Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Benedict XVI's preparations for his trip to the Holy Land are under way, as he himself confirmed yesterday in a meeting with a Jewish delegation from the US.
Just like I was saying...
The financial oligarchy is not asleep: It is waging an international media campaign to create a hostile environment against all ideas and political personalities that support a new financial system oriented towards the common good ... with the unprecedented campaign against Pope Benedict XVI.
On Feb. 4, Welt-Online news reported that an internal Vatican report had called the recent Swedish TV interview with Bishop Williamson a "deliberately laid trap for [the Pope]," alleging that it was broadcast deliberately to attempt to harm the Pope.
The Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet cites Church circles in Rome, that Swedish SVT television aired the interview in order to harm the Pope as much as possible.
This operation has long been planned — the Vatican paper speaks of "a meticulously crafted plan of action" ... in a country with a tightly controlled media, who often do jobs only on assignment as part of intelligence services' campaigns.
The internal Vatican report does not identify who might have an interest in confronting the Pope, but the question of cui bono is not difficult to answer.
Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly denounced the negative aspects of the globalized financial world; however, in his Jan. 1, 2009, World Peace Day message, he did this most comprehensively.
He attacked the system of "financial transactions, which are based on thinking in the extreme short-term, believing that financial transactions are the cause for an increase in wealth" while "completely lacking in any concern for the general welfare."
In another location, Benedict demanded a reform of the financial system, which would begin at the roots. Short-term rescue attempts are not enough, he stated.
Furthermore, it is known that the Pope is working on a new Encyclical, which we may anticipate will relate to the breakdown of the "unbridled free market economy" and will demand ethical standards with which a new system must allow itself to be judged.
The roots of the economic crisis point to the need for a new international structure, say bishops of Latin America.
This conclusion came in a statement from the leadership of the Latin American bishops' council, which met in Colombia last week.
The bishops declared: "Globalization should abide by ethics, placing everything at the service of the human person created in the image and likeness of God."
This inversion of values "perverts human relationships, substituting them for financial transactions, which should be at the service of production and the satisfaction of human needs."
The German economy shrank the most in 22 years in the final three months of last year, as the global slowdown hit demand for the country's manufacturing exports.
Germany will take a stand against rising protectionism when G7 finance chiefs meet this weekend, the Deputy Finance Minister said on Wednesday, after a row in Europe erupted over French aid for car companies.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the weekend meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Rome, he said that, as the world's biggest exporter of goods, Germany was particularly vulnerable to any restrictions on free trade.
The adverse side-effects of the growing dominance of English.
The evidence points to the imminent collapse of the European Union's official language policy, known as "mother tongue plus two", in which citizens are encouraged to learn 2 foreign languages as well as their own (ie, please learn something besides English).
Kosovo's Prime Minister has accused Serbia's pro-West government of trying to undermine his young "republic" ahead of the 1st anniversary of its self-declared independence.
(Op-ed: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF KOSOVO)
Many Jerusalem clergy have been subjected to abuse of this kind. For the most part, they ignore it but sometimes they cannot.
The religious and ultra-Orthodox parties won 23 Knesset seats in this week's elections; will they form a united front that will translate their political power into significant influence on the next government?
The Sanhedrin rabbis have issued a letter following the elections, calling on all parties that represent "God fearing voters" to be generous and flexible towards one another, "so that they could unite for the sake of their common goals."
They called on the religious parties to put Jewish education, Jewish law, love of Israel and preserving the sanctity of the camp and the army at the top of their priorities.
The Sanhedrin recommended that the parties demand to get the education, justice and interior portfolios, which they consider most influential, and urged them to create public debate regarding the issue of basic laws.
Avigdor Lieberman, the ultranationalist Israeli politician, holds the future course of politics in the Middle East in his hands.
The man himself is milking the limelight for all it is worth, coyly telling Israeli radio that he had made up his mind which of the two pretenders should become premier, but "it's too early to tell you just yet."
It still isn't clear who will be asked to form Israel's next government. Outside Israel, many are viewing developments with some concern. But if Netanyahu gets the nod, German commentators fear the peace process will suffer.
Evidence is mounting that the Israeli defence forces used the Gaza assault as a testing ground for new, horrific weapons that have confounded doctors' attempts to save the wounded.
(Breaking: NEW ISRAELI STRIKE ON GAZA)
Israel has reportedly mobilized its forces along its northern borders amid concerns that Tel Aviv may be planning to provoke Lebanon.
The Obama regime's spy boss, the notorious Admiral Blair, has given us some clues about which countries may be dismembered by the US in the coming months and years.
The sudden end of the 30-year export era in Asia is going to have some ugly consequences.
A high-powered team of Los Angeles attorneys representing Obama in his effort to keep his birth certificate, college records and passport documents concealed from the public has suggested there should be "monetary sanctions" against a lawyer whose clients have brought a complaint alleging Obama doesn't qualify for the Oval Office.
As predictably as night follows day, the Obama regime defended the CIA's practice of "extraordinary rendition" (kidnapping) of suspected "terrorists" to 3rd countries where they are subject to "enhanced interrogation" (torture) by allied security services.
Picking a Cabinet? Easier said than done. Just ask Barack Obama. Nominees have already fallen like flies.
Do what?!...
Geithner's father Peter is director of the Asia program at the Ford Foundation. Peter oversaw the "microfinance" programs developed in Indonesia by Ann Dunham-Soetoro, Barack Obama's mother.
An Indiana county municipal official in the vicinity of Chicago reveals the contents of his meetings with FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.
The initial requests seem reasonable enough when FEMA asks the county officials to prepare a Hazard Mitigation Plan to deal with flooding, fires, high winds and tornadoes.
But as the required meetings and calls with FEMA and DHS continue over a 2 year period their request become more unusual, raising suspicions of county officials.
The administration has far-reaching plans for the National Security Council.
The new director of national intelligence told Congress that global economic turmoil and the instability it could ignite had outpaced terrorism as the most urgent threat facing the US.
The assessment underscored concern inside America's intelligence agencies not only about the fallout from the economic crisis around the globe, but also about long-term harm to America's reputation.
"The longer it takes for the recovery to begin, the greater the likelihood of serious damage to US strategic interests."
Ying is part of a growing number of Chinese who are joining tours organized especially for investors who want to take advantage of slumping US real estate prices amid a financial crisis.
Some of the large banks in the US, according to economists and other finance experts, are like dead men walking.
A sober assessment of the growing mountain of losses from bad bets, measured in today's marketplace, would overwhelm the value of the banks' assets, they say.
The banks, in their view, are insolvent.
The creditworthiness of the US is deteriorating more rapidly than most of its AAA rated brethren.
The effects of the US's efforts to solve the financial and economic crisis are taking a toll on the country's ability to uphold a AAA rating, according to a report published by Moody's Investors Service.
China should seek guarantees that its $682 billion holdings of US government debt won't be eroded by "reckless policies," said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the central bank.
The US "should make the Chinese feel confident that the value of the assets at least will not be eroded in a significant way," he said.
This week marked a huge wasted opportunity in the economic crisis.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's long-awaited plan for rescuing the banks left people even more confused about the Obama administration's agenda than they had been before the announcement.
New statistics released on Thursday show that Europe's industrial woes are even worse than expected. Many are concerned that the bad economy could lead to more protectionism.
Inflexible, behind the curve, still fighting yesterday's war - bashing the European Central Bank has become the latest fashionable blood sport.
Critics charge that the ECB remains obsessed with fighting inflation even though price growth is close to zero and the European economy is contracting faster than at any time since WW2.
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