Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Jesus is "the center of the universe and history," Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily as he celebrated Mass for the feast of the Epiphany, which is observed in Rome on the traditional date, January 6.
With the Incarnation of Christ [the "God-man"], the faithful came to realize that the universe is controlled not by anonymous forces but by a loving personal God.
(And: FULL TEXT OF HOMILY)
A peaceful revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, reunification: DW-World's special traces Germany's ongoing path to unity.
Germany's unemployment rate rose more than expected in December, data released today showed, bringing to an end a long run of monthly falls and adding to signs of the tough year ahead for Europe's biggest economy.
A 74-year-old German billionaire whose industrial empire was on the rocks has killed himself, his family said Tuesday, reportedly by throwing himself under a train.
Russian Prime Minister Putin will hold talks with Chancellor Merkel in Berlin on Jan. 16, German government sources told AFP on Tuesday.
No wonder the European Union is often ridiculed when it comes to dealing with a major international crisis. The spectacle of 2 sets of European diplomats scurrying around the Middle East bodes badly for EU ambitions to become a major player in the region.
The Europeans have lacked unity on the Middle East partly because of different historical interests in the region but also because of the Holocaust. Germany, regardless of the rights and wrongs of any Israeli military actions or its settlement policy, has always stood with Israel.
Signs are mounting that the conflict in Gaza is starting to spill over into violence in Europe's towns and cities, with assaults against Jews and arson attacks on Jewish congregations in France, Sweden and Britain.
The European Union has issued Russia with a 24-hour deadline to restore gas supplies after all deliveries through Ukraine were stopped.
"There is a political dimension to this problem. Tomorrow is a key day. If supplies are not restored tomorrow, then we will have to see a strong EU intervention."
(Cartoon: GOODBYE, CRUEL WORLD!)
The South Ossetian Press and Social Communication Ministry declared on Monday that a major offensive is being planned by Georgian and foreign forces to strike at Russian servicemen in South Ossetia and this Republic´s security, defence and law enforcement authorities.
The Russian Ministry of Defense was quoted as saying: "If Georgian special services try to conduct an armed provocation against South Ossetia and Russian servicemen, deployed in its territory, they will meet with a hard rebuff with the use of all arsenal of the forces and resources our military base possesses."
Israel must declare martial law and remove all of its enemies, both internal enemies, including socialist, self-hating Jews who collaborate and sympathize with the Palestinians, as well as external enemies, the Muslim and Arab member states in the UN who send financial aid to terrorist groups operating in Israel (i.e., "the Palestinians").
(Huh?: ISRAEL SHOULD USE MORE FORCE)
(Huh?: ISRAEL AGAINST THE BARBARIANS)
Genocide has been defined as deliberate efforts to annihilate a group of people or decrease or halt the growth of their population. In the past 6 decades the population of Arabs has been declining due to their displacement or violence-related deaths under Israel's suppression.
Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" is reported to have overwhelming support among the Israeli public, but few are as enthusiastic as the former residents of the Israeli settlements in Gaza.
As tens of thousands of Israeli troops descend on Gaza in an apocalyptic frenzy, scores of determined settlers are prepared to enter in their wake.
Israeli shells slammed into Gaza and ground forces edged closer to major population centers Tuesday.
The first signs of a ceasefire in Gaza have emerged as an Egyptian-brokered settlement appeared to be gaining broad support.
The Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip as an act of "supreme insanity," that could lead to the destruction of Israel altogether.
"The only 'threat' to Israel is an outbreak of peace. There is no credible threat of war against Israel. The disease is the Sykes-Picot mentality among the Israeli leadership.
"They have become so accustomed to playing the role of pawns in the British imperial divide-and-conquer games in the region, that they have lost the ability to think in terms of their own self-interests."
Across the Arab world the conflict continues to tear at the rift between factions that extol resistance to Israel and the Western-friendly autocracies and monarchies that rule in the region.
As anger at Israel grows, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas backers in Iran and Syria gain more currency on the street at the expense of American allies: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
Hezbollah warns Tel Aviv against a military attack on Lebanon, saying the scope of its response would exceed Israel's defense capabilities. "If the Israelis step out of line, the 2nd Lebanon war in 2006 would be nothing compared to what we have in store for them."
