Sunday

The Daily WAR (11-12)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
 
 
    Although Pope Benedict's decision to lift the excommunications of 4 traditionalist bishops has set off a firestorm of criticism, some Catholics welcome the move as a chance to heal a rift in the church.
    The bishops are leaders of the Society of Saint Pius X, which includes hundreds of thousands of Catholics worldwide who reject the ecumenical teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
    The society includes almost 100 chapels with thousands of members in the US.
    These ultra-traditional Catholics want the Vatican to declare that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.
    Benedict's move is a signal that "things are starting to change. We were basically shunned by everyone. We were in our own little world."
 
    Israel's chief Rabbinate is resuming dialogue with the Vatican after freezing ties over a Holocaust-denying bishop and the pope will meet major Jewish groups to try to make amends, a Church source said on Saturday.
    Next Thursday, the pope will hold a meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and make an address about the Holocaust and the dangers of Holocaust denial, the source said.
 
    Chancellor Merkel and Pope Benedict XVI spoke by telephone to set aside their differences over a Holocaust denial by an ultra-conservative bishop. Spokespeople said the talk was marked by "mutual respect."
    "It was a good and constructive talk, carried by the deep and constant reminder that the Shoah holds for humanity," a statement said.
 
    Cardinal Egan of New York reiterated his support for the Jewish community in the US and his condemnation of anyone who negates the extent of the Holocaust.
    "As Archbishop of New York, I add my voice to that of the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in rejecting Williamson's words as hurtful, baseless, and outrageous."
 
    Germany's Catholic bishops are calling for the expulsion of a bishop, recently brought back into the church by Pope Benedict XVI, after new reports that Richard Williamson denies the Holocaust.
 
    A traditionalist Catholic bishop who denies the full extent of the Holocaust has said he must review historical evidence before considering an apology to Jews.
    "I ask everyone to believe me that I did not deliberately say something false. I was, on the basis of my research in the 1980s, convinced of the accuracy of my comments. Now I must examine everything again and look at the evidence."
    (And: "It is not about emotions but about historic evidence.")
 
    An ultraconservative society threw out an Italian priest Friday after he expressed doubts about the Holocaust, news reports said. The Italian branch of the Society of St. Pius X said it expelled him to prevent its image from being "distorted."
 
    The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, expressed hope that the election of Kirill as the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia will bring greater unity among the Orthodox Churches.
    The Russian Orthodox Church, depended initially on the patriarch of Constantinople, until 1589. It is one of 14 Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, and the most numerous in members, including more than 80 million of the 200 million Orthodox believers in the world.
    The patriarch of Moscow does not recognize the patriarch of Constantinople as primus inter pares [first among equals], a title traditionally attributed to him by other Orthodox Churches. This has given rise to historical disagreements and misunderstandings.
 
 
 
    Alois Hitler, father of Adolf, was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber and Baron Rothschild.
 
    In a surprise move, Economics Minister Michael Glos offered to resign Saturday, less than 8 months before the country votes in a general election, but the offer was promptly turned down by his party boss.
    Glos is a member of the Christian Social Union. He expressed his desire to step down in a letter to CSU leader Host Seehofer, who is also president of the southern German state of Bavaria.
    He told Seehofer he wanted to quit in order to make way for a renewal in the CSU -- which needed "renewal, creative power and credibility more than ever."
 
    Global attitudes towards Russia and China have changed for the worse over the past year as positive ratings for the US are on the rise for the first time since 2005, a poll published by the BBC World Service showed.
    As in previous years, Germany fared best in the poll, with every country viewing it positively, and 61% of people rating it favorably, up from 55% a year ago.
 
 
 
What NWO?...
    This year's Munich Security Conference represents a turning point in international relations.
    The role of the US, which dominated the transatlantic axis for decades, is now being challenged by a number of European countries.
    Longstanding relationships are being eclipsed, while new relations still remain undeveloped.
    However, under the diplomatic surface, growing tensions are emerging across the Atlantic as well as between the Great Powers in Europe itself.
    As the economic crisis deepens rapidly, each country is increasingly reacting by giving priority to its own economic, political and military interests.
 
    Joe Biden is the star guest at the MSC this weekend. His speech on Saturday (was) supposed to form the basis of the new trans-Atlantic partnership. Instead of concrete pledges, experts await a bid to mend ties between Europe and the US.
 
