Friday

The Daily WAR (01-12)

Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
 
 
 
    Pope Benedict XVI swore in the latest recruits to the Swiss Guard on Wednesday, the anniversary of the Sack of Rome.
    Almost 500 years ago, a German mercenary army went on a rampage in the Eternal City.
    It was the Swiss Guard's bravery that allowed the pope to escape to safety.
 
    Christian theology offers a new vision of the physical world since Christ became part of it in taking on flesh, says Benedict XVI.
    The Pope explained this Wednesday during the general audience in St. Peter's Square, in which he spoke of St. John Damascene, one of the great defenders of the use of images in worship.
    This Christian vision, in which "because of the Incarnation, matter appears as divinized, is seen as the dwelling place of God" is "a new vision of the world and material realities," he continued.
 
    Expectations are high, as Pope Benedict XVI prepares to leave Rome today for a week-long trip to the Middle East.
    But tensions are high as well, both at the Vatican and in the Holy Land.
    The Pope will be visiting the world's most volatile region, working his way through the diplomatic equivalent of a mine field; he will have very little margin for error.
 
    Pope Benedict XVI says he hopes the Catholic church can play a role in the Middle East peace process.
    The pope spoke to reporters briefly before his plane touched down Friday in Jordan's capital, Amman, where he will begin his first Middle East visit that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
    He said the Catholic church is not a political power but is a spiritual force that he hopes can contribute to attempts to forge peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
 
    A man whose 4-year papacy has been marked by missteps that angered and offended Jews and Muslims will deliver 32 speeches at some of the holiest sites in the world to Muslims, Jews and Christians.
    Each word will be scrutinized, particularly by listeners with little affection for him. Already, Islamic groups in Jordan are protesting.
 
    Pope Benedict XVI has spoken of his "deep respect" for Islam as he embarked on the first leg of his Middle East tour.
 
    Jordanian Islamist leaders on Thursday condemned Pope Benedict's visit to the Middle East, saying it was provocative because he has not apologised for offending comments implying Islam was violent and irrational.
 
    As the Pope visits Jordan, Israel and the West Bank, he faces a combustible cocktail of issues combining relations between the world's 3 main monotheistic religions, one of the world's most intractable political conflicts and the legacy of the Holocaust.
    The BBC News looks at the areas of controversy he will have to navigate.
 
    Israel is preparing to deploy 80,000 security forces to protect Pope Benedict XVI when he visits.
 
    In an article published this morning, Italian Vatican analyst Sandro Magister notes that, while L'Osservatore Romano has praised Barack Obama for his "moderation," 2 scholars from the Pontifical Academy for the Sciences have harshly criticized him for his position on life issues.
 
 
 
    Mark Weber reviews the little-known story of misery and death imposed by the victors on defeated Germany in the aftermath of WW2.
    The Allied powers imposed an "unknown holocaust" of destruction, looting, starvation, rape, "ethnic cleansing," and mass killing.
    More than 14 million Germans were expelled or forced to flee from eastern and central Europe.
    Some 3 million Germans died needlessly — about 2 million civilians, mostly women, children and elderly, and 1 million prisoners of war.
    Weber also highlights the Allied double standard in putting German leaders to death for policies that the Allies themselves were carrying out, sometimes on a far greater scale.
 
    Europe celebrates Victory over Nazism today. Germany celebrates this day too.
    The Germans do not have many complexes about this day: there are not many things left in Germany that remind them of the erstwhile defeat.
    It took the defeated nation a long time to recover, but the Germans have succeeded remarkably.
    Germany has become a highly influential country in the fields of politics, economy and defense.
 
    A total of 1 million people get help every day from Germany's "Deutsche Tafel" food banks -- and that number is set to increase because of the recession.
    The organization's head, Gerd Häuser, talks to Spiegel Online about Germany's new poverty and the dangers of social unrest.
 
Persia 'n Assyria...
    Iran's Oil Minister arrived in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss possible cooperation with German officials in the oil and gas sector.
    Nozari is scheduled to meet with officials in the German commercial sector to discuss potential investments in the Iranian gas market, the Islamic Republic News Agency reports.
    Both sides will explore bilateral expansions in Latin America, Iraq and Afghanistan, where Iran and Germany share several common market interests.
 
    Germany's Defense Ministry says 30 of its soldiers stationed in Afghanistan were involved in an extended fire-fight with insurgents.
 
GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY (news briefs)
 
    Barack Obama is coming to Germany again in June, but he won't be visiting Berlin.
    Instead, he is planning a more personal trip to Dresden and the concentration camp Buchenwald in search of his family history.
    There will be no photo op with Chancellor Merkel in the Chancellery -- a deliberate move on Obama's part.
 
    Austrians have fallen back in love with the US, according to a new poll.
 
 
 
    EU leaders on Thursday called for a shorter working week and extra state-funded retraining programmes as recession threatens millions of jobs.
    The talks also revealed more philosphical rifts as the free-market friendly approach of Czech Prime Minister Topolanek and Sweden's Reinfeldt clashed with calls for a social market economy from European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
 
    The Czech Senate on Wednesday approved the EU's Treaty of Lisbon, a move that was greeted with relief in Brussels and that ups the pressure on Ireland, facing its 2nd referendum on the document.
 
    German commentators agreed the reform package had overcome a key hurdle but warned that many obstacles remain -- not least the Irish revote.
 
    Last minute tweaks to the Eastern Partnership summit declaration reveal EU unease over enlargement and immigration, as well as the complexities of old conflicts on the union's eastern frontier.
    The tweaks might look unimportant but have serious implications.
 
    Georgian authorities on Thursday released 3 opposition activists whose detention sparked violent late-night clashes between police and protesters demanding the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
    The violence, in which 22 protesters and 6 police were wounded, came the day after a brief military uprising by a tank battalion.
    The events cast a shadow over the start of month-long NATO military exercises in the former Soviet republic that have angered neighbouring Russia.
    The head of the influential Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, warned overnight the situation was "in danger of exploding."
 
    A Russian diplomat in Kosovo warned on Wednesday that Serb protests in the north of the province could lead to violent clashes with ethnic Albanians.
 
    Whether history repeats itself or not, depends a lot on our knowledge of past events.
    It is therefore easier to learn than to relive the butchery of war, for if we do not remember what tricks were used on our fathers and grandfathers, they will easily be repeated on us and our sons.
 
    Putin's new occupation can not be described as extremely successful, although one has to give his government credit for avoiding the collapse of the nation's financial system during the crisis.
 
    President Medvedev marks the 1-year anniversary of his coming to power on May 7.
    Twelve months on, questions and doubts still remain over his legitimacy and his policies.
 
    One year after taking office, President Medvedev's track record has been less than impressive.
    Prime Minister Putin still pulls the strings of power while his former protégé struggles unsuccessfully to free himself.
 
 
 
    A day after Foreign Minister Lieberman wrapped up his first diplomatic trip to Europe with a meeting with his German counterpart Steinmeier in Berlin, German lawmakers on Friday said the visit left them somewhat disappointed.
 
    Only 13% of the Bethlehem area is under the control of the Palestinian Authority – a new report released by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Thursday said.
 
    Israel can be deprived of Jerusalem.
    The world's leading countries are trying to solve the crisis in the Middle East against the background of yet another conflict between Palestine and Israel.
    Arab countries are about to convince Israel 's major ally – the USA – to approve the Saudi initiative, in accordance with which Israel will no longer have Jerusalem.
    Saudi Arabia suggests Israel should give the holy city of Jerusalem under external control and set its state borders in accordance with the map of 1967.
    The Arab districts of Jerusalem – the eastern part of the city – will have to become the capital of the Palestinian State, Arabian officials suggest.
    But the sitting Israeli administration does not even think of giving Jerusalem away to Arabs.
 
    Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will try to rally support against Iran during his upcoming visit to Egypt, says an Israeli official.
    The meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak will show the importance Israel attaches to the involvement of "moderate" Arab states in "containing" Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the Jerusalem Post quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying on Thursday.
    The source went on to say that Tel Aviv would like to see Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia play a greater role in stopping Iranian efforts to increase its influence in the region.
 
    I found it fascinating that AIPAC's executive director Howard Kohr opened the conference admitting that there was now a huge, international campaign against the policies of Israel.
    This global movement, he warned, emanates from the Middle East, echoes in the halls of the UN and the capitals of Europe, is voiced in meetings of international peace organizations, and is spreading throughout the US -- from the media to town hall meetings, from campuses to city squares.
    "No longer is this campaign confined to the ravings of the political far left or far right, but increasingly it is entering the American mainstream."
 
    Senior officials in Jerusalem expressed concern recently over the sharp decline in the coordination between Israel and the US on security and state affairs since Obama entered the White House and especially since the formation of Israel's new government.
 
