The U.S. Healthcare Debacle

The Wall Street Journal wrote on November 8:

“The House narrowly passed its sweeping health bill late Saturday, marking the biggest victory yet for Democrats in their drive to create near-universal health insurance. The bill passed by a 220-215 margin after fractious debate and garnered the unexpected backing of only one Republican… Thirty-nine Democrats voted against the measure…

“One of the day’s most dramatic scenes came when lawmakers sparred over an amendment that would exclude coverage of abortion for those gaining new health insurance under the overhaul…

“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops threatened to withhold its support from the entire legislation unless House leaders took up the amendment. Short of votes, the leaders ultimately had little choice but to add Rep. Stupak’s amendment to Saturday’s schedule…”

Here we see a tremendous example of politics in action. The lesson is clear: To achieve something, politicians compromise. And they “must” listen to all the different interest groups which brought them to, or keep them in power. If they want to pass legislation, they “must” also yield to the Catholic Church’s stance on abortion. But compromise will NEVER lead to godly justice. Please listen to our new StandingWatch program, Why Aren’t We SOLVING Our National and Global Problems?

We cannot or should not expect to receive objective and balanced information from the mass media. Lou Dobbs–CNN’s lonely conservative voice–just announced his resignation. As Newsmax wrote on November 11, Dobbs ” was particularly persistent in bringing the immigration issue to the fore, winning him both higher ratings and enemies. Latino groups had an active petition drive seeking his removal. His presence became awkward for CNN… He angered management this summer by pressing questions about President Barack Obama’s birth site after CNN reporters determined there was no issue.”

However, as we point out in our StandingWatch program, mentioned above, ignoring or suppressing problems–including the problem of the uncertainty of Mr. Obama’s birth place– does not solve the issue.

Where from Here?

The Associated Press wrote on November 8:

“The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama on Sunday as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House has nowhere to go in the Senate… The problem is that the Senate won’t run with it. The government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate.
 
“If a government plan is part of the deal, ‘as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote,’ said Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent whose vote Democrats need to overcome GOP filibusters… Lieberman said he opposes the public plan because it could become a huge and costly entitlement program. ‘I believe the debt can break America and send us into a recession that’s worse than the one we’re fighting our way out of today,’ he said.”

The New York Post wrote on November 9:

“Not so fast. President Obama’s victory dance yesterday for the House-passed health-care bill came as Senate foes — mainly Republicans with one key Democrat moderate — pronounced the measure mortally wounded… Democrats have no margin for error: They control exactly 60 seats in the 100-member Senate.”

Will healthcare reform succeed? Will there be more compromise? Will some who speak of their conscience still falter in the end? President Obama’s reputation and perhaps even his entire political career seem to be on the line.

Jail or No Jail for the Uninsured?

ABC News wrote on November 9:

“President Obama said that penalties are appropriate for people who try to ‘free ride’ the health care system but stopped short of endorsing the threat of jail time for those who refuse to pay a fine for not having insurance.

“’What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don’t, you’re subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it’s affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there’s a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are — are burdened by because of the fact that people don’t have health insurance, you know, there’s nothing wrong with a penalty’…

“The President said that he didn’t think the question over the appropriateness of possible jail time is the ‘biggest question’ the House and Senate are facing right now.”

But it should be. President Obama’s faulty reasoning would be bound to create undue hardship for many Americans and might very well be unconstitutional. Of course, it would take a US Supreme Court bold and quick enough to even address this issue. To penalize those who choose not to have health care insurance would be a unique procedure within the entire civilized Western world. If this becomes law, then the old derogatory saying will have gained more credence: “Only in America…”

The Fort Hood Massacre–“Insensitive” President?

Times on Line wrote on November 9:

“President Obama came in for growing criticism over the weekend for his ‘insensitive’ handling of the bloody shoot-out in Fort Hood, Texas, where 13 people were killed by a Muslim officer in the US Army. Mr Obama is not scheduled to arrive at America’s largest military base until tomorrow to attend a memorial service for victims of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who opened fire on a group of unarmed soldiers.

“The President’s jarring absence from Fort Hood — in contrast to a low-key visit by the former president George Bush on Friday — is not the only element of his response to the tragedy that is bothering his critics, Democrats and Republicans alike.

“In particular, much has been made of a transcript of the press conference where Mr Obama first gave his official response to the mass shooting. The President opened his remarks — he was attending a Tribal Nations Conference for America’s 564 federally recognised Native American tribes — with jocular ‘shout-outs’ to various people in the audience. Only later did he turn his attention to the attack, saying: ‘I planned to make some broader remarks. But as some of you have heard, there has been a tragic shooting.’

“'(Obama) did not appreciate the gravity of what he represents,’ Brad Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to George Bush, told Fox News. ‘He should have begun his official remarks with the tragedy…’

“Unusually, the liberal Boston Globe agreed. In an editorial at the weekend the newspaper said: ‘It takes more than scripted eloquence for Presidents to connect with fellow Americans. It requires a visceral ability to grasp the scope of tragedy, calculate its impact on the national psyche, and react swiftly. Obama missed the first moment to show he understood how much it hurt.'”

We also recall, of course, that President Bush initially failed to connect with the American people when the news of September 11 reached him, while attending a public school. But later, he did connect–until he lost again enormous popularity when the unsuccessful Iraq war kept dragging on…

The Fort Hood Massacre–a Terrorist Attack?

ABC News reported on November 9:

“U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News…

“People who knew or worked with Hasan say he seemed to have gradually become more radical in his disapproval of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Sunday, Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) called for an investigation into whether the Army missed signs as to whether Hasan was an Islamic extremist…

“A fellow Army doctor who studied with Hasan, Val Finell, told ABC News, ‘We would frequently say he was a Muslim first and an American second. And that came out in just about everything he did at the University… And we questioned how somebody could take an oath of office and be an officer in the military and swear allegiance to the constitution and to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic and have that type of conflict…'”

If warning signs were indeed ignored by the U.S. intelligence and the army, then this could mean a catastrophic development for quite a few responsible officials.

Did Political Correctness Prevent Pre-Emptive Action?

Fox News wrote on November 11:

“Investigators would have been ‘crucified’ over First Amendment rights if they had launched a full-scale probe into e-mails Fort Hood massacre suspect Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly sent to a radical imam, a government investigator told Fox News…

“But even after the attacks, some have been reluctant to cite religion as a factor, as evidence has mounted that the alleged gunman’s Muslim faith was at least a partial factor in the decision to mount the attack…

“Witnesses report hearing Hasan yell ‘Allahu Akbar’ — ‘God is Great’ — during the rampage. Hasan once gave a presentation justifying homicide bombings, according to a witness. In one presentation, he also urged the military to let Muslim members leave the service to avoid ‘adverse’ effects…

“Privately, top Army officers have acknowledged that the massacre may have been a terrorist act… Publicly, however, the army’s chief of staff seemed reluctant to acknowledge what appears to be the dominant factor in Hasan’s world view: his turn toward Islamist views as he turned against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq…

“Fox News contributor Monica Crowley [said]:… ‘Political correctness is turning out to be the death of this country’…”

“America Cannot Win in Afghanistan”

Bloomberg wrote on November 10:

“Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, drawing on his experience of military failure in Afghanistan in the 1980s, said the U.S. can’t win the conflict there and should begin pulling out its soldiers. Afghanistan, where U.S. and NATO forces are battling a Taliban-led insurgency, is too fragmented between clans to be controlled militarily, Gorbachev, 78, said in an interview today in Berlin.

“While he said President Barack Obama would be unlikely to take his advice, Gorbachev said he saw no chance of success even with more U.S. troops… Obama is considering a military request to send as many as 40,000 more U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan, on top of the 68,000 due to be stationed there by the end of the year.”

Of course, Gorbachev is right in this regard. America cannot and will not win the war in Afghanistan. The main reason is that biblical prophecy shows that America has indeed won its last war (World War II) many years ago. The true facts are that America has won NO war since World War II.

More Banks Fold…

The Associated Press reported on November 6:

“Regulators on Friday shut banks in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and California, bringing the number of bank failures this year to 120 amid the struggling economy and a cascade of defaults on loans…

“As the economy has soured, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have cascaded and sapped billions out of the federal deposit insurance fund. It has fallen into the red… If the economic recovery falters, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike…

“The number of banks on the FDIC’s confidential ‘problem list’ jumped to 416 at the end of June from 305 in the first quarter. That’s the most since June 1994. About 13 percent of banks on the list generally end up failing, according to the FDIC. The 120 failures this year compare with 25 last year and three in 2007.

“To replenish the insurance fund, the FDIC wants the roughly 8,100 insured banks and savings institutions to pay in advance about $45 billion in premiums that would have been due over the next three years.”

A grim picture indeed. Again, the concept that the recession “is over” is rejected by the article of the Associated Press, and more devastating developments must be anticipated.

Israeli Strike on Iran “Inevitable”?

Sky News in Australia wrote on November 8:

“Israel’s threat of military action against Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme is not a bluff, the country’s deputy foreign minister [Danny Ayalon] has told Sky News… The minister also refused to rule out the use of military options by Israel or other nations against Iran if other measures fail…

“Israeli analysts say the country is finalising its plans to attack Iran if necessary. Dr Ronen Bergman, author of The Secret War With Iran, said if current trends continue, an Israeli strike will be inevitable…

“The challenges of carrying out such a strike 1,000 miles from home against well-defended, deeply-buried nuclear facilities are considerable. But so are the risks – Israel could expect a counter attack from Iranian allies, Hizbollah and Hamas, and terrorist attacks worldwide. It would incur the wrath of America and the condemnation of European allies.

“It would also risk handing Iran the moral high ground and giving the Islamic Republic an excuse for pursuing the bomb in earnest. But observers in the Middle East believe all those considerations are secondary to the Israeli government’s top priority. ‘Israel is a tiny country. Israel cannot even sustain even one nuclear blast,’ said Dr Bergman. ‘Therefore from the Israeli point of view the only way to combat it is not by a balance of deterrence but by preventing the other side from having it in the first place.'”

It appears that Israel might very well attack Iran in the near future. If this happens, European condemnation could be one of the consequences. The Bible says that ultimately, the state of Israel will be isolated and ALL nations will be gathered to fight against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2). Regarding Israel’s ongoing isolation in the world, please notice the next article.

“Israel Stands Alone”

The Huffington Post wrote on November 10:

“Eight months into President Barack Obama’s administration, his Middle East peace ‘road map’ is crystal clear. First, he dialed down the pressure on Iran, whose nuclear weapons program presents an existential threat to Israel. Second, he shifted the blame for Islamic extremism to Israel and solely blamed it for the Palestinian’s plight. Then he unilaterally ratcheted up the pressure on Israel to cease building settlements and to ease its self-defense blockade of Gaza. Now, Obama has upped the ante even further, framing lasting peace in the Middle East as requiring Israel to retreat to its 1967 borders. Although he blandly claims that there are ‘no preconditions’ to relaunching negotiations, in truth he has doomed the peace talks before they even start. Obama has set up Israel as the fall guy for negotiations that will ultimately fail and is the architect of that failure.

“When Obama was elected — with 78 percent of the Jewish vote — there was concern about what his administration would mean for the 60 years of unwavering support America had provided Israel. Unlike his Republican opponent, John McCain, or his predecessor, George W. Bush, both longstanding supporters of Israel, Obama had no such track record and was championing a different course, one of détente with such hard-line regimes as Iran and Syria. Jews took heart when then-President-elect Obama selected a Jew, Rahm Emanuel, as his chief of staff, and Hillary Clinton, previously a staunch supporter of Israel from her days as senator from New York, as his secretary of state.

“An examination of the first 250 days of President Obama’s administration convincingly demonstrates that the earlier concerns were well founded and the mitigating cabinet appointments mere window dressing. From his first telephone call as president to a head of state — Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority — and his first one-on-one television interview with any news organization — Al Arabiya TV — to his bowing to Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, then embracing the Muslim world at Cairo University and, most recently, rebuking Israel in an address to the United Nations General Assembly, Obama has shown far more concern for strengthening ties with authoritarian regimes on the Arabian Peninsula than to maintaining the historically close alliance with the region’s only true democracy.

“His Cairo speech scaled back his support of Israel in favor of establishing new diplomatic channels in the Arab world. He also equated the suffering of the Palestinians with the loss of 6 million Jewish lives in the Holocaust. Worse yet, Obama’s affirmation of the Arab propagandist idea that Israel was created as a response to the Holocaust greatly undermined its legitimacy as a state and ignored Jews’ forced diaspora and Judaism’s historical ties to the Middle East that predate all other religions…

“Islamic extremists are at war with the spread of Western culture, and the United States is the chief exporter of Western beliefs, so it is a pipe dream to assume that America can achieve détente with ‘anti-American militant jihadists’ by, in effect, offering up Israel as a sacrificial lamb… The United States is proving to be a fair-weather ally, abandoning Israel in the face of an impending existential threat from a nuclear Iran…

“Iran and Syria rank as the leading state sponsors of terrorism, yet the president has removed a longstanding export ban on American technology to Syria, allowing the transfer of spare aircraft parts, information technology and telecommunications equipment, all material that could also benefit the air force of Syria’s close ally, Iran. At the same time, Obama actually suspended the sale of military equipment to Israel — holding up the shipment of Apache helicopters after Israel moved to defend its citizenry against daily Hamas-enabled rocket barrages earlier this year — equipment necessary to safeguard Israel’s security against overwhelming odds… Yet, it is only Israel that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States as America’s most important and dependable ally in combating terrorism…

“President Obama’s new, ‘evenhanded’ policy in the Middle East is anything but fair and balanced. His policies increasingly endanger and isolate Israel. At the United Nations, Obama forcefully stated that ‘the United States of America will never waiver in our efforts to stand up for the right of people everywhere to determine their own destiny,’ that is, of course, unless the people are Israelis. Without the Jewish state of Israel as a standard bearer for Western ideals of democracy in the Middle East, the world will be a far more dangerous place…”

One should perhaps consider President Obama’s religious and cultural background to appreciate his support for the Muslim world and his apparent lack of support–comparatively speaking–for the Judeo-Christian culture and religion. In a widely-circulated video of clips from his own speeches, which is posted on YouTube, Mr. Obama referred repeatedly to the “HOLY Koran,” emphasized that “we are NO LONGER a Christian nation,” and stated, after explaining that there are Muslims within his family, that “I am one of them.” He also said this: “John McCain did not talk about MY MUSLIM FAITH.” It remained unclear whether this was a slip of the tongue; whether he was responding to those who say that he is a Muslim; or whether he was actually commenting on his religious preferences.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall–“Insensitive” U.S. President?

Fox News wrote on November 8:

“President Obama squeezed in a trip to Copenhagen last month to lobby, unsuccessfully, for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. He plans to travel to Oslo next month to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that even Obama has said he does not deserve. And this coming week, he sets out on a weeklong tour of Asia.

“But the president does not plan to travel to Germany to attend the 20th anniversary celebration Monday of the fall of the Berlin Wall, drawing heated criticism from those who say he’s ignoring a shining triumph of American-inspired democracy… Some question whether the decision not to go was… just another attempt to play down the perception of the United States as an exceptional superpower.

“For its part, the administration is citing a scheduling conflict. The White House says the president simply does not have the time to go, with the trip to Asia starting Wednesday… noting that a ‘very senior delegation’ of U.S. officials would attend. That delegation is led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton…

“Obama acknowledged the anniversary of the fall of the wall last week during his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel… But some saw Obama’s decision not to travel personally to Berlin as a snub to Merkel, Germany and the history behind the anniversary. ‘Barack Is Too Busy,’ Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine declared in a headline last month, writing that Obama had declined Merkel’s invitation…

“On several of the stops he has expressed regret for past American behavior, but the Berlin Wall anniversary was seen as an opportunity for the president to honor an American and Western victory for which the U.S. need feel no regret…

“The National Review’s Rich Lowry wrote that the decision speaks to Obama’s ‘dismissive view of the Cold War as a relic distorting our thinking. John F. Kennedy famously told Berliners, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” On the 20th anniversary of the last century’s most stirring triumph of freedom, Obama is telling them, “Ich bin beschaftigt” — i.e., “I’m busy,”‘ he wrote. “‘Obama’s failure to go to Berlin is the most telling nonevent of his presidency. It’s hard to imagine any other American president eschewing the occasion.'”

The picture given is indeed regrettable. Most leaders of the free Western world assembled in Germany to recount and to celebrate the events of the fall of the Wall, including Messrs. Gordon Brown, Sarkozy, Berlusconi and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, as well as former President George H. W. Bush Sr., former President Mikhail Gorbachev and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

But President Obama is too busy–even though he has the time to attend a Tribal Nations Conference for America’s 564 federally recognized Native American tribes (see our article,”The Fort Hood Massacre–“Insensitive” President?”). Instead, he sends Mrs. Clinton, giving the impression, that her attendance in Germany was more important than his own. This does not look good and greatly diminishes once again the role that the American President should be playing in the world.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall–Germany Today

This article and the next one show that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany were indeed inevitable and unstoppable. From a biblical perspective, we know that this is also true for the additional reason that without a unified Germany, Europe would and could not have united. But the Bible has prophesied the unification of Europe in our days thousands of years ago–and that the most important player within a unified Europe will be Germany. The two articles below show the role which Germany is playing today–20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The New York Times wrote on November 9 about the “German Reunification: From Rejection to Inevitability.” The paper pointed out:

“Willy Brandt was uncomfortable with the idea, Günter Grass — who in those days spoke from the summit of Mount Morality — considered it an abomination, and Gerhard Schröder, maneuvering for political position as a Social Democratic underling, eventually voted against it. François Mitterrand resisted as long as he could, and Margaret Thatcher, in her fierce opposition, held out even further.

“From the day after the Berlin Wall fell, and for the next month or two, the prospect of reunifying Germany met with extensive rejection, while the Cold War’s leaders nurtured the notion that it could be negotiated and stalled into a still distant future…

“History accelerated in the next weeks. Barely two months later, as East Germany disintegrated as a state, plainly incapable of matching West Germany’s immediate promise of freedom and economic well-being for all Germans, reunification seemed inevitable. And by New Year’s Eve 1989, Helmut Kohl, who on Nov. 28 irritated the Americans and Soviets, British and French, with a surprise 10-point road map for unity in a Western framework, had the look of a sage.

“In late summer 1990, reunification was virtually a done deal — the chancellor had gotten the acceptance of a tottering Soviet Union for the new Germany’s full integration into NATO. But he also moved to ease Western Europe’s concerns about German economic dominance, indicating that the deutschemark could be melded into a single Common Market currency.

“All of this arrived with extraordinary speed. And extraordinary acceptance… So what now, almost 20 years after George H.W. Bush, to express his pleasure with reunification, offered Germany a ‘partnership in leadership’?…

“Germany’s reality has been one ‘of increasing egoism whenever its national interests are concerned’… Today is 20 years to the day since the Berlin Wall came down. For all its democratic strengths, energy, vast intelligence and successful reunification, Germany remains a difficult, not entirely settled place.”

The Fall of the German Wall–“German Unification Unstoppable”

The Telegraph wrote on November 9:

“The mantras of the Berlin revellers in 1989 were ‘Freiheit’ or freedom, and ‘We are one people’, a demand for reunification. The paradox of the events was that the then Mrs Thatcher, a pre-eminent champion of freedom, was adamantly opposed to a rapid drive to German unification..

“Twenty years later Germany is… Europe’s indispensable nation, eclipsing the French in continental affairs… Frankfurt is home to the European Central Bank and master of the euro. Germany’s economic clout is such that countries in the single currency must take their cues from it.

“… It is now clear Chancellor Angela Merkel has a pivotal role in the choice of a new European Union president… She has not imposed her man but has a veto and Mrs Merkel’s refusal to support Tony Blair for the job appears to have doomed his candidacy.

“Mrs Thatcher came very close to raising a far more fundamental alarm over a united Germany in early 1990. ‘All Europe is watching this, not without a degree of fear, remembering very well who started the two world wars,’ she told the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The British prime minister’s position infuriated the West German government…

“The old game of continental supremacy had gone global. The combination of Mr Bush, Mr Gorbachev and Mr Kohl at the helm of the most powerful countries and the momentum for unification on the streets of the east was unstoppable.”

November 9–a “Fateful Date” for Germany

This article shows that certain key developments are providential–and that they might even occur on a very precise and pre-ordained date. It cannot be any coincidence that the following important –and to an extent, totally unrelated and “unplanned”–events all occurred on November 9. For more information on the timing of certain biblically-prophesied occurrences or developments, please read our free booklet, “Are YOU Predestined to Be Saved”?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 9:

“November 9 is a key date in Germany’s chequered 20th century history…

“Berlin is staging a massive public festival on Monday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, the event that heralded the end of communism in Europe and the unification of Germany.

“But November 9 is also the 71st anniversary of Reichskristallnacht, a nationwide Nazi pogrom against Jews in 1938. Two other historical events fell on that date in 1918 and 1923 respectively…

“It was 71 years before the fall of the Berlin Wall when November 9 first attained significance in German history. It was on that day in 1918 that the monarchy came to an end in Berlin.

“The end had been a long time in coming. The German army had all but lost World War I. Indeed, Emperor Wilhelm II knew in August that the situation was largely hopeless and that his own position was in danger… In Munich, revolutionaries deposed King Ludwig III, the king of Bavaria, on Nov. 7… On the afternoon of Nov. 9, Philipp Scheidemann, deputy chairman of the Social Democrats, stepped out onto a balcony of the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin and called out the establishment of the republic…

“Karl Liebknecht, leader of the left-wing socialist Spartakusbund, likewise announced the establishment of a republic on that day… The rival proclamations resulted in days of civil-war like fighting on the streets of Berlin, ultimately resulting in the defeat of the Spartakusbund and the murder of both Liebknecht and his political ally Rosa Luxemburg. When the dust cleared, Germany founded the Weimar Republic, the interwar period of democracy ultimately brought to an end by Adolf Hitler…

“By the fall of 1923, revolution was in the air in Bavaria and Hitler was feeling strong. By early November, he was actively seeking to unite all Bavarian right wing groups under his leadership, but was concerned that he was being outflanked. He got wind of a Nov. 8 speech to be held by Gustav Ritter von Kahr, the state commissioner of Bavaria at the Bürgerbräu beer hall — and he immediately jumped to the conclusion that von Kahr was planning on starting a revolution of his own… on the evening of Nov. 8, [Hitler] had the beer hall surrounded with hundreds of armed SA men. Hitler stormed into the packed beer hall, fired his revolver into the roof and proclaimed a putsch against the Weimar Republic, ultimately planning to march on Berlin and overthrow the government.

“But it didn’t work. Hitler had been banking on the Bavarian military immediately throwing its support behind him. Instead, when his henchmen Ernst Röhm and Hermann Esser began storming army barracks in the city concurrently with Hitler’s storming of the beer hall, they encountered armed resistance. The putsch rapidly lost momentum until Hitler, having spent the night in the beer hall, elected to go for broke on the morning of Nov. 9. He and 2,000 followers straggled out of the hall and began marching through the city, swastika flags flying.

“They didn’t get far. Just north of the city center, the marching Nazis encountered a police barricade and shots were fired. In the ensuing shootout, 14 Nazis lost their lives with two others killed elsewhere in the city. Hitler, injured while throwing himself to the ground to avoid the bullets, escaped, but was arrested just days later. He was ultimately tried and convicted for his role in the putsch attempt, but received an astoundingly lenient sentence [and] was out of jail just a year later…

“The [next] event has gone down in history as ‘The Night of the Broken Glass,’ or Kristallnacht in German — a name that is shorthand for one of Germany’s darkest, most horrifying nights. On Nov. 9, 1938, Nazi henchmen perpetrated a far-reaching pogrom, an orgy of violence directed against the country’s Jewish population that resulted in tens of thousands of arrests, over 2,000 deaths, dozens of synagogues destroyed and hundreds of Jewish shops demolished, the shattered shop windows giving the event its name… On Nov. 7, 1938, Herschhel Grynszpan, a German-born Polish Jew, walked into the German embassy [in France] and shot diplomat Ernst vom Rath three times. The diplomat died two days later…

“The Führer received word of Vom Rath’s death on the evening of Nov. 9 in Munich, where he was celebrating the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazis’ first attempt to take over power in Germany. Immediately, he gave orders interpreted to mean that the SA should organize countrywide ‘demonstrations.’ Anti-Semitic violence, of course, was the desired outcome.

“Throughout the night, the SA, Nazi party members and members of the Hitler Youth destroyed Jewish property and businesses using sledgehammers and axes. The rioters also destroyed Jewish homes and dozens were killed. In total, the storefronts of approximately 7,500 Jewish stores and businesses were destroyed. More than 200 synagogues went up in flames. Some 30,000 Jews were arrested that night and taken to concentration camps at Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen with 2,000 losing their lives in the camps before they were released three months later.”

Merkel: “I Want to Lead Germany to New Strength!”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 10:

“Speaking in her first address to parliament since being sworn in for a second term two weeks ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said leading Germany back to growth is her top priority but warned that the nation faces a difficult 2010 as well as its biggest economic challenge since its 1990 reunification…

“‘Creating growth is the goal of our government. The central question is whether Germany will emerge stronger from this recession. I want to lead Germany to new strength,’ Merkel said…”

Bible prophecy shows that Germany–and Europe–will rise to unprecedented economic heights, while America will not substantially recover from its present economic crisis.

The Vatican in Search of Alien Life

The Telegraph wrote on November 10:

“The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding a conference on astrobiology, the study of life beyond Earth, with scientists and religious leaders gathering in Rome this week. For centuries, theologians have argued over what the existence of life elsewhere in the universe would mean for the Church: at least since Giordano Bruno, an Italian monk, was put to death by the Inquisition in 1600 for claiming that other worlds exist.

“Among other things, extremely alien-looking aliens would be hard to fit with the idea that God ‘made man in his own image’. Furthermore, Jesus Christ’s role as saviour would be confused: would other worlds have their own, tentacled Christ-figures, or would Earth’s Christ be universal?

“However, just as the Church eventually made accommodations after Copernicus and Galileo showed that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, and when it belatedly accepted… Darwin’s theory of evolution, Catholic leaders say that alien life can be aligned with the Bible’s teachings.

