Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Pope Benedict XVI, through the work of several Vatican congregations, has weighed-in on the ethical nature of various fertility treatments, experiments with stem cells, human cloning and the creation of hybrid embryos.
The new document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the result of 6 years of study and deliberation on the most recent developments in the field of bio-technology.
(And: "DIGNITAS PERSONAE")
Polish archaeologists believe silk-draped skeletons found in a cathedral crypt are those of 3 grand masters who more than 600 years ago ruled the Teutonic Knights — an order that spread religion through force.
The Order of the Teutonic Knights was founded in the late 12th century to aid German pilgrims in the Holy Land.
It became a military order, wearing trademark white coats with black crosses, forcefully bringing Christianity to pagan Prussians.
(Wiki: TEUTONIC KNIGHTS)
Jack Straw's review of the law banning Roman Catholics from succeeding to the throne may have some intriguing ramifications.
It had been envisaged that any change to the law would apply only to future members of the Royal family, but the present Duke Francis of Bavaria, who claims to be the rightful king of Scotland, England, Ireland and France, is likely to be consulting m'learned friends about how it will apply to him.
The duke, whom Jacobites refer to as King Francis II, is descended from Princess Henrietta Anne, youngest daughter of King James II & VII. She was passed over for the succession by the 1701 Act of Abjuration.
Born Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria von Wittelsbach in Munich in 1933, the duke's lineage is said to be impeccable and well-documented.
He is unmarried and childless, therefore his heir is his younger brother.
(And: FRANZ, DUKE OF BAVARIA & KING FRANCIS II)
The German intelligence service played an important role in determining how the US fought the war in Iraq, a retired US general told a German newsmagazine.
Berlin has denied participating in combat operations.
It looked like a dour match-up between two like-minded sluggers: weighty Lefty Gordon Brown in the blue corner, weighty Lefty Peer Steinbrück in the red.
But suddenly, the face-off between Germany and Britain has turned into the EU's very own Rumble in the Jungle: the Punch-up in the Crunch-up.
The political stakes are high in both countries. It is a fight, then, in which both contenders are determined to cry victory, but both risk a fatal knockout.
(Op-ed: PAY ATTENTION TO THE GERMANS)
Chancellor Merkel joined the rest of the EU in signing up to an expensive rescue plan for Europe's economy yesterday as the British Ambassador in Berlin complained formally about her Finance Minister's outspoken criticism of Gordon Brown's VAT cut.
This is more than a spat about different ideas on how much governments should borrow. It doesn't take a politics nerd to recognise that something isn't right when a German Social Democrat sides with David Cameron.
And when a senior aide to Chancellor Merkel takes the same line and declares that Britain's debt levels represent a "complete failure of Labour policy" – well, that is tantamount to a declaration of diplomatic war.
But despite this clash of personalities, Anglo-German relations are in rude health. In fact, it would be fair to say they have never been better. The Germans are a nation of hopeless anglophiles.
The 2-day European Union summit held in Brussels on Thursday and Friday made clear that, under the pressure of the financial crisis, conflicts are intensifying between the major European powers that threaten to tear the EU apart.
Despite protestations of unity and claims of success by EU leaders, it was the national interests of the major European players that dominated at the summit.
The latest EU summit and the controversy unleashed by the remarks of the German finance minister have made abundantly clear that as the financial crisis deepens, the response of European nations is increasingly "Every man for himself."
Conceived by leading European conservative statesmen at the end of WW2 as a bulwark against fresh rivalries and tensions between European nations, the EU is fracturing under the weight of its accumulated economic and political contradictions.
[WAR: I've been saying this for years -- regardless of what the COG "prophets" say -- that the EU is going to collapse. Then, Germany will finally be free/sovereign to pursue its own path -- which will be very bad news for the US-UK.]
The European Union's security and defence policy and a deal dating back to 1999 in which the EU would be able to deploy 60,000 troops within 60 days won a renewed political endorsement on Friday by EU leaders, who failed however to establish any deadlines or specific financial commitments.
