Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
[WAR: In Texas for the "weekend"...]
Here is a fact sheet issued by the US episcopal conference's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, which clarifies the Church's constant teaching on abortion.
If a Polish cardinal had his way, the Virgin Mary would be patron of the European Parliament. Cardinal Glemp first raised the idea in August, but now the proposal is also slated to be presented to the Commission of Episcopates of the EU.
A grand old party that is in a fine old mess, and also in search of a decent candidate.
As the OSCE despatched monitors in the Georgia buffer zone, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier called for an independent inquiry into what led to the conflict in August between Russia and Georgia.
How a CIA agent became president of France
To understand how a man whom all agree today to view as an agent of the US and of Israel was able to become the head of the Gaullist party and the president of the French Republic, we must go back in time, very very far back. We must make a long digression in the course of which we will present the protagonists who are today taking their revenge.
The pragmatic sceptics who will have the next EU presidency.
As details of the larger strategic picture emerge over what is at stake in the Georgia and larger Caucasus crisis, it is becoming clearer that Moscow is not determined to roll back the borders of Stalin and the Cold War of 1948.
What Putin and now Medvedev have begun is a process of defusing the highly dangerous NATO expansion, led by the Washington warhawks since the end of the Cold War in 1990.
It transpired recently that Russian scientists developed a generator, the capacity of which is comparable to that of a nuclear unit.
Never before had a relatively small device ever been able to generate electromagnetic impulses the capacity of which could be comparable to a huge water power plant.
Gunboat diplomacy in pursuit of oil
The US is continuing to ratchet up tensions with Russia in the aftermath of last month's war in the Caucasus. During his visit, Cheney made statements tantamount to declaring Georgia an American military protectorate.
The same day Cheney arrived in Georgia the US sent yet another warship, the flagship of the Mediterranean fleet, the USS Whitney, into the Black Sea to Georgia, ostensibly on a humanitarian mission.
This is classic gunboat diplomacy. But Washington is also making advanced preparations for war against Russia. This would include a nuclear first strike, which the US political and military elite believe the missile shield will allow them to carry out.
Cheney also took time during his brief stop in Azerbaijan to hold private talks with the local heads of the BP and Chevron oil companies. While in Azerbaijan Cheney all but declared that he is seeking to form a military and oil/gas axis in the region.
A 2nd purpose for such a coalition would be for preparation of war against Iran.
Ehud Olmert could be formally indicted as early as Sunday after Israeli police concluded investigations into three sets of allegations of fraud and abuse of power.
The Syrian President has said Damascus will remain adamant about its political stance as long as Israel continues to be an occupier.
A Saudi security source has revealed that a military coup to overthrow army officers loyal to King Abdullah was successfully foiled.
National Guard officer Major Ahmed Maiad Zahrani, backed by a Saudi prince, had recruited 150 of his fellow officers to carry out the takeover.
Saudi Arabia's current crown prince, the 80-year-old Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, is seriously sick.
A ground assault by US Special Forces troops on a Pakistani village on Wednesday threatens to expand the escalating Afghanistan war into its neighbour. The attack, which left up to 20 civilians dead, marks a definite escalation of US operations inside Pakistan.
The attack has provoked outrage in Pakistan and has compounded the political crisis inside Pakistan.
This utterly reckless policy, which risks the eruption of a US war against Pakistan, is bipartisan in character.
Far from opposing aggressive US military action, Obama has become the political vehicle for shifting its focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan as the means of advancing US strategic interests in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
(And: US mulling more strikes)
(And: Opening the gates of hell)
President Ahmadinejad says sanctions by the UN Security Council against his country's nuclear program have no legal basis. "We regard sanctions as illegal and don't recognize them."
The peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities is known to everybody and has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in its different reports, he said, but added his country was still ready to hold talks over the issue on the basis of logic, justice, and mutual respect.
Kremlin intelligence reports are stating today that Foreign Minister Lavrov, during his upcoming visit to Poland, will attempt to halt the US and Israeli planned attack upon Iran.
These reports further state that the established US-Israeli timeline for the beginning of this new war is based upon the Jewish Religious Leaders 'biblical based' beliefs that they will only be successful if attacks are launched between the beginning of Rosh Hashanah (Sept 30) and the start of Yom Kippur (Oct 9).