“Father Jose Funes, a Jesuit astronomer at the Vatican Observatory and one of the organisers of the conference, said: ‘As a multiplicity of creatures exists on Earth, so there could be other beings, also intelligent, created by God. This does not conflict with our faith, because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God.'”

The Bible predicts that the armies of the beast and the false prophet, as well as the armies of the kings of the east, will try to fight the returning Christ. Why? The possibility exists that they are all deceived in believing that He is the “Antichrist.” But another possibility is that they are convinced that Christ, together with the armies of heaven following Him, are hostile aliens determined to take over the earth. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible?–The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation.”

The Afghan Debacle–“We’re Waiting, Mr. President…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 29 that President Obama “Must Provide Better Leadership on Afghanistan.”

The article continued:

“Afghanistan and Pakistan are being shaken by attacks, and the Taliban is dictating the course of the war. US President Obama has been silent about the situation for far too long and European countries like Germany and France are correct to demand better American leadership on the issue of Afghanistan. The most important piece of news from the most recent meeting of NATO defense ministers was that there was no news…

“The mission in Afghanistan is seen as a toxic issue in all Western nations, and every government that has provided troops has come under sharp criticism at home. What the US’s NATO allies now find far more irritating is US President Barack Obama’s silence on the issue. The world has been waiting for clear words from the White House for months…

“Wednesday’s attacks underscore that things have been progressing in the opposite direction for some time. The Taliban is in control of the military initiative, and it is increasingly dictating the course of the war. Whether Obama can even regain the political initiative in the Hindu Kush is now questionable…

“‘I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy,’ US Marine Corps Captain Matthew Hoh wrote recently. As part of Holbrooke’s team, Hoh was responsible for coordinating civilian reconstruction in the dangerous Zabul Province, but he recently resigned.

“His resignation, he said, had less to do with the way the war is currently being fought. Instead, he said, he simply no longer knows ‘why and to what end’ the war is being fought in Afghanistan… It’s alarming news when even former Marines like Hoh, men with combat experience in Iraq, can no longer believe in their mission because politicians cannot answer their questions…

“So far Obama has only made it clear that he doesn’t intend to withdraw any troops and that he hasn’t decided yet whether to add more soldiers. But this smells more like a lazy compromise than a clear statement of intent…

“Obama’s silence stands in contrast with the impassioned rhetoric that carried him into the White House… why should countries like Germany and France believe the verbose promises of a president who is not even sending a clear message at home, even though he has a majority in both houses of Congress?

“There is no doubt that hardly a day passes in Europe without criticism of US policy. This has become a trans-Atlantic ritual. But despite this ritual, Europeans are still looking for one thing from the White House: leadership.

“We’re waiting, Mr. President.”

Apart from the fact that the world is losing more and more patience WAITING for U.S. LEADERSHIP, the USA is becoming more and more unable to PROVIDE such leadership. 

According to Wikipedia and the Associated Press, the U.S. War in Afghanistan has been going on, so far, for 8.1 years. This means that it is already the second-longest war in the history of the USA. Only the Vietnam war was (slightly) longer, so far, lasting 8.4 years. The American Revolutionary War lasted 6.7 years, followed by the Iraq war which has been lasting (so far) for 6.6 years. By comparison, the American Civil War lasted for 4 years, America’s participation in World War II lasted for 3.7 years, and the Korean War lasted for 3.1 years.

The big difference is, too, that America has won its wars in the past, but has been unable to win any war since World War II, including the Vietnam war, the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. We can see that America is no longer blessed in ANY of its endeavors, domestically or abroad.

Rather, America is in domestic turmoil–as our articles below on the economy prove–and it is in no position to achieve success abroad. For the reasons as to why this is, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

The Afghan Debacle–USA To Be Blamed

On November 2, Der Spiegel Online quoted numerous German magazines and newspapers, opinionating that the USA or NATO are responsible for the terrible situation and “fiasco” in Afghanistan. The magazine wrote:

“The Afghan election fell apart on Sunday after Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the run-off poll, leaving President Hamid Karzai as the sole candidate. Now the election commission has cancelled the vote and declared Karzai the winner. German newspapers on Monday question whether the government in Kabul can still have any credibility…

“The first round of the election on August 20 turned into a debacle after it became obvious that there had been widespread election fraud… [The] Election Complaints Commission found that around one-third of the votes cast were invalid. Massive international pressure forced Karzai to accept a run-off poll against his nearest challenger, Abdullah, scheduled for Nov. 7.

“However, Abdullah said on Sunday that he would not go ahead with the run-off vote because key election officials had not been removed from their posts. He said he believed that the poll would be neither free nor fair. The international community’s role in the elections has also come in for tough criticism…

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘President Karzai did not enjoy a great reputation before the election and now he has lost even more authority. His country is politically crippled…’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The US and NATO are responsible for the fiasco that is the presidential election. They have never made a secret of the fact that they considered Afghan President Hamid Karzai to be a scoundrel, but he was their scoundrel — one who was supposed to help with building the much-trumpeted civil society. But instead of holding on tightly to the strings of their puppet, the international overseers allowed Karzai to blatantly falsify the elections and was about to do the same for the planned run-off on Saturday…

“‘The consequence is dramatic: Instead of the coveted democratically legitimate government, Afghanistan is getting a government that has already lost all credibility before taking office. It makes little difference that Karzai would in all likelihood have won the run-off election. For the US and its allies the establishment of a functioning state with a government accepted by the population was at the top of their list of strategic goals in Afghanistan. Without such a government it is almost impossible to convince the Afghan people that they are better off under the care of the Kabul government than of the tribal leaders and warlords…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘”Mission Afghanistan” is increasingly losing credibility. The thought of having to rely on a government that is discredited by election fraud for the reconstruction and pacification of the country over the next five years is depressing.'”

America is being blamed–rightly or wrongly–for the Afghan fiasco. The times when America is looked upon as a true leader in this world have passed. The next article shows that America is accused of failing to provide a leadership role in the Middle East.

Mr. Obama’s Difficult Role re Afghanistan

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 3:

“The Afghan president is becoming an especially serious problem for the US. After the fiasco in the Afghan election… and Abdullah’s withdrawal, how is President Barack Obama supposed to explain to his people that he now wants to send more troops to Afghanistan to support precisely this government? ‘It won’t be easy,’ the New York Times comments dryly in its own analysis.

“The mood of the US public is becoming more and more critical for Obama. Washington has already spent close to a quarter-trillion dollars in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, all the news coming out of the crisis region these days seems to be bad. In October, more US soldiers died in the Hindu Kush than in any previous month — an alarming signal for the home front…

“Obama is caught in a trap that he is going to have great difficulty freeing himself from. In the coming weeks, he is expected to present his new plan for Afghanistan. Once again people are expecting to see the light at the end of the tunnel: the withdrawal of US troops. Before that can happen, though, the country must be stabilized. That’s why Obama wants to send several thousand additional soldiers to Afghanistan. But the current chaos surrounding the election farce will merely serve to strengthen skeptics…

“The United States isn’t the only country left perplexed by the election. In Germany, the mandate for the deployment of the Bundeswehr, the country’s armed forces, in Afghanistan must be renewed by parliament in December. Members of parliament are viewing the latest developments with concern…

“Disastrous as the situation already is, Karzai will soon deliver the icing on the cake. At the very latest, this will happen when the new president presents the names of the members of his new cabinet — names which are unlikely to please the West. In order to secure a majority, Karzai has recruited several brutal warlords to his team, including the notorious Mohammed Fahim. From a Western point of view, Fahim should be answering to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague. In Kabul, though, he’s poised to become vice president.”

Mrs. Clinton Tries to Back-Pedal from Back-Pedaling…

The Guardian wrote on November 2:

“Amid mounting concern that Barack Obama’s much-heralded engagement with the Middle East peace process is going nowhere fast, Arab leaders expressed their fury at Clinton’s endorsement of Israel’s argument that it is not required to halt settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as the administration had previously demanded…

“Speaking in Marrakech she qualified her remarks to say that Netanyahu’s offer of ‘restraint’ on settlements fell short of US expectations but would still have a ‘significant and meaningful effect’ on limiting the growth of Jewish outposts on land the Palestinians want for their own state. But she clearly faced an uphill struggle in convincing Arab states that Washington has not changed tack in favour of Israel.

“Earlier today Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, said: ‘I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed … with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done’…

“There were harsher comments from Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas: ‘The negotiations are in a state of paralysis, and the result of Israel’s intransigence and America’s backpedalling is that there is no hope of negotiations on the horizon’…

“Israelis on the left joined in criticism of Clinton’s remarks. ‘The secretary of state, I assume with the full support of the president, has turned around after 10 months of negotiating the precondition of freezing settlements,’ said Akiva Eldar in the Haaretz newspaper.”

The USA is perceived as being unable to help in creating peace in the Middle East. The Bible shows that it will be a united Europe to take over the role of “peace-keeper”–but they won’t do so with peaceful means. Europe will create a confederation with Middle Eastern states against Israel. Israel will find itself totally isolated–the false idea that Europe will make a peace treaty with Israel can nowhere be found in Scripture.

The Lisbon Treaty Ratified

Deutsche Welle reported on November 3:

“The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has welcomed the signing by the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.  He said it removed ‘the last hurdle.’ Klaus announced that he had signed the Lisbon Treaty just a few hours after a ruling by the Czech constitutional court on Tuesday that the treaty did not break Czech law. He criticized the court’s decision, saying that ‘the constitutional court’s ruling is not a neutral legal analysis but a biased political defense of the Lisbon Treaty on the part of its supporters.’ But he said he had expected the verdict and would respect it.

“The treaty allows the EU to speed up decision making, increase the power of the European Parliament and appoint a longer-term president and a more powerful foreign representative. The Swedish prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said he would call a summit shortly and begin ‘name consultations’ over the two new posts. ‘The treaty enters into force on 1 December and all the details must now be put into place,’ he said.

“The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has also welcomed the development; she noted during a speech to the US Congress in Washington that, with the new treaty, the EU ‘will become stronger and more capable of acting, and so a strong and reliable partner for the United States.'”

However, the relationship between an increasingly stronger EU and an increasingly weaker USA will not remain friendly. Certain signs can already be seen when considering the next two articles.

GM and Opel Debacle

The Wall Street Journal wrote on November 4:

“The timing is what diplomats might call unfortunate. The German chancellor was in Washington yesterday for talks with President Obama, and to deliver an historic address to the U.S. Congress. In her speech she thanked America, saying its support had been invaluable in ensuring German reunification. Yes, she said, America and Europe have ‘had their share of disagreements’. But… ‘I am convinced that we will not find a better partner than America.’

“Within hours, with Merkel heading back across the Atlantic, General Motors sensationally switched course and announced that it would not, after all, be selling Opel, its huge German subsidiary. The German government had made much of backing a deal for it to to be bought by Magna – thus protecting jobs. This throws all that up in the air, and is extremely problematic politically for Merkel.

“Couldn’t G.M. have chosen a better time for their decision and its announcement? That is just one of the many questions one imagines the chancellor will be insisting her officials ask their counterparts in Washington.”

Reuters added on November 4:

“Bitterness, anger and disbelief mixed with betrayal and even resignation are just some of the emotions boiling within Germany following Tuesday’s news that General Motors Co. will scrap its sale of Opel to Magna International Inc.

“Opel labor leader Klaus Franz said workers would not go along with GM’s ‘blackmail’ of European governments and staff… Other workers directed venom at GM’s American board for reversing course on plans to sell Opel, a decision that many fear will lead to thousands more job losses and plant closures than if Magna [had] taken control. Half of Opel’s 50,000 workers are based in Germany.

“‘I can only say that in GM’s executive offices in America sit the biggest liars that the world has ever seen,’ one Opel worker raged in a German radio interview…

“Chancellor Angela Merkel and key allies in her conservative party lobbied heavily in Magna’s favor ahead of the parliamentary elections on Sept. 27, thinly veiling a threat that no German aid would flow should any other decision be taken.”

Der Spiegel Online reported on November 5:

“The decision by General Motors to hold onto its German subsidiary Opel has unleashed a wave of shock and despair on this side of the Atlantic, with politicians railing against American corporate duplicity and unions striking…”

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote on November 5:

“‘Without the billions of dollars in aid that the Obama administration gave to GM, the company would not exist. And the GM board members who decided not to sell Opel this week were almost all appointed by President Obama. But apparently the American leader knew nothing of this decision by GM when he was hosting Angela Merkel only a few hours earlier. Perhaps at that time the US president really didn’t know anything — which doesn’t say much for him. Perhaps he did know something was up but he chose not to tell the German chancellor about it — that also doesn’t say much for him and his administration.'”

Britain Concerned

The Telegraph wrote on November 3:

“So the deed is done. Eight years after EU leaders attending a summit in the Belgian town of Laeken agreed to the idea of drawing up a European constitution, the final obstacle to its implementation was removed at about 3pm yesterday when President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic signed on the dotted line. Of course, it is no longer called a constitution. Those original, grandiose plans were scuppered by the voters of France and the Netherlands. Instead, we were invited to believe that the treaty signed in Lisbon in 2007 was somehow a different beast altogether (thereby obviating the need for a referendum) when it was, in fact, identical in all significant respects.

“There were lingering hopes among those dismayed by the profoundly undemocratic way in which the treaty has been foisted upon the people of Europe that Mr Klaus would hold out, somehow, until after a Conservative government was elected in Britain, committed to a referendum that could yet stop ratification. But it was not to be. He waited just a few hours after the Czech courts ruled that his agreement would not be unconstitutional to add his signature to those of 26 other heads of government. The Treaty of Lisbon now becomes PART of the Treaty of ROME and its provisions embedded in EU law.”

EU Infighting on the Horizon?

The EUObserver wrote on November 3:

“Leaders of the countries next in line to take on the day-to-day running of the European Union have made it clear that they do not wish to be sidelined by any future EU president. Gathered in Brussels last week to present a common logo for 18 months of co-operation beginning in January, the prime ministers of Spain, Belgium and Hungary were keen to emphasize the importance of ‘institutional balance’ – an oblique way of saying they do not wish to get elbowed out of the political picture by a powerful new president of the European Council, a post created by the… ratified Lisbon Treaty…

“[Focus] has turned to the uncertainties contained in the document [of the Lisbon Treaty]. One of these includes how the six-month rotating presidencies and the national leaders of the moment will rub along with the permanent president. While the president, who can hold office for up to five years, is supposed to drive forward the political agenda of the EU through the regular meetings of EU leaders, the rotating presidency will manage the daily policy-making including chairing monthly ministerial meetings in all areas, bar foreign policy. The set-up, with its undefined hierarchy, could lead to damaging turf wars.

“The problem of the proliferation of chiefs with potentially overlapping job descriptions under the Lisbon Treaty – it also introduces a beefed up foreign policy post – has practical implications too, such as who will take part in EU summits with third countries…

“Who will be the first president of the European Council is still unclear, with member states unsure about whether they want a powerful global figure, or someone with a more administrative job description. The EU parliament will discuss the role of the new president on 11 November, while the appointment itself is expected to be decided at an extraordinary summit later this month. The type of person who gets the job is set to strongly influence how the EU will make a go of the new Lisbon Treaty system…”

The Bible says that the leading member states of a unified Europe will be partly strong and partly weak.

Searching for the EU President

The Telegraph wrote on October 30:

“… speaking to journalists late last night at the summit, Jean-David Levitte, Mr Sarkozy’s foreign policy adviser, said that it was unlikely that France would support a presidential candidate from the UK. Britain’s position outside the euro and the Schengen agreement on free travel meant that a British president would face difficulties, Mr Levitte said. So would the UK’s various opt-outs from some EU policies, including justice and home affairs…

“Mr Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, discussed the presidency at dinner on Wednesday, where they are said to have agreed that the president should come from a right-of-centre political party which would rule out Mr Blair.”

It will be interesting to see who the first EU President will be. But before the last European military leader, called the “beast” in the book of Revelation, will emerge, we need to await  the development of a core Europe of ten nations or groups of nations, within a united Europe, which will then give their power and authority to the “beast.”

United Europe Has Come a Long Way…

The Wall Street Journal wrote on November 2:

“In 1989, the EU had just 12 members. Now its has 27, stretching from the sun-drenched shores of the Algarve to the Polish border with Belarus… The EU’s powers have also mushroomed in sensitive areas—such as defence and immigration—that lie at the heart of sovereignty. And remember the franc, the deutschmark, the lira, and the drachma? Currencies that once symbolised national power are now curious relics of the past.

“But perhaps the most dramatic change over the last 20 years has been the gradual removal of border controls between EU states. Over the centuries, millions of Europeans have died fighting over sometimes illogical, often arbitrary and almost always unnatural frontiers. Now that they are gone, the prospect of war between EU states has become unthinkable. It is also increasingly difficult to argue that a person on one side of a border should be taxed, taught and ruled differently from a person on the other side, when the line separating them no longer exists…

“I was brought up believing that Europe’s east-west division was permanent, and that the threat of conflict in Europe would always exist. Then came Berlin, 11/9. Within a year Germany was reunited, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was president of Czechoslovakia and a union activist named Lech Walesa was Poland’s head of state. Two years later the Soviet Union had splintered and the map of central and eastern Europe had been completely redrawn…

“The EU, which emerged from the ashes of a world war that left Europe shattered, humiliated and sidelined, is now the world’s biggest economic power, exporter, trading bloc, aid donor and foreign investor… Europe has become one. Europe has been reborn.”

“Europe Must Stop Being So Submissive to the USA”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 2:

“… a study by an influential Brussels think tank suggests the EU is going about things the wrong way. The Europeans must stop being so submissive, they must present a united front on foreign policy and they must work toward a ‘post-American’ state of affairs, the study says…

“[The] European Council on Foreign Relations… released a study on Monday called ‘Toward a Post-American Europe,’ based on wide-ranging interviews and research conducted in the 27 EU member states. In it, the authors make a clear appeal to European leaders:

“This ‘fetishization’ of the trans-Atlantic relationship must stop… It is high time that Europe declare a new, ‘post-American’ age and do away with old myths about the trans-Atlantic relationship. Myths like the idea that the continent’s security is dependent on American protection… Or the one about American and European interests being the same at heart…”

How German Unification Came About…

A united Europe would have been impossible without a united Germany. On November 3, 2009, Der Spiegel Online published an interview with Rudolf Seiters, an aide of then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and a key negotiator during Germany’s reunification. His reflections on the events in 1989 and 1990 are quite interesting and prove that higher powers are involved in key political events, which are necessary to fulfill biblical prophecy:

“Without a doubt, we were also lucky. Solidarity, the Polish trade union, contributed in a major way. We are also grateful to the Hungarians, who were the first to open their borders to East German refugees. And Bush provided unlimited support. It was also important that Helmut Kohl was able to systematically build a close, trusting relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989 and 1990…

“Margaret Thatcher’s stance is well-known, as are her considerable doubts about and objections to reunification. Giulio Andreotti, the Italian politician, also remarked: ‘We love Germany so much that we would prefer to have two of them.’ At a later point, Mitterrand was also one of our closest friends and supporters, but in 1989 he still had doubts about the project…

“In the West, there were fears and worries regarding the prospect of German reunification. Many Europeans believed that, if reunified, Germany would change its political orientation. In his memoirs, Kohl later wrote that he never attended a European summit with such an icy atmosphere as the meeting on Dec. 9 in Strasburg, which was held 14 days after he presented his 10-point plan for overcoming the division of Germany and Europe…

“For Helmut Kohl, it was always clear that a reunified Germany needed to be intertwined within the broader European process. He viewed German unity and European unity as two sides of the same coin, and that something he was convinced of deep down. Likewise, he strongly believed that, for Europe to move forward, France and Germany had to cooperate closely. He also knew that the smaller European countries needed to be part of it, as well…

“In the autumn and winter of 1989, I was surprised by the helplessness of the GDR [East German] leadership and its rapid loss of authority. The SED was helpless when it came to the issue of refugees. It was helpless when the Berlin Wall came down, which was not even meant to happen when it did. And it was also helpless in Dresden. Everything happened amazingly fast. When I became head of the Chancellory in Bonn in April 1989, no one knew or even suspected that, in a few months, the Wall would fall and that Germany would be reunified one and a half years later. That was more than surprising; that was practically a miracle.”

No More German Support for China and India?

Deutsche Welle reported on October 30 that Germany’s new development minister, Herr Niebel, said that aid to China and India should be cut completely. The article continued:

“Niebel (FDP) told a German newspaper that economic powers like China and India, commonly referred to as ‘developing nations,’ no longer met the criteria of that distinction. ‘Battling poverty is more important than ever. That means we have to concentrate our resources effectively in the most needy areas. Economic giants like China and India don’t belong to these,’ he told the mass-circulation daily Bild Zeitung. Niebel, meanwhile, did not provide any details on when the 70 million euros ($103 million ) of annual aid to China would be discontinued…

“Claudia Warning, head of the German federation of non-governmental organizations active in development cooperation, VENRO, has said the new government’s international policy disregards commitments Germany has already made regarding development aid… Warning said the new government’s program put too much emphasis on ‘promoting German economic interests abroad.’ The ministry’s task was to ‘contribute to the international fight against poverty, and not the promotion of German business interests,’ she said.”

This article, and the next one, begin to indicate that the relationship between Europe and the Far East will deteriorate, and why Europe may be prompted to attack Russia and other Asian nations, as it will be troubled by rumors from the “east and the north” (Daniel 11:44).

Rumors from the East…

The Telegraph reported on November 1 on Russian war games directed against Poland:

“The armed forces are said to have carried out ‘war games’ in which nuclear missiles were fired and troops practised an amphibious landing on the country’s coast. The manoeuvres are thought to have been held in September and involved about 13,000 Russian and Belarusian troops. Poland, which has strained relations with both countries, was cast as the ‘potential aggressor’…

“The operation also involved the simulated suppression of an uprising by a national minority in Belarus – the country has a significant Polish population which has a strained relationship with [the] authoritarian government of Belarus.

“Karol Karski, an MP from Poland’s Law and Justice, is to table parliamentary questions on Russia’s war games and has protested to the European Commission… His colleague, Marek Opiola MP, said: ‘It’s an attempt to put us in our place. Don’t forget all this happened on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland.’ Ordinary Poles were outraged by news of the exercise and demanded a firm response from the government…

“After spending 40 years under Soviet domination few in Poland trust Russia, and many Poles have become increasingly wary of a country they consider as possessing a neo-imperialistic agenda… With a resurgent Moscow now more willing to flex its muscles, Central and Eastern Europeans have warned of Russia adopting a neo-imperialistic attitude to an area of the world it still regards as its sphere of influence. In July, the region’s most famed and influential political figures, including Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel, wrote an open letter [to] Barack Obama warning him that Russia ‘is back as a revisionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics and methods.’”

That Russia is trying to re-establish itself in that part of the world cannot be denied. Europe and especially countries like Poland eye this development with suspicion, and will finally engage in a “pre-emptive strike,” as the Bible clearly prophecies.

The Terrible Curse of Halloween

On October 29, LiveScience wrote the following:

“Like Halloween itself, the display and carving of pumpkins – from the lanterns placed inside to the scary faces we pick – has pagan origins that morphed with the passage of time as well as the crossing of an ocean. The modern traditions of Halloween have roots in a Celtic holiday called Samhain, which was celebrated throughout Western Europe (but especially Ireland) every Oct. 31 to mark the end of the summer and the final harvest…

“As the tipping point that also ushered in the beginning of the ‘dark season,’ it was believed that the night opened a kind of door to the Otherworld, letting spirits roam the Earth… Nicholas Rogers, a historian at York University in Toronto, [said]… ‘It was also a period of SUPERNATURAL INTENSITY, when the FORCES OF DARKNESS and decay were said to be abroad…

“To combat the threat, ancient Celts often held raging bonfires – fire being a common way to ward off evil spirits. Later, in towns, the fires shrank and were placed instead within turnips or gourds, which were inexpensive, readily available and safe ‘containers.’

“‘Originally they were simply pierced to emit light, and were carried to scare away the spirits from the Otherworld who could enter the mortal realm,’ said Verlyn Flieger, a mythology specialist at the University of Maryland… ‘Designed to ward off scary faces, they gradually TOOK ON the aspects of the very foes they were supposed to forestall,’ she told LiveScience… The holiday exploded in the United States and Canada with the wave of Irish that came over during that country’s potato famine in the mid 19th century.”

The Roman Catholic Church Condemns Halloween, But…

The Telegraph added on October 30 that the “Vatican has condemned Hallowe’en as anti-Christian, saying it is based on a sinister and dangerous ‘undercurrent of occultism.'” The article continued:

“The Holy See has warned that parents should not allow their children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls on Saturday, calling Hallowe’en a pagan celebration of ‘terror, fear and death’. The Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years by the spread of Hallowe’en traditions from the US to other countries around the world.

“As in Britain, it is only in recent years that Italian children have dressed up in costumes, played trick or treat on their neighbours and made lanterns out of hollowed out pumpkins. The Vatican issued the warning through its official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, in an article headlined ‘Hallowe’en’s Dangerous Messages’.

“Last year a newspaper controlled by the Italian bishops, Avvenire, called for a boycott of Hallowe’en, calling it a ‘dangerous celebration of horror and the macabre’ which could encourage ‘pitiless [Satanic] sects without scruples’. Earlier this week the Catholic Church in Spain also condemned the growing popularity of Halloween…”

But millions of people celebrated this horrible demonic feast, including hundreds of thousands of confessing and practicing Catholics.

In addition, Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 31 about the practice of the Catholic Church to “christianize” pagan holidays, as follows:

“In the Middle Ages, the pagan practice was ‘christianized.’ In 837 A.D., Pope Gregory IV declared November 1 as ‘All Saints Day.’ Now Christians were able to celebrate the pagan festival Samhain, without sinning.”

But the Bible is mightier than human inventions. And the Bible makes it very clear that we SIN when we celebrate Halloween–or other pagan festivals such as Christmas or Easter. For more information, please read our free booklets, “Don’t Keep Christmas,” and “Is That in The Bible–Man’s Holidays and God’s Holy Days.”