    Joseph Biden rejected the notion of a Russian sphere of influence Saturday, promising that the new government under Obama would continue to press NATO to seek "deeper cooperation" with like-minded countries.
    Biden, in a much-anticipated speech, also said the Obama administration would continue to pursue a planned missile defense system that has angered the Kremlin, provided the technology works and is not too expensive.
    Biden's speech was the highlight of a high-powered annual security conference that attracted a host of global leaders and diplomats, most of whom seemed primed to hear how the US and its new leadership viewed the world. They erupted into spontaneous applause when Biden walked onto the stage.
    But for all the talk of a new era in relations between the US and the world, old sores remained, and with no sign of healing soon.
 
    Russia appreciates overtures being made by the US to improve relations, but sees no need to immediately respond in kind, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said today.
    He made no concessions after meeting face-to-face with Joe Biden to discuss issues that have caused friction between Washington and Moscow in recent years.
 
Puh-leaze!!...
    On Saturday evening, the newly-established Ewald von Kleist Award was presented to Henry Kissinger. The award is intended to honor those who have made a significant contribution to global peace and conflict resolution.
 
 
 
    French fighter planes were unable to take off after military computers were infected by a computer virus, an intelligence magazine claims.
    The aircraft were unable to download their flight plans after databases were infected by a Microsoft virus they had already been warned about several months beforehand.
 
    This country's brief experiment with open borders faces an uncertain future today.
    Voters are roughly split on the issue of whether Switzerland should close the gates or continue to allow the free flow of workers, tourists and transport trucks.
    The referendum that may cancel the Schengen Agreement was called by the far-right Swiss People's Party, which has gained support recently with its nationalistic rhetoric.
    The agreement allows for border crossings without checks for most European Union countries, even though Switzerland is not a full-fledged EU member.
 
    All the great conflicts of Europe have swept violently through this dark, beautiful and sinister city (Prague). It is a place of endless betrayal, cruelty, murder and intrigue.
    The Thirty Years' War began here in 1618 when 2 envoys of the Holy Roman Empire were hurled from a high window into a pile of horse manure.
    Now another great struggle - between the European superstate and the very idea of national independence - is being fought in Prague.
    Czechs are sensitive about being ordered around by politicians from other countries.
    For the 4th time in a century, the poor Czechs are about to see their independence snuffed out because it is inconvenient to greater powers in a vast continental scheme.
    From having been a country, they will become a regional oddity in a state called Europe.
 
    The response to the economic crisis and troubles in eurozone economies stay high on the European agenda this week, with EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels, and the parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee convening with its counterparts from 27 member states on the outlook for the EU economy.
    The week ends with an economic meeting where finance ministers from the G7 will meet and map out their initial positions ahead of the G20 meeting in London at the beginning of April, where new international finance rules are expected to be hammered out.
 
    Russia may face a grim economic downturn but one would scarcely think so to judge by the sound of sabre-rattling emerging from the Kremlin. Unless, of course, it is intended as a domestic distraction from the gathering gloom.
    The double-act of Medvedev and Putin has come up with a series of security initiatives that seem designed to provoke, or at least irritate, the new administration in Washington.
    Without even waiting to hear how Obama intends to conduct his relations with Moscow, the Russian leaders have thrown down the gauntlet.
 
 
 
    As Israelis trudge once again to the polling stations Tuesday to elect a new government for the 5th time in 10 years, many of them may still be asking themselves who they are going to vote for, and why.
 
    Donald Macintyre reports from Jerusalem on an election campaign that is still too close to call, but one with ominous portents.
 
    Israel is about to make a misjudgement as disastrous – and deadly – as the attack on Gaza. In a few days, it looks as if it could elect Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister once again.
    The key to understanding Netanyahu lies with his father, Benzion. He is a distinguished scholar of medieval history who believes the world is eternally and ineradicably riddled with genocidal anti-Semitism.
    The man he calls his mentor, Abba Ahimeir, described himself proudly as "a fascist."
 
    Shas' spiritual leader Rabbi Yosef said during his weekly Saturday-night sermon at his house that whoever supports Yisrael Beiteinu "supports Satan."
    "These are people who do not have Torah, people who want civil marriages, shops that sell pork, and the army enlistment of yeshiva students. My heart is heavy. Heaven forbid people support them. This is completely forbidden. Whoever does so commits an intolerable sin. Whoever does so supports Satan and the evil inclination."
 
    A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip has landed in southern Israel, setting several cars on fire, the Israeli military has said.
 
    Israeli fighter jets have carried out mock attacks and reconnaissance missions in border regions with Lebanon.
    Violating the Lebanese airspace, the warplanes carried out reconnaissance flights over border regions and also several other regions at low altitude and launched mock raids against Lebanese targets.
 