    Assistant secretary of state Gottemoeller's surprise announcement that the US would like every nation – including Israel – to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) sent shockwaves from Tel Aviv to Brooklyn, confirming the worst fears of the Obama-haters who make up the radical fringe of the Lobby.
    You'll recall that the first thing accused Israeli spy Steve Rosen, AIPAC's former chief lobbyist, did when he resurfaced was to set up an "Obama Watch" blog on the web site of the crazed Daniel Pipes, one of the main perpetrators of the "Obama-is-a-secret-Muslim" meme.
    Expect the attacks on Obama coming from the Lobby to intensify.
    If Gottmoeller's statement stands, and she isn't exposed as a secret neo-Nazi by Monday morning, then Obama will be the first President since John F. Kennedy to put pressure on the Israelis to abandon their status as nuclear rogues.
 
    Barack Obama told Jordan's King Abdullah 2 weeks ago to meet with leading Muslim Arab countries and persuade them to accept changes in the Saudi 2002 Initiative.
    Obama's major proposed alteration in the Saudi peace plan is for Arab countries to grant citizenship to approximately 5 million Arabs who are descendants of former Israelis while allowing them the right to move to a new Palestinian Authority country.
    Obama also reportedly told the king that he wants the United Nations flag raised over holy sites in eastern Jerusalem, where the PA would have total sovereignty under the Saudi plan.
 
    The tension between national sovereignty and the forces of globalization is becoming ever more acute.
    The US, as the main champion of globalization, however, is at the same time the champion of the most extreme form of nationalism, namely imperialism.
    In fact, Israel's worst enemy is the very nation posing as its best friend. This means that Israel's days are numbered.
 
    A huge US military camp is taking shape in the baking heat of southern Afghanistan for thousands of extra US troops charged with defeating a resurgent Taliban
 
    Prime Minister Gilani has announced today that the government will be abandoning all attempts at diplomacy in the Swat Valley, declaring war on the assorted factions in the region and urging the army the continue with its ongoing operations until it manages to "eliminate the militants and the terrorists."
 
 
 
    Israeli President Peres said on Wednesday other options remained open if US diplomatic engagement with Iran failed to halt its nuclear program.
    "Engagement is an attempt to achieve a goal. If this attempt will succeed, OK, but we don't have to cross out any other options."
    He did not say what the other options might be but they are generally understood to include military action.
 
 
 
    The White House plans to release a photo from the controversial New York City flyover of an Air Force One backup plane, despite earlier claims that there was no need to release any images.
 
    Someone in the White House tried to deep-six Philip Zelikow's anti-torture memo. Welcome to the latest Bush-era whodunit.
 
    The state of Montana has drawn a line in the sand, challenging the federal government to decide whether to follow the US Constitution with a new gun law that exempts from federal regulations any gun, gun accessory or ammunition made in the state and intended for use there.
    Montana's move is being called nothing less that revolutionary.
 
    Ever since it became clear that Obama would be our next president, there's been an unprecedented run on guns 'n ammo in America.
    Nowhere is this phenomenon more evident than in Victorville, a desert exurb of Los Angeles. In Victorville, every single gun store is out of all types of ammo, all the time.
 
    Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced plans to significantly increase the number of qualified armed volunteer posse as a way to boost public safety.
    Arpaio says the move is needed to combat the potential ill effects of the recent actions by the Board of Supervisors to cut his budget, resulting in a hiring freeze of patrol deputies and a mandate of all deputies to take furlough days.
    "The public has a desire to help local law enforcement when times are tough. I am banking on their generosity of time and energy to help my deputies keep our communities safe."
 
    A Louisiana driver has been stopped and detained for having a "Don't Tread on Me" bumper sticker on his vehicle and warned by a police officer about the "subversive" message it sent, according to the driver's relative.
    According to the relative, the situation happened this way: Her brother-in-law was driving home from work through the town that has a local reputation for enhancing its budget by stopping speeders and ticketing them.
    He was pulled over by police officers who told him "he had a subversive survivalist bumper sticker on his car."
 
 
 
    New York Fed Board Chairman Stephen Friedman has resigned, effective immediately. He had come under fire for his connections with Goldman Sachs. He ran the firm in the early '90s.
    While the Federal Reserve Bank of New York led Washington's response to the financial crisis late fall, Friedman was on Goldman's board and owned a large amount of Goldman stock.
 