Vatican Woos Anglicans

USA Today wrote on November 1:

“The Vatican said Saturday that married Anglican priests will be admitted to the Catholic priesthood on a case-by-case basis as Rome makes it easier for disillusioned conservative Anglicans to convert… The Roman Catholic church requires its priests to be celibate, except in the case of the Eastern rite Catholics, who are allowed to be ordained if married. But over the last decades, it has also quietly allowed married Anglican clergy to stay priests when converting to Catholicism. In no case could a married man become a bishop, and the new rules would exclude any married Anglican bishop from retaining that post…

“Anglicans split with Rome in 1534 when the Vatican refused to give English King Henry VIII a marriage annulment. The Anglican communion includes the Episcopalian Church in the United States. Some Anglican faithful, unhappy over progressive reforms in their church, consider themselves Catholics although they have not yet officially joined the Roman Catholic church.

“Anglicans have been divided over such issues as admitting women to the priesthood. The rift was torn wide open in 2003, when the Episcopal Church in the United States consecrated V. Gene Robinson, as the first openly gay bishop. Also disenchanting Anglican conservatives has been the blessing of same-sex marriages.”

The Bible indicates that much of the “Christian” and perhaps even non-Christian world will place itself under the “religious umbrella” of the Catholic Church.

… And the Horror Saga of Failed U.S. Banks Continues…

U.S. Bank failures continue. But did not the U.S. government indicate that the recession was over? What blatant nonsense–as is so clearly pointed out by the following article:

The Associated Press wrote on October 30:

“[Bank] Failures have been especially concentrated in California, Georgia and Illinois. While the pounding from losses on home mortgages may be nearing an end, delinquencies on commercial real estate loans remain a hot spot of potential trouble, regulators say. If the RECESSION DEEPENS, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Many regional banks, especially, hold large concentrations of these loans.”

More US Banks Fail…

The Los Angeles Times wrote on October 31:

“Regulators seized Los Angeles-based [68-branch] California National Bank on Friday night in the country’s fourth-largest bank failure this year…

“Eight smaller banks owned by FBOP, a privately held Oak Park, Ill., company, were also taken over by regulators and acquired by U.S. Bank. They include San Diego National Bank, with 28 offices, and San Francisco’s Pacific National Bank, which has 17… Before Friday, 106 U.S. banks had failed this year.”

This Is BIG–CIT Bankrupt

Bloomberg wrote on November 1:

“CIT Group Inc., a 101-year-old commercial lender, filed for bankruptcy to cut $10 billion in debt after the credit crunch dried up its funding and a U.S. bailout and debt exchange offer failed. CIT listed $71 billion in assets and $64.9 billion in debt… The U.S. Treasury Department said the government probably won’t recover much, if any, of the $2.3 billion in taxpayer money that went to CIT…

“CIT… filed the fifth-largest bankruptcy by assets… The failure… is the biggest measured by assets since regulators seized Washington Mutual banking unit in September 2008… CIT’s largest unsecured claim holders were Bank of America Corp., as collateral agent for a $7.5 billion claim, and Bank of New York Mellon Corp., as a trustee for retail bonds with a claim of $3.2 billion. Canadian senior unsecured notes have a claim for $2.1 billion, and Citigroup Inc. also has a $2.1 billion claim as an administrative agent to bank debt due 2010…

“CIT has said it’s the third-largest U.S. railcar-leasing firm and the world’s third-biggest aircraft financier. It also finances trade in Canada, Europe and Asia by lending to small manufacturers that sell to retailers. CIT accounts for about 70 percent of all short-term U.S. financing known as factoring, worth about $40 billion a year…”

USA Today wrote on November 2 that CIT is “the leading provider of financing to retailers and their vendors,” and its failure “is one of the largest in U.S. history.”

U.S. State Elections

The Wall Street Journal wrote on November 4:

“It’s a grumpy nation. We probably all knew that, but Tuesday’s election results underscore the point.

“It wasn’t a good election for Democrats, of course. They lost the two biggest races, the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia, the first a blue state they should own and the second now a swing state Democrats liked to think they had turned in the last two elections.

“But Democrats can argue they won in the race that is most relevant to what is going on in Washington, the special [election] for the 23rd congressional district in New York. That represents a victory in a traditionally Republican district, and a sign that GOP conservatives probably overplayed their hand by forcing a liberal Republican out of the race.

“The broader lesson in all this, however, may simply be the signs of grumpiness all around. In each case, independent voters appear to have swung against the party holding the seat. And in New York, a wildly over-funded and universally known incumbent mayor, Michael Bloomberg, barely won against a wildly under-funded and unknown Democratic challenger. In the midst of an economic mess, voters don’t seem to like over-spending and over-reach, but more than that they seem unhappy with the status quo in general.

“‘Change’ was a good theme for Barack Obama in 2008. It still might best capture the mood of voters.”

Sweeping Powers of EU’s New Foreign Minister

The EUObserver wrote on October 23:

“The EU’s new foreign minister will have sweeping powers to conduct foreign policy, propose his own budget and name his own staff independently of other EU institutions, according to the latest EU presidency blueprint… The new institution is to manage general foreign relations as well as EU security and defence projects, such as the police missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Georgia and Afghanistan or any future peacekeeping operations in, for example, Africa…”

The First European President

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 28:

“For weeks, many have speculated that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in line to become the European Union’s first president. But now, Jean-Claude Juncker from tiny Luxembourg may have torpedoed the plan. EU logic indicates that a third candidate may emerge victorious… The duel between Juncker and Blair comes as the 27 EU heads of state and government prepare to gather in Brussels at the end of this week for the bloc’s fall summit. In addition to the post of president, the EU also must name 27 commissioners and choose a Foreign High Representative, often referred to as the EU foreign minister.

“Still, discussions about the EU’s two highest posts are not likely to be made public. The European Union will only get a president and a foreign minister once the Lisbon Treaty has been completely ratified — and Czech President Vaclav Klaus continues to withhold his signature. He says he is waiting for the results of a case pending before the Czech constitutional court; the court said on Tuesday it would reconvene on Nov. 3, at which time it will likely hand down its verdict…

“While climate change and the EU’s plan for the Baltic Sea region are at the top of the summit agenda, the main topic in the hallways is likely to be Blair and the presidency… The fact that Juncker has now entered the fray does not come as a surprise. It is well known that Juncker — the longest-serving head of government in the EU and a man who carries the nickname ‘Mr. Europe’ with pride — would love to be the first EU president in history. His chances, though, are seen as being close to zero. Both Great Britain and France, two of the EU’s largest member states, are opposed to his candidacy.

“Juncker is almost surely aware of that, which is why many speculate that his motive is a different one — that of preventing Blair from getting the office. It is a classic move on the Brussels chessboard: one creates a dichotomy of extremes — in this case a prominent politician from the country of euro-skeptics versus a European-by-conviction from a small member state — and immediately, the EU culture of consensus almost demands a compromise candidate. In this scenario, neither Blair nor Juncker would be appointed president, but a third candidate. German government sources see this scenario as being the most likely.

“Juncker’s motivation is not hard to guess at… The idea of a Briton speaking for the European Union is difficult for him to accept. Furthermore, Blair’s alliance with former US President George W. Bush during the invasion of Iraq has not been forgotten. Both points are often underestimated in London… At the moment, it looks as though Juncker’s strategy will pay off. Few in Brussels are still betting on Blair, with most guessing that a third candidate will pop up… There are many in Great Britain who would likewise breathe a sigh of relief were Blair to fall short…

“Should it become clear at this week’s summit that backing is lacking for Blair, then the deck will be reshuffled — and German Chancellor Angela Merkel could find herself in the role of kingmaker. So far she has been waiting to see which direction the wind is blowing, as the chancellor has a tendency to do. On Wednesday evening, she is expected in Paris for a working dinner with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the subject of EU top slots is almost sure to be a topic of discussion. But in contrast to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Sarkozy and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Merkel has made no indication as to who she might prefer. Once she does make up her mind, her word is likely to carry all the more weight.”

It is very interesting that it is again Germany which seems to be playing a major role in deciding who the first European President will be.

Will France-German Axis Rule Europe?

The Economist reported on October 22:

“… the French have been laying the ground for their next big idea: a deepening of the Franco-German axis to entrench their dual leadership and make Europe ‘one of the principal players of the 21st century.’

“In a speech to his ambassadors in August, President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that he wanted ‘Europe once again to make history instead of enduring it’. His model was ‘Franco-German understanding’ built on his friendship with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. His Europe minister, Pierre Lellouche, is zealously spreading the message. ‘More than ever, the relationship between France and Germany will form the heart of what I would call the third phase of post-war European history,’ he recently wrote in Le Monde…

“The French realise that the British are likely to be unhelpful friends if the Eurosceptical Conservatives win the election next spring… Another factor is the view that, when the French and the Germans agree, Europe makes its voice heard.

“… the French are not blind to the need for other ties in Europe. They still hope to draw the British into a common European defence policy, even under a Conservative government. It is far harder for two countries to steer an EU of 27 members than one of 12. Yet the French expect the most from Germany—and it is not clear they will get much.”

Ultimately, Europe will be ruled by ten core nations or groups of nations, and it appears certain that France and Germany will be powerful players within that group.

France vs. USA

Reuters reported on October 23:

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy, initially dubbed Sarko the American for his pro-U.S. stance, is finding it much tougher to deal with Washington than he had anticipated and is recalibrating his policies accordingly. Stung by perceived snubs from U.S. President Barack Obama and encouraged by the growing importance of the G20, Sarkozy is increasingly reaching out to non-aligned states in an effort to extend France’s international influence.

“He has forged especially close ties with Brazil, is seeking alliances in central Asia and is intensifying his activities in the Middle East, using multi-billion dollar military and civilian nuclear trade deals as his calling card. These initiatives are being played out against a discordant tone in Franco-American relations…

“Analysts say Obama clearly prefers dealing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sarkozy is visibly frustrated by the situation… Officials say the disconnect is centred on real issues, such as Obama’s attitude to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which has been less hardline than Sarkozy’s hawkish stance… There are also real differences of opinion over how to deal with the lingering financial crisis, with a close Sarkozy aide accusing Washington this week of risking global inflation by printing money and ‘flooding the world with liquidity’.

“The French government spokesman said on Wednesday that Sarkozy would propose ‘a new international monetary organisation which better reflects today’s world’ when France holds the presidency of the Group of 20 wealthy nations in 2011. Roughly translated, this means France wants to challenge the supremacy of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.”

The Bible reveals that ultimately, the relationship between the USA and Europe–including France–will become extremely hostile.

Germany to Provide Israel with Warships and Submarines

Deutsche Welle reported on October 23:

“Israel would like… two [German] warships, worth an estimated 400-500 million euros ($600-750 million), free of charge… The ships’ weapons would be supplied by the United States. The two state of the art corvettes, which are hard to detect by radar, are said to be larger than Israel’s current flagship Hanit.

“The Israeli navy wants to install a ‘Barak 8’ missile defence system on the two vessels along with sophisticated radar so as ‘to be prepared for potential wars’, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Ma’ariv. The move would allow Israel to shift a part of its missile defense system to the sea, rendering it less vulnerable to potential rocket attacks.”

The Local added on October 23:

“The [Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung] reported that the government has not yet reacted to Israel’s request. But ‘influential politicians from northern Germany,’ where the shipbuilding industry is suffering from the global economic downturn, are apparently supportive in the interest of keeping German shipyards in business. The shipbuilding contract would go to Hamburg company Blohm + Voss… But the internal weapons system would come from the United States, with the end result being a missile defence system on water.

“Israeli naval forces have already received help from the German government. Between 1999 and 2000, three submarines completed by Kiel shipyard Howaldtswerken Deutsche Werft were delivered. Meanwhile the government is reportedly paying for two-thirds of two more submarines with fuel-cell power plants priced at €500 million. They are currently under construction in Kiel with plans to deliver them to Israel in 2012.”

Even though Germany entertains at this point friendly relationships with the state of Israel, this will dramatically change in the not-too-distant future.

Clashes at Temple Mount

AFP wrote on October 25:

“Clashes erupted on Sunday between Israeli police and Palestinians in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the latest violence to shake Jerusalem’s flashpoint site holy to Muslims and Jews… Police twice entered the compound itself after Palestinian demonstrators threw stones at visitors to the holy site, known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount…

“Kamal Khatib, a spokesman for the Israeli Arab Islamic Movement, which has been at the forefront of recent demonstrations at the compound, blamed [Israeli] police for the violence… The office of Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned of ‘dangerous consequences’ and called on Israel to ‘halt all provocative acts’… and called on the international community to intervene to ‘put pressure on the Israeli government’…

“The Palestinian calls for protests came amid rumours that right wing Jewish activists were planning to gather at the … mosque compound and the adjacent Western Wall…”

Haaretz wrote on October 26:

“After two weeks of relative quiet in the Jerusalem area, disturbances again broke out in the city and its periphery yesterday morning. Shortly after the Temple Mount was opened up to tourists and other non-Muslim visitors, several dozen Palestinians began throwing stones at both police and tourists. The police attempted to disperse the stone throwers and the Temple Mount was closed to visitors…

“Yesterday’s disturbances appear to have been sparked, as in the past, by printed announcements by Jewish groups seeking to gain access to the Temple Mount to pray. The northern branch of the Islamic Movement and other parties, including Abdel Kader, called on the Palestinian public to come to the Temple Mount to defend it…

“Over the weekend, the Jerusalem police raised their level of alert following calls by Muslim leaders to “defend the Temple Mount from conquest by Jews” alongside calls from right-wing Jewish activists for Jews to come to the Temple Mount in large numbers… Police Commissioner David Cohen said the Islamic Movement was directing and fomenting large numbers of East Jerusalem residents and Israeli Arabs on the Temple Mount… Jerusalem police also pointed a finger at Hamas as a source for the unrest…

“MK Talab al-Sana (United Arab List-Ta’al) warned that “Israel was provoking a billion Muslims who would not hesitate to defend the Al-Aqsa mosque with their bodies.” A leading Sunni Muslim religious figure, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, called on the Arab League and the kings of Saudi Arabia and Morocco to intervene immediately over the situation on the Temple Mount.”

“Syria: Israel Wants to Destroy al-Aqsa Mosque”

YNetNews.com wrote on October 26:

“The Syrian Foreign Ministry has denounced Israel’s ‘blatant violation of the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque,’ following the recent wave of riots in Jerusalem. In an official statement released Monday, the ministry said that ‘(Damascus) believes the Israeli security forces’ invasion of al-Aqsa was part of Israel’s scheme to Judaize Jerusalem and destroy the mosque.’ A Syrian news agency further quoted the official as saying Israel’s actions were ‘a crime against Arab history and heritage and against Muslims’ holy places.’ The official expressed his support and gratitude to the ‘brave men’ who rallied to the compound’s defense, and urged the international community to denounce Israel’s actions.

“Syria’s censure joins that of Jordan: On Sunday, Amman urged Israel to prevent both security forces and extreme rightists from entering the Temple Mount compound. The Hashemite Kingdom’s State-run news agency warned Jerusalem that such ‘provocations’ were hazardous to the peace process.”

It is interesting to see an increased call for “international” intervention regarding problems surrounding the Temple Mount.

Westerwelle–Germany’s New Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 24:

“… with only out-of-government experience, and a political career that has barely, if ever, involved foreign relations, what can Westerwelle bring to the table for Germany? The 47-year-old has little direct experience of foreign policy… His party is pro-American… On Saturday, Oct. 24, Westerwelle said nuclear non-proliferation and the removal of US atomic warheads from German soil would be a priority for his ministry…

“But that won’t necessarily mean that Germany will give in to US wishes to commit more troops to Afghanistan. While Westerwelle has been vague on many foreign policy points, he has stated clearly his aversion to any expansion in German army operations under NATO…

“But Westerwelle will be bound to make waves for being Europe’s first openly gay foreign minister, having publicly ‘come out’ at Merkel’s 50th birthday bash. The trained lawyer dismissed any notion that this could pose problems in his role as foreign minister. ‘Some other countries may have had a problem with the fact that Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor of Germany. Of course she does not wear a veil on the red carpet when she visits certain Arab states,’ he has been quoted as saying. ‘The decision as to whom we send as a government representative rests solely with us Germans, based on our political and moral standards’…

“Westerwelle’s seeming inability to speak English well [has] raised some questions about his suitability for the post of Germany’s top diplomat. Westerwelle declined to answer a question in English that had been put to him by a BBC reporter during his first news conference after last month’s elections. ‘In Great Britain it is expected that people speak English, and it is the same in Germany – people are expected to speak German,’ Westerwelle said at the time, prompting heated debate on the Internet.”

Due to his “sexual preference” and his insistence in German authority to make decisions and uphold German “values,” Westerwelle is indeed a unique figure in post-war Germany.

Guttenberg–Germany’s New Defense Minister

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 24:

“The cabinet’s rising star Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is to move from the Economics Ministry to Defense. At only 37 the young Bavarian conservative’s huge popularity may now be put to the test as he faces the task of overseeing the country’s unpopular mission in Afghanistan. However, his smooth communication skills and fluent English should help him in his dealings with Germany’s allies.”

It will remain to be seen what political role Guttenberg will play on the world scene.

Possibility of Anti-German Protests in the Muslim World

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 26:

“The man who killed Marwa al-Sherbini, a pregnant Egyptian woman, in a German courtroom on July 1 went on trial on Monday in a case that authorities fear could trigger violent anti-German protests in the Muslim world…

“The killing on July 1 of Marwa al-Sherbini, the 31-year-old mother of a three-year-old, during a court hearing triggered anti-German protests in the Muslim world and led to criticism from Muslim immigrants and commentators that Islamophobia is widespread in Germany. German authorities are concerned that the trial could lead to a fresh wave of demonstrations abroad and have turned the court in Dresden into a fortress after Internet threats against her attacker, named only as Alex. W, who moved to Germany from Russia in 2003…

“The German government, which was accused by Muslim groups in Germany of being too slow to express its sorrow over the attack, is now at pains to prevent the trial from stoking demonstrations of the kind that followed the publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Danish newspapers in 2005…

“The Egyptian government is closely monitoring the case and has sent its ambassador and a delegation to attend it. The president of the Egyptian bar association and the public prosecutor of Alexandria are also watching the trial. Rarely has a German justice authority been under such scrutiny…

“The German government has been aware of the explosive potential of the Dresden case for weeks, and an analysis by the foreign ministry has warned of violent protests in front of German embassies abroad… Berlin diplomats have taken unusual steps to cater for the Arab media… The court building has been cordoned off with fences and hundreds of armed police are patrolling the area. Snipers are on hand and a bullet-proof glass screen separates the court from the public gallery…”

“The Anglican Experiment Is Over…”

The Telegraph wrote on October 24:

“John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, has announced he is considering becoming a Roman Catholic in a move that could spark an exodus of clergy. Bishop Hind said he would be ‘happy’ to be reordained as a Catholic priest and said that divisions in Anglicanism could make it impossible to stay in the church. He is the most senior Anglican to admit that he is prepared to accept the offer from the Pope, who shocked the Church of England last week when he paved the way for clergy to convert to Catholicism in large numbers.

“In a further blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s hopes of preventing the Anglican Communion from disintegrating, other bishops have cast doubt over its survival… John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham, even claimed that ‘the Anglican experiment is over’. He said it has been shown to be powerless to cope with the crises over gays and women bishops.

“In one of the most significant developments since the Reformation, the Pope last week announced that a new structure would be set up to allow disaffected Anglicans to enter full communion with Rome, while maintaining parts of their Protestant heritage. The move comes after secret talks between the Vatican and a group of senior Anglican bishops.

“Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was not informed of the meetings and his advisers even denied that they had taken place when the Sunday Telegraph broke the story last year… the planning behind last week’s announcement began in 2006, when the Pope asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to consider how they could invite Anglicans into the Roman Catholic fold. He had reached out to disillusioned Anglicans three years earlier, when as head of the Congregation, the most powerful of the Vatican’s departments and successor to the medieval Inquisition, he wrote a personal letter to Anglicans in America. He reassured them of the Catholic Church’s support of their stand against the liberal tide.”

The Bible predicts that the Protestant “daughter churches” will ultimately return to the “motherly” fold of the Roman Catholic Church. In this context, please note the next article.

Woman Will Lead Germany’s Protestants

The Local reported on October 28, 2009:

“Hannover Bishop Margot Käßmann became the first woman to lead the Protestant church in Germany on Wednesday after the majority of the synod voted in her favour… Käßmann… will lead all of Germany’s 25 million Protestants for the next six years.

“Käßmann has proposed a radical course of reform for the Evangelische Kirche Deutschland (EKD), which suffers from shrinking congregations and revenues. In addition to streamlining the clergy, she plans to increase the church’s profile and improve strained relations with the Catholic Church.”

Bild Online quoted Käßmann on October 29, 2009, as follows: “The Catholics know what they got with me. [Bishop Fürst, a high-ranking Catholic bishop] was one of the first who congratulated me in the name of the Catholic Conference of Bishops. We both know: We are much more unified than divided.”

However, the Bible makes it very clear that women are not to serve in, and/or be in charge of the ministry (compare 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 1 Corinthians 14:34-35). For more information, read our free booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families.”

Turkey Looks Eastward…

The Financial Times wrote on October 22:

“Mr Sarkozy has put himself in the vanguard of European leaders – they include Germany’s Angela Merkel – who are viscerally opposed to Turkish accession to the European Union.

“It is half a century since Turkey first knocked on Europe’s door with a bid to join the Common Market. There were plenty of detours on the way to the start of formal accession talks in 2004. Often, it must be said, the fault lay with Turkey. Military coups and political repression did not help make the case for membership of Europe’s democratic club… Turkey is still a long way from meeting the democratic terms of EU membership… Admitting Turkey, Mr Sarkozy says, would ‘dilute’ the Union. What he really means is that Europe does not want 70-odd million Muslims.

“The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, has decided to look eastwards… Ignoring anxieties in western capitals, Turkey has engaged with the Palestinian Hamas and with the Iranian-sponsored Hizbollah in Lebanon… On the other side of the ledger, the Israeli invasion of Gaza has led to a rupture in the long-standing relationship with Israel. Mr Erdogan sees an Israeli-Palestinian settlement as the sine qua non of strategic stability in Turkey’s back yard. But he has concluded that the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu has no interest in a deal.

“Not everyone is happy with the eastwards turn… But the west is losing its leverage. US power is being challenged across the Middle East; and Europe seems intent on irrelevance. Mr Erdogan’s Turkey still wants to be part of Europe…”

Deutsche Welle reported on October 28:

“Turkey makes no bones about its aspirations to act as a bridge between East and West, but a string of recent events have left the West wondering how stable any such construction might be.

“The problems began earlier this year when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed out of a panel discussion in Davos over the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Since then Israeli-Turkish relations, traditionally very strong, have been on a steady downward curve which culminated in Ankara excluding Israel from a recent NATO exercise. Then this week, ahead of a two-day visit to Iran, Erdogan dismissed Western worries over Teheran’s controversial nuclear program as ‘gossip’ and accused the perpetrators of hypocrisy…

“The question many commentators are asking is whether, in light of recent gestures to the East, Turkey still wants a place in Brussels… As it stands, the earliest they could join is 2015, but in terms of politics that is a long way off, and it is conceivable that by then, interest will have waned altogether… So although Turkey will continue with its accession negotiations, it is realistic enough not to put all its eggs in the European basket. It is actively pursuing other options… And that might ultimately see it drawn deeper into the Middle East fold or holding hands with fuel-rich Russia.”

Although it does not appear that Turkey will become a member of the EU–at least not in the final configuration of a united Europe led by ten nations or groups of nations–Turkey will assist in Europe’s military action against Israel, as the book of Obadiah clearly reveals.

The Kings of the East…

The BBC wrote on October 24:

“Asian leaders meeting in Thailand are discussing plans to ‘lead the world’ by forming an EU-style community by 2015… The community would involve the 10-members of Asian [Association of Southeast Asian nations] with regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, Japanese officials have said… there was debate at the summit over whether the community would also include the United States. Increased integration has been a recurring theme of the meetings in Thailand, as the region seeks to capitalise on its recovery from financial turmoil.”

The 10-members of Asian are: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The Bible predicts, there will form a powerful alliance in that part of the world in the near future. It is referred to in Scripture as the “kings of the east” (Revelation 16:12). This alliance will be able to muster an army of “two hundred million horsemen” (Revelation 9:16). However, Australia and New Zealand–as modern descendants of the ancient house of Israel–won’t be part of that alliance, but many of the other nations mentioned in the article undoubtedly will be. Also, Russia will clearly be a part of this alliance.

USA and China vs. Europe?

Deutsche Welle reported on October 25:

“In a move that wasn’t widely reported, but probably didn’t go unnoticed in Beijing, President Barack Obama last month turned the authority to monitor and approve missile and technology sales to China from the White House to the Commerce Department… to promote US business interests instead of the Pentagon or the State Department.
 
“Earlier, Obama’s decision not to meet the Dalai Lama before the president’s upcoming trip to China – the first presidential snub for Tibet’s spiritual leader since 1991 – had made international news and triggered a debate about a possible shift of US-China policy. Another indicator of a new US approach was a statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that human rights issues were still part of US-China policy, but couldn’t ultimately damage the relationship…

“That shift in focus by the new administration – less emphasis on human rights issues, more emphasis on trade and security issues – is reminiscent of a China approach favored by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. During his tenure from 1998 to 2005 he repeatedly argued for overturning a EU weapons embargo against China, but his move was rejected at home by the Green party, his coalition partner, and abroad by other EU member states. President Obama may prove to be more successful in altering US human rights policy toward China than Chancellor Schroeder was in his efforts to reframe the EU’s China policy…

“Josef Braml, a US expert with the German Council on Foreign Relations… [noted that] both the US and China are basically forced to get along, because they simply are dependent on each other… ‘China could destroy America if it pulled the trigger in terms of financing US debt, but it would also hurt itself.’ With Beijing holding approximately two billion dollars, mostly in government bonds, it is a major financier of US debt. However, a quick disposal of those funds would seriously undermine the value of the US dollar and by extension the ability of American consumers to buy Chinese products. Therefore both China and the US have an avid interest in good economic and political relations…

“Despite the slow pace of improving military ties – something that the Bush administration had also worked on – relations between two of the world’s major players have improved so much under Obama that there have been concerns about the so-called G2, the US and China, determining international policy with others left to follow…

‘[Andrew Small, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, points out:] ‘And if you look on the Chinese side, there is a lot of what they would describe as Euro-skepticism where the China-European relationship has got to and a sense that US-China relations are continuing to move in a very good direction and if anything are being upgraded with the new administration which has led them to become even more US-centric than they were before… And that’s meant that countries like China in particular and Russia are seeing quite a different environment and in some cases that is taking place at the expense of ties with Europe… The standing of Europe for the new administration you would have to say in the grand scheme of things is probably not as high as it was under Bush.'”