    A network of senior military officers appears to be engaged in an effort to mobilize public opinion against Obama's decision to leave Iraq.
 
    NATO's top official chastised Germany and France for refusing to commit more troops to Afghanistan, but the 2 European powers skirted the issue Saturday even while agreeing that Washington should not be left to fight international conflicts alone.
 
 
 
    Three decades after Iran's Islamic Revolution, activists who took part in the events that saw the Shah toppled – and which ushered in an era of unrelenting hostility to the West – despair at how their dreams have been so little realised.
 
    Iran will face tougher sanctions if it does not meet the demands of major powers to rein in its nuclear programme, the leaders of Germany and France said on Saturday.
 
    The NATO summit held in the Turkish city of Istanbul on June 28-29, 2004 was nothing less than epochal in terms of its geopolitical repercussions, where several historical thresholds were crossed and post-WW2 international taboos violated.
    NATO's penetration of and military buildup in the Persian Gulf continues apace into this New Year. Preparing for WW3 remains NATO's mindset.
 
    A senior Iranian official called Obama's election a "golden opportunity" for the US to improve relations with Iran but condemned past American behavior in a speech that underscored the difficulty of overcoming the bad blood between the 2 adversaries.
    Near the end of his speech, Larijani astonished many in the audience by arguing that there could "be different perspectives on the Holocaust."
    The remark was surprising because Iran has been careful about commenting on the Holocaust in settings such as Munich.
    The comment prompted an angry challenge from French politician Pierre Lellouche, who said denying the Holocaust is a crime in France.
    "In Iran, we don't have the same sensitivities," Larijani replied.
 
    The Israeli prime ministerial frontrunner will win a US blessing to enter war with Iran, says a source familiar with US Mideast policies. Netanyahu will be able to convince Obama that a military attack is the only solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
 
 
 
    Spies from 20 foreign intelligence agencies, including NATO allies such as France and Germany, are attempting to steal Britain's most sensitive secrets.
    Details of the spy plots were revealed in a government security document obtained by The Sunday Telegraph which states that Britain is "high priority espionage target" for 20 foreign intelligence agencies.
    The document, marked "restricted", warns that foreign spies are trying to steal secrets related to the military, optics, communications, genetics and aviation industries.
 
    Barack Obama has been warned by the CIA that British Islamist extremists are the greatest threat to US homeland security.
    "Around 40% of CIA activity on homeland threats is now in the UK. This is quite unprecedented."
 
    Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues.
    The result will be a "dramatically different" NSC from that of the Bush administration or any of its predecessors since the forum was established after WW2 to advise the president on diplomatic and military matters.
    National security adviser James L. Jones, a retired Marine general, made it clear that he will run the process and be the primary conduit of national security advice to Obama.
 
    Obama shuns the L-word. But his speeches brim with liberal ideas and ideals. What is it about the doctrine that dare not speak its name?
 
    As if attempting to prove that a man-crush knows no historical bounds, Obama will return to Springfield next week to celebrate the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the past president whose name and memory Obama habitually invokes.
    His trip raises the question: Is Obama running the risk of making Americans weary of his links to Lincoln?
    [WAR: All this comparison to Lincoln brings 5 words to mind and makes me wonder if we're going back to the future: assassination, blacks, banking, civil war.]
 
Speaking of civil war...
    As the Obama administration attempts to push through Congress a nearly $1 trillion deficit spending plan that is weighted heavily toward advancing typically Democratic-supported social welfare programs, a rebellion against the growing dominance of federal control is beginning to spread at the state level.
    So far, 8 states have introduced resolutions declaring state sovereignty under the 9th and 10th Amendment to the Constitution. Analysts expect that in addition, another 20 states may see similar measures introduced this year.
    Republican state Rep. Judy Burges, the primary sponsor of the sovereignty resolution in the Arizona House, told WND the federal government "has been trouncing on our constitutional rights. We are a sovereign state in Arizona, not a branch of the federal government, and we need to be treated as such."
 
    Counties in California say they've had enough – and they aren't going to take it anymore. In what amounts to a Boston Tea Party-style revolt against the state Capitol, they're threatening to withhold money.
 
    "Yes its true, the FEMA camps are indeed real...but not in the form that you all are thinking. There are 2 types of camps run by FEMA.
    The first is a set of prison camps that are intended to house illegals, riot causing bunch, and potential invasion forces that are captured. These are the camps that have the watch towers and basically have the same look as any high security prison.
    The second is a set of aid camps that are intended for displaced citizens when a natural disaster hits, causing hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes with no where to go. They are built out of the closed down military bases, a perfect choice since these closed down military bases are like little cities.
    None of these 2 types of camps, are intended for, or will ever be for the purpose of killing off people."
 
