Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
[WAR: Still stuck (literally) in Kentucky...]
Four days after an attack on a German Army patrol in Afghanistan claimed one soldier's life, a Bundeswehr patrol came under attack when a roadside bomb exploded today.
Critics would say that it takes a lot more than just joining a European organization to count as properly "European."
But the problem with that criticism is there is, in fact, no commonly agreed definition of "European" to confirm it.
And that is far more than just a linguistic problem, because for some countries, the question of whether or not they count as European is a vital matter of foreign policy.
Gordon Brown has said Europe and NATO must reassess their relationship with the Kremlin to prevent further Russian aggression in the wake of the invasion of Georgia. He has also warned that Russia has a potential "energy stranglehold over Europe", and promises action to stop Britain depending on Russian oil and gas.
Germany's Foreign Minister said Europe must play a "strong and level-headed role" to settle the conflict in the Caucasus.
"We need a strong and levelheaded role for Europe, to ensure that there can be a return to reason and responsibility. Unfortunately, the situation has become bogged down in unilateral actions in the last few days."
There are reasons why European countries find it hard to unite against Russia.
The most frightening sight in recent weeks has not been the media's metamorphosis of Russia from genial, if rather uncouth, bear into snarling wolf, but the knee-jerking of British politicians.
It has been said that Russia fears a new encirclement. It does, but it is more than that: for NATO forces to enter Ukraine would for most Russians be tantamount to invasion.
This is a turf war. Russia no longer challenges America for global hegemony but that doesn't mean it's going to sit quietly while Uncle Sam parks tanks on what it considers to be its front lawn.
Fears are mounting that Russia may restrict oil deliveries to Western Europe over coming days, in response to the threat of EU sanctions and NATO naval actions in the Black Sea. Any such move would be a dramatic escalation of the Georgia crisis and play havoc with the oil markets.
Reports have begun to circulate in Moscow that Russian oil companies are under orders from the Kremlin to prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. It is believed that executives from lead-producer LUKoil have been put on weekend alert.
The Kremlin is undoubtedly aware that it exercises extraordinary leverage, if it strikes right now. Such action would be seen as economic warfare.
Russia's ambassador to NATO has warned that any military interference in the Caucasus conflict will be considered as declaration of war.
Certain forces in the US could have initiated the conflict in Georgia to create an advantage to one of the US presidential candidates. Vladimir Putin voiced this opinion during his recent interview with CNN.
This point of view appeared in Russia soon after Georgia's aggression in South Ossetia.
Prominent Russian politicians said that the conflict had been orchestrated by the USA because Georgia, being a tiny state, would have never invaded South Ossetia without the USA's permission.
The version also said that the war in South Ossetia had been plotted by Vice President Dick Cheney not to let Barack Obama take the White House.
Vice speaker of the Russian parliament, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, took up the version too.
"It is all being done for their person - John McCain - to win the elections on November 5. The US defense complex needs to have its own person in the White House – John McCain. Dick Cheney is the prime enemy of humanity today. Bush is a puppet, just like Saakashvili."
What was a top national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney doing in Georgia shortly before Georgian troops engaged in what became a disastrous fight with South Ossetian rebels -- and then Russian troops?
Taliban fighters are trying to strangle NATO's mission in Afghanistan by stepping up attacks on convoys in the Khyber Pass, the perilous mountain trail that carries most supplies into the country.
Senator Nisar A. Memon of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q alleged in the upper house on Friday that the Americans harboured the designs of breaking up Pakistan.
An earlier report by the CIA had predicted a "Yugoslavia-like fate for Pakistan in a decade with civil war, bloodshed and inter-provincial rivalries as seen in Balochsitan."
It was interesting over the past week to observe the escalating crisis between Russia and the West from Central Asia. Regional leaders met the Russian military campaign largely with silence.
Behind the silence is a real concern, or even fear, about the implications of the crisis for this volatile and strategically important region. Central Asian leaders are worried that they, too, might eventually find themselves having to choose sides between Russia and the West - a choice all of them have tried hard to avoid.
Western powers are nearing the end of their era of supremacy according to Defense Minister of the Islamic Republic. "We witness the expansion of justice-seeking in the world and defeat of enemies. This has caused severe concern for them."
Israel's leadership resolved, in top-level strategic discussions 3 months ago, to do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from having nuclear bombs. "Preparations for an Israeli military option intended to stop Iran's nuclear program are underway."
A senior Russian military analyst said on Wednesday that the US and NATO by arming Tbilisi used the conflict in Georgia as a dress rehearsal for a future military operation in Iran.
Col. Gen Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies, told a news conference at RIA Novosti, "We are close to a serious conflict - US and NATO preparations on a strategic scale are ongoing. In the operation the West conducted on Georgian soil against Russia - South Ossetians were the victims or hostages of it - we can see a rehearsal for an attack on Iran."
He said the likelihood of a war against Iran was growing with each passing day, "As a result, the situation in the region will become destabilized," and added "causing chaos and instability" was becoming Washington's official policy line.
Russia is deploying the threat to sell a "game changing" air defence system to Iran as a high stakes bargaining chip in its new "cold war" with America.
The proposed deal is causing huge alarm in the US and Israel as the S-300 can track 100 targets at once and fire on planes up to 75 miles away. "This is a system that scares every Western air force."
The biggest Newspaper in the Netherlands on Friday devoted its front page to news that the Dutch intelligence agency has helped the CIA prepare for an air attack on Iran which it now believes is imminent.
Holland's military intelligence service, has pulled back from operations it was carrying out inside Iran as it believes an American led attack will go ahead within weeks. De Telegraaf reports that the decision has already been made by the US to attack Iran using unmanned aircraft.