These are interesting developments in the light of biblical prophecy, showing that ultimately, there will be a military confrontation between a united Europe and a confederation of Asian nations, including China. This war will take place AFTER Europe’s attack against and defeat of the USA. The article above might give us some hints as to why, to an extent, a European-Asian war will ensue as a consequence of the previous European-American war.

The Fox News-Obama War

On October 23, Fox News published the following article by Lloyd Green, who served in the Justice Department during the George W. Bush presidency:

“The Obama White House looks like it is has taken a page out of the playbook of the late Nixon Press Secretary Ron Ziegler… during the 1972 presidential campaign, Ziegler barred Rolling Stone reporter and Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson from flying on the lead campaign press plane, notwithstanding that Thompson had been covering the race, that there was space on the plane, and that Thompson was an accredited reporter. Thompson’s problem was that he did not report things the way the Committee to Reelect the President would have liked things to have been reported…

“Robert Gibbs, the Obama press secretary, is doing all he can to follow in Ziegler’s footsteps. Gibbs is trying to get the news organizations that cover the White House to drop Fox from the White House press pool. Pressed on his efforts to get the press to dump Fox from the pool, Gibbs demurred. Despite repeated questioning by ABC’s Jake Tapper, Gibbs would not give a straight answer on where the White House stood on Fox and pool coverage.

“It does not look like Gibbs and the White House are meeting with the success they had hoped for. On the Atlantic Monthly’s Web site, Matt Cooper was critical of the White House’s approach. According to Cooper, if the White House could talk to Iran it could surely talk to Fox. Jay Leno has also weighed in. Leno quipped that the administration was raising another 40,000 troops — to fight Fox. In the Senate, Minority Whip Lamar Alexander chided Obama for Nixon-like tactics. This is not where Obama thought he would be.

“Now today’s New York Times reports that Fox’s competitors in the press pool refused to comply with a government effort ‘to exclude Fox from a round of interviews with the executive-pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg.’ According to The Times, a ‘pool’ camera was to tape the interviews. Guess what? The administration blinked. Fox stayed in the mix.

“Perhaps it is time for Gibbs and this administration to act like grown ups… If Obama can get the prof and the cop together for a beer, he should be adult enough to call a truce…”

When in a democracy, freedom of the press is being attacked and abolished, such a democracy is destined to fall.

More U.S. Banks Fail…

The Associated Press reported on October 24:

“It’s a big number that only tells part of the story. The number of banks that have failed so far this year topped 100 on Friday – hitting 106 by the end of the day – the most in nearly two decades. But the trouble in the banking system from bad loans and the recession goes even deeper. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other banks remain open even though they are as weak as many that have been shuttered. Regulators are seizing banks slowly and selectively – partly to avoid inciting panic and partly because buyers for bad banks are hard to find…

“When a bank fails, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. swoops in, usually on a Friday afternoon. It tries to sell off the bank’s assets to buyers and cover its liabilities, primarily customer deposits. It taps the insurance fund to cover the rest… The FDIC won’t say how deep a hole its deposit insurance fund is in. It can tap a credit line from the Treasury of up to a half-trillion dollars to cover the gap.

“… recovery is expected to be slow. Americans remain hesitant to spend money because of job losses, flat wages, tight credit and high debt. Their cutbacks have triggered tens of thousands of business failures. Abandoned retail space in downtowns and suburban malls means no rental income for property owners. As landlords default on real estate loans, they weaken the banks that hold the loans. The situation now is especially grave in Southern California, Georgia and Illinois, which have some of the highest home foreclosure rates…”

The economic situation in the USA is bound to decrease further. According to some financial experts, a great depression is still coming.

Evolutionists “Appalled” Over Public “Ignorance”

Mail-On-Line wrote on October 26:

“More than half the population believes children should be told about creationism – the belief that God created the world – in school science lessons, a poll reveals today. Some 54 per cent of Britons want biology teachers to discuss ‘alternative perspectives’ on human origins alongside traditional explanations of evolution. They also want children to be told about intelligent design, the idea that aspects of the universe are too complex to be explained by science and natural selection. Critics say this is just creationism under another name. The findings, in a survey commissioned by the British Council, come amid growing pressure from religious groups for schools to teach creationism… Some 21 per cent of Britons said only evolutionary theory should be taught, while 54 per cent said children should hear rival explanations.

“Britain’s support for teaching other theories alongside evolution was higher than in any of the other countries apart from Argentina and Mexico – but had the lowest proportion – at six per cent – believing that other theories should be taught in preference to evolution. National curriculum guidelines say creationism has no place in science lessons.

“Worldwide, the survey reveals just over four in 10 (43 per cent) of people believe that evolution should be taught alongside other theories in science lessons, while a fifth (20 per cent) said only evolution should be taught. In the US, almost a quarter of those questioned (23 per cent) said either other theories but not evolution should be taught, or that no theories should be taught. This figure was 28 per cent in China and 21 per cent in South Africa.

“Lewis Wolpert, emeritus professor of biology at University College London and vice-president of the British Humanist Association, told The Guardian: ‘I am appalled. It shows how ignorant the public is. Intelligent design and creationism have no connection with science and are purely religious concepts. There is no evidence for them at all. They must be kept out of science lessons.’

“Steve Jones, professor of genetics at UCL, said: ‘This shows the danger of religions being allowed to buy schools, hijack lessons and pretend that they have anything useful to say about science – which, by definition, they do not….'”

WE are appalled over the ignorance or willful mispresentations of evolutionists who claim that the evolution theory has been scientifically proven. It has not been, nor can it be.

Twisted Sabbath Rulings…

ABC News reported on October 26:

“Rabbinical ruling causes havoc as Orthodox Jews debate fate of Sabbath elevators… The Jewish day of rest has become a bit more labor-intensive for Yosef Ball. The Orthodox Jew and his wife are no longer using elevators custom-built for the Jewish Sabbath, ever since a rabbinical ruling last month outlawed them. Instead, they have been hiking up seven flights of stairs to get home each Saturday, lugging with them their five young children and a double stroller…

“Jewish law, or halacha, forbids the use of electrical items on the Sabbath. But for decades rabbis have allowed special elevators that automatically stop at every floor without the riders pushing any buttons, permitting Orthodox Jews to ride them and live in high-rise buildings. The ruling last month by one of Israel’s leading rabbis, calling the elevators a no-go, has reignited a vigorous debate over the lifts, forcing Orthodox Jews living on top floors to decide if they’re up for the steep hike home from synagogue on Saturdays.

“The Orthodox community has long been divided over the elevators. Opponents say that while the riders push no button, the weight of the passengers still increases the amount of electricity required to power the lift, thus violating Jewish law…

“The ruling, decreed last month, is the latest in a series by Israeli rabbis on the minutiae of applying Jewish law to daily life. Top rabbis can count tens of thousands of followers who abide by their rulings. Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the revered 99-year-old scholar who signed the elevator ruling, has been behind other controversial decisions before. In September, he proclaimed Jews could not wear Crocs shoes on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, because they were deemed too comfortable for the somber fasting holiday…

“The elevators are just one of several electric devices that rabbis have found loopholes for, allowing their use. Religious families can use timers for their lights and special hot plates to warm food as long as those hot plates were not switched on or off during the Sabbath.”

No wonder that Jesus chastised the religious rabbinical leadership of His time for having made the Sabbath a burden through their pharisaical rulings. What would He say today? Obviously, He would not approve of such modern twisted unbiblical Sabbath decrees either.

EU’s Move Towards a World Power

The Telegraph wrote on October 7:

“EU draws up plans to establish itself as ‘world power’… The European Union has drawn up secret plans to establish itself as a global power in its own right with the authority to sign international agreements on behalf of member states… Confidential negotiations on how to implement the Lisbon Treaty have produced proposals to allow the EU to negotiate treaties and even open embassies across the world… According to one confidential paper, the first pilot ’embassies’ are planned in New York, Kabul and Addis Ababa.

“The move is highly symbolic in Britain… Mark Francois, Conservative spokesman on Europe, said that the deal showed why the British should have been given a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. ‘As we have long warned, the Lisbon Treaty increases the EU’s power at the expense of the countries of Europe,’ he said. ‘The new power a single legal personality would give the EU is a classic example’…

“The decision… will mean a new European diplomatic service with over 160 ‘EU representations’ and ambassadors across the world. Lorraine Mullally, the director of Open Europe, described the move as ‘a huge transfer of power which makes the EU look more like a country than an international agreement’. ‘Giving the EU legal personality means that the EU, rather than member states, will be able to sign all kinds of international agreements – on foreign policy, defence, crime and judicial issues – for the first time,’ she said.”

A Democratic Time-Bomb Is Ticking…

The EUObserver wrote on October 21:

“… the major visible part of Lisbon will be the posts the Treaty creates: a European President and Secretary of State…  events will drive whoever holds that position [of Secretary of State] towards a prominent role on the world stage and perhaps into a potentially damaging power struggle with the President.

“The occupants of these posts will… have a great effect on how Europe is portrayed on the world stage and in international relations… de facto they will be the faces of post-Lisbon Europe…

“What these posts will do, however, is to shine a spotlight on the EU’s democratic deficit… A democratic time-bomb is ticking… A chasm looms…”

Sarkozy Distances Himself from Blair and Condemns Klaus

The EUObserver wrote on October 16:

“French president Nicolas Sarkozy has indicated that British ex-prime minister Tony Blair may not be acceptable as a future president of the European Council because the UK remains outside the eurozone…

“When asked by French daily Le Figaro whether Mr Blair is a good candidate for the job, Mr Sarkozy said: ‘… Personally I believe in a Europe that is politically strong and embodied by a person. But the fact that Great Britain is not in the euro remains a problem.’

“Sixteen of the 27 member states are members of the eurozone. Mr Sarkozy does not elaborate on whether eurozone membership is a general consideration when the president of the European Council post comes up for a discussion. Of the 11 countries not sharing the common currency, most are central and eastern European states, including Poland, as well as Denmark, Sweden and the UK…

“Mr Sarkozy also used the Le Figaro interview to threaten Czech president Vaclav Klaus, who is holding out against signing the Lisbon Treaty. He called Mr Klaus’ stance ‘unacceptable’ adding ‘decision time is coming for him and it will not be without consequence. And whatever happens, this issue will be resolved by the end of the year.'”

Czech President Throws in Towel

The Daily Mail wrote on October 19:

“The last faint hope of blocking the Lisbon Treaty was dashed yesterday when the Czech president threw in the towel. With it went any real prospect of Britain having a referendum on the treaty that critics say will rob nations of their sovereignty. Vaclav Klaus had been the only EU leader still refusing to ratify it and the Conservatives had hoped he would hold out until next year’s General Election. They have promised a referendum if they are elected, but only if it has not been ratified by all EU member states…

“But President Klaus said yesterday: ‘I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic. However, the train has already travelled so fast and so far that I guess it will not be possible to stop it or turn it around, however much we would wish to. I will not and cannot wait for the British election. They would have to hold it in the coming days or weeks.’

“The treaty is expected to be ratified within weeks. President Klaus will sign if as expected the Czech constitutional court throws out a challenge to it brought by a group of senators.”

Coming Power Struggle for EU Positions?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 19:

“Now recalcitrant nations are finally signing the Lisbon Treaty, the EU may get a phone number. And there are several candidates waiting to pick up the phone. But will it be the president or the foreign minister who does so?… The person who picks up the phone is to be called the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. That’s what stands in the Lisbon Treaty, which was approved by the Irish on Oct. 2 and ratified by the Poles just a few days later. If the Czechs now sign as well, the European Union will finally be able to operate according to those new rules…

“When it comes [to] a collective EU foreign policy, the British and French have very different ideas from the Germans. Going against the wishes of the German government, they pushed through a second new post in the Lisbon Treaty: a full-time President of the European Council, the body that represents member nations. Among other things, this president’s duties would include coordination of foreign and defense policy for 27 different countries.

“The success of the Lisbon Treaty depends very much on who is appointed to these roles. And the relationship between the foreign minister and the Council president is not prescribed by the treaty. Who is the captain and who is the first mate? This will become clear when the men who [are] appointed to these posts have developed their roles, having fought for power and influence…

“Leading politicians in Berlin are worried that instead of producing a common foreign policy, these new positions will only lead to a power struggle.”

Power Struggle Between Catholic and Anglican Churches

Deutsche Welle reported on October 20:

“The Vatican has announced the creation of a new structure that will allow whole Anglican congregations to convert to Catholicism. The move reveals a power struggle between the Catholic and Anglican churches. A new Catholic structure, called Personal Ordinariates, will allow Anglicans, including married clergymen, to enter full communion with the Catholic Church…

“A joint press conference was held at the Catholic church headquarters in London in response to the Vatican announcement, hoping to ease concerns that relations between the heads of the 1.1-billion member Catholic Church and the 77-million Anglican communion would be affected by the Vatican’s move. The Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the Catholic archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols sat side by side in a show of unity…

“There have indeed been a number of individual conversions from Anglicanism to Catholicism in the past forty years, but this marks the first time since the 16th century Reformation that entire Protestant communities will be able to reunite with Rome. Catholic bishops in Britain have previously warned that attempts to draw in former Anglicans appeared to take advantage of the divisions within the Anglican Church…”

The Wall Street Journal added on October 21:

“A newly created set of canon laws, known as an ‘Apostolic Constitution,’ will clear the way for entire congregations of Anglican faithful to join the Catholic Church. That represents a potentially serious threat to the already fragile world-wide communion of national Anglican churches, which has about 77 million members globally…

“The Anglican Communion has been strained by fights over its relations with other Christian denominations and the church’s growing acceptance of gay and women clergy and same-sex marriage. The 2003 election of an openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the movement, has sharpened those tensions. The move comes nearly five centuries after King Henry VIII broke with Rome and proclaimed himself head of the new Church of England after being refused permission to divorce.

“… the announcement appeared to catch Anglican leaders off guard… ‘I was informed of the planned announcement at a very late stage…’ Archbishop Williams wrote… The Right Rev. Michael Scott-Joynt, the Anglican Bishop of Winchester and co-chair of the English Anglican-Roman Catholic Committee, said the new measures went outside the ‘mainstream’ of Vatican-Anglican dialogue, adding that he, too, was told of the measures at a ‘very late stage’…

“The new measures also raised questions in Rome… leading some Catholic canon lawyers to question how Pope Benedict will square Anglican and Catholic teachings. The Vatican has at times provided dispensations to non-Catholic married priests on an individual basis, including Anglicans and Lutherans. Eastern Rite Churches, which are in communion with the pope, ordain married men as priests.

“Still, relaxing rules on priestly celibacy for a group as large as the Anglican Communion is more dramatic, said Eduardo Baura, a professor of canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and a consultant to the Holy See’s Congregation for Bishops.”

Run-Off Election in Afghanistan

Der Spiegel Online reported on October 20:

“On Tuesday, the Election Commission in Afghanistan decided against President Hamid Karzai — thus joining the United Nations-supported Electoral Complaints Commission, which had found that around one-third of the votes cast in the country’s August presidential elections were invalid. Karzai will now face a run-off election against his challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Nov. 7…

“The US sent Senator John Kerry, chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, to Kabul in an effort to reach a rapid solution… French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also made the trip and numerous heads of state and government telephoned Karzai and urged him to back down…

“US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday evening that the US administration can’t afford to postpone sending additional troops to Afghanistan until the government problem has been solved. But if Obama were to go ahead and get the reinforcements moving, he would have to explain why he wants to support a corrupt government.”

Deutsche Welle added on October 20:

“Although there had been some talk of a power-sharing agreement between Karzai and Abdullah, a runoff was practically inevitable after grotesque irregularities were reported in almost every aspect of the election process… Karzai’s image in the West has greatly suffered since he officially took office in 2004. But in some cases, ironically, that fact may have helped him on the domestic front…

“The large numbers of civilian casualties resulting from the US-led aerial bombardment of the Taliban have created increasing resentment toward the presence of foreign troops. And that, together with endemic corruption within the Afghan government, may be working to the advantage of the West’s enemies… Few observers doubt that Karzai will win the runoff. Indeed, it’s questionable whether anything will change in Afghanistan regardless of the outcome.”

Turkey Moves Further Away From Israel

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 19:

“Turkey has recently sought to secure a new role as Middle East mediator. But fallout from postponed military exercises has seen it move further from Israel and closer to Syria. Israelis are concerned, Syrians are celebrating and the Turks are guardedly diplomatic.

“It was a good week for Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem. Last Tuesday, he was part of a group of Syrian and Turkish politicians that met at Oncupinar, a border crossing between Syria and Turkey, to mark the removal of entry visa requirements between the two countries.

“It was a big step. As recently as the late 1990s, the two neighbors were on the verge of conflict due to Syrian support for Kurdish resistance fighters in Turkey. Parts of the Turkish-Syrian border are still mined. Times, though, have changed: These days, the two countries cooperate on joint military maneuvers and have created a High Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

“Indeed the fact that Ankara and Damascus are planning to work together militarily shortly after signing the visa exemption agreement is nothing short of spectacular… the gathering on the Turkish-Syrian border would likely have generated little attention were it not for the news that immediately preceded it: Israel, a sworn enemy of Syria, was uninvited from a planned international military exercise on Turkish territory.

“… it was rumored that the Turks were angry with the Israelis because of the late delivery of unmanned Heron surveillance planes. And then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the fray, indicating that the exclusion of the Israelis was indeed politically motivated — a response to Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip… His people, Erdogan assured viewers, ‘were rejecting Israel’s participation.’ Additionally Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu noted that Turkey cannot afford to be seen as Israel’s military partner at a time when there are no efforts being made for peace.

“These are strong words — and cause for unease in Israel. Israel is too small to conduct air force exercises of its own, and the relationship with Turkey — Israel’s only Muslim ally in the region — is vital… the Turkish-Israeli relationship is worse now than it has been in a long time,..”

The Jerusalem Post wrote on October 15:

“Once the apotheosis of a pro-Western, dependable Muslim democracy, this week Turkey officially left the Western alliance and became a full member of the Iranian axis. It isn’t that Ankara’s behavior changed fundamentally in recent days. There is nothing new in its massive hostility toward Israel and its effusive solicitousness toward the likes of Syria and Hamas. Since the Islamist AKP party first won control over the Turkish government in the 2002 elections, led by AKP chairman Recip Tayyip Erdogan, the Turks have incrementally and inexorably moved the formerly pro-Western Muslim democracy into the radical Islamist camp populated by the likes of Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, al-Qaida and Hamas.

“What made Turkey’s behavior this week different from its behavior in recent months and years is that its attacks were concentrated, unequivocal and undeniable for everyone outside of Israel’s scandalously imbecilic and flagellant media…

“As for the Obama administration, since entering office in January it has abandoned US support for democracy activists throughout the world, in favor of a policy of pure appeasement of US adversaries at the expense of US allies. In keeping with this policy, President Barack Obama paid a preening visit to Ankara where he effectively endorsed the Islamization of Turkish foreign policy that has moved the NATO member into the arms of Teheran’s mullahs.

“Taken together, the actions of the Bush and Obama White Houses have demoralized Westernized Turks, who now believe that their country is doomed to descend into the depths of Islamist extremism. As many see it, if they wish to remain in Turkey, their only recourse is to join the Islamist camp and add their voices to the rising chorus of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism sweeping the country…

“For its part, as the lone Jewish state that belongs to no alliance, Israel had no ability to shape internal developments in Turkey. But still, Turkey’s decision to betray the West holds general lessons for Israel and for the free world as a whole… Turkey is lost and we’d better make our peace with this devastating fact.”

FDIC Insurance Fund Will Stay in Red Through 2012

CNN wrote on October 14:

“The government insurance fund designed to protect consumer bank deposits will likely stay in the red through 2012… The fund has come under severe strain in recent months amid the recent surge in bank failures. Ninety-eight banks [by now 99 banks] have failed so far this year, which has reduced the fund’s value to $10 billion from $45 billion a year ago.

“Last month, the agency painted an even more dire picture, estimating that the fund is currently in the red after taking into account future bank failures it anticipates will happen.”

America’s Depleted Insurance Fund and Its Hundreds of Problem Banks

The Associated Press reported on October 17:

“Regulators shut down San Joaquin Bank in California on Friday, marking the 99th failure this year of a federally insured bank… the deposit insurance fund has fallen into the red. The FDIC board recently proposed to have U.S. banks prepay about $45 billion of their insurance premiums – three years’ worth. That plan isn’t a long-term remedy for the depleted fund. But it would spare ailing banks the immediate cost of an alternative idea: paying an emergency fee for the second time this year. And the FDIC still has billions in loss reserves apart from the insurance fund…

“The 99 failures may not fully reflect the depth of banks’ travails. Many more banks – perhaps hundreds – are so weak they could have been shut down already, experts say. Many vulnerable banks are in limbo. Regulators have threatened to close them unless they shore up their balance sheets, but the recession has made it difficult to raise capital or sell assets. The number of banks on the FDIC’s confidential ‘problem list’ jumped to 416 at the end of June from 305 in the first quarter.”

Federal Budget Deficit of $1.42 Trillion

The Associated Press reported on October 16:

“What is $1.42 trillion? It’s more than the total national debt for the first 200 years of the Republic, more than the entire economy of India, almost as much as Canada’s, and more than $4,700 for every man, woman and child in the United States. It’s the federal budget deficit for 2009, more than three times the most red ink ever amassed in a single year…

“Treasury figures released Friday showed that the government spent $46.6 billion more in September than it took in…

“The previous year’s deficit was $459 billion. As a percentage of U.S. economic output, it’s the biggest deficit since World War II. ‘The rudderless U.S. fiscal policy is the biggest long-term risk to the U.S. economy,’ says Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund. ‘As we accumulate more and more debt, we leave ourselves very vulnerable.’

“Forecasts of more red ink mean the federal government is heading toward spending 15 percent of its money by 2019 just to pay interest on the debt, up from 5 percent this fiscal year. President Barack Obama has pledged to reduce the deficit once the Great Recession ends and the unemployment rate starts falling, but economists worry that the government lacks the will to make the hard political choices to get control of the imbalances…

“Much of that debt is in foreign hands. China holds the most – more than $800 billion. In all, investors – domestic and foreign – hold close to $8 trillion in what is called publicly held debt… If those investors started dumping their holdings, or even buying fewer U.S. Treasurys, the dollar’s value could drop…

“A lower dollar would cause prices of imported goods to rise. Inflation would surge. And higher interest rates would force consumers and companies to pay more to borrow to buy a house or a car or expand their business. ‘We should be desperately worried about deficits of this size,’ says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. ‘The economic pain will be felt much sooner than people think, in the form of much higher interest rates and much higher rates of inflation.'”

US Dollar Weakness “Unbearable”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 20:

“The dollar continues to weaken against the euro. The result is that European exports — one of the primary engines behind Europe’s fragile recovery — are becoming more expensive in the United States and in a number of Asian countries that have pegged their currency to the dollar. On Tuesday, a euro was going for $1.4976, just off its 14-month high of $1.4994 seen on Monday. Many, though, expect the dollar to continue its fall against the euro with a return to the $1.60 rate…

“The development is of particular concern in Germany, whose economy is heavily reliant on exports. The euro’s strength against the pound likewise pushes up the price of German goods in the euro zone’s largest trading partner, Britain… Henri Guaino, a special counsellor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the US was ‘flooding the world’ with dollars. He added that dollar weakness may become ‘unbearable’…”

An Alternative World Currency to the US Dollar

USA Today wrote on October 22 about the weak dollar. Although we most certainly do NOT agree with the overly optimistic assessment in the article, we are quoting the following excerpts which accurately relate the facts (even though USA Today then goes on to put ridiculous spins on them):

“Just about every day seems to bring more bad news for the dollar. Recent months have witnessed a steady erosion in the greenback’s value, down 16% since March against the currencies of the top U.S. trading partners. On Wednesday, the euro broke through the symbolically important $1.50 barrier for the first time in 14 months.

“Depending on whom you believe, a dollar hovering near its 52-week low represents either the market’s devastating verdict on the Obama administration’s profligacy or a salutary rediscovery of risk by newly emboldened investors. Maybe it’s a bit of both. But the downbeat drumbeat bangs on. Chinese officials openly worry about taking a bath on their enormous U.S. Treasury holdings. Foreign bankers talk of promoting an alternative global currency, such as the euro, yuan or a new synthetic medium of exchange cooked up by the International Monetary Fund…

“Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank [warned last month:] ‘Looking forward, there will increasingly be other options to the dollar’…

“Since supplanting the British pound more than 60 years ago, the dollar has reigned supreme in global markets. As of the end of June, the most recent data available, 62.8% of foreign exchange reserves worldwide were held in the form of U.S. dollars. An additional 27.5% were stockpiled in euros… The dollar’s position has eroded in the past five years…

“In the short run, the only currency that could challenge the dollar is the euro. It, too, has a continental-size economy behind it, and a decade after its introduction, the European currency has established itself as a fully convertible, stable store of value…

“The dollar’s long-run prognosis is negative… And with Uncle Sam’s printing press running overtime to cover the government’s trillion-dollar budget deficits, the currency is expected to be further cheapened… In the political realm, the dollar’s weakness is interpreted as a referendum on American decline…”

Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License

The Associated Press wrote on October 15:

“A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long… Bardwell told the Daily Star of Hammond that he was not a racist. ‘I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house,’ Bardwell said…

“Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.”