    The Obama administration is considering whether to shift the management of nuclear weapons production to the Pentagon from the Energy Department, a step that would end more than 60 years of civilian control over nuclear bomb manufacture.
 
    As it fights 2 wars, the Pentagon is steadily and dramatically increasing the money it spends to win what it calls "the human terrain" of world public opinion.
    In the process, it is raising concerns of spreading propaganda at home in violation of federal law.
 
    A Republican source says newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has requested the resignations of the entire RNC staff and signaled a dramatic turnover at the party organization.
 
    It has come to this: In Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, more than 200 men in shackles and prison stripes were marched under armed guard past a gantlet of TV cameras to a tent prison encircled by an electric fence.
    They are inmates being sent to await deportation in a new immigrant detention camp minutes from the center of America's 5th-largest city.
 
 
 
    Anyone with common sense, a grasp of simple arithmetic and a desire to go against the consensus should have seen the financial crisis coming.
 
    In a clear indication the economic crisis is rapidly heading into a severe global depression, US employers purged 598,000 jobs in January.
    The prospects for the coming year are grim. Analysts anticipate that 3 million more jobs will be lost, although even these dire estimates are contingent upon passage of Obama's stimulus package and the administration's assertions on job creation.
 
    The International Monetary Fund is the organization that audits the books of countries world-wide to determine their real solvency and whether or not their books are accurate.
    The IMF is also responsible for bailing out countries in trouble, and stabilizing the world's economic systems.
    The IMF has also performed a complete audit of the whole US financial system, and therefore has a clearer idea of American finances than just about any other organization.
    So the fact that the head of the IMF is saying that the world's advanced economies are already in a depression carries great weight.
    Many economists actually believe that it will be even worse than the Great Depression.
 
    A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery.
    Over the last 2 weeks, what should have been a deadly serious debate here in the US about how to save an economy in desperate straits turned, instead, into hackneyed political theater.
    Somehow, Washington has lost any sense of what's at stake - of the reality that we may well be falling into an economic abyss, and that if we do, it will be very hard to get out again.
    It's hard to exaggerate how much economic trouble we're in. The implosion of the Bush-era housing bubble has set economic dominoes falling around the world.
    The US economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.
 
    The federal government will have to issue record levels of debt in the next 2 years – up to $2.5 trillion in 2009 and as much as $4 trillion in 2010.
 
    A wave of new borrowing threatens a port in a storm.
    If private credit continues to revive and there is no sign budget deficits are coming down, investors may worry that America will attempt to inflate its debts away. Then the storm really will hit Treasuries.
 
    Ponzi, plans, and plunder; no magic wand from the Fed; investigative ineptitude at the SEC; Fed wont reveal its holdings; credit delinquencies to record highs; jobless rates on the rise; massive budget imbalances; California worst off of all states...
 
    This was supposed to be bonus season for the once-pampered bankers of Europe. Instead, it has become payback time.
    On Friday, European governments were encouraged to follow the example of the US by limiting executive pay at companies receiving aid from the government bailouts.
 
    Anglo-Saxon sceptics about Europe's single currency gleefully predict that these strains will blow the euro apart.
    Quite apart from the huge technical problems of reintroducing a national currency, quitting the euro would surely entail default on euro-denominated debts, and could also put a country's membership of the EU at risk.
    The rules of the single currency expressly forbid any bail-out of one country by the centre or by other countries.
    The Germans, ever fearful that they may be asked to pick up the bill for the profligacy of others, are already squashing any talk of issuing joint euro-area bonds to relieve some of the pressure on national governments.
    Yet as the euro area's biggest economy and biggest exporter, Germany would suffer more than most from any member's default. So it has a huge stake in making sure it does not reach that point.
    Some form of euro drama looks ever more likely — and it would be better if governments started preparing for it now.
 
    It is a further irony that Germany at first suffered under the euro, with slow growth and an embarrassing breach of the stability pact. But now other countries look more vulnerable.
    Their hope had been to shackle the Germans via the euro, but now they find themselves at a competitive disadvantage without the option of devaluing.
    Today euro members like Spain, Ireland, Greece and Portugal suddenly find their credit ratings under threat and their bond spreads over Germany's widening sharply.
    For all the success of its first 10 years, this year looks likely to be the euro's most testing so far.
 