A senior Iranian military commander has warned that any US or Israeli attack on the Islamic republic would start a new world war.
"Any aggression against Iran will start a world war. The unrestrained greed of the US leadership and global Zionism... is gradually leading the world to the edge of a precipice. It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything."
Residents of New Orleans fled their homes today as hurricane Gustav – dubbed "the mother of all storms" – threatened the city. "This is the mother of all storms," said the New Orleans mayor. "This storm is so powerful and growing more powerful every day that I'm not sure we've seen anything like it."
As the nation focuses on John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.
Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the US remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."
US military presence around the world (interactive map)
The Alaskan governor's family life and political views press the right's buttons.
Palin's selection on the eve of the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota, has set the stage for an epic battle for the votes of women, African-Americans, evangelical Christians and the young.
The demographic wars that dominated the contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton are now set to be replicated in the national election.
(And: Pure genius or mad gamble?)
(And: Big Oil's new champion)
(And: Palin a post-denominationist)
(Cartoons: Pickin' Palin)
There's no room at the Xcel Energy Center for maverick Ron Paul, so his acolytes have packed their cars, hitched rides on "Ronvoys" and will pitch tents at Ronstock '08 in Minneapolis in defiance of next week's GOP convention.
Populist demagogy in the service of militarism
The speech delivered by Barack Obama Thursday night, combined populist rhetoric with invocations of patriotism and pledges to escalate the war in Afghanistan and build up the US military "to meet future conflicts."
It is both true and damning to note that Obama's rhetoric and approach are reminiscent of the Democratic president responsible for the single greatest atrocity in the history of American imperialism, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
An Obama administration would involve the use of liberal demagogy—without any actual economic concessions to working people—to support an aggressive program of American militarism in the Middle East, Central Asia and throughout the world.
One of America's best-known character assassins' account of Obama's links – some exaggerated, others real – to Islam, communists, terrorists, radical preachers and shady financiers has infuriated the Democratic nominee.
With Hurricane Gustav on course to hit the US Gulf, the damage it does to the region's oil facilities could be a "worse case scenario".
(And: Iran: $100 oil lowest price)
GDP charitably recalculated, dollar still jumping around on USDX, the Euro effect, central banks generate artificial liquidity, McCain chooses running mate foolishly, foolish meddling in Russian affairs in Georgia, economies crippled by war spending...
The acronym FDIC is better understood as the Federal Deception Illusion Corporation. Its goal since its founding in 1934 has been to create public deception regarding the looming insolvency of individual banks.
In the name of protecting depositors, it protects bankers. It has done its job very well. But now it is in trouble. Therefore, so are bankers. There is serious speculation in the mainstream press that the FDIC will run out of funds to repay depositors in failed banks.
Wall Street returns from vacation season to enter what is historically the most perilous period of the year amid conflicting signals about the US economic outlook.
(And: A nightmare on Wall Street)
Almost the entire region of Western Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics is on the cusp of fully fledged recession, raising fresh fears about the health of Europe's banking system.
"Everything is coming to a head at the same time. The euro's surge over the past two years has caught up. We've seen a hollowing out of the euro area's industrial sector, an oil shock, and tightening credit conditions, made worse by the European Central Bank's decision to raise rates in June."
(And: Closing the dustbin lid)
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[Latest edition of The Religion WAR]
The world's biggest and most expensive scientific experiment has been hit by a last minute legal challenge, amid claims that the research could bring about the end of the world.
Critics of the Large Hadron Collider - a £4.4 billion machine due to be switched on in 10 days time - have lodged a lawsuit at the European Court for Human Rights against the 20 countries, including the UK, that fund the project.
The device is designed to replicate conditions that existed just a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. However, opponents fear the machine, which will smash pieces of atoms together at high speed and generate temperatures of more than a trillion degrees centigrade, may create a mini-black hole that could tear the earth apart.
In Nature there are what scientists call right-handed and left-handed amino acids. However, life requires that all proteins be left-handed.
So, not only do millions of amino acids have to be in the correct sequence, they also all have to be left-handed. If a right-handed amino acid gets mixed in then the protein molecules won't function. There won't be any life!
A plan to turn sites of conflict into beacons of peace.
Members of Joel's Army are fighting to bring about the millennial reign of Christ. Joel's Army believers are hard-core Christian dominionists, meaning they believe that America, along with the rest of the world, should be governed by conservative Christians and a conservative Christian interpretation of biblical law. There is no room in their doctrine for democracy or pluralism.
Muslims around the world are preparing for the start of Islam's holy month of Ramadan. Some countries begin observances Monday.
The timing of the start of the holiday varies in Muslim communities and countries depending on the sighting of the new moon. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown.
(And: "Authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE have announced that the moon was not sighted after nightfall on Sunday, and so today will be the last day of Shaban, the month preceding Ramadan.")
(And: "In Iran, Ramadan would likely to start Tuesday, Iranian news agency IRIB reported.")
(Wiki: Ramadan - calendar month)
["Taliban Turner's" take: Even the Muslim's don't start their months correctly, but at least Iran is closer to the truth! There will be a crescent moon seen in the Mideast on Monday evening (pic/info), but it won't be ruling with the stars. It will just fade away with the sunlight as that day ends.
On Tuesday night (pic/info), there will be a crescent Moon (with earthshine) ruling with the stars -- multiple witnesses of light declaring/establishing the 1st night of the month. So Wednesday will be the 1st day of the 6th month.
But I give the Muslims credit for at least knowing what a day is, almost. They eat just before dawn (the start of the day), but break their fast after sundown -- during the evening, which is still part of the day.
So their day is closer to the truth spelled out (but badly punctuated) in Genesis than the Jewish/Babylonian day.
Allah Abram Elowah Akbar!!]
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