Only Germany Can Lead Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 7:

“With the Lisbon Treaty approaching the final hurdles before it is adopted, it is time for the European Union to take a bold step forward. It  is up to Germany’s new government to lead the EU out of a decade of doldrums. A European Army would be a good place to start…Only Germany Can Lead…

“Germany at the moment is the only remaining motor of Europe. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has fallen too deeply in love with French grandeur to be a credible leader for Europe. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is politically crippled and his potential successor, David Cameron, is a vehement Euro-skeptic. Of the big three, only Germany can lead the EU into the future… A unified market and a common currency would have been unthinkable without German leadership… A clear commitment to a European army and a European civil reconstruction corps would not just reinvigorate EU integration, but it would also make the bloc a much bigger player on the international stage…

“The US, overstretched as it currently is, would welcome any attempt to increase Europe’s military capacity… The first European Union president, who will be named soon, will point the way to the future. Germany needs to begin building a broad coalition to install a candidate who will be able to wield power beyond Europe’s borders… We want a European Union that plays an active role in the world…”

Europe Lost Its Struggle For Democracy

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 5:

“In the end, it wasn’t even close. Instead of the predicted photo finish, the ‘yes’ vote galloped home to victory in Friday’s referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, with the winds of the financial crisis at its back…

“In Ireland, the recession was plainly the deciding factor in the sharp turnaround. With the Irish economy in the doldrums, public debt soaring and unemployment on the brink of 20 percent, the voters chose to decisively back the treaty….

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The fact that an overwhelming majority of Irish voters supported the Lisbon Treaty has a lot to do with the financial crisis… The strong ‘yes’ vote… was… clouded by the fact that it was the result of a fear campaign…’

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘… Everyone who eight years ago at the constitutional convention dreamed of a more democratic Europe have now lost… The new treaty will never get over the blemish of how it came about. The people who said ‘no’ the first time, were either not asked a second time or were blackmailed with the threat of being marginalized in economically tough times…'”

Europe’s Plot To Take Over the World

The Financial Times wrote on October 5:

“At last! Ireland has passed the Lisbon treaty and now the European Union can move forward with its plan for world domination… Jean Monnet, the founding father of the EU, believed that European unity was “not an end in itself, but only a stage on the way to the organised world of tomorrow”. His successors in Brussels make no secret of the fact that they regard the Union’s brand of supranational governance as a global model.”

Poland Approves Lisbon Treaty

Deutsche Welle reported on October 11:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was ‘delighted’ that the Polish had signed the EU’s reform treaty… Top European diplomats joined in the chorus of praising the Polish signing of the Lisbon Treaty.

“EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who attended Saturday’s signing ceremony in Warsaw, described the move as a ‘very important chapter for Poland and the European Union’…

“Poland’s signature leaves the Czech Republic as the sole remaining hold-out on the Lisbon Treaty, as its own euroskeptical President Vaclav Klaus awaits the outcome of a legal challenge of the treaty… Any further delay would be disappointing to Barroso who hoped to see the treaty take effect by January 1, 2010.”

Will the Czechs Sign?

The EUObserver wrote on October 13:

“The Czech constitutional court will hear a challenge to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty at the end of October. But the relief in Brussels at having a clear timetable is being undermined by the continued unpredictability of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who holds the fate of the treaty in his hands.

“The court on Tuesday (13 October) said it would examine whether the treaty is compatible with the Czech constitution at a hearing on 27 October… In the past, Czech court has usually given its verdict a few days after such a hearing. But this is not a hard and fast rule.

“If the judges reject the challenge, the treaty still has to be signed by Mr Klaus, a eurosceptic and arch opponent of the document. Mr Klaus recently made those who believe he will not sign even after judicial approval more nervous by throwing out an eleventh-hour demand for Prague to get an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, a part of Lisbon…

“The Czech ratification saga is being viewed with some disbelief among EU officials, who point to the fact that both houses of the Czech parliament have already passed the treaty… Mr Barroso contented himself with pointing out that Mr Klaus himself signed the country’s EU accession treaty and himself originally asked for the Czech Republic to be a member of the 27-nation club.”

Tony Blair First Permanent EU President?

The EUObserver wrote in October 14:

“Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday (14 October) came out in favour of ‘Forza Blair’ as president of the European Council. ‘Tony Blair has all the credentials to become the first president of the European Council,’ Mr Berlusconi wrote in a letter that appeared in Il Foglio, a conservative daily…

“On Tuesday, the newspaper… said that Mr Blair’s candidacy was an opportunity both for Europe and for ‘Il Cavaliere.’ ‘If Silvio Berlusconi, after the furious and embarrassing controversies of recent months, wanted to revive the activities of his government’s international profile and give its political agenda a boost, he should exploit a tremendous opportunity: to fight for the nomination of former British prime minister Tony Blair as president of the European Council,’ the paper wrote.

“Europe had hope for a future, the article continued, ‘only if a figure of great international calibre, able to warm hearts, to be respected outside Europe and perhaps even feared, but also able to identify the institutions with his leadership, is chosen’…

“If the Italian leader is hoping to win over resistance to Mr Blair’s coronation, he chose an unusual forum. Il Foglio is most known for its robust support of the Iraq war. It has often been said, even by his supporters, that if Mr Blair does not win the post, one of the biggest reasons will be the former prime minister’s backing of the invasion of Iraq.

“The paper also cheered Mr Blair’s conversion to Roman Catholicism… Mr Berlusconi’s backing strengthens Mr Blair’s chances, although it reinforces the perception that the battle over the ex-UK leader could shape up to be one between large and small EU states.”

One Year After Haider–Austria’s Far Right Enjoys Strong Support

Deutsche Welle reported on October 10:

“A year after his death in a car accident, Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider continues to captivate. Austrians have turned out in large numbers on Sunday to pay their respects to the divisive politician. Joerg Haider died in a car accident on October 11 last year. He was 58 at the time, married, a father of two daughters and governor of Carinthia.

“Investigators found that he had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when he lost control of his vehicle on a road near Klagenfurt in the early hours of the morning. He had been returning from a party at a gay bar and was travelling at around 140 kilometres per hour, or roughly twice the local speed limit. Those circumstances did nothing to dent Haider’s popularity, and conspiracy theories of the crash abound in his home province.

“One year on from his death, his Alliance for the Future of Austria party enjoys unprecedented levels of support in Carinthia. Earlier this year it won regional elections with 45 percent of the vote…

“Austria’s two far-right parties won roughly 27 percent of the vote between them at last year’s legislative elections. Together, they now control 54 of the 183 seats in the country’s national parliament and form the biggest opposition to the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and the centre-right People’s Party. As well as campaigning against accepting immigrants, the far right parties oppose Turkey’s membership of the European Union and reject EU influence in Austrian affairs.”

May Russia’s Mass Murderer Stalin Stand Up…

The EUObserver wrote on October 14:

“The Polish head of the EU parliament on Wednesday… underlined some basic facts about Joseph Stalin at an event held in the context of mounting historical revisionism in Russia. The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 23 August 1939, an agreement between Stalin and Hitler, carved up ownership of Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states, saw millions deported and led to the deaths of 760,000 Poles, ‘many of them children,’ he said in his speech…

“The speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, Irena Degutiene, equated Stalinist crimes with Nazi crimes and noted that ‘the Soviet occupation and Stalinist terror totaled the loss of every third resident of Lithuania’…

“The EU parliament seminar comes amid a new Russian campaign to rehabilitate the image of Stalin, who oversaw the deaths of millions of Russians but who also helped defeat Nazi Germany. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a World War II commemoration ceremony in Poland last month defended the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact on the basis that Western countries also made deals with Hitler.

“In September, a new Russian handbook for schoolteachers called History of Russia from 1945 to 2008 described Stalin as an ‘efficient manager’ and his occupation of the Baltic states as ‘entirely rational.’ Moscow authorities in August also opened a newly-restored 1950s metro station in the city, complete with Soviet insignia and a plaque saying: ‘Stalin reared us on loyalty to the people. He inspired us to labour and heroism.’

“The pro-Stalin campaign has fueled eastern European fears of a new wave of Russian imperialism, following Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and its recent attempts to influence the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine. A US decision to scrap plans for military bases in Poland and the Czech Republic has also raised concerns that Washington is no longer serious about its security promises to former Communist states.”

Nationwide Muslim and “Jewish” Holidays in Germany?–Not a Chance!

Deutsche Welle reported on October 14:

“German politicians and religious organizations broadly shot down a proposal by Germany’s Turkish Community (TGD) for schools to close one day out of the year to observe a Muslim holiday. Head of the TGD, Kenan Kolat prompted the debate when he suggested that the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, could become a school holiday for all students… The Central Council of Jews supported Kolat’s proposal, and suggested that the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur be observed by schools as well. However, many politicians and church representatives, as well as the Central Council of Muslims, came out against the idea.

“‘I see no reason to turn this day (Eid al-Fitr) into a general school holiday or bank holiday for everybody,’ Aiman Mazyek, general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims told German Press Agency dpa, saying it was good enough that Muslim students were excused from attending school on their religious holidays.

“The Chairman of the Evangelical Church, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, told Wednesday’s edition of the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that there was a ‘priority for Christian holidays in the culture of our country’ based on millennia of Christian influence in Germany…”

The Fight for Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Post wrote on October 7:

“Since the deadly 1929 riots, the struggle over Jerusalem has been at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and, as recent events show, nothing has changed. For the Palestinians and their supporters, any Jewish presence in Jerusalem that is not under Arab control is not only unacceptable, but seen as threatening… Thus, for the Arabs, recognition of the history and legitimacy of Jewish claims is a threat to their own narrative and legitimacy, particularly for the Muslims…

“As long as the Arab and Muslim position slams the door to block Jewish history, Jerusalem will remain a battleground in which the Jewish nation will have no choice but to use force when necessary to defends these rights. “

Is the US Preparing to Bomb Iran?

ABC News reported on October 6:

“Is the U.S. stepping up preparations for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities? The Pentagon is always making plans, but based on a little-noticed funding request recently sent to Congress, the answer to that question appears to be yes…

“The request was quietly approved. On Friday, McDonnell Douglas was awarded a $51.9 million contract to provide ‘Massive Penetrator Ordnance Integration’ on B-2 aircraft. This is not the kind of weapon that would be particularly useful in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is ideally suited to hit deeply buried nuclear facilities such as Natanz or Qom in Iran.”

The Gain from an Attack

Newsweek reported on October 3:

“The United States or Israel could attack Iran from the air. To be effective, such an attack would have to be large-scale and sustained, probably involving dozens and dozens of sorties over several days. The campaign would need to strike at all known Iranian facilities as well as suspected ones. Such an attack would probably not get at everything. Iran’s sites are buried in mountains, and there are surely some facilities that we do not know about. But it would deal a massive blow to the Iranian nuclear program.

“The first thing that would happen the day after such an offensive begins would be a massive outpouring of support for the Iranian regime. This happens routinely when a country is attacked by foreign forces, no matter how unpopular the government. Germany invaded Russia at the height of Stalin’s worst repression—and the country rallied behind Stalin… The Iranians would respond in the wake of such an attack… an American or Israeli military attack would clearly put pro-American forces on the defensive in the Islamic world… The gain from an attack… as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates points out, would be to delay, not end, the Iranian program, perhaps by a few years but no more.”

In an accompanying interview with Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Oren, the question was posed whether Israel is going to strike. Oren responded: “Israel supports President Obama’s position of [keeping] all options on the table.” When asked, “That means military options, right?”, Oren answered, “All options means all options.”

Russia Disapproves of Sanctions Against Iran

Reuters reported on October 14:

“Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned major powers against intimidating Iran and said that talk of sanctions against the Islamic Republic was ‘premature.'”

No Joke–Obama Wins Peace Prize “For What?”

The Times On Line wrote on October 9:

“The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself. Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.

“Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.

“The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s decision to ‘strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples’. Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to ‘reset’ relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.

“East-West relations are little better than they were six months ago, and any change is probably due largely to the global economic downturn; and America’s vaunted determination to re-engage with the Muslim world has failed to make any concrete progress towards ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

“There is a further irony in offering a peace prize to a president whose principal preoccupation at the moment is when and how to expand the war in Afghanistan. The spectacle of Mr Obama mounting the podium in Oslo to accept a prize… would be all the more absurd if it follows a White House decision to send up to 40,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. However just such a war may be deemed in Western eyes, Muslims would not be the only group to complain that peace is hardly compatible with an escalation in hostilities…

“Mr Obama becomes the third sitting US President to receive the prize. The committee said today that he had ‘captured the world’s attention’. It is certainly true that his energy and aspirations have dazzled many of his supporters. Sadly, it seems they have so bedazzled the Norwegians that they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.”

Controversial Decisions of Nobel Committee

The Wall Street Journal wrote on October 9:

“The deadline for nominations for the prize was Feb. 1 — two weeks after Mr. Obama was inaugurated. ‘So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far,’ former Polish President Lech Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, said Friday…

“The Nobel committee has courted controversy from time-to-time ever since its founding in 1901. In 1906, it awarded the peace prize to President Theodore Roosevelt for his role in bringing an end to the Russo-Japanese war. But for many Americans and others around the world, Roosevelt was better known for his willingness to project U.S. military force, including a global tour of an expanded U.S. Navy, not to mention his pre-Presidential exploits as a cavalry officer during the Spanish-American war of 1898.

“The Norwegians also earned big brickbats in 1973 for awarding the prize to Henry Kissinger, vilified by many on the left as a pushing for the expansion of the Vietnam War into neighboring countries. His co-laureate, the Vietnamese politician Le Duc Tho, was the only person ever to decline the award. The committee has also been criticized for political bias, especially after it awarded the Nobel to Jimmy Carter in 2002 and Al Gore in 2007 — moves that were both seen as rebukes to the then U.S. president, George W. Bush. They’ve also been slammed for their omissions. Mahatma Gandhi, the iconic leader of the Indian independence movement and a symbol of nonviolence, never won the Nobel, though he was nominated five times.”

US Senate Finance Committee Adopts HealthCare Bill

The Financial Times wrote on October 14:

“President Barack Obama said Tuesday’s Senate committee vote for a centrist $829bn healthcare bill brought the US closer to his goal of achieving universal healthcare reform but warned Democrats ‘not to pat ourselves on the back’ given the long road ahead.

“The 14-9 margin on the Senate finance committee, which included the sole Republican vote of Olympia Snowe of Maine, paves the way for Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, to craft a new bill for the Senate floor that will be designed to overcome a probable Republican filibuster… Tuesday’s vote will also be taken as a rebuke to the health insurance industry, which published a last-minute report on Monday claiming that premiums would rise much faster under the proposed reforms than they would otherwise… Republicans continued to attack the plan on Tuesday. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the committee, said it would put the US on a ‘slippery slope to more and more government control of healthcare.'”

The Associated Press reported on October 14:

“Health care talks slip back behind closed doors Wednesday as Senate leaders start trying to merge two very different bills into a new version that can get the 60 votes needed to guarantee its passage… The Finance Committee bill that was approved Tuesday has no government-sponsored insurance plan and no requirement on employers that they must offer coverage. It relies instead on a requirement that all Americans obtain insurance.”

On the other hand, both proposed bills provide for individual penalties for not acquiring insurance–a measurement which, as we explained before in the Current Events section of our previous Update, is possibly unconstitutional. USA Today reported on October 14 that the bill of the Finance Committee provides that “With few exceptions, everyone would be required to buy health insurance. Each adult without it would pay an annual penalty, set at $200 in 2014; $400 in 2015; $600 in 2016; and $750 in 2017.” The [bill of the] Help Committee “has a mandate and a tax penalty of $750 per individual — up to $3,000 per family. It is not phased in.”

Newsmax.com reported on October 13:

“U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Tuesday regarding the Finance Committee vote on partisan healthcare reform… ‘The fact is, this proposal [adopted by the Finance Committee] will never come before the Senate. But what we do know is that the bill written behind closed doors here in the Capitol will be another 1,000-page, trillion-dollar Washington takeover. We know it will slash a half-trillion dollars from seniors’ Medicare, add new taxes, and raise premiums. That’s not reform.’”

New Hate Crime Bill

The Associated Press reported on October 8:

“The House voted Thursday to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation, significantly expanding the hate crimes law enacted in the days after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. With expected passage by the Senate, federal prosecutors will for the first time be able to intervene in cases of violence perpetrated against gays… The measure is attached to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill and President Barack Obama – unlike President George W. Bush – is a strong supporter. The House passed the defense bill 281-146, with 15 Democrats and 131 Republicans in opposition…

“Many Republicans, normally stalwart supporters of defense bills, voted against it because of the addition of what they referred to as ‘thought crimes’ legislation. ‘This is radical social policy that is being put on the defense authorization bill, on the backs of our soldiers, because they probably can’t pass it on its own,’ House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said.

“GOP opponents were not assuaged by late changes in the bill to strengthen protections for religious speech and association – critics argued that pastors expressing beliefs about homosexuality could be prosecuted if their sermons were connected to later acts of violence against gays. Supporters countered that prosecutions could occur only when bodily injury is involved, and no minister or protester could be targeted for expressing opposition to homosexuality…

“Tom McClusky, vice president of the conservative Family Research Council’s legislative arm said the next step likely would be contesting the legislation in court. ‘The religious protections are pretty flimsy,’ he said. He contended that Democrats were trying to move their ‘homosexual agenda’ this year because it would prove unpopular with voters next year.”

“Obamageddon”–The Coming Great Depression and Decline of Empire America

WorldNetDaily wrote on October 10:

“A trends forecaster says the current economic ‘rebound’ from last winter’s Wall Street collapse of banks, insurance companies and automobile manufacturers is an artificial blip created by ‘phantom money printed out of thin air backed by nothing’… Gerald Celente of TrendsResearch.com, says people right now should be bracing for ‘the greatest recession’ which will hit worldwide and will mark the ‘decline of empire America’…

“‘There’s no recovery. This is merely a cover-up,’ he said. ‘The market crashed in March of 2009 and around the world they papered over the damage from the collapse with phantom money printed out of thin air backed by nothing,’ he said. This is ‘much bigger’ than an economic collapse, he said. ‘This is the decline of empire America… This is the beginning of the greatest depression’…

“USA Today says Celente ‘has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right,’ and CNBC says, ‘The man knows what he’s talking about’… He said… that retail sales this coming Christmas season will be the ‘real nail in the economic coffin’… Tim Barello in the Examiner noted that since 1980 Celente has made at least 40 accurate predictions about major world events, such as the 1987 stock market crash… Now comes his forecast for a global depression and for the United States, ‘Obamageddon.’

“‘We want to make it very clear that the policies leading to the decline of “Empire America” have been long in the making,’ Celente told Barello. ‘What has happened in the Obama administration is that they have taken policies far beyond even what Bush took with the TARP program; for example, with his stimulus package, with the buyouts, with the bailouts, the rescue packages, these are unprecedented in American history.'”

The Demise of the Dollar

The Telegraph reported on October 6:

“In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

“In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar…

“Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China’s former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East…

“This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil – yet again turning the region’s conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient…

“The Chinese believe, for example, that the Americans persuaded Britain to stay out of the euro in order to prevent an earlier move away from the dollar…

“Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars. Bankers remember, of course, what happened to the last Middle East oil producer to sell its oil in euros rather than dollars. A few months after Saddam Hussein trumpeted his decision, the Americans and British invaded Iraq.”

“Dollar Loses Reserve Status to Yen and Euro”

The New York Post wrote on October 13:

“Ben Bernanke’s dollar crisis went into a wider mode yesterday as the greenback was shockingly upstaged by the euro and yen, both of which can lay claim to the world title as the currency favored by central banks as their reserve currency. Over the last three months, banks put 63 percent of their new cash into euros and yen — not the greenbacks — a nearly complete reversal of the dollar’s onetime dominance for reserves…

“Bernanke could go down in economic history as the man who killed the greenback on the operating table. After printing up trillions of new dollars and new bonds to stimulate the US economy, the Federal Reserve chief is now boxed into a corner battling two separate monsters that could devour the economy — ravenous inflation on one hand, and a perilous recession on the other.

“‘He’s in a crisis worse than the meltdown ever was,’ said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital. ‘I fear that he could be the Fed chairman who brought down the whole thing… The stimulus is what’s toxic — we’re poisoning ourselves and the global economy with it.'”

Obama–the New Moses?

In a somewhat preposterous article, Time wrote on October 13:

“Obama cast his run for the White House as a fulfillment of the Moses tradition of leading people out of bondage into freedom… Eight months into his presidency, Obama might want to give Moses a second look. On issues from health care to Afghanistan, the President faces doubts and rebellions, from an entrenched pharaonic establishment on one hand and restless, stiff-necked followers on the other…

“The plight of the Israelites resonated with the earliest American settlers. For centuries, the Catholic Church had banned the direct reading of Scripture. But the Protestant Reformation, combined with the printing press, brought vernacular Bibles to everyday readers… The Pilgrims stressed this aspect of Moses. When the band of Protestant breakaways left England in 1620, they described themselves as the chosen people fleeing their pharaoh, King James…

“The Moses image was so pervasive that on July 4, after signing the Declaration of Independence, the Congress asked Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to propose a seal for the United States. Their recommendation: Moses, leading the Israelites through the Red Sea as the water overwhelms the pharaoh. In their eyes, Moses was America’s true Founding Father…

“So what lessons can the current occupant of the White House learn from a figure that nearly every one of his predecessors has invoked?

“… The Bible outlines at least a dozen rebellions in which the people attempt to overthrow Moses. In a striking parallel to Obama, the Israelites even question Moses’ birthright: ‘Who made you leader over us?’ God offers to destroy the people, but Moses brokers a compromise. The strongest leaders face the harshest criticism and hold fast against their naysayers.”

The Israelites never questioned the birthplace of Moses. If President Obama is a natural-born American citizen, let him produce the proof. Despite repeated inadequate left-liberal allegations, the American people are still waiting for evidence that Barack Obama is legally qualified to serve as their President.  

Mandatory Health Insurance Unconstitutional

On September 18, The Wall Street Journal published the following legal analysis by Messrs. Rivkin and Casey, Washington D.C.-based attorneys, who served in the Department of Justice during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations:

“Federal legislation requiring that every American have health insurance is part of all the major health-care reform plans now being considered in Washington…

“The elephant in the room is the Constitution. As every civics class once taught, the federal government is a government of limited, enumerated powers, with the states retaining broad regulatory authority. As James Madison explained in the Federalist Papers: ‘[I]n the first place it is to be remembered that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects.’ Congress, in other words, cannot regulate simply because it sees a problem to be fixed. Federal law must be grounded in one of the specific grants of authority found in the Constitution.

“These are mostly found in Article I, Section 8, which among other things gives Congress the power to tax, borrow and spend money, raise and support armies, declare war, establish post offices and regulate commerce… If the federal government has any right to reform, revise or remake the American health-care system, it must be found in this all-important provision. This is especially true of any mandate that every American obtain health-care insurance or face a penalty…

“The Supreme Court construes the commerce power broadly… But there are important limits… Health-care backers understand this and… have framed the mandate as a ‘tax’ rather than a regulation. Under Sen. Max Baucus’s (D., Mont.) most recent plan, people who do not maintain health insurance for themselves and their families would be forced to pay an ‘excise tax’ of up to $1,500 per year—roughly comparable to the cost of insurance coverage under the new plan.

“But Congress cannot so simply avoid the constitutional limits on its power. Taxation can favor one industry or course of action over another, but a ‘tax’ that falls exclusively on anyone who is uninsured is a penalty beyond Congress’s authority. If the rule were otherwise, Congress could evade all constitutional limits by ‘taxing’ anyone who doesn’t follow an order of any kind—whether to obtain health-care insurance, or to join a health club, or exercise regularly, or even eat your vegetables.

“This type of congressional trickery is bad for our democracy and has implications far beyond the health-care debate. The Constitution’s Framers divided power between the federal government and states—just as they did among the three federal branches of government—for a reason. They viewed these structural limitations on governmental power as the most reliable means of protecting individual liberty—more important even than the Bill of Rights…”

Obama’s Big Political Gamble

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 18:

“US President Barack Obama has scrapped his predecessor’s plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. German editorialists hope the move will encourage Russia to back tougher sanctions against Iran. But while some praise the decision as hopeful and brave, others dub it naive and dangerous…

“Germany’s Green Party interpreted the decision as an embarrassment for Merkel and her center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party… Guido Westerwelle, the candidate for the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), welcomed the decision… and he called on Germany’s government to capitalize on the moment to push for the removal of US nuclear weapons based in Germany by 2013…

“German commentators focused on the political risks facing Obama. As they see it, Russia might not interpret the move as a conciliatory gesture to improve strained US-Russian relations but, rather, as a sign of weakness and green light to continue with its aggressive and uncompromising foreign policy…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘That the president can venture to cancel the program shows courage, a willingness to take risks and decisiveness, though it might also mean that he’s taking a big political gamble. Obama’s biggest challenge is this: He has to quell the suspicion that he has buckled in the face of Russia. And he has to succeed in doing this not only in the US Congress, but also when it comes to America’s allies in Eastern Europe. They are afraid that some people in Moscow will be able to misinterpret the decision to cancel the missile defense shield as a sign of weakness and to be emboldened to promote their interests with tanks in other places in the same way they did in Georgia…’

“The center-left Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… Obama might have been thinking that canceling the plan would elicit some sort of quid pro quo from Moscow. The Russians are very happy about it… Russia’s claim that the planned missile defense system harmed strategic stability was never meant seriously. It was rather intended as propaganda and a way to influence a public that was very touchy about this issue. So this means it pays to play hardball.’

“Conservative Die Welt writes: ‘… it does raise the question of whether this policy is naïve and, in the end, dangerous. The other problem is that it leaves much of Central Europe disappointed. … People there are afraid of being abandoned again… After Obama’s failure to appear at the ceremony marking the anniversary of the beginning of World War II in Gdansk [Note: The White House declined to send a senior figure to Poland’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary outbreak of World War II on 1 September], this will be the second blow to their hopes…’

“Left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘… Poland’s goal was to get an American military base. With such a base, the US would have had to defend Poland not only because it was a member of NATO, but also because its military base was there. The majority of Poles are not convinced that NATO lives up to its name of being a “defensive alliance” anymore. And Poland’s government doesn’t have much faith in NATO either. If Poland were attacked, NATO members would debate things for two weeks before doing anything to help. With no missile shield, there will be no US base in Poland. As a result, Poland’s dream of having the US as a power that would protect it is shattered.’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘What’s truly unusual about Obama’s decision is that he is taking a huge step toward Russia without having any guaranteed quid pro quo to show for it. It’s a rare thing for a US president to make a down payment like this. It either shows great courage in the face of risk or pure naiveté. Just how risky Obama’s bet is can be seen from Moscow’s celebrations of the cancellation of the missile plans. Diplomats are pounding their chests and boasting that Obama’s buckling was the logical consequence of their refusal to compromise on this issue. For Obama, it will be a very expensive decision. In terms of domestic politics, he is exposing himself to accusations of being a wimp and damaging the country’s security. In terms of foreign politics, he is snubbing two allies — the Czech Republic and Poland — who view the cancellation of the missile shield as a betrayal… Moscow has the upper hand now.'”

