causes: shortsighted economic, agricultural and energy policies, which cause a clash between the increasing demand for food and insufficient production of food, and the increase in financial speculations on commodities, the uncontrollable rise of oil prices and adverse climate conditions."
(And: Full text of address)
Press review
As the world struggles to fight inflation without curbing growth, German financial markets are following the rest of the world -- down. German papers took a look at the state of the economy.
With a brand-new US Embassy opening today in Berlin, German critics are projecting their feelings about America onto what is actually a passable piece of architecture. Will time -- and a new administration -- shut them up?
German Chancellor Merkel has offered France her full support as Paris seeks to salvage the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty. "Together with the French presidency [of the EU], we will do all we can to bring the ratification process forward."
Why Europe is nervous about Sarkozy's stint in the chair
In the European Union, France always earns instant suspicion whenever it swears to be "selfless" and to "put the general European interest first". This is one reason why so many Europeans were feeling nervous on July 1st, when France took over the 6-monthly rotating presidency of the EU.
The European Union and Russia are to hold their first talks on a wide-ranging strategic treaty governing issues from energy to education today in Brussels.
Israel should cut off outlying Arab neighborhoods from Jerusalem, Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon demanded Thursday, a day after a Palestinian construction worker from one of those districts went on a deadly rampage in the city center.
Ramon proposed changing the route of Israel's separation barrier to exclude the Arab districts, saying that it would improve security. The barrier already rings much of the city.
The attack raised new questions about the future of the city and the Israeli government's policy toward Jerusalem's estimated 250,000 Palestinian residents, who make up about one-third of the total population.
President Shimon Peres believes there is no chance of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Iran's Parliament Speaker has accused Israel of leading a racist policy, which makes it impossible for the Jewish state to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. He said that "Iran opposes the Zionist regime because it has become empty from inside, and even if they hold 10 more conferences and mislead the Arabs, they will always have an internal problem."
While the government of Pakistan touts a complete and swift success against Taliban operatives in the remote region bordering Afghanistan, reports from the scene suggest the offensive is more of a charade to placate the Bush administration whose determination to capture or kill Osama bin Laden before the end of the president's term is well-known.
Until Iran accepts the existence of Israel and suspends uranium enrichment, any responsible government in Jerusalem must consider it an existential threat to the Jewish state.
The diplomatic chatter over the past few days has been about easing the confrontation between America and Iran through negotiation. Tehran has said nothing about stopping the gas centrifuges near Natanz, nor softened its hostility towards Israel.
As the clash between the US and Israel on the one hand and Iran on the other reaches a critical level, the powers that be have been desperately at work spinning a web of deception that may take the already war-exhausted Americans into the military conflict of the century, a confrontation that could eventually escalate into WW3.
(And: Dangerous games)
Iran is likely to launch ballistic missiles against Israel and the US and the NATO alliance should prepare for it, was the warning issued earlier this week by Admiral James Winnefeld, commander of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.
Tehran will consider any military action against its nuclear facilities as the beginning of a war, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported today. The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying that any country that attacks Iran would regret doing so. According to the report, he has warned that such a step would be the beginning of war.
(And: OIC warns against attack)
Six months before President Bush's Administration goes out of business, it has significantly softened its line on Iran. Why has this change taken place?
There is one wild card. If Israel decides that Western diplomacy and economic pressure will not halt Tehran's nuclear ambitions, the pressure for unilateral military action will grow.
The United States on Thursday maintained its demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment as a condition for Washington participating in formal nuclear talks with Tehran, although it did not rule out less strict pre-negotiations.
Iran has responded to a letter outlining the West's proposals over Iran's nuclear case through another letter to EU foreign policy chief. Informed sources said on Friday that the letter was signed by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and was delivered to Javier Solana by Tehran's ambassador to Brussels.
No longer free of foreign entanglements, as Thomas Jefferson urged, we now have commitments to defend 50 countries. The old Hamiltonian policy of "Prosper America First" has given way to worship of a Global Economy, at whose altars we sacrifice daily the vital interests of our own manufacturers and workers.
"Interdependence" is now the desired end of the new elite. And so we have become again a dependent nation. We borrow from Europe and Japan to defend the oil of Europe and Japan in the Persian Gulf. We borrow from China to buy the goods of China. We are as dependent on foreign borrowing as we are on foreign oil.
I don't believe in patriotism. It's not that I'm anti-American, but I am anti-patriotic. Love of country isn't natural. It's not something you're born with. It's an inculcated kind of love, something that is foisted upon you in the home, in the school, on TV, at church, during the football game. Yet most people accept it without inspection.
(Cartoons: 4th of July)
I have long been a critic of the state's co-option of holidays to serve governmental purposes, thus negating the messages these holidays originally served. July 4th – designed to celebrate independence from the state – has been refashioned as a holiday for revelling in the state's favorite activity, war.
The embrace of key elements of the Republican agenda and jettisoning of positions that he advanced during his "Change you can believe in" primary campaign have become a daily routine, as Barack Obama carries out a dizzying turn to the right.
The European Central Bank has, as predicted, increased the key interest rate to 4.25%. The bank wants to curb soaring inflation in the euro zone but critics warn the move could slow economic growth.
The best-laid plans often go awry, and in the weeks that passed from Bernanke's speech to the June 25 policy decision the conditions facing US finance capital have taken a tremendous turn for the worse.
(Cartoon: Recession to hit Jan 20th)
The nation lost jobs for a 6th month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.
Credit derivatives were hailed as one of the most impressive innovations in the pre-credit crunch world. Since the end of 2000, when statistics were first gathered, the market has grown from $631 billion to $62 trillion, an eye-popping 10,000%, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.
A somber gathering of America's elites in Aspen
Even in Shangri-La they are worried about the American economy this holiday week. You can feel a pervasive unease in the topics and tone of the panel discussions on the outskirts of town at the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival.
World stocks slipped back towards this week's 5-month low today as steadying oil prices failed to erase concerns about slowing economic growth and rising inflation, and as banking stocks came under renewed pressure.
Oil prices remained near record highs above $145 a barrel in Asia after Saudi Arabia's oil minister suggested his country doesn't plan to boost production.
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Venezuelan President Chavez told South American leaders that the US Navy's newly reactivated 4th Fleet poses a threat to Latin America. He urged leaders of the South American trade bloc Mercosur to ask the US government why the fleet is being re-established.
My friend, the critic Katherine Powers, has spotted an interesting theme in books flowing across her desk for review - paranoia.
Look beyond the fireworks. Almost halfway up the western sky, just above the twilight glow of sunset, a trio of worlds is gathering: Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon. Red Mars and ringed Saturn converge just to the left of the bright star Regulus. The 3 lights make a pretty 1st-magnitude line in the heavens (sky map).
[WAR: Tonight will be the "new Moon" -- a crescent Moon that rules together with the stars at night, after the previous day has ended. Tomorrow (dawn-dark) will be the 1st day of the 4th month.]
Early this morning, according to US clocks, our planet Earth reached its most distant point from the sun for this year. Astronomers call this point aphelion, and, at aphelion we're about 3 million miles farther from the sun than we will be 6 months from now.
So Earth's varying distance from the sun doesn't create the seasons. But it does affect the length of the seasons. That's because, at our farthest from the sun, like now, Earth is traveling most slowly in its orbit. That makes summer the longest season in the northern hemisphere and winter the longest season on the southern half of the globe – in each case by nearly 5 days.
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