    "Are you ready for government-owned banks?" Jerome Corsi's Red Alert asks readers.
    The Obama administration appears to be gearing up to use the bank stress tests as yet another means of nationalizing US banks, Corsi wrote.
    While the administration has only allowed the stress test results to become public in partial disclosures made over a series of days, he said up to 10 of the nation's largest 19 banks are likely to need more capital immediately.
 
    The release of the bank "stress tests" on Thursday has provided further confirmation that what drives the Obama administration's economic policies is a determination to protect the wealth of the financial elite.
    What is being obscured is the insolvency of much of the banking system and the fact that the government intends to expend trillions of dollars more in public funds to prop it up.
 
    The power of the 3 big US rating agencies -- Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's -- remains unbroken.
    By awarding high ratings to junk securities, they fueled financial market excesses.
    Now they are taking countermeasures by brutally downgrading securities. In doing so, they are making the crisis even worse.
 
    We've become so caught up in our banking stresses and stress tests in the US that we sometimes forget about what is happening in other parts of the world economy.
    This matters because, while the US is the world's largest economy, we're only about 20-25% of global output — so what happens elsewhere really matters for where we are going.
    The bad news is in Europe, both Western and Eastern.
 
    The European Central Bank has cut interest rates a quarter point to a record low of 1% and embraced quantitative easing (QE) for the first time, catching markets off guard with plans to buy €60bn of covered bonds.
    The hotly-disputed move to purchase assets brings the ECB into line with the central banks of the US, Britain, Japan, among others, that have begun "printing" money to stave off debt deflation.
    The step-change in policy follows an open clash within the ECB's governing council over its handling of Europe's worst slump since WW2, pitting national governors from southern Europe and Ireland against the ECB's German-led hawks.
    Bundesbank chief Axel Weber has fought a rearguard battle to head off QE, calling it an "undesirable option" that risked inflation later. The majority also overruled his insistence on a 1% "floor" for interest rates.
    The refusal to accept Frankfurt's lead is a turning-point for ECB, which inherited its authority a decade ago from the Bundesbank.
    The upsets touches on a raw nerve in Germany where critics have always suspected that EMU would turn "soft". It may set off a political backlash.
 
    China has given its clearest warning to date that emergency monetary stimulus by Western governments risks setting off worldwide inflation and undermining global bond markets.
 
    The current global crisis is "vastly worse" than the 1930s because financial systems and economies worldwide have become more interdependent, "Black Swan" author Nassim Taleb said.
    "This is the most difficult period of humanity that we're going through today because governments have no control."
 
    Elitists divided on whether to quickly sink economy and replace it with new world order, or set in motion long, agonizing depression.
    Bilderberg are fostering a false picture of economic recovery, suckering investors into ploughing their money back into the stock market again only to later unleash another massive downturn which will create "massive losses and searing financial pain in the months ahead," according to a Canada Free Press report.
 
    Venezuelan soldiers on Thursday took control of boatyards and other assets belonging to oil service companies in the latest step by socialist President Chavez to tighten his grip on the industry.
    Earlier in the day, Venezuela's legislature approved a law allowing the nationalization of a group of oil service companies.
 
    Rupert ­Murdoch expects to start charging for access to News Corporation's newspaper websites within a year as he strives to fix a ­"malfunctioning" business model.
 
 
 
    The World Health Organization said Thursday that up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu if the current outbreak turns into a pandemic. The agency said a pandemic typically lasts 2 years.
 
    The US public could become more vulnerable to a flu pandemic if complacency about the need for heightened vigilance sets in, health experts said on Wednesday.
    Those concerns would escalate if the H1N1 virus that has killed 2 people in the US and made 642 others sick mutates into a more virulent form by the start of the traditional flu season in the fall.
 
 
 
GRADUATION (Cartoons)
 
    Scientists have found more evidence that the Indonesian "Hobbit" skeletons belong to a new species of human - and not modern pygmies.
    Since the discovery, researchers have argued vehemently as to the identity of these diminutive people.
 
    The "Nature versus Nurture" debate just got more complicated.
    Birds have been observed reconstructing cultural information in complete isolation, meaning that culture can be genetically encoded.
 
    Free will, or at least the place where we decide to act, is sited in a part of the brain called the parietal cortex, new research suggests.
 
    * Ezra 8:31
    * Mark 11:20 - 14:2
    * Luke 20:1 - 21:38
    * Mat 21:18 - 26:16
 
 
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