The Wall Street Journal added on September 18:

“President Barack Obama’s decision to drop plans to deploy a ballistic-missile defense shield in Central Europe — drawing immediate cheers in Moscow and criticism elsewhere — is a gamble by the U.S… The move fits into a broader Obama administration strategy of attempting to win over opponents through engagement. But as with the effort to engage Iran, the strategy runs the risk of appearing to give away too much to tough negotiating partners who may simply pocket any concessions…

“Russian officials insisted they hadn’t agreed to any quid pro quo to secure the U.S. policy shift… Moscow doesn’t see abandonment of the Bush administration’s missile plans as a concession to respond to, but as ‘a mistake that is now being corrected,’ said Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s ambassador to NATO… ‘This is a recognition by the Americans of the rightness of our arguments about the reality of the threat, or rather the lack of one,’ from Iran’s missiles, Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, told state television. ‘Finally the Americans have agreed with us,’ he said.”

 

Will Russia Impose Sanctions on Iran?

The Wall Street Journal wrote on September 24:

“President Obama scored a potential victory in his diplomatic engagement with Iran by gaining what appeared to be a commitment from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to exact economic sanctions against Tehran if it doesn’t compromise on its rapidly expanding nuclear program. The severity of sanctions Russia would agree to remained unclear, however… Russian support for sanctions is viewed as crucial in pressuring Tehran to relent. ‘The Russian position is simple…Sanctions rarely lead to productive results. But in some cases sanctions are inevitable,’ Mr. Medvedev said following a meeting with Mr. Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.”

Iran No Threat?–Get Real!

Reuters reported on September 18:

“President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a lie on Friday, raising the stakes against Israel just as world powers try to decide how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of an Iran in political turmoil… Ahmadinejad’s anti-Western comments on the Holocaust have caused international outcry and isolated Iran, which is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear programme… Germany said Ahmadinejad was a ‘disgrace to his country.’… White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Ahmadinejad’s comment ‘only serves to isolate Iran further from the world.’

“Ahmadinejad won support from Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006. ‘Our belief and creed … remain that Israel is an illegal entity, a cancerous tumour, that must cease to exist,’ Nasrallah said in a televised address…

“Ahmadinejad repeated on Thursday that Iran would ‘never’ abandon its disputed nuclear programme to appease critics… Next month’s major powers talks with Iran offer no clear relief to Israel, which wants world powers to be prepared to penalise Iran’s vulnerable energy imports but sees Russia and China blocking any such resolution at the U.N. Security Council… Russia, which has veto power in the U.N. Security Council, last week ruled out oil sanctions against Iran…

“At home, Ahmadinejad is facing strong opposition which erupted into unrest following his disputed re-election in June… The June vote, which was followed by huge opposition protests, plunged Iran into its worst political crisis in three decades and revealed deepening rifts within its ruling elites.”

Israel and Iran–What’s Going On?

Reuters reported on September 21:

“Israel has not given up the option of a military response to Tehran’s nuclear programme, senior officials said on Monday, after Russia’s president said his Israeli counterpart assured him it would not attack Iran.

“Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon was asked by Reuters if that comment by Israeli President Shimon Peres [whose role is largely ceremonial], as reported on Sunday by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, was a guarantee there would be no Israeli strike on Iran. Ayalon replied: ‘It is certainly not a guarantee. I don’t think that, with all due respect, the Russian president is authorised to speak for Israel and certainly we have not taken any option off the table.’

“Echoing that, the chief-of-staff of Israel’s armed forces, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, later told Army Radio when pressed on whether Israel could attack Iran: ‘Israel has the right to defend itself and all options are on the table’…

“Russia plays a role in the stand-off between Israel and Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made an unannounced visit to Moscow this month, has been keen that Russia not sell anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran and also that Moscow support international sanctions against Iran. Last week, a former senior Israeli defence official told Reuters that Israel would be compelled to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the international powers had not agreed by the end of this year on crippling sanctions to force Tehran’s hand.”

Prisoner Abuse Continues in US Prison Camp

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 21:

“US President Barack Obama has spoken out against CIA prisoner abuse and wants to close Guantanamo. But he tolerates the existence of Bagram military prison in Afghanistan, where more than 600 people are being held without charge… Bagram is ‘the forgotten second Guantanamo,’ says American military law expert Eugene Fidell, a professor at Yale Law School… And what does Obama say? Nothing. He never so much as mentions Bagram in any of his speeches. When discussing America’s mistreatment of detainees, he only refers to Guantanamo…

“The Bagram detention facility, by now the largest American military prison outside the United States, is not marked on any maps. In fact, its precise location… is classified… Bagram is located in the middle of the Afghan war zone… all the detainees there have been classified as ‘enemy combatants’ rather than prisoners of war, which would make them subject to the provisions of the Geneva Convention… ‘In my view, having visited Guantanamo several times, the Bagram facility made Guantanamo look like a nice hotel,’ says military prosecutor Stuart Couch, who was given access to the interior of both facilities…

“From the beginning, Bagram was notorious for the brutal forms of torture employed there… At least two men died during imprisonment. [In regard to one] of them, a 22-year-old taxi driver named Dilawar… his interrogators had already known — and later testified — that there was no evidence against [him]…

“To this day, there are hardly any photos from inside Bagram, and journalists have never been given access to the detention center… According to an as-yet-unpublished 2009 Pentagon report, 400 of the Bagram inmates are innocent and could be released immediately… Some have been there for years, without knowing why…”

“Obama Administration Has Completely Failed…”

On September 21, Der Spiegel Online published an interview with New York-based human rights lawyer Tina Foster, “who began representing Guantanamo inmates in 2005. She realized that many of them had spent time in Bagram prison and had been seriously abused there. In 2005, she travelled to Afghanistan for the first time. There, she met hundreds of relatives of Bagram inmates who asked why the world was interested in Guantanamo but nobody seemed to care about abuses at Bagram. Since then she has worked exclusively with Bagram detainees.”

In the interview, Foster stated that the “Obama Administration has completely failed” to keep their promises. She explained:

“Unfortunately, the US government did not change its position on Bagram when Obama took office. The government still claims that our clients are not entitled to any legal protections under US law. It maintains that even those individuals who they brought to Bagram from other countries, and have held without charge for more than six years, are still not entitled to speak with their attorney, and they are arguing now that they are not entitled to have their cases heard in US courts…

“There is absolutely no difference between the Bush administration and the Obama administration’s position with respect to Bagram detainees’ rights. They have made much ado about nothing, in the hope that the courts and the public will not examine the issue more closely… Some of our clients have been at Bagram since its early days, and they still are not being told what the charges are against them, or given the ability to challenge those allegations in any fair legal proceeding…

“What most people don’t realize is that Bagram has always been far worse than Guantanamo. One thing that has not been stressed enough in media accounts regarding Guantanamo is that much of the abuse that the Guantanamo prisoners suffered actually happened at Bagram. Many of our former clients were subjected to sexual humiliation and assault akin to Abu Ghraib-style torture. In terms of torture and abuse, Bagram has a far worse history than Guantanamo. There are at least two detainees who died there after being tortured by US interrogators… according to the military’s own autopsy report… Bagram has always been a torture chamber…

“I think General Stone’s report [saying that many of the detainees in Bagram are innocent] confirms what we have learned over the years from our clients — most of the people at Bagram are being imprisoned unjustly. General Stone reviewed the military’s own records and determined that, of the 600 current detainees at Bagram, there are 400 innocent people that the US government should not be detaining… What is completely baffling is why these 400 innocent individuals have not been released…

“I voted and campaigned for Obama, like all the other folks here in the US who wanted to see this country recover from the illegal and unjust policies of the Bush administration. When I heard Obama’s announcement to close Guantanamo, I breathed a sigh of relief that perhaps this extremely ugly chapter of American history was finally being put to an end. Unfortunately, since then, the Obama administration has completely failed in delivering the change that was promised… The reality is that the Bush and the Obama administrations have the same position on the rights of detainees in Bagram.”

“Obama the Impotent”

The Guardian wrote on September 22:

“Much hope has been invested in Barack Obama’s ability to strike a new course for the US following eight years of Bush administration unpopularity. Yet many in the US and abroad are impatient with the pace of progress under the Obama administration…

“Besides the ongoing battle over healthcare, this week sees two showdowns between Europe and the US that will reveal further slippage in American global leadership. The first showdown comes today at a UN special session on climate change in New York City; the second will come at the end of the week at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, where America and Europe will butt heads over financial system reforms designed to ensure that the AIGs of the world can never again cause an economic collapse.

“Europe has been increasingly critical of America’s failures to live up to its global responsibilities… On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to reverse the Bush administration’s terrible ecological record. Yet so far the world has seen more symbolic gestures from the Obama administration than accomplishments. Its biggest achievement so far has been an example of disappointment…

“That’s the start of President Obama’s week. At the end of it, President Obama will appear at a meeting in Pittsburgh of the G20, a bloc of both developed and developing nations, representing 85% of the world’s economic output and most of its population. On the table will be what reforms to help avoiding a repetition of the financial panic and global economic collapse that is perceived as having originated on Wall Street… Here again, Europe is leading, while the Obama administration is dragging its feet…

“The world is about to enter a challenging phase where the US – the undisputed leader of the free world for the past 60 years – is going to rapidly cede its place at the head of the line. It appears that the wheels may be coming off the world’s post-war leader, and not even Barack Obama can stop it happening.”

Everyone Is Saying No to Obama

The Jerusalem Post wrote on September 22:

“Everybody is saying no to the American president these days. And it’s not just that they’re saying no, it’s also the way they’re saying no. The Saudis twice said no to his request for normalization gestures towards Israel… The North Koreans said no to repeated attempts at talks, by test-launching long-range missiles in April; Russia and China keep on saying no to tougher sanctions on Iran; the Iranians keep saying no to offers of talks by saying they’re willing to talk about everything except a halt to uranium enrichment; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is saying no by refusing to meet with Binyamin Netanyahu until Israel freezes all settlement construction; the Israelis said no by refusing to agree to a settlement freeze, or even a settlement moratorium…”

EU Unhappy With USA Over “Climate Change”

The Financial Times wrote on September 21:

“A growing rift between the US and Europe is overshadowing Tuesday’s United Nations climate change summit in New York… The downgrading of expectations comes as relations between the US and Europe, which started the year of talks as allies, near breakdown. In Brussels, European Union officials have grown increasingly frustrated at the US stance, saying it has fallen short on both its level of ambition to reduce emissions and on offering aid to developing nations… European officials say the Obama administration lacks focus because its top talent is wrapped up in the all-consuming debate over healthcare.”

Der Spiegel Online added on September 22: “… the climate debate has run aground in the US… Even President Obama’s own party is withholding its support…” It added on September 23:

“Chances of Climate Success in Copenhagen ‘Headed Toward Zero’… The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘Disenchantment with Obama reigns at the UN. And understandably so… criticism of Obama — and particularly those coming from European governments — ranges between hackneyed and dishonest…’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘On his trip through Europe in April, Obama’s message of change and hope put many under a spell. But now, six months later, there is disenchantment among the majority of Americans and — though to a lesser degree — also among people around the world… In Copenhagen, people will put about as much trust in American leadership as they do in believing that the US will live up to its promise to close Guantanamo by January.'”

Czech President Klaus Against Climate Change Campaign

Reuters wrote on September 22:

“Czech President Vaclav Klaus sharply criticized a U.N. meeting on climate change on Tuesday… ‘It was sad and it was frustrating,’ said Klaus, one of the world’s most vocal skeptics on the topic of global warming. ‘It’s a propagandistic exercise where 13-year-old girls from some far-away country perform a pre-rehearsed poem,’ he said. ‘It’s simply not dignified.’ At the opening of the summit attended by nearly 100 world leaders, 13-year-old Yugratna Srivastava of India told the audience that governments were not doing enough to combat the threat of climate change.

“Klaus said there were increasing doubts in the scientific community about whether humans are causing changes in the climate or whether the changes are simply naturally occurring phenomena. But politicians, he said, seem to be moving closer to a consensus on climate change. ‘The train can’t be stopped and I consider that a huge mistake,’ Klaus said… However, new proposals by China and a rallying cry from U.S. President Barack Obama did little to break a U.N. deadlock about what should be done.

“Klaus published a book in 2007 on the worldwide campaign to stop climate change… In the book, Klaus said global warming has turned into a new religion, an ideology that threatens to undermine freedom and the world’s economic and social order.”

Relations Between EU and Israel Getting Worse

The EUobserver wrote on September 21:

“Relations between Sweden, the EU presidency-in-office, and Israel have gone from bad to worse after Israel accused Sweden of breaking an EU ban on contact with Hamas… Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad on 14 September told EUobserver that high-ranking officials from EU countries, including people ‘very close’ to EU leaders and foreign ministers, meet with the militant group on a weekly basis. He mentioned visits from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the UK and Luxembourg, but not Sweden… Swedish-Israeli relations already suffered in August, when Sweden declined Israeli demands to censure a Swedish newspaper article accusing Israeli soldiers of selling the bodily organs of dead Palestinians.”

Core Europe Inevitable

The EUobserver wrote on September 21:

“Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has suggested that if the Irish people vote against the Lisbon Treaty a second time, a group of European Union member states should move to create a ‘core Europe’ in order to implement the treaty… The concept of a ‘core Europe’ moving ahead toward further integration rears its head regularly when movement forward on a particular policy is blocked by a minority of member states.

“Various politicians and academics have advocated the idea that an inner core of EU member states drive forward with deeper integration via the development of a new organisation, often described as a European Federation, alongside the existing European Union. Some experts believe that even if the Irish approve the treaty, such a move remains inevitable as the union expands beyond 27 member states… The UK’s foreign secretary in this period, Jack Straw, backed the idea that the UK should be part of this core…”

The EU Has Their Say on Homosexuality

The EUobserver reported on September 17:

“A Lithuanian law banning discussion of homosexuality from schools and that could restrict publication of gay and lesbian magazines and proscribe pride marches has been condemned by the European Parliament. A firm but not overwhelming cross-party majority adopted a resolution criticising the Baltic country’s new [law]… The bill, which goes into force in March next year, covers all manner of outlets such as websites, exhibitions, demonstrations and other public events if they can be accessed by children… A total of 349 [EU] deputies voted in favour of the resolution [condemning the bill], with 218 against and 46 abstaining.

“UK Green MEP Jean Lambert, a co-signatory to the resolution said: ‘The European Parliament has sent a clear message to the Lithuanian government that homophobia has no place in the European Union… This law contravenes the EU Treaties, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, and should be urgently repealed on these grounds.'”

President Obama Abandons European Missile Shield

The Associated Press reported on September 17:

“Czechs and Poles expressed rancor and relief Thursday that President Barack Obama had scrapped plans for a U.S. missile defense shield on their territories… Ex-leaders in the Czech Republic and Poland bristled at Obama’s reversal, saying it reinforced a growing impression that Washington no longer views the region as indispensable to U.S. and European security interests. Yet many ordinary citizens who had been skeptical of the shield’s benefits expressed relief that the system wouldn’t be built on their soil…

“The two countries’ governments had endorsed the plan to put 10 interceptor rockets in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. The Bush administration had pitched the system as a strategic defense to counter a perceived threat from Iran. But the U.S. plan had deeply angered Russia, which expressed outrage that missiles would be stationed so close to its borders.

“Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer announced Thursday that Obama phoned him overnight to say that ‘his government is pulling out of plans to build a missile defense radar on Czech territory.’ Fischer told reporters that Obama assured him that the ‘strategic cooperation’ between the Czech Republic and the U.S. would continue, and that Washington considers the Czechs among its closest allies.

“In Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Obama assured him in a phone call Thursday that U.S. plans to alter the missile defense project will not hurt Poland’s security…

“Scrapping missile defense comes as a huge setback to many Polish and Czech leaders, who viewed it as a way to strengthen their military ties with the U.S. as a form of defense against a resurgent Russia. Fears of Moscow run especially deep in Poland, highlighted by a key anniversary Thursday. Exactly 70 years ago — on Sept. 17, 1939 — Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union at the start of World War II.

“Thursday’s decision is another sign that ‘the Americans are not interested in this territory as they were before,’ said Mirek Topolanek, a former Czech prime minister whose government signed treaties with the United States to set up the shield. ‘It’s not good,’ said former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. ‘I can see what kind of policy the Obama administration is pursuing towards this part of Europe,’ Walesa said. ‘The way we are being approached needs to change.’

“Aleksander Szczyglo, head of Poland’s National Security Office, characterized the change as a ‘defeat primarily of American long-distance thinking about the situation in this part of Europe’…

“Alexei Arbatov, head of the Russian Academy of Science’s Center for International Security, said Thursday the U.S. was giving in on missile defense to get more cooperation from Russia on Iran.

“‘The United States is reckoning that by rejecting the missile defense system or putting it off to the far future, Russia will be inclined together with the United States to take a harder line on sanctions against Iran,’ he said…

“In a speech in April in Prague, Obama said Washington would proceed with developing the system as long as Iran posed a threat to U.S. and European security… The decision to scrap the plan is sure to have future consequences for U.S. relations with eastern Europe. ‘If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it,’ said Jan Vidim, a lawmaker with Czech Republic’s conservative Civic Democratic Party, which supported the missile defense plan.”

Der Spiegel Online added on September 17:

“US President Barack Obama’s decision not to construct a missile shield has hit Warsaw hard, but the move was not unexpected. Now Poles are seeking to convince the administration to at least install Patriot missiles in the country.

“Sept. 17 is not an auspicious date for Poland. In 1939 the Red Army marched into Poland from the east on September 17 and Hitler and Stalin divided the country between themselves. Up to today, Moscow still hasn’t issued a clear apology for the attack. Exactly 70 years after the invasion, Poland is being forced to accept another defeat: US President Barack Obama has shelved his plans to build a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic…

“Warsaw immediately rallied to Washington’s side during the Iraq war and even took up command of its own occupation zone along the Tigris River. But now, under Obama, many in Warsaw fear that US interest in its Eastern European allies is waning…”

Global Economic Crisis Continues…

On September 14, 2009, Der Spiegel Online published an interview with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in which he said:

“The financial crisis was a catastrophic event, but one created by human hand… In the minds of too many — not only regular people but also top politicians — the financial crisis is already behind us. That way of thinking is dangerous. The global economic crisis continues despite the fact that Germany and France saw some positive growth figures for the last quarter. However, unemployment is set to rise for at least another year, and will probably peak in mid-2010. So the financial crisis has not only been followed by an economic crisis, but also by a social crisis which has not yet reached its apex.”

The Financial Times added on September 14 that “Economist warns of double-dip recession.” It continued:

“The world has not tackled the problems at the heart of the economic downturn and is likely to slip back into recession, according to one of the few mainstream economists who predicted the financial crisis… William White, the highly-respected former chief economist at the Bank for International Settlements, also warned that government actions to help the economy in the short run may be sowing the seeds for future crises.”

The Telegraph wrote on September 14 about Ben Bernanke’s and the US Federal Reserve’s failure to deal adequately with the economic crisis:

“Both bank credit and the M3 money supply in the United States have been contracting at rates comparable to the onset of the Great Depression since early summer, raising fears of a double-dip recession in 2010 and a slide into debt-deflation…

“Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research said US bank loans have fallen at an annual pace of almost 14pc in the three months to August (from $7,147bn to $6,886bn). ‘There has been nothing like this in the USA since the 1930s,’ he said. ‘The rapid destruction of money balances is madness’…

“Similar concerns have been raised by David Rosenberg, chief strategist at Gluskin Sheff… ‘For the first time in the post-WW2 [Second World War] era, we have deflation in credit, wages and rents and, from our lens, this is a toxic brew,’ he said.

“It is unclear why the US Federal Reserve has allowed this to occur. Chairman Ben Bernanke is an expert on the ‘credit channel’ causes of depressions and has given eloquent speeches about the risks of deflation in the past. He is not a monetary economist, however…”

Anniversary of the Lehman Bros. Collapse

The Los Angeles Times reported on September 14:

“The president, speaking on the anniversary of the Lehman Bros. collapse… said some in the financial industry already are forgetting the lessons of the crisis, which was triggered when legendary investment bank Lehman Bros. collapsed into bankruptcy a year ago today. That failure helped create a market panic that turned the recession that began in late 2007 into the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression.

“‘Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we’re still recovering, they’re choosing to ignore those lessons. I’m convinced they do so not just at their own peril but at our nation’s,’ Obama said…”

U.S. Power Is Fading…

The Associated Press wrote on September 15:

“A weakened United States could start retreating from the world stage without help from its allies abroad, an international strategic affairs think tank said Tuesday. The respected London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said President Barack Obama will increasingly have to turn to others for help dealing with the world’s problems — in part because he has no alternative.

“‘Domestically Obama may have campaigned on the theme “yes we can”; internationally he may increasingly have to argue “no we can’t”,’ the institute said in its annual review of world affairs. The report said the U.S. struggles against insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan had exposed the limits of the country’s military muscle, while the near-collapse of the world financial markets sapped the economic base on which that muscle relied. The report also claimed that the U.S. had lost traction in its efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear program and bring peace to the Middle East.

“‘Clearly the U.S. share of “global power,” however measured, is in decline,’ the report said. The head of another respected London think tank, Robin Niblett of Chatham House, said the rise in the relative power of China, India, Russia and the European Union has made it harder for the U.S. to exercise its influence…”

USA No Longer Richest Region in the World

Der Spiegel Online reported on September 16:

“A new report on global wealth says that Europe has overtaken the United States to become the richest region in the world… The worst global recession in decades has left its mark on the world’s economic powers, but no nation has been affected quite as badly as the US wealth dropped by 22 percent.”

Baucus’ Health Care Plan No Solution

USA Today reported on September 16:

“The Democratic leader [Max Baucus] of a bipartisan group of senators released a long-awaited proposal Wednesday to revamp the nation’s health care system — an $856 billion measure that would require everyone in the USA to purchase health insurance by 2013… But the measure has not received Republican support.”

ABC News added on September 16:

“It’s not every day that you hear a Democratic senator charge that a fellow Democrat is proposing to raise taxes on the middle class, but that is what happened on Tuesday when Sen. Jay Rockefeller… ripped into the health-care bill developed by Sen. Max Baucus…, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee… Rockefeller, who sits on the Finance Committee, said that he cannot support the Baucus bill unless it receives major improvements during the amendment process.”

America’s Misfortune with Its Recent Presidents…

Politico wrote on September 15:

“When he ran for president, George W. Bush promised to be a modest reformer at home and a humble representative of the United States on the world stage. The Al Qaeda-organized-and-funded terrorist attacks of eight years ago changed all that. During his presidency, Bush created massive new government bureaucracies, sent troops into two wars and threatened more as part of America’s war on terror.

“Barack Obama’s initial approach to the office of the presidency has been as grandiose as Bush’s was restrained… he ran as a transformative candidate, promising sweeping, though somewhat fuzzy, ‘change’ during the campaign. For the first several months of his presidency, Obama has labored to deliver on that pledge. He pushed a controversial stimulus bill through Congress to help rev up the economy, turned Bush’s reluctant bailout of Chrysler and General Motors into a giant government auto buyout and appointed a record number of ‘czars’ to help regulate bureaucracies in both public and formerly private sectors…

“Obama is trying to fundamentally alter the American economy by backing sweeping environmental, labor and health care legislation. He wants to change the way Americans consume energy, unionize and see their doctors. So far, he’s failing miserably… It’s entirely possible — nay, likely — that Obama will lose on all three big issues… his public approval ratings have taken a beating, and voters have started to trust the Republicans more than his party on a host of issues…

“What all this means is, barring some unforeseeable world event, Obama’s will probably not be a historic presidency. He will have some successes and a lot of failures…”

Will Mr. Obama’s Legal Qualifications as President Be Tried?

WorldNetDaily reported on September 8:

“A California judge today tentatively scheduled a trial for Jan. 26, 2010, for a case that challenges Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president based on questions over his qualifications under the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. If the case actually goes to arguments before U.S. District Judge David Carter, it will be the first time the merits of the dispute have been argued in open court…

“The judge did comment that if there are legitimate constitutional questions regarding Obama’s eligibility, they need to be addressed and resolved… The suit alleges Obama is actually a citizen of Indonesia and ‘possibly still citizen of Kenya, usurping the position of the president of the United States of America and the commander-in-chief.'”

Germany’s TV Debate–The Big Yawn…

On September 14, 2009, Der Spiegel Online wrote about Germany’s only nationally televised election debate:

“Sunday’s TV debate between Chancellor Angela Merkel and her challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier was billed as the highlight of the election campaign, but turned into a snore as the two uncharismatic contenders praised their cooperation over the last four years and avoided direct confrontation…

“The mass-circulation Bild newspaper ran the banner headline ‘Yes we Yawn!’ on its front page on Monday. It neatly summed up the public reaction and the general disappointment that there’s no Barack Obama in sight on the German horizon. Merkel and Steinmeier have shared power since 2005 in a coalition between her conservatives and the SPD. And judging by the way they avoided attacking each other on Sunday, it is plain that they wouldn’t be averse to prolonging the marriage for another four-year term after the Sept. 27 election.

“However, Steinmeier, the foreign minister, emerged as the winner on points because he delivered a better-than-expected performance while Merkel was stiffer and appeared more nervous than usual, especially in the first half of the debate, which was carried live on the four main TV networks… But it’s unclear whether that will do him much good given that the SPD is trailing the conservatives by more than 10 points in opinion polls with less than two weeks to go before polling day. As things stand, Merkel is widely expected to remain chancellor, either in a repeat of the current coalition or in an alliance with her preferred partner, the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP)…

“They only really disagreed on nuclear power, where Merkel wants to prolong the planned phase-out period of certain reactors, on Merkel’s plans for tax cuts and Steinmeier’s insistence on a minimum wage. On Afghanistan, where they were singing from the same hymn sheet only last week, Steinmeier now wants to lay the foundations by 2013 for a German troop withdrawal plan… That would include closing the first German army base as soon as 2011. Merkel refrained from setting any dates, merely reiterating Germany would stick to a planned international agreement on a withdrawal, proposed earlier this month by Germany, France and Britain…

“The opposition Greens, Free Democrats and Left Party are furious they weren’t allowed to take part in the debate, and dismissed it as a charade.”