America's support of the Gaza attack proves once again that our mythical image of Israel has blinded us to its faults -- a myopia with devastating consequences for both countries.
(Video: MEDIA BIAS EXPOSED)
(And: TO HELL WITH THE HUMAN BEING)
India's Prime Minister accused Pakistani government agencies of being involved in November's Mumbai terrorist attacks, and said the Pakistani government was using terrorism "as an instrument of state policy."
Israel's fight with Hamas in Gaza, like the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon two years ago, is not just a struggle over the Palestinian issue but a broader proxy battle between Western allies and Iran for the very future of the Middle East.
It's not just that American citizens lack knowledge of historical and constitutional facts about our country, but they also show a declining appreciation of who we are.
Political correctness in colleges and public schools over the last decade has gone a long way toward replacing patriotism with the trendy dicta of multiculturalism, diversity and global citizenship. Are we losing our identity as Americans?
The Bush-Cheney duumvirate won an undeclared war against the Constitution.
Most troublesome, they captured the power to initiate war from a spineless Congress.
The Founding Fathers were unanimous in denying the president that constitutional authority.
They knew that presidents would chronically deceive Congress and concoct excuses for war to control public information, benefit political friends through government contracts, quell dissent, and assert emergency powers.
A conference is scheduled Friday at the Supreme Court during which justices will consider behind closed doors – again – taking up a case that could put to rest the questions about whether Barack Obama qualifies to occupy the Oval Office.
Countin' their chicken before it hatches...
These were supposed to be heady days for members of the Congressional Black Caucus, a time of celebration ahead of the inauguration of the first black president.
For 40 years, the caucus has been the center of black power in Washington, the go-to group for anyone hoping to court the black population and the politicians who represent them.
But as Obama prepares to take office, shifting power to the White House in ways both real and symbolic, caucus members have been wrestling with an unsettling reality: the new president can propel their agenda but he may also diminish their influence.
Current and former intelligence officials expressed sharp resentment over Obama's choice of Leon E. Panetta as CIA director and suggested that the agency suffers from incompetent leadership and low morale.
According to Henry Kissinger, conflicts across the globe and an international respect for Barack Obama have created the perfect setting for establishment of "a New World Order."
All that money you're saving these days at the gas pump? You might want to put it in the bank.
The same cheap oil that's providing relief to drivers and businesses in an awful economy is setting the stage for another price spike, perhaps as soon as next year, that will bring back painful memories of last summer's $4-a-gallon gas.
(And: PICKENS PREDICTS $100 OIL)
Global Economic Warfare in the 21st Century
Challenging the conventional wisdom behind oil pricing, this compact book sheds an entirely new light on the workings of "free" commodity markets and oil industry supply and demand "fundamentals." Its purpose is to look at the use of oil as an economic weapon.
Contrary to popular perceptions, media commentary and official explanations, the book methodically lays out the geopolitical logic and the market mechanisms behind the stunning 12-fold run-up of oil prices from 1998 to mid-2008.
It also offers an explanation for the sudden price drop from almost $150/barrel to under $100 as Russia again flexed its muscle by invading Georgia.
Vacancies at US malls and shopping centers approached 10-year highs in the 4th quarter, and are set to rise further as declining retail sales put more stores out of business.
And retailers will close 12,000 stores in 2009, after the worst holiday sales in 40 years.
Less than one week into 2009, new economic data indicate the US will not quickly rebound from the crash of 2008. Economists now openly discuss the possibility of another Great Depression, portending the permanent impoverishment of broad sections of the population.
(Humor: THE JOYS OF THE CINCHED BELT)
(Cartoon: RECESSION!)
The financial and economic meta-crisis we face is absolutely insoluble. It is certainly a primary component in the eventual devolution to come.
The Federal Reserve has become the Romulus and Remus of financial armegeddon by assuming the position of both subprime borrower and lender; in essence, promises to pay with no possible ability to see the contract through.
My advice is beginning to sound like a broken record: gold, guns and groceries.
Welcome to 2009. This is a year in which the fate of the world economy will be determined, maybe for generations.
