Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
[WAR: In Deming, New Mexico...]
Benedict XVI is praising the bishops of Nicaragua for fostering a concept of politics that does not revolve around power and money, but rather generosity and humility.
One day after Germany's Social Democrats leaked the news that Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier would be the party's candidate for chancellor, SPD leader Kurt Beck resigned in frustration. Party bigwig Franz Müntefering may take over.
For years, Germans have preferred to see their country's presence in Afghanistan as armed development assistance. That myth is now becoming more difficult to maintain as the violence spreads to the north where the Germans are based.
Two of Italy's most senior politicians have sparked a debate about the country's dark past and uncertain future after voicing sympathy for the fascist era of Benito Mussolini.
The combative right-wing mayor of Rome refused to condemn fascism as evil, while the country's defence minister paid homage to fascist troops who fought with the Nazis in resisting the Anglo-American landings of WW2.
Following 4-hour talks between Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy, Moscow has agreed to pull out its troops "from the zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia to the line preceding the start of hostilities" by mid-October.
(And: EU to keep peace)
In a pointed but mostly symbolic expression of displeasure with Moscow, President Bush on Monday canceled a once-celebrated civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia.
Russia's victory in Georgia is having far-reaching effects as its neighbours rethink the wisdom of selling gas and oil to Europe.
Muslim worshipers at Judaism's 2nd holiest site this past weekend reportedly urinated next to Torah scrolls and strew Hamas flags throughout the structure.
The desecration occurred at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is believed to be home to the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. The tomb is located in the West Bank city of Hebron.
President Bush is preparing to bolster US troop numbers in Afghanistan using forces freed up from Iraq.
Pakistan has reopened supply lines to Western forces in Afghanistan, after the road through the Khyber Pass was blocked on Saturday, days after a raid by US commandos on a Pakistani village, a minister said on Monday.
Al-Qaida marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with an hour and a half video message summarizing the state of jihad, or holy war, around the world and slamming Iran for collaborating with the US.
Short excerpts of the message were aired on the Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera. In them, al-Qaida #2, Ayman al-Zawahri accused Iran of working with US forces.
He said Tehran was "cooperating with the Americans in occupying Iraq and Afghanistan" and slammed Iran for recognizing their governments.
He also criticized the Shiites for not calling for a jihad in Iraq against the "Crusader occupier." In militant postings, "crusaders" is shorthand for U.S. troops in Iraq. "The guardian of Muslims in Tehran is cooperating with the Americans in occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and recognizes the two hireling governments there."
The Russian state-run company building Iran's first nuclear plant said Monday that preparations for the reactor's launch had entered their final stage.
(And: Start-up is "irreversible")
From generators on sidewalks to refrigerators wrecked by power surges, Iranians are in the midst of an energy crunch that outside experts and Iranian officials say can be solved over the long term only by nuclear power.
"The era of hunting down old Nazis is over, but that's not to say that such operations are completely a thing of the past, and it could very well be that a leader such as Iranian President Ahmadinejad suddenly finds himself before the International Criminal Court in The Hague," former Mossad operative Rafi Eitan told German weekly Der Spiegel.
When Wallace confronted Ahmadinejad with the "wipe Israel off the map" threats, Ahmadinejad said that "the solution is democracy" in Israel and Palestine, a suggestion that he favors a one-state solution.
Sometime in the weeks to months ahead, there will be a war launched against Iran. The war may be started by Israel, or by the United States, or by a NATO/EU/US embargo, or by some 'false flag' attack.
What matters is that it will begin; and where it will take the world. The probabilities of the war becoming a major regional war within 48 hours are 90% or higher.
Imperialism and empire has once again become common language on the Left, but in many cases poorly understood, at least in all of its complexities and structures.
The Cheney Doctrine has destroyed human rights and just laws
When Vice-President Cheney met and spoke with leaders in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and then Italy 1 month after fighting erupted between Georgia and Russia over the break away region of South Ossetia-it reminded me of earlier presidents and how their actions and words established foreign policies known as doctrines.
These doctrines would affect US citizens and people around the world for generations to come.