The Financial Times added on September 14:

“Analysts see the television debate, watched by about 20m viewers on four networks, as a potential turning point in the hitherto lacklustre campaign, since only half of all voters have already decided whether and for whom they will cast their ballots…

“Ms Merkel, the most popular chancellor in German history, was more hesitant and less precise in her answers than her contender, often seemed taken aback by the questions and occasionally used inelegant formulations…

“A poll by Infratest-Dimap conducted during the debate for the ARD public-sector network showed viewers had found Ms Merkel more competent, but 45 per cent of undecided voters said Mr Steinmeier was generally more convincing, putting him eight points ahead of Ms Merkel.”

The New York Times wrote on September 15:

“The debate in Germany between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday was billed as a duel, but it will go down in history as “the duet” for the harmonious way the two candidates agreed on issues ranging from the financial crisis to Afghanistan. More than 14 million people got less than they bargained for when they tuned in to the only debate before the Sept. 27 parliamentary election that will decide whether Mrs. Merkel remains as chancellor… Voter enthusiasm has been so low throughout the campaign season that Bild last week offered the chance to win 1 million euros, or roughly $1.5 million, to someone who correctly guesses the outcome of the election and can prove that they actually voted.”

German Media Responses

On September 15, the German media commented as follows to the Merkel-Steinmeier “duet,” as reported by Der Spiegel Online, speculating that the duet might have been the prelude to a continuation of the present CDU-SPD grand coalition after the election:

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… both seemed aware that they may have to stay together after Sept. 27, if the election outcome doesn’t allow any other option’…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… It may have been enough for a shift, though: away from a conservative-FDP coalition’…

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘Steinmeier may have succeeded on Sunday evening to give the SPD the boost it needs to secure a continuation of the grand coalition.'”

Mideast Peace?

On September 13, The Associated Press reported the following:

“An ongoing disagreement between Israel and the U.S. over how to resume Mideast peace talks remains unresolved, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday… The Palestinians say they will not resume peace talks without a complete freeze. The international community views settlements as obstacles to peace since they are built on territories claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state…

“Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is demanding hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured more than three years ago.”

Will Israel Attack Iran?

Haaretz wrote on September 12:

“In the rare moments when it’s not preoccupied with the decline of U.S. President Barack Obama in the polls and with the debate over its government’s proposed health-care reforms, the American press continues to deal almost obsessively with another pressing issue: the deadlock in efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program and the growing likelihood that the endgame will be an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“In the past few weeks alone, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal warned the president that the United States must put a quick halt to the Iranian nuclear program, because otherwise Israel will bomb the facilities. ‘An Israeli strike on Iran would be the most dangerous foreign policy issue President Obama could face,’ the paper wrote. Former vice president Dick Cheney revealed that while in office he supported an American strike against Iran, but was compelled to accept the approach of president George W. Bush, who preferred the diplomatic route.

“Another Republican ultra-hawk, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, maintains that additional sanctions alone will not be enough to make the Iranians abandon their nuclear ambitions. William Cohen, who served as secretary of defense during Bill Clinton’s second presidential term (1997-2001), says that ‘there is a countdown taking place’ and that Israel ‘is not going to sit indifferently on the sidelines and watch Iran continue on its way toward a nuclear-weapons capability.’

“The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, explains that ‘a very narrow window’ exists between the possibility of resolving the issue and an attack on Iran. An op-ed in The Los Angeles Times states (with some justification) that if Iran does not respond in September to the demands made of it, the world should brace itself for an Israeli attack…

“This month will mark a critical juncture in Iran’s race for nuclear capability. The timetable is getting ever shorter: Most Western intelligence services share the assessment that over the course of 2010, Iran will accumulate sufficient fissionable material to produce two or three nuclear bombs. If the Iranians succeed in dispersing this material among a large number of secret sites, it will reduce the likelihood that the project can be stopped…

“Israel is apprehensive that the Americans may delay a final decision until December. The impression gained by Israelis who have visited Washington lately is that Obama is gradually backing away from the Bush administration’s fundamental demand that Iran cease to enrich uranium as a precondition for beginning a dialogue…

“So, the moment of truth will arrive at some point between the end of 2009 and the middle of 2010: Should Iran be attacked? American experts agree that this would involve an Israeli strike. It is very unlikely that Obama will be the one dispatching American planes to Natanz. During the past year, military experts and commentators are increasingly coming around to the view that the Israel Air Force is capable of executing the mission…

“Iran is likely to respond to an Israeli attack by opening fronts nearby, via Hezbollah from Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza… it’s clear that Israel will be subjected to extensive rocket attacks that can be expected to cover most of the country.”

Low Expectations for Breakthrough with Iran

The Financial Times wrote on September 14:

“The US and other world powers will next month meet Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator to test the seriousness of Iran’s proposal for talks and gauge its willingness to discuss its uranium enrichment programme… Javier Solana, European Union foreign policy chief, and Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Monday agreed to hold the meeting on October 1. The encounter, at an as yet undisclosed venue in Europe, will involve senior diplomats from the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China.

“Last week, Iran delivered a five-page proposal that ignored the controversial nuclear programme… The US, however, said it would put the nuclear issue on the table, even if Iran did not address it in its proposal. Iran insists that the nuclear file is ‘closed’ and not subject to negotiations…

“Western diplomats said late on Monday that although the US presence at the session would be an important signal of Washington’s willingness to talk to Iran, expectations of a breakthrough are low… Some European diplomats suspect Iran’s offer of talks on October 1 is a tactical move, aimed at wrecking talks by the E3 plus 3 (the permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany) on Iran at the United Nations next week, and delaying new sanctions… US and European governments have also been under pressure from Russia, which has made clear it was reluctant to endorse new sanctions against Iran.”

Is Israel Fighting “God’s Wars”?

BBC News reported on September 7 about dangerous developments of the involvement of military rabbis in Israel:

“Israel’s army is changing. Once proudly secular, its combat units are now filling with those who believe Israel’s wars are ‘God’s wars’. Military rabbis are becoming more powerful. Trained in warfare as well as religion, new army regulations mean they are now part of a military elite… This has caused quite some controversy in Israel. Should military motivation come from men of God…?

“The military rabbis rose to prominence during Israel’s invasion of Gaza earlier this year. Some of their activities raised troubling questions about political-religious influence in the military… As soon as soldiers signed for their rifles, he said, they were given a book of psalms… Before his unit went into Gaza, Rabbi Kaufman said their commander told him to blow the ram’s horn: ‘Like (biblical) Joshua when he conquered the land of Israel. It makes the war holier’…

“Rabbis handed out hundreds of religious pamphlets during the Gaza war. When this came to light, it caused huge controversy in Israel. Some leaflets called Israeli soldiers the ‘sons of light’ and Palestinians the ‘sons of darkness.’ Others compared the Palestinians to the Philistines, the bitter biblical enemy of the Jewish people…

“According to Reserve Gen Nehemia Dagan, what is happening in the army is far more dangerous than most Israelis realise: ‘… The morals of the battlefield cannot come from a religious authority. Once it does, it’s Jihad. I know people will not like that word but that’s what it is, Holy War. And once it’s Holy War there are no limits.’

“Many religious Jews object to the type of preaching heard during Israel’s recent Gaza operation. They say it perverts the true teachings of Judaism as well as contradicts Israel’s military code. Day to day, Israel’s army mainly operates in civilian areas – in Gaza, the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The influences that Israeli soldiers are exposed to are extremely significant. How they view the Palestinians who live here is likely to affect the way they use their power and their weapons.”

Ramadan Fast for Non-Muslims?

IsraelNN.com reported on September 8:

“The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has recommended that non-Muslims take the opportunity of the month of Ramadan to fast, along with their Muslim neighbors, in order to promote ‘understanding between cultures.’ Johnson told members of a London mosque that with Muslims so much a part of London life, it would be befitting for non-Muslims to get to know their fellow Londoners’ customs and religion better.

“‘Whether it’s in theater, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community,’ Johnson said. ”That’s why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbor and break your fast at the local mosque. I would be very surprised if you didn’t find that you share more in common than you thought,’ he said… ‘Muslim police officers, doctors, scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London.’ There are currently 1.6 million Muslims in Britain…

“Although perhaps the most original, Johnson’s is far from the only effort by Western politicians to honor Ramadan and Muslims. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted a Ramadan break the fast meal at the White House…

“There was no word on whether London Mayor Johnson was planning to suggest that Muslims and Christians fast on Yom Kippur in order to better understand their Jewish neighbors.”

The U.S. Health Care Debate

Before President Obama’s long-awaited Health Care speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9, 2009, the press reported about a new proposal circulating in Congress on Tuesday, which–it was felt–could create a problem for the President.

The Associated Press wrote on September 8:

“Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday… Just as auto coverage is now mandatory in most states, [Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a moderate who heads the influential Finance Committee] would a require that all Americans get health insurance once the system is overhauled. Penalties for failing to get insurance would start at $750 a year for individuals and $1,500 for families. Households making more than three times the federal poverty level – about $66,000 for a family of four – would face the maximum fines. For families, it would be $3,800, and for individuals, $950.

“The fines pose a dilemma for Obama. As a candidate, the president campaigned hard against making health insurance a requirement, and fining people for not getting it. ‘Punishing families who can’t afford health care to begin with just doesn’t make sense,’ he said during his party’s primaries. At the time, he proposed mandatory insurance only for children…

“The fast-moving developments left liberals in a quandary. They’ve drawn a line, saying they won’t vote for legislation if it doesn’t include a public plan to compete with private insurance companies and force them to lower costs… An 18-page summary of the Baucus proposal was obtained by The Associated Press. The complex plan would make dozens of changes in the health care system, many of them contentious. For example, it includes new fees on insurers, drug companies, medical device manufacturers and clinical labs.

“It would require insurers to take all applicants, regardless of age or health. But smokers could be charged higher premiums. And 60-year-olds could be charged five times as much for a policy as 20-year-olds.”

The President’s Speech–More Broken Promises

In his speech to a joint session of Congress, President Obama showed his willingness to “modify” his stance and to alter or abrogate promises which he made during the Presidential campaign.

The Associated Press reported on September 9:

“The change was subtle, but significant. In his speech to Congress on Wednesday night, President Barack Obama gave a more accurate — and less reassuring — account of the impact of his proposed health care overall than he has done in the past. It went by in a blink…

“[The plan does not] guarantee that people can keep their current coverage. Employers sponsor coverage for most families, and they’d be free to change their health plans in ways that workers may not like, or drop insurance altogether. The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the health care bill written by House Democrats and said that by 2016 some 3 million people who now have employer-based care would lose it because their employers would decide to stop offering it…

“House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill was actually deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn’t have to count $245 billion of it — the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don’t face big annual pay cuts. Their only-in-Washington reasoning was that they already decided to exempt this so-called ‘doc fix’ from congressional rules that require new programs to be paid for. In other words, it doesn’t have to be paid for because they decided it doesn’t have to be paid for…

“In his speech, Obama endorsed mandatory coverage for individuals, an approach he did NOT embrace as a candidate. He proposed during the campaign — as he does now — that larger businesses be required to offer insurance to workers or else pay into a fund. But he REJECTED the idea of requiring individuals to obtain insurance. He said people would get insurance WITHOUT BEING FORCED to do so by the law, if coverage were made affordable. And he repeatedly criticized his Democratic primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for proposing to mandate coverage… Now, he says, ‘individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.'”

The Times added on September 9:

“President Obama vowed tonight to succeed where a century of American politicians have failed and introduce comprehensive reform of a healthcare system that had led the US to ‘breaking point’… The plan would make it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage because of patients’ pre-existing conditions, to drop coverage when they become ill or to set arbitrary limits on the amount a policy-holder can claim in a given year…

“Mr Obama’s strategic dilemma is whether to insist on a state-run insurance plan to compete with private ones and lose all hope of Republican backing in the process, or to sacrifice the so-called public option for the sake of bipartisan support. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party is urging him to abandon the Republicans and insist on a shift towards a European-style government role in medical coverage. The President appears ready to risk their wrath for the sake of a Bill that might not win even a single Republican vote in the Senate, and that centrists in his party can sell to constituents at the mid-term elections…

“Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the finance committee, said that he would produce a Bill for the committee to debate by the week of September 21, with or without Republican support. The Baucus Bill would not contain a public option… Howard Dean, the former Democratic presidential contender, has threatened to organise primary challenges in next year’s elections against any House Democrats who fail to insist on a public option in whatever Bill the President ultimately endorses… [Powerful] Democrat… Mike Ross… said that he would refuse to back any Bill containing a public option…

“Tonight [President Obama] channelled some of that fire into the most hallowed forum in American democracy, but he will need to save some for the horse-trading that begins in earnest on a Bill likely to cost more than $900 billion over ten years. He faces [a] long, arduous autumn on the political high wire.”

One Czar Left–More to Follow?

Politico wrote on September 6:

“The resignation early Sunday of ‘green jobs’ adviser Van Jones says as much about the Obama White House as it does about Jones – marking the latest sacrifice to the political gods after a long summer of compromises and surrenders highlighted the limits of White House power.

“The departure – nominally the choice of a still-defiant Jones, who said he feared distracting from important business – confirmed Obama’s choice of pragmatism over confrontation and a belief that controversies sometimes are better solved by capitulation, a view that infuriates Obama’s allies on the left…

“White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs [stated:] ‘What Van Jones decided was that the agenda of this president was bigger than any one individual,’… agreeing with the show’s host, George Stephanopoulos that Obama ‘doesn’t endorse’ Jones’s remarks on race and politics, his apparent flirtation with the ‘9/11 Truth’ movement, and his advocacy for the convicted murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal…’

“The resignation, in turn, confirmed [Fox News’ Glenn] Beck’s stature as the administration’s most potent foe. Along with the talk radio host Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report’s Matt Drudge, Beck helped drive a summer of protest against health care reform that turned the legislation into a referendum on change and government.”

The Afghan Debacle–Rift Between Germany and USA

The Associated Press reported on September 6:

“An airstrike by U.S. fighter jets that appears to have killed Afghan civilians could turn into a major dispute between NATO allies Germany and the United States, as tensions began rising Sunday over Germany’s role in ordering the attack. Afghan officials say up to 70 people were killed [according to other reports, at least 125 or 135 people allegedly died, including a large number of children] in the early morning airstrike Friday in the northern province of Kunduz after Taliban militants stole two tanker trucks of fuel and villagers gathered to siphon off gas.

“Afghan and NATO investigations are just beginning, but both German and U.S. officials already appeared to be trying to deflect blame. German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the Taliban’s possession of the two tankers ‘posed an acute threat to our soldiers.’ German officials have said the tankers might have been used as suicide bombs…

“[Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, the top U.S. and NATO spokesman] said he hopes a U.S.-German rift does not develop over the strike…”

Afghan Debacle Big Problem For German Politicians

Der Spiegel Online reported on September 7:

“The attack has drawn international condemnation amid fears that the civilian casualty rate could undermine the Western effort to bring peace and democracy to Afghanistan. It has also prompted criticism of the German army from its NATO partners and is set to put the German government under mounting pressure to come up with an exit strategy for its around 4,200 troops in Afghanistan. The attack is dominating the German election campaign with less than three weeks to go before the Sept. 27 vote.

“The mission is deeply unpopular in Germany, which has a strong pacifist streak because of its Nazi past… Senior German commanders were reported on Monday to be furious at NATO’s decision to allow the Washington Post reporter to accompany the seven-member NATO investigative team in its probe of the bombing. ‘It stinks to high heaven,’ one unnamed commander told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper. The report said German commanders accused the US army of ‘deliberately leaking misinformation about an ongoing investigation’…”

Deutsche Welle reported on September 8:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has delivered a staunch defense of her country’s mission in Afghanistan, following international and domestic uproar over last week’s deadly NATO airstrike… While promising a thorough investigation and a full report on the raid, which is believed to have left dozens of Taliban militants as well as civilians dead, Merkel slammed critics for drawing premature conclusions.”

German Media Reactions to Afghan Debacle

Der Spiegel Online reported on September 7 about the reactions of the German media to the debacle in Afghanistan:

“Germany, which has often condemned US military operations in Afghanistan that led to civilian deaths, is now on the receiving end of international criticism following Friday’s air strike. The criticism seems justified, write German media commentators, but they add that internal disputes within NATO can only help the Taliban…

“Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The allies are fundamentally embittered about Germany’s tendency to offer advice and little in the way of action… Now this nation that always knew everything better and criticized the military strategy of the troop providers in the south is responsible for an air strike with what may turn out to be the highest number of civilian casualties.’

“The left-wing Frankfurter Rundschau writes: ‘…Jung’s strategy of avoidance is explosive. He’s provoking the allies by trying to whitewash the German army’s role…’

“Business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The air strike clearly violated NATO’s mission guidelines. Air strikes may only be ordered if there’s imminent danger. And that is hard to see when two fuel tankers are stuck in the sand…’

“Conservative Die Welt writes: ‘There was no imminent danger for Allied troops or the Afghan population. The tankers were stuck in a river bed and weren’t rolling towards German positions as mobile fire bombs. But deriving serious errors and accusations from that, as some European allies are now doing, doesn’t do justice to the tense situation facing the German army in northern Afghanistan… This mustn’t lead to accusations within the alliance. That would be the beginning of the end.’

“Mass circulation Bild writes: ‘The days when a divided Germany could stay out of international conflicts are over… The Americans — who still have the massive German criticism of them ringing in their ears — can barely conceal their schadenfreude: look, the good Germans too are responsible for killing civilians… If allies wage war against each other, they only end up doing their enemy’s job. It’s clear that leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban would be the greatest mistake — and would make a mockery of our soldiers. A fixed date for withdrawal would send a fatal message too…'”

Is Withdrawing German Troops the Solution?

Deutsche Welle added its opinion on September 7, as follows:

“The alliance in Afghanistan appears to be more deeply split than was commonly known. Germany’s Bundeswehr has been openly criticized by its partners in Washington and London – even before there are any official inquiry results. The Bundeswehr has been as harsh in its criticism of the US military, which it says deliberately leaked false information in order to discredit the German commitment in Afghanistan. The dispute is being carried out in the media… The consequences: the Afghan people will lose faith in the process of democratization… The Taliban must be rubbing their hands in glee…

“The Bundeswehr’s image as a reconstruction force has been damaged – with unforeseeable consequences. Attacks on German troops will increase. The public – in Afghanistan and in Germany – will see less of a difference between fighting the insurgency and war… All of this is poison for the development in Afghanistan. Allies who are at odds on one hand, an increasing number of civilian victims and a triumphant Taliban on the other hand… The appeal to get German troops out of Afghanistan may garner votes, but it is by no means a stable concept for the future of Afghanistan.” 

The Netzeitung wrote on September 7:

“A NATO air strike in northern Afghanistan has exposed the German government and military to unprecedented criticism from its closest allies. This is unlikely to increase Berlin’s resolve to help fight the Taliban or bolster the transatlantic alliance… Germany has long purported to be doing a better job of helping Afghanistan by focusing on policing and reconstruction efforts rather than brutally eradicating the Taliban and al Qaida – as the US military is wont to do. Such arguments, of course, conveniently overlook the fact that Germany has consistently refused to join America and its other allies in the fiercer fighting taking place in the southern part of the country…

“Some German commentators have begun mooting that the heavy criticism of the air strike is retaliation for Germany’s supposed readiness to point out the military mistakes of its allies in Afghanistan while keeping its own troops safe in their northern bases. They are also questioning the unusual indiscretions during the investigation of the incident… Is it merely payback time for the Germans? Are they being punished for first being combat shy and then for being too trigger-happy? For the sake of the transatlantic alliance – not to mention the people of Afghanistan – we have to hope that NATO members are above petty games involving such extremely high stakes…

“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the air strike is unlikely to make most Germans think about why their troops were sent to Afghanistan in the first place. The deployment remains deeply unpopular here… While German reluctance to use lethal force is commendable, the idea that Germany retreat from its international commitments to let its allies take the bullets is absolutely unacceptable.

“But if it turns out scores of civilians were killed in the air strike, it will not encourage most Germans to redouble their military efforts in Afghanistan. Instead, calls to end the Bundeswehr’s deployment along the Hindu Kush are sure to increase. This would be troubling not only for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, but also the implications for Berlin’s place in the transatlantic alliance. Afghanistan is not Iraq. That doesn’t mean NATO forces should remain there indefinitely, but allowing the country to descend back into the kind of chaos conducive to breeding Islamist terrorism is simply not an option.”

If You Lived in Sudan…

The Associated Press wrote on September 7:

“A Sudanese judge convicted a woman journalist on Monday for violating the public indecency law by wearing trousers outdoors and fined her $200, but did not impose a feared flogging penalty. Lubna Hussein was among 13 women arrested July 3 in a raid by the public order police in Khartoum. Ten of the women were fined and flogged two days later. But Hussein and two others decided to go to trial…

“The case has made headlines in Sudan and around the world and Hussein used it to rally world opinion against the country’s morality laws based on a strict interpretation of Islam… Hussein’s lawyer said… the judge ignored his request to present defense witnesses. ‘The ruling is incorrect,’ he said, adding that the prosecution witnesses gave contradictory statements… [He] said the judge had the option of choosing flogging, but apparently opted for fine to avoid international criticism…

“Human rights and political groups in Sudan say the law is in violation of the 2005 constitution drafted after a peace deal ended two decades of war between the predominantly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south Sudan.

“[An] Amnesty statement said Sudan had been urged to amend the law which permits flogging… after eight women were flogged in public in 2003 with plastic and metal whips leaving permanent scars on the women. The women had been picnicking with male friends… In a column published in the British daily the Guardian Friday, Hussein said her case is not an isolated one, but is a showcase of repressive laws in a country with a long history of civil conflicts.”

Rift Between Europe and the USA?

The Associated Press reported on September 4:

“The European Union is strongly criticizing a congressional proposal to charge a $10 fee to some visitors to the United States and suggesting it may carry a price for U.S. travelers. If it passes, the EU says, some U.S. travelers to Europe could face retaliation… Europeans see the issue as yet another potential hassle that the United States is preparing to burden Europe’s citizens with…

“Early, this year… the United States began requiring people traveling to the United States under the visa waiver program to register online at least 72 hours before travel and renew their registration every two years. If the new proposal is passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, it would require all visitors to pay the fee when they register… [The European Commission’s Ambassador to Washington, John Bruton] said the EU will have to reconsider whether the U.S. registration system with the new fee would amount to a visa. The EU might then have to consider visas for U.S. travelers.”

Widening Rift Between Israel and the USA

The Associated Press reported on September 4:

“Alarmed by Israeli plans to build new housing units in settlements and dimming prospects for American peace efforts, the Obama administration on Friday put out a rare and harsh public rebuke of its main Mideast ally. The White House said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s settlement plans were ‘inconsistent’ with commitments the Jewish state has made previously and harmful to U.S. attempts to lay the groundwork for a resumption in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. ‘[The] United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop,’ White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement…

“Netanyahu’s aides… said any Israeli settlement freeze would not halt building the new units and or block completion of some 2,500 others currently under construction. They also said the freeze would not include east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make their future [capitol]. The unusually blunt White House criticism reflected the administration’s growing frustration with Netanyahu…

“Netanyahu’s refusal to bend on the settlement issue despite repeated U.S. appeals threatens to damage Obama’s credibility in the Arab world. The administration is counting on Arab support for a resumption in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations but will not likely get it unless Netanyahu makes concessions on settlements.”

Bloomberg added on September 7:

“Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the building of 455 housing units in the West Bank, defying U.S. demands for a freeze on settlement construction. The Palestinian Authority immediately condemned the move, saying it ‘undermines the belief that Israel is a credible partner for peace.’… Jewish settlers, who provide support for Netanyahu and many of his Cabinet ministers, said accepting a freeze on construction would be ‘catastrophic for the government.’… Reacting to reports Sept. 4 that Israel would approve more construction in the West Bank, Amre Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, said such a move would ‘destroy the peace prospects entirely.’” 

Oil Deal Admitted–After All the Denials…

BBC wrote on September 5:

“Trade and oil played a part in the decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal, Jack Straw has admitted. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the UK justice secretary said trade was ‘a very big part’ of the 2007 talks that led to the prisoner deal with Libya. However, Mr Straw’s spokesman accused the press of ‘outrageous’ innuendo…

“On Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted there was ‘no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double dealing, no deal on oil’ over his release. But officials admit the prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) was part of a wider set of negotiations aimed at bringing Libya in from the international cold, and improving British trade prospects with the country.”

CNN added on September 5:

“An oil deal and trade concerns with Libya were at one point considered as factors in the Lockerbie bomber’s release, British Justice Secretary Jack Straw said in an interview published Saturday. And Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s son, who was involved in negotiating accords between the two nations, told CNN that Libya pressured the British government to include the convicted terrorist in a 2007 prisoner release agreement that was tied to trade deals…

“Straw first assured Scotland he would tell the Libyans that Britain would not agree to any prisoner transfer treaty unless al Megrahi was specifically excluded. But only three months later, he told Edinburgh he was giving up efforts to keep al Megrahi out of the deal ‘in view of the overwhelming interests for the United Kingdom.’

“Gadhafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi told CNN that initially, Britain refused to heed to Libya’s demands that al Megrahi be included in the prisoner release agreement. ‘There was no mention of Mr. Megrahi until the British said, “we are ready to sign but there should be a clause mentioning that Mr. Megrahi is excluded.” And then we said no,’ Gadhafi said. ‘We were very very angry. It’s not acceptable.’

“The agreement was eventually signed and days later, Libya approved a huge oil exploration contract with BP.”

Widening Rift Between UK and USA

Mail-On-Line wrote on September 5:

“Downing Street has hit back at Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for attacking the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber. President Obama and the US Secretary of State fuelled a fierce American backlash against Britain, claiming Abdelbaset Al Megrahi should have been forced to serve out his jail sentence in Scotland…

“British officials claim Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return. The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.