    The euro area economy's vaunted strengths are starting to look like weaknesses.
 
    Recession is bringing fresh threats to Europe's single market. There are warning signs that governments are thinking selfishly.
    A great deal is at stake as this crisis deepens. Without a lot of vigilance, the single market could be derailed.
 
    President Sarkozy drew fire from fellow EU states that accused him of protectionism, and irritated his ally Britain with comments he made defending his economic crisis strategy.
 
    The re-emergence of a spectre from the darkest period of modern history argues for a different, indeed strident, response.
    Economic nationalism — the urge to keep jobs and capital at home — is both turning the economic crisis into a political one and threatening the world with depression.
    If it is not buried again forthwith, the consequences will be dire.
    Once again, the task of saving the world economy falls to America. Obama must show that he is ready for it.
    If he is, he should kill any "Buy American" provisions. If he isn't, America and the rest of the world are in deep trouble.
 
    A great financial retrenchment is under way, the product of both market forces and political pressure on banks to lend at home rather than abroad. In other industries globalisation looks harder to unpick.
 
    The conspiracy of well-placed insiders is now tottering. The whole structure of the national American political system has rested on the solvency of the largest American banks. These banks have all been called into question. They are now gutted.
    The American conspirators have lost the one thing that they thought they had: control over the nation and the nation's finances by means of the fractional reserve banking system. That system is coming unglued.
    The thought that commercial bank insiders actively demolished trillions of dollars of their own equity as part of a conspiratorial plan is so imbecilic, so outrageous, so ludicrous, that I am convinced that these conspiracy worshippers have lost whatever remained of their minds.
 
    Buoyed up by a crisis and with 5 presidents in attendance, the international left has ideas for fixing the world that a neoliberal might recognise.
    Often mocked for an endless ability to disagree with itself, the World Social Forum — an annual jamboree for NGOs, anti-capitalists, leftish intellectuals, bohemians and bishops — was unusually united this year.
    The culprit was the whole current design of the world economy, promoting competition. Free trade and free movement of capital needed to be re-thought, participants insisted.
 
    The purpose of this site is to provide information that assist individuals in disappearing, being more private, falling off the grid and staying under the radar.
 
 
 
No way, dude!...
    A laid-back surfer has just drawn up a new theory of the universe that is blowing the establishment's socks off.
    His theory is seen by some as the "Holy Grail of physics", and is earning rave reviews from distinguished scientists.
    In fact, his model appears to be the elusive overarching explanation to unite all the particles and forces of the cosmos, which has been the most baffling riddle of modern physics — stumping even Einstein.
    Part of the excitement is that it does not require highly complex mathematics to understand. In the arcane world of particle physics, a simplified theory that actually makes sense, is a fine rarity indeed.
    Many scientists have speculated through the years that when the "Holy Grail" of physics was found, it would be beautiful, simple and easily understood.
    Perhaps even more exciting, Lisi's theory does not require more than 1 dimension of time and 3 of space.
 
    Comet Lulin is now approaching Earth. "It is a green beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now."
    The comet makes its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 24th. Current estimates peg the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark country skies would be required to see it.
    No one can say for sure, however, because this appears to be Lulin's first visit to the inner solar system and its first exposure to intense sunlight. Surprises are possible.
 
    A Tennessee historian and author best known for his searches for the Ark of the Covenant is now challenging much of modern Christianity, claiming the traditional version of the faith has more in common with ancient paganism than actual biblical content.
    "First century believers would have never accepted [today's practices]. We must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints."
 
    Authorities in northern Cyprus believe they have found an ancient version of the Bible written in Syriac.
    The manuscript was found in a police raid on suspected antiquity smugglers. Turkish Cypriot police testified in a court hearing they believe the manuscript could be about 2,000 years old.
    But experts said the use of gold lettering on the manuscript was likely to date it later than 2,000 years.
 
    The host of the No. 1-rated talk show in Denver can't find enough superlatives to describe the stunning biblical information revealed in the best-selling book, "Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told."
    Peter Boyles of KHOW Radio had WND's Executive News Editor Joe Kovacs on again last week to shatter the myths and misconceptions about Scripture, and after reading the book himself, he heaped praise on the publication and its author.
    "I thought I was going to take a lot more heat than I am," said Kovacs. "Thankfully, the e-mail has been much more positive. People are thanking me more for getting back to the Bible facts."
 
TODAY IN SCRIPTURE
    "(Noah) waited 7 more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the Earth." (Gen 8:10,11)
 
 
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