Yet what had earlier been presented as one of the main priorities of the French EU presidency, L'Europe de la defence got left behind in favour of discussions over the Lisbon Treaty, climate change and the financial crisis during the summit.
Why the left in Europe is not benefiting from the economic crisis.
The proudest trophy of the left is the European social model, a web of labour and welfare laws offering a "high degree of social protection".
The model emerged during the post-war boom, when living standards soared across western Europe.
Europe's centre-left is struggling because its 20th century rationale is dying.
If it cannot find a less muddled message that explicitly embraces globalisation, this economic crash could deliver it a fatal blow.
A week of protests and rioting by students venting fury over the death of a 15-year-old has thrown Greece into turmoil, causing hundreds of millions of pounds of damage and focusing attention on economic, political and social woes.
The protests continued yesterday and more demonstrations are planned. Some see a foretaste of the next phase of the global financial crisis, sensing in the tear gas and chants a warning to European leaders of what may unfold elsewhere if they do not take into account the frustrations of their people.
Thirteen years after the US brokered the Dayton peace agreement to end modern Europe's most ferocious ethnic war, fears are mounting that Bosnia and Herzegovina, poor and divided, is again teetering toward crisis.
The war in Georgia will be remembered as the place where the American Empire fell on its face.
"Everything that the Georgians left behind, I mean everything, was American. All the guns, grenades, uniforms, boots, food rations -- they just left it all. Our boys stuffed themselves on the food. It was tasty."
The booty, according to Konashenko, also included 65 intact tanks outfitted with the latest NATO and American (as well as Israeli) technology.
But listening to Colonel Konashenko, it becomes clear to me that I'm looking at more than just the smoldering remains of battle in an obscure regional war: This spot is ground zero for an epic historical shift.
The Gaza Strip is now the largest concentration camp in the world.
The UN should use the word apartheid in connection with Israel and consider sanctions with the former South Africa serving as a model.
The UN should now embark on a boycott of the apartheid state of Israel and, with the threat of expulsion from the UN, demand that Israel allows the evicted Palestinian refugees to return in accordance with the UN resolutions 194 and 3236.
The United States and Russia are pressing the UN Security Council to send a strong signal supporting the Middle East peace process at ministerial meeting next week, their ambassadors said on Friday.
The 15-nation Security Council has been unable to reach a consensus on anything related to the Middle East for months so a resolution or a statement would be a rare accomplishment.
(And: POWER AT THE UN)
The US-led coalition's $100bn effort to rebuild Iraq has failed amid bureaucratic quarrels, ignorance of Iraqi society and violence in the country.
Even before he moves into the Oval Office, Barack Obama may be on a collision course with a country that carries great weight in Middle East negotiations, has considerable influence throughout Central Asia and is close to Russia according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
That country is Turkey, which also has taken initiatives to mediate indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel.
In recent weeks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also has offered to be a mediator between the incoming Obama administration and Iran.
In addition, Turkey is in a strategic location as an energy corridor for oil and natural gas pipelines from Azerbaijan to the West.
The US military and allied forces in Afghanistan are making feverish preparations for an influx of tens of thousands more American troops during the first months of the Obama presidency.
Militants attacked a terminal used by vehicles ferrying supplies to US and NATO forces in Afghanistan early Saturday -- the latest in a string of strikes on the critical and increasingly perilous supply route that snakes through northwest Pakistan.
NATO plans to open a new supply route to Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia in the next 8 weeks following a spate of attacks on its main lifeline through Pakistan this year.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the former Soviet Central Asian states that lie between Russia and Afghanistan, have agreed in principle to the railway route and are working out the small print with NATO.
However, NATO and the US are simultaneously in talks on opening a 3rd supply route through the secretive Central Asian state of Turkmenistan to prevent Russia from gaining a stranglehold on supplies to Afghanistan.
Tensions between India and Pakistan were running high this morning as Delhi denied Islamabad's accusation that Indian planes had "inadvertently" violated Pakistani airspace yesterday.
Pakistan's air force said on Saturday that Indian jets flew over the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and the eastern city of Lahore.
For all its chaos, bureaucracy and occasional violence, India has had a remarkably successful past few years.