Just how close is the US to becoming a police state? The events at the Republican National Convention, where 800 arrests took place, can answer part of that question.
Which direction the US will travel on the road to the further erosion of both the 1st and 4th Amendments is perhaps already etched into both official and unofficial policies of the government.
In an address to an Assembly of God Church in Alaska, Sarah Palin suggested that church members pray "that our national leaders are sending [soldiers to Iraq] on a task that is from God, that's what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God's plan."
It would be interesting to hear Palin explain her understanding of how God's plans can possibly involve violations of His sacred commandments.
Lest we forget: Neither the Iraqi people nor their government ever attacked the US or threatened to do so. Thus, we should never forget: In the Iraq War, the US is the aggressor nation and Iraq is the defending nation.
That means that no agent of the US government had any moral right to kill even one single Iraqi, much less the million or so that have been killed.
What, in any or all of this, is there to justify the feral attacks within minutes of Sarah Palin's introduction? What had she done to cause this outburst? Answer: absolutely nothing. No. She is not resented for what she has done, but for who she is: a Christian conservative.
Sarah is a rebel. Obama has been a go-along, get-along cog in the Daley Machine. She is Middle America. Barack, behind closed doors in San Francisco, mocked Middle Americans as folks left behind by the global economy who cling bitterly to their Bibles, bigotries and guns.
Why did the GOP choose a political neophyte to appeal to the religious right over a seasoned politico? Fried squirrels and economic populism.
During this US election cycle we are hearing a lot from the pundits and candidates about "heartland voters," and "white working class voters." What they are talking about are rednecks.
But in their political correctness, media types cannot bring themselves to utter the word "redneck." So I'll say it for them: redneck, redneck, redneck, redneck.
MSNBC's announcement that it is replacing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews with David Gregory as anchors for its main political events (the upcoming presidential debates and election) vividly illustrates several long-obvious facts.
First, nothing changes the behavior of our media corporations more easily than vocal demands and complaints from the Right, which petrify media executives and cause them to snap into line.
With oil prices off nearly 30% from their highs of almost $150 a barrel, OPEC oil ministers are considering what was unthinkable just a few weeks ago — cutting back output to prop up the price of crude.
The US financial crisis has cut so deep - and the government has taken on so much debt in misguided attempts to bail out such companies as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - that even larger financial shocks are still to come, global investing guru Jim Rogers said in an exclusive interview with Money Morning.
Has America
"America is more communist than China is right now. You can at least have a free market in housing and a lot of other things in China
(Q&A: Fannie 'n Freddie)
The dollar slumped against a range of currencies across the world after the US rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encouraged investors to buy riskier, high-yielding currencies.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said the US financial system, dependent upon securitization rather than traditional bank loans, is broken, and may contribute to the weakest expansion since the 1930s.
The just-announced federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needs to be seen in a larger context - that of the attempt by the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury to contain the fallout from the ongoing financial crisis. And that's a fight the feds seem to be losing.
Brazil and Argentina have signed a deal that will let them do away with US dollar as an intermedium in their bilateral trade.
The accord is viewed as an important step toward a common currency among the members of Mercosur — a South American trading bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and soon Venezuela.
American foreign policy is corrupted by a powerful influence so arrogantly reckless it endangers the human race. This influence isn't Big Oil or Zionism, which are merely tools of the real power. The real power that controls US foreign policy is Big Money – the central banking institution known as the Federal Reserve System.
The ultimate in corporate welfare, the Fed is a government-supported banking cartel which creates trillions of dollars from mere bookkeeping entries. The $123 billion in Big Oil profits last year is trivial in comparison. In political clout, Big Money is the driver and Big Oil is only along for the ride.
Likewise, Israel is also but a passenger. True, US foreign policy is dominated by neoconservative ideologues, but the neocons are politically powerful because of their lobbies, and their lobbies get their money from financiers who get their money from investment bankers who get their money from the central bankers of the Federal Reserve.
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Italian film-maker Giulietto Chiesa, who was in Berlin for a screening of his documentary which questions the official US version of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has called for an international tribunal to probe events.
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