As history as sadly shown, America's War Leaders will not 'go silently into the night', rather they fully intend to engulf our entire World in flames in order for their dreams of a New World Order to survive.
John McCain is "absentminded" and "terrible" and his running mate, Sarah Palin, doesn't have any appropriate experience.
Barack Obama, by contrast, is "highly educated" and "eloquent" and would serve the world much better and improve America's overall situation. And Joe Biden is a "very respectable" man with a "good reputation."
All this according to an interview broadcast this week on Iranian state-run media.
As he did in 2007, President Bush has again, on August 28, 2008, continued for another year the national emergency first officially proclaimed on September 14, 2001, along with "the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency."
Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which US soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit.
McCain does not have the judgment, knowledge, and temperament necessary to be the military's commander in chief.
(And: Ichabod!)
It's not just Barack Obama who has throngs of European supporters. A group of conservatives from across the Continent traveled to Minnesota to support John McCain.
Republicans will try to spin Palin's shortcoming into strengths, by revving up the culture wars.
(Cartoons: GOP convention)
Slap a friendly, female face on a hard core-conservative political platform, and pray that the pundits will only take pot-shots and talk about gender.
Forget about McCain. This apparently socially conservative boat rocker who may have successfully challenged the Republican power structure in the nation's largest state is rapidly being seen the Goddess of Redemption for McCain. All his sins are forgiven because Palin will seemingly keep McCain's statist tendencies in check.
So, why have so many normally thoughtful people opted to give McCain a clean slate in light of his choice of Mrs. Palin? Desperation.
(And: The woman from nowhere)
Prior to being plucked from obscurity by the neocons who run the McCain campaign, Sarah Palin was a complete unknown. Today, she is the object of a burgeoning cult that proclaims her to be the virtual incarnation of the Republican renewal.
Their identity crisis has been indefinitely delayed, all due to the appearance of a messiah on the horizon – Sarah, the new Wonder Woman of the Right.
Religion also played an important role in the choice of Palin: she's a member of a dispensationalist sect, within the Pentecostalist tradition, a "born again" Christian who believes in the Rapture and the centrality of Israel in world affairs.
Sarah, who looks – and acts – an awful lot like Xena, the Warrior Princess, is the perfect messenger for the GOP's credo of unmitigated militarism. Her speech to the Republican convention was, in large part, a continuation of the theme of the previous night: aggressive nationalism rationalized by religious fervor.
(Video: Kissinger praises Palin)
A new celebrity was born in American politics on Wednesday night. Sarah Palin had just delivered an electrifying speech that reshaped the race for the White House.
Her thrilling convention speech showed that the Governor of Alaska is a force to reckoned with. But she might be more than that.
(Cartoon: Be very afraid)
Conservatives are swooning, liberals terrified - that's how I would sum up the media reaction to Sarah Palin's big moment in St Paul.
European press...
In their coverage of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, European papers agreed that the star turn was Sarah Palin.
German view...
Sarah Palin's presence on the stage at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul was hardly impressive. But her party hasn't seemed so human in a long time. Palin's weaknesses may turn out to be her greatest strength.
German press...
Sarah Palin is a fresh-faced fishing and hunting wild card in the US presidential race. She just might be able to lure the media away from Obama.
But can she attract enough voters from the right to make up for those she might lose McCain in the center?
German papers appreciate Palin's maverick qualities -- especially since McCain's "straight talk" turned into straight talking points once he became the Republican candidate.
But they fret about her lack of foreign-policy knowledge and argue that the narrow scope of Palin's experience has deflated one of McCain's primary criticisms of Obama.
US and European shares have fallen sharply on further fears over the state of the US economy and the prospect of slower growth in the Eurozone.
(And: Global stocks at 2-year low)
The US economy is facing slow growth and higher prices, according to the most recent survey by the Federal Reserve.
The European Central Bank on Thursday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged but said the region's economy would bounce back from a contraction in the summer to stronger growth by year-end.
The Bank of England also stood pat, but analysts said they expected it to lower borrowing costs sooner than the ECB because the British economy faced a more dire situation.
British banks soon could be scrambling for short-term funding once more amid reports that supplies from Threadneedle Street and from Frankfurt may be drying up.
The Bank of England explicitly ruled out extending its Special Liquidity Scheme, while the European Central Bank is reportedly considering tightening its lending criteria.
(And: Banks borrow more from Fed)
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