(But: STORM CLOUDS GATHERING)
Tony Blair has been explaining his decision to delay converting to Roman Catholicism until after he had resigned as prime minister.
He said he feared talking about his religious beliefs during his time in Downing Street would lead to people dismissing him as a "nutter."
One down, thousands to go...
A "suspicious" fire devastated the church attended by Sarah Palin on Friday night in her hometown of Wasilla, the church's minister said.
There is at least 18 legal actions brought against Amish residents in Wisconsin and New York in the past year and a half for building without proper permits, according to court records, attorneys and advocates for the Amish.
The cases have sparked local debates about where religion ends and government begins.
Amish advocates — the Amish religion precludes them from defending themselves physically or legally — argue the Amish belief that they must live apart from the world trumps local regulations.
New rules published in the Federal Register would allow certain civilians to call American soldiers into action inside the US to prevent environmental damage or respond to "special events" and "other domestic activities."
The alarming warning is contained in proposed rules published last week for the Department of Defense's "Defense Support of Civil Authorities" plan.
Under the US Constitution, soldiers inside the country essentially are tasked with the responsibility of quelling "insurrections" and repelling invasions as well as making sure each state has access to the republican form of government.
But the new rules go far beyond that, essentially establishing a plan to activate the US military inside the country to deal with social issues under provisions that appear to be devoid of any connection to the Constitution.
The US defence secretary has warned opponents of the US against trying to "test" Barack Obama with a crisis in the early days of his presidency.
Robert Gates said the new president's security team was ready to defend US national interests from the moment he takes office next month.
More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed over Barack Obama's eligibility to assume the office of the president, many have been dismissed, while others remain pending, including a case being considered by the US Supreme Court.
(And: LISTEN & LEARN)
If documents some day prove Barack Obama is not eligible to be president under the US Constitution, none of the 538 Electoral College members who vote him into office Monday will be able to claim ignorance.
Barack Obama asked the White House if his family could move to Washington earlier than normal, but aides say the White House couldn't give them the official guest house as early as his family wanted.
The Obamas had asked White House officials to move into Blair House about 2 weeks before the traditional date so their 2 daughters could start their new school when classes resume Jan. 5.
Obama aides say the White House told them that the request cannot be met because the current administration still has plans for the historic government home across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
(Cartoon: LET ME IN!)
"(Obama) didn't lose. But the story is not finished yet. I still think they may begin the riots before Christmas 2008, as I said."
These riots, according to his prophecy, will encourage the "old, hard-line Soviet guard" to seize the moment and rain down nukes on the US, killing at least 100 million of us."
Speculation is growing among intelligence experts and officials that Obama will ask Hayden to stay on.
One of Barack Obama's closest aides is facing claims he had repeated conversations with the Illinois governor accused of trying to sell a US Senate seat.
Sources close to the investigation said Rahm Emanuel, the new chief of staff, had conversations about the issue with Governor Blagojevich and John Harris, the governor's chief aide who is also facing corruption charges.
It is claimed that at one point Emanuel even gave them a list of acceptable candidates to take over the vacant seat.
The case of Illinois Gov. Blagojevich is not just making headlines in America. It is also top news in Serbia, the country of Blagojevich's family origin.
Illinois has the largest Serbian community in the US.
Some of America's wealthiest socialites were facing ruin after the arrest of a Wall Street big hitter accused of the largest investor swindle perpetrated by one man.
Shock and panic spread through the country clubs of Palm Beach and Long Island after Bernard Madoff, a trading powerbroker for more than 4 decades, allegedly confessed to a fraud that will cost his wealthy investors at least $50 billion – perhaps the largest swindle in Wall Street history.
A senior enforcement official at the US Securities and Exchange Commission described the scheme as "a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions."
A new Citigroup scandal is engulfing Robert Rubin and his former disciple Chuck Prince for their roles in an alleged Ponzi-style scheme that's now choking world banking.
Director Rubin and ousted CEO Prince - and their lieutenants over the past 5 years - are named in a federal lawsuit for an alleged complex cover-up of toxic securities that spread across the globe, wiping out trillions of dollars in their destructive paths.
Next year will be little better than this one for investment bankers. Their long-term future is none too bright either.
A future out of control, bankrupt financial institutions trying to hold on, limitation on credit severely limits ability of the economy to start up again, debt totally embraces our lives, handouts a state secret, soon cash infusions wont work for banks anymore, banks hold too much toxic garbage to even know if they are solvent...
Fortune spoke to 8 of the market's sharpest thinkers and what they had to say about the future is frightening.
Events and data have revealed that these financial handlers are not responsible and are hard core gamblers in their very soul.
Their mindset is that of the ultimate gambler and nothing in this world will change their behaviour not even the thought that millions will starve and die and that national economies will be shattered.
They are totally unconcerned as tbe devastating consequences of their actions.
Centuries before Adam Smith (the father of Capitalism) wrote in The Wealth of Nations that "progress results when individuals and businesses follow their own self-interests" and when "consumers compete with each other," the Christian crusaders of the Middle Ages were already pursuing such values.
Crusader Capitalism maintains power by encouraging domestic class conflict and multiplying their wealth through imaginary enemies and foreign wars.
For the last 8 years, President Bush has done just this. He has reincarnated Crusader Capitalism, leaving behind in its wake bitterness and death for the many.
Unless things change fast, human history will show that the phenomenon of "retirement" was limited to one generation.
The experts are calling this the "perfect storm" for retirement. Everything that could go wrong is in fact going wrong.
A look at the business headlines from today's London newspapers.
Asia's 2 big beasts are shivering. India's economy is weaker, but China's leaders have more to fear.
World trade, especially in Asia, continues to plummet, pushing China closer towards recession while Japan is now deeply depressed.
In China the falls are almost as staggering as the incredible growth the nation has seen in recent decades.
The implications for Australia are dire.
Although the manifestation of the problems is clearly seen through Asian trade figures, the root of the trade crisis remains the US consumer -- spending will fall to levels not seen since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in 1942.
[CFR Opinion Roundup][Newseum][Global Incident Map][Earthweek][Day-Night Map][Tonight's Sky][Moon phase]
Microsoft is advising users of its Internet Explorer browser to turn their security settings to the highest levels to guard against a newly discovered flaw that enables hackers to take over the computer of anyone visiting a compromised Web site.
Such "drive-by downloads" are especially dangerous because malicious software is loaded as soon as the victim computer arrives at the site, without the user having to take any additional action, such as clicking on a pop-up window.
Customers are warned to turn the security-level setting on Internet Explorer to high, or to take other actions to prevent Explorer running Web scripts automatically.
Such scripts animate banner ads or other moving pictures and interactive features, and disabling them interferes with viewing and using sites that use them.
A hard-hitting commentary calling Newsweek magazine and President Bush "Bible morons" for their lack of even the simplest understanding of Scripture is being cheered by WND readers who are thrilled to see someone defend the Word of God.
A deluge that swept the Land of Israel more than 7,000 years ago, submerging 6 Neolithic villages opposite the Carmel Mountains, is the origin of the biblical flood of Noah, a British marine archeologist said Tuesday.
The new theory about the source of the great flood detailed in the Book of Genesis comes amid continuing controversy among scholars over whether the inundation of the Black Sea more than seven millennia ago was the biblical flood.
[WAR: Noah's flood "more than 7,000 years ago"? No! It was the other "great flood detailed in the Book of Genesis" before Noah's flood: "Now the Earth became formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. ... And ELOHIM said: 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.'" (Gen 1:2,9).]
In 212 BC, the Syracusans neglected their defences during a festival to the goddess Artemis, and the Romans finally breached the city walls. Marcellus wanted Archimedes alive, but it wasn't to be.
According to ancient historians, Archimedes was killed in the chaos; by one account a soldier ran him through with a sword as he was in the middle of a mathematical proof.
One of Archimedes's creations was saved, though. The general took back to Rome a mechanical bronze sphere that showed the motions of the sun, moon and planets as seen from Earth.
WAR for military: YAHOO! WARriors
WAR fund: PayPal (payable to thedailywarrior@gmail.com)