“‘The US was kept fully in touch about everything that was going on with regard to Britain’s discussions with Libya in recent years and about Megrahi,’ said the Whitehall aide. ‘We would never do anything about Lockerbie without discussing it with the US…’

“American politicians claimed the Anglo-US ‘special relationship’ had been damaged ‘for years to come’ because the UK had gone back on a joint pledge that Megrahi would stay behind bars in Scotland.”

UN Proposes to Replace U.S. Dollar

The Telegraph wrote on September 7:

“The dollar should be replaced with a global currency, the United Nations has said, proposing the biggest overhaul of the world’s monetary system since the Second World War… Although a number of countries, including China and Russia, have suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, the UNCTAD report is the first time a major multinational institution has posited such a suggestion… The proposals, included in UNCTAD’s annual Trade and Development Report, amount to the most radical suggestions for redesigning the global monetary system.”

Irresponsible US Economic Policy?

The Telegraph wrote on September 6:

“The US Federal Reserve’s policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy.

“Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee and now head of China’s green energy drive, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed’s recourse to ‘credit easing’. ‘We hope there will be a change in monetary policy as soon as they have positive growth again,’ he said… ‘If they keep printing money to buy bonds it will lead to inflation, and after a year or two the dollar will fall hard. Most of our foreign reserves are in US bonds and this is very difficult to change, so we will diversify incremental reserves into euros, yen, and other currencies,’ he said. China’s reserves are more than… $2 trillion, the world’s largest…

“Mr Cheng said the root cause of global imbalances is spending patterns in US (and UK) and China. ‘The US spends tomorrow’s money today,’ he said. ‘We Chinese spend today’s money tomorrow. That’s why we have this financial crisis.’ Yet the consequences are not symmetric. ‘He who goes borrowing, goes sorrowing,’ said Mr Cheng. It was a quote from US founding father Benjamin Franklin.”

Germany’s Uncertain Economy

The Financial Times wrote on August 31:

“The European Union’s biggest member goes to the polls in less than four weeks. Yet while Germany’s economic prospects rest precariously on a recovery in foreign demand, the campaign has been free of any real debate about the country’s extraordinary export dependence. This is worrying… addressing the underlying disequilibriums will require changes in member states’ economic structures. If this does not happen, long-term growth in Europe will be weak and tensions within the eurozone inevitable.

“… the return of the German economy to growth may be a mixed blessing for Europe. Mounting confidence in Germany that it is on the cusp of a return to rapid export-led growth is likely to reduce pressure on the country’s authorities to focus more on domestic demand…

“There is a tendency in Germany to portray criticism of German policy as ‘anti-German’ or as a product of envy. But it is no more anti-German than German criticism of the poor management of the US and British economies is anti-American or anti-British. As for envy, Germany’s growth performance has been one of the weakest in Europe for years… A reinforced German belief in the superiority of export-led growth would be a recipe for weak growth in Germany and serious problems elsewhere in Europe…”

Mass Vaccinations Against Swine Flu?

According to Bild Online, dated September 7, when asked whether they would be immunized against the swine flu, 62% of Germans answered, “No way.” Only 14% said that they would be immunized “for sure,” while 33% responded that it was not “likely” that they would do it. 82% of Germans believe that the danger of being infected with the virus is relatively small or very small. Only 4% feel that the danger of an infection is very great.

Modified Brussels Treaty of Ten European Member States

The EUobserver wrote on September 3:

“A group of the EU’s major foreign policy players is waiting to find out what happens to the Lisbon Treaty before deciding if it should keep or scrap an old ‘musketeer’ defence pact. The security pact is found in Article V of the Modified Brussels Treaty, created in 1954 at the height of the Cold War. ‘If any of the high contracting parties should be the object of an armed attack in Europe, the other high contracting parties will …afford the party so attacked all the military and other aid and assistance in their power,’ it states.

“The contracting parties are EU and Nato member states France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Greece… The Brussels Treaty is significant because it is the only European defence pact in existence. In terms of legal theory, if a Nato and Brussels Treaty member state was attacked and the US-led Nato alliance failed to honour its musketeer clause, the country could instead invoke the Brussels Treaty as a back-up.

“… the 1954 treaty is also significant because some of its 10 parties are interested in keeping it alive so that Article V could in future be used as the basis of a new EU-level defence pact, a source at the Western European Union (WEU) told EUobserver…

“The WEU expects its 10 member states to hold talks on its future in the few months after the fate of the Lisbon Treaty becomes clear… The Lisbon Treaty does not contain a European defence pact. But Lisbon would give EU member states a mandate to progressively frame ‘a common defence policy that might lead to a common defence.'”…

One Step Closer to Lisbon Treaty Ratification

Der Spiegel wrote on September 8:

“The beleaguered Lisbon Treaty got past one more stumbling block on Tuesday after the German parliament voted for legislation that would ease the treaty’s ratification in the EU’s biggest country… However, the so-called ‘accompanying laws’ will still need to be passed by the upper house or Bundesrat on Sept. 18, before Germany can finally give the green light to Europe’s star-crossed treaty.

“The treaty, which is designed to ease decision-making in the 27-member European Union, has stalled in a number of countries, including Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. In Ireland a second referendum is to be held on Oct. 2 after the Irish government secured a number of guarantees on issues such as neutrality, abortion, taxation and the right to a commissioner. The latest opinion poll, conducted by the Irish Times, showed only 46 percent of respondents saying they would definitely vote ‘yes,’ a slump of eight points from the last poll in May.”

EU and Turkey

The EUobserver wrote on September 7:

“The EU’s relationship with Turkey has turned into a ‘vicious circle’, with growing distrust on both sides, the Independent Commission on Turkey, a panel of experts chaired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari warns in a report issued Monday (7 September). ‘Continued negative comments by European political leaders, combined with growing public hesitation about further EU enlargement, have deepened resentment in Turkey and slowed the necessary reforms,’ the document reads.
 
“French President Nicolas Sarkozy has publicly questioned Turkey’s right to become an EU member, pointing to its geography, which stretches from southeastern Europe to Asia Minor. The question of 70 million Muslims set to become EU citizens is also frequently invoked by opponents to Turkish membership in countries such as Austria, Germany or the Netherlands.”

It is very unlikely that Turkey–the biblical “Edom” in history and prophecy–will become a member state of the EU. At the same time, the Bible shows that end-time Turkey will be on “friendly” terms with Europe against Israel.

A Lost World–Found

The Guardian wrote on September 7:

“A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea… A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat… In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world…

“They found the three-kilometre wide crater populated by spectacular birds of paradise and in the absence of big cats and monkeys… the main predators are giant monitor lizards while kangaroos… live in trees. New species include a camouflaged gecko, a fanged frog and a fish called the Henamo grunter, named because it makes grunting noises from its swim bladder.

“‘These discoveries are really significant,’ said Steve Backshall, a climber and naturalist who became so friendly with the never-before seen Bosavi silky cuscus, a marsupial that lives up [in] trees and feeds on fruits and leaves, that it sat on his shoulder.”

Will Israel Attack Iran Without Prior Notice?

The LA Times wrote on August 30:

“Iran has until late September to respond to the latest international proposal aimed at stopping the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapon. Under the proposal, Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment program in exchange for a U.N. Security Council commitment to forgo a fourth round of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

“But if diplomacy fails, the world should be prepared for an Israeli attack on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons facilities… If Israel attempts such a high-risk and destabilizing strike against Iran, President Obama will probably learn of the operation from CNN rather than the CIA. History shows that although Washington seeks influence over Israel’s military operations, Israel would rather explain later than ask for approval in advance of launching preventive or preemptive attacks. Those hoping that the Obama administration will be able to pressure Israel to stand down from attacking Iran as diplomatic efforts drag on are mistaken.

“The current infighting among Iran’s leaders also has led some to incorrectly believe that Tehran’s nuclear efforts will stall. As Friday’s International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s nuclear programs revealed, throughout the political crises of the last three months, Iran’s production rate for centrifuges has remained steady, as has its ability to produce uranium hexafluoride to feed into the centrifuges.

“So let’s consider four past Israeli military operations relevant to a possible strike against Iran.

“In October 1956, Israel, Britain and France launched an ill-fated assault against Egypt to seize control of the Suez Canal. The day before, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles grilled Abba Eban, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., about Israel’s military buildup on the border with Egypt, but Eban kept quiet about his country’s plans.

“In June 1967, Israel initiated the Six-Day War without notice to Washington, despite President Johnson’s insistence that Israel maintain the status quo and consult with the U.S. before taking action…

“On June 7, 1981, Israeli fighter-bombers destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak shortly before it was to be fueled to develop the capacity to make nuclear weapons-grade plutonium. Again, Washington was not informed in advance. President Reagan ‘condemned’ the attack and ‘thought that there were other options that might have been considered.’

“A few days later, Prime Minister Menachem Begin told CBS News: ‘This attack will be a precedent for every future government in Israel. … Every future Israeli prime minister will act, in similar circumstances, in the same way.’

“Begin’s prediction proved true on Sept. 6, 2007, when Israeli aircraft destroyed what was believed to be a North Korean-supplied plutonium reactor in Al Kibar, Syria. Four months earlier, Israeli intelligence officials had provided damning evidence to the Bush administration about the reactor, and the Pentagon drew up plans to attack it. Ironically, according to New York Times reporter David Sanger, President Bush ultimately decided the U.S. could not bomb another country for allegedly possessing weapons of mass destruction. An administration official noted that Israel’s attack went forward ‘without a green light from us. None was asked for, none was given.’

“These episodes demonstrate that if Israel decides that Iranian nuclear weapons are an existential threat, it will be deaf to entreaties from U.S. officials to refrain from using military force…”

Could Iran Destroy the USA?

Newsmax wrote on August 30:

“Concerns about Iran’s nuclear capabilities — and their potentially devastating impact on America — are mounting… The Islamic republic has test-fired missiles capable of reaching Israel, southeastern Europe, and U.S. bases in the Mideast — and published reports say Iran is within a year of developing its own nuclear bomb…

“The United States is caught in the middle of a Mideast faceoff between one of its strongest allies, Israel, and Iran. Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, and Israel refuses to rule out a preemptive strike against its adversary, while insisting that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

“If the United States tries to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons, its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has vowed a campaign of bloody revenge. Iran’s hatred of Israel ‘is rooted in ideology,’ said Walid Phares of Foundation for Defense of Democracies. ‘The Iranian regime is jihadist, and they do not acknowledge nor accept the idea that a non-Islamic, non-jihadist state could exist in the region.’

“Although Iran is thousands of miles from America’s shores, its belligerent actions could have far-reaching repercussions. A regional war or nuclear attack could cause an already shaky U.S. economy to collapse. Even scarier is the growing threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack, security analysts say. Such an attack could destroy all electronic devices over a massive area, from cell phones to computers to America’s electrical grid, experts say.

“’Within a year of that attack, nine out of 10 Americans would be dead, because we can’t support a population of the present size in urban centers and the like without electricity,’ said Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy. ‘That would be a world without America, as a practical matter. And that is exactly what I believe the Iranians are working towards.'”

The British-Libyan Deal

The Sunday Times wrote on August 30:

“The British government decided it was ‘in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom’ to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

“The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key decision to include Megrahi in a deal with Libya to allow prisoners to return home was, in fact, taken in London for British national interests…

“Straw initially intended to exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer agreement with Colonel Muammar Gadaffi… Straw then switched his position as Libya used its deal with BP as a bargaining chip to insist the Lockerbie bomber was included…

“In a letter leaked by a Whitehall source, he wrote: ‘I had previously accepted the importance of the al-Megrahi issue to Scotland and said I would try to get an exclusion for him on the face of the agreement. I have not been able to secure an explicit exclusion. The wider negotiations with the Libyans are reaching a critical stage and, in view of the overwhelming interests for the United Kingdom, I have agreed that in this instance the [prisoner transfer agreement] should be in the standard form and not mention any individual.’

“Within six weeks of the government climbdown, Libya had ratified the BP deal. The prisoner transfer agreement was finalised in May this year, leading to Libya formally applying for Megrahi to be transferred to its custody. Saif Gadaffi, the colonel’s son, has insisted that negotiation over the release of Megrahi was linked with the BP oil deal…”

Not surprisingly, Jack Straw denied allegations of a deal. In an article published by the BBC, dated August 30, it is stated:

“Justice Secretary Jack Straw has said reports that the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was released over an oil deal are ‘wholly untrue’…

“Responding to the report [of the Sunday Times, quoted above], Mr Straw said on Sunday that the ‘normalisation of relations with Libya’ was in the UK’s interests… Mr Straw said a prisoner transfer agreement was part of that agreement. ‘But was there a deal? A covert, secret deal ever struck with the Libyans to release Megrahi in return for oil? No, there was not and there is no evidence whatsoever because it is untrue'”…

“Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell, a member of the Commons foreign affairs select committee, said: ‘Jack Straw’s intervention has simply muddied the waters. We need a full and frank comprehensive statement about the extent to which Mr Megrahi’s fate may have featured in any trade negotiations between the United Kingdom and Libya…’

“David Lidington, the Conservatives’ foreign affairs spokesman, said leaks and ‘secrecy’ around the case were damaging to international relations and public trust…”

Special Relationship Between Britain and USA Is Dead

The Times wrote on September 1, 2009:

“Michael Jackson is dead — and so now is the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the United States. The row over the decision to allow Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to return to Libya is the final nail in the coffin for the transatlantic bond first identified by Winston Churchill after the Second World War. Even Barack Obama abandoned his normal diplomatic tone to criticise the ‘highly objectionable’ arrival of the bomber in Tripoli. Robert Mueller, the head of the FBI, said that the release of the man convicted of murdering 270 people on Pan Am Flight 103 made a ‘mockery of justice’ and would give ‘comfort to terrorists around the world’. There was a widespread assumption in Washington all along that the decision was linked to a trade deal.

“For the Americans, this is not just about justice it is also about trust — the White House sees the release of al-Megrahi as a blatant breach of an agreement given by the British Government that he would serve out his sentence in Scotland. It is impossible to sustain a relationship, let alone a special one, if one partner can no longer believe what the other one says. In Whitehall there are already nervous mutterings about whether intelligence-sharing and military co-operation will be able to continue in the same way.

“This may be a tipping point but in fact the United States has been tilting away from Britain for some time. Ironically, at the very moment when people in this country are rediscovering after years of hostility their love of America — as a result of the election of the first black president — the Americans are tiring of their old European flame.

“On holiday on Long Island this summer, I was struck by the anti-British mood… In different areas, antipathy towards Britain is taking hold just as anti-Americanism in this country fades… Newsweek, the magazine that hailed Cool Britannia in the 1990s, recently redefined us as ‘Little Britain’, a nation struggling to keep a foothold in a rapidly changing world…

“There was always an inequality between Britain and America, but the US used to respect the UK because it was reliable. With the release of al-Megrahi the bond of trust has been destroyed. The special relationship is over, but the real problem is that it is not at all clear what if anything will replace it. It is 45 years since the late US Secretary of State Dean Acheson said that ‘Great Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role’. As the balance of power shifts around the world, it is even farther from finding one now.”

Could World War II Have Been Prevented?

Der Spiegel wrote on September 1 and 2:

“World War II began 70 years ago when Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. It would last six years… But the Allies missed several opportunities to stop Hitler in the run-up to the war… The inferno Hitler had unleashed led to an escalation of violence unprecedented in the history of mankind. About 60 million people were killed, more than half of them women, children and the elderly. Six million people died in the Holocaust alone…

“In the years leading up to World War II, Britain and France underestimated just how determined Adolf Hitler was in his lust for conquest. The failure of Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement meant war was inevitable.”

Bad State Election Results for Merkel

The Financial Times wrote on August 30:

“Angela Merkel, German chancellor, suffered an electoral setback four weeks before the country’s general election… Elections in the small western state of Saarland and in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia revealed an erosion of the CDU’s influence. But they also failed to deliver the good news its Social Democratic (SPD) rivals had hoped for.

“The main winners were the smaller parties in Germany’s increasingly fragmented political landscape. The polls showed voters turning away from the CDU and SPD, which have ruled together in a grand federal coalition for four years and have held a dominant place in German political life since the second world war.

“The two main parties saw their total vote share fall from 78.3 per cent to less than 60 per cent in Saarland and from 57.5 per cent to 50.9 per cent in Thuringia… In the two eastern states, the SPD ended behind the radical Left party. In Saxony it also finished behind the pro-business Free Democratic party… The regional polls are a key milestone before the September 27 general election and are a bitter disappointment for the SPD…”

Der Spiegel Online added on August 31:

“If Sunday’s vote showed anything, it was that a ‘black-yellow’ coalition — as the CDU-FDP alliance is known, after the parties’ official colors — is far from certain on the national level. Even in the eastern state of Saxony, where the CDU got 40 percent of the vote, a coalition government featuring the FDP as junior partner is not certain. Reports that the national election had already been decided appear to have been greatly exaggerated…

“It’s safe to assume that the SPD will attack more strongly in the coming weeks… But their main target will not be the current chancellor and CDU leader, Angela Merkel — she is too strong and most Germans seem to want to keep her in the top slot. The attacks will be aimed at FDP chief Guido Westerwelle. As the designated foreign minister (a position traditionally given to the governing coalition’s junior partner) with no obvious expertise in international politics, he represents the weakest point of a CDU-FDP coalition. As Sunday evening showed, the weaker the FDP, the greater the SPD’s chances of staying in government.”

Deutsche Welle added on August 31:

“… on Monday, many German newspapers warned against reading too much into Sunday’s election results. ‘Interpreting this setback [for Merkel] as a clear signal of a turnaround in the battle for Berlin in four weeks is wide of the mark,’ the Financial Times Deutschland wrote. Business daily Handelsblatt noted that ‘trying to predict the outcome of the federal election from Sunday’s results is about as reliable as reading tea leaves.'” 

The Netzeitung wrote on September 2:

“Germany’s neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) stands to gain a taxpayer-funded windfall for being re-elected to Saxony’s state parliament on Sunday, according to daily paper Die Tageszeitung. The paper reported this week that the NPD is set to receive EUR 100,000 of Saxon state money to fund its political foundation Bildungswerk für Heimat und Nationalstaat… The NPD says the foundation’s far-right message aims to educate people about the German homeland and nationalism.

“‘This [re-election] shows the NPD has a core voting public,’ Anetta Kahane, chairwoman of the Amedau Antonio Foundation in Berlin, told Die Tageszeitung, adding it was ‘sheer luck’ that the NPD didn’t also win seats in the Thuringia state parliament at the weekend. In Thuringia the NPD fell just below the five-percent limit with 4.3 percent of the popular vote.”

However, the Left party (“Linke”), descendants of the former ruling party of communist East Germany, and the FDP, a conservative-leaning business-friendly party, were Sunday’s biggest winners. The “Linke” received 21.3% of the votes in Saarland; 20.6% in Saxony; and 27.4% in Thuringia. The CDU lost 20 seats in all three states and the SPD lost one. The FDP gained 16 seats; and the Linke gained eight. In addition to the victory of the “Linke” in two former East German states and in Saarland, on the French border, Germany’s increasingly fragmented political landscape is of great concern, as it might remind us of the terrible times of the Weimar Republic, leading to the rise of Adolph Hitler.

Qatar Invests Heavily in Volkswagen

Netzeitung wrote on August 29:

“The Gulf state of Qatar has taken a 6.78-percent stake in Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen as part of a plan to take over around 17 percent of the company… Qatar’s investment will total some EUR 7 billion and the country will become the third biggest shareholder in Volkswagen behind the Porsche and Piech families and the German state of Lower Saxony.”

This development is interesting in light of the fact that the Bible speaks of a coming “confederacy” between Germany and Arab nations in the near future.

Changes in Japan–Has the U.S.-Led Pax Americana Era Come to an End?

The Associated Press wrote on August 30:

“Japan’s ruling party conceded a crushing defeat Sunday after 54 years of nearly unbroken rule as voters were poised to hand the opposition a landslide victory in nationwide elections, driven by economic anxiety and a powerful desire for change… ‘These results are very severe,’ Prime Minister Taro Aso said in a news conference at party headquarters, conceding his party was headed for a big loss. ‘There has been a deep dissatisfaction with our party’…

“The loss by the Liberal Democrats — traditionally a pro-business, conservative party — would open the way for the [left-of-center] Democratic Party, headed by Yukio Hatoyama, to replace Aso and establish a new Cabinet, possibly within the next few weeks. The vote was seen as a barometer of frustrations over Japan’s worst economic slump since World War II and a loss of confidence in the ruling Liberal Democrats’ ability to tackle tough problems such as the rising national debt and rapidly aging population…

“The Democrats have also said they will seek a more independent relationship with Washington, while forging closer ties with Japan’s Asian neighbors, including China…”

Reuters added on August 31:

“The Democrats want to forge a diplomatic stance more independent of the United States, raising fears about possible friction in the alliance. They have also vowed to improve ties with Asian neighbors, often frayed by bitter wartime memories.

“‘(Hatoyama) is basically articulating the idea that the U.S.-led Pax Americana era has come to an end,’ said Sheila Smith at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. ‘My sense… is that they have wanted a little distance between Tokyo and Washington.'”

Incredible News on Japan’s New First Lady

The Independent wrote on September 3:

“Miyuki Hatoyama, wife of Japan’s Prime Minister-elect, Yukio Hatoyama… has travelled to the planet Venus. And she was once abducted by aliens… The 62-year-old also knew Tom Cruise in a former incarnation – when he was Japanese.”

And these are the people who are “helping” to govern countries and who are very influential in the political affairs of this world…

America Has Spoken: Get Rid of Entire Congress

The Rasmussen Report wrote on August 30:

“If they could vote to keep or replace the entire Congress, just 25% of voters nationwide would keep the current batch of legislators. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% would vote to replace the entire Congress and start all over again.

“… the number of Democrats who would vote to keep the entire Congress has grown from 25% last fall to 43% today… 70% of those not affiliated with either major party would vote to replace all of the elected politicians in the House and Senate. That’s up from 62% last year.

“Republicans… overwhelmingly support replacing everyone in the Congress… 69% of GOP Voters say Republicans in Congress are out of touch with the party base.

“Three-out-of-four (74%) trust their own economic judgment more than Congress’… Seventy-five percent (75%) say members of Congress are more interested in their own careers than they are in helping people… Despite these reviews, more than 90% of Congress routinely gets reelected every two years…”

More REALLY Bad News on Obama’s Health Care Proposals

On September 3, the Drudge Report published the following article which was first published by the Washington Examiner on September 2:

“Under the Democrats’ health care proposals, the already powerful — and already feared — IRS would wield even more power and extend its reach even farther into the lives of ordinary Americans, and the presidentially-appointed head of the new health care bureaucracy would have access to confidential IRS information about millions of individual taxpayers. In short, health care reform, as currently envisioned by Democratic leaders, would be built on the foundation of an expanded and more intrusive IRS.

“Under the various proposals now on the table, the IRS would become the main agency for determining who has an ‘acceptable’ health insurance plan; for finding and punishing those who don’t have such a plan; for subsidizing individual health insurance costs through the issuance of a tax credit; and for enforcing the rules on those who attempt to opt out, abuse, or game the system. A substantial portion of H.R. 3200, the House health care bill, is devoted to amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in order to give the IRS the authority to perform these new duties.

“The Democrats’ plan would require all Americans to have ‘acceptable’ insurance coverage (the legislation includes long and complex definitions of ‘acceptable’) and would designate the IRS as the agency charged with enforcing that requirement. On your yearly 1040 tax return, you would be required to attest that you have ‘acceptable’ coverage. Of course, you might be lying, or simply confused about whether or not you are covered, so the IRS would need a way to check your claim for accuracy. Under current plans, insurers would be required to submit to the IRS something like the 1099 form in which taxpayers report outside income. The IRS would then check the information it receives from the insurers against what you have submitted on your tax form.

“If it all matches up, you’re fine. If it doesn’t, you will hear from the IRS. And if you don’t have ‘acceptable’ coverage, you will be subject to substantial fines — fines that will be administered by the IRS.

“Under some versions of health reform now circulating on Capitol Hill, the IRS would also be intimately involved in how you pay for insurance. Everyone would be required to buy coverage. The millions of Americans who can’t afford it would receive a subsidy to pay for it. Under the version of the plan currently under negotiation in the Senate Finance Committee, that subsidy would come through the IRS in the form of a refundable tax credit. Under the House plan, the subsidy would come directly from the Health Choices Administration.

“In either scenario, the IRS would be the key to making the system work. Before you could receive any subsidy, whether through the IRS or not, the Health Choices Administration would have to determine whether you are eligible for it. To do so, the bills under consideration would give the Health Choices Commissioner the authority to demand sensitive, confidential information from the IRS about individual taxpayers. The IRS would have to provide it…

“So far, there has been little substantive public debate about the integral role of the IRS in nearly every aspect of the various national health care proposals. But people who are closely involved with the process are deeply concerned about what they view as a massive, and in some senses unprecedented, expansion of the Internal Revenue Service…”

California on Fire

The Wall Street Journal reported on August 31:

“California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday declared a state of emergency for four California counties as [at least eight] wildfires burn throughout the state, including a massive one near Los Angeles… With flames about a half-mile away from the communications and astronomy centers on Mount Wilson, crews planned to set more backfires and planes dropped fire retardant around the mountaintop complex, which hold transmitters for more than 20 television stations, many radio stations and cell phone providers…

“Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighborhoods in Glendale, Pasadena and other smoke-choked cities and towns north of Los Angeles… In La Crescenta, where the San Gabriel Mountains descend steeply to suburban neighborhoods, streets were nearly deserted Monday morning as smoke rose up some flanks of the towering peaks.”

As of Wednesday, the biggest fire near Los Angeles (“Station Fire”), which began on August 26 and was apparently “human-caused,” was only 22 percent contained. So far, the blaze has destroyed more than five dozen homes, killed two firefighters and forced thousands of people from their homes.

Is UPS Violating Employees’ Constitutional Rights?

The National Law Journal wrote on August 31:

“Late Thursday, in what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is calling a ‘major class lawsuit,’ UPS was sued in federal court in Chicago for allegedly denying sufficient medical leave to disabled employees. The Thursday suit claims UPS sets arbitrary deadlines for returning to work after medical treatment — in one case firing an employee who would have exceeded its 12-month leave policy by mere weeks — in violation of federal law.

“Just two months ago, UPS settled a religious discrimination lawsuit with the EEOC