The danger is extreme. Once the integration of the world economy starts to reverse and unemployment soars, the demons of our past – above all, nationalism – will return.
Achievements of decades may collapse almost overnight.
The upheaval in the financial markets has sent shock waves around the globe. Economies in North America, Europe and Asia are closely connected -- for better or for worse.
But now the threat of a new protectionism is taking shape.
The new wave of radical Democrats sweeping into Capitol Hill are insisting on a "Buy American" clause in the $750bn fiscal package being prepared by Barack Obama.
The $17bn bail-out of GM and Chrysler last month was already a step across the Rubicon towards a protectionist industrial policy, even if that was not the motive.
The EU is exploring a World Trade Organisation complaint over "illegal state aid." But the latest Buy American move is much more explicit.
"This is quite dangerous," said Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International and a former director-general of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. "The US is the key to keeping a one-world trading system, but there is always the tendency to go for protectionism in a recession, and this is the worst one I've ever seen."
The currency chief at BNP Paribas says the US risks setting off a collapse in discipline across the world. "The US has a leading role so this could set off a huge response in other countries. There is already talk of a €100bn fund in Germany to save its industry from being sold off cheap."
Nationalist measures are becoming ever more brazen in emerging markets.
This is the pattern in democracies. Lawmakers – with a constituency base – are the first to push for protection.
For the great exporters – China, Japan, Germany – a trade war would be a crippling blow to industry.
For the great importers – the US, UK, Southern Europe – it could set off a bond meltdown as capital flows from Asia dry up.
FT Deutschland has obtained a paper from the European Commission, which warns about the long-term effects of diverging competitiveness in the euro area.
The paper says Germany has improved its competitiveness to pre-unification levels, while Italy and Spain among others have suffered a massive loss in competitiveness.
But it also cites a lack of policy co-ordination as a reason for the economic divergence.
Beijing has launched the experiment of using the yuan as a reserve currency in relations with 8 countries.
Chinese exporters are asking to charge in yuan instead of dollars, because the US currency is losing value.
But China needs to revise its model of development, too much inspired by 18th century mercantilism.
The undeniable reality: The debt crisis that first appeared in the US subprime mortgage market has now spread to the entire world.
It is driving the economies of Western Europe and Japan into an unprecedented tailspin.
It threatens the economic — and potentially political — stability of Russia, China and several emerging market nations.
And it's setting the stage for a global depression of epic dimensions.
Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, told business leaders assembled by the Wall Street Journal in November that the economic crisis facing the country is "an opportunity to do things you could not do before."
That has to be one of the most chilling statements I have ever heard uttered by an American political official in my lifetime.
But there was even more to this quote. He followed up that scary and yet candid statement with this: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."
Why is it that Emanuel and other members of the Obama administration seem downright giddy about the collapse of our economy?
It is truly astounding how brazen the financial oligarchy and its political friends have been in treating the world financial system as if it were their private vending machine, while "experts," who only recently were still "completely surprised" by the crisis, are now forecasting corporate and personal bankruptcies, mass unemployment, and world food shortages.
The truth is that not only Germany, but the entire world financial system, is hopelessly bankrupt. The signs are overwhelming that we are in the midst of the collapse of the entire world financial and economic system.
Germans feel that they've been tricked out of the fruits of the peaceful Revolution of 1989 and of German reunification, because in the wake of the geopolitical manipulation of the Maastricht Treaty, their loss of sovereignty over their currency, and of the deutschemark itself, and the forced acceptance of the euro and the transfer of their national capital to Brussels, they've come to feel that they can't fight it, and that they might as well adjust to the existing power equation?
[CFR Opinion Roundup][Newseum][Global Incident Map][Earthweek][Day-Night Map][Tonight's Sky][Moon phase]
A new year, and a new president – plenty of grist for my prediction mill, or, at least, for the obligatory January "predictions" column.
All in all, the prospects for liberty and peace in 2009 might be charitably described as dim, although bleak seems more precise.
My advice to my readers: save your candles. The Dark Ages are coming...
Russia celebrates Orthodox Christmas on the 7th of January. We present a brief summary highlighting the most common traditions, the symbols of Orthodox Christmas, the food and the significance of this date.
(And: ORTHODOX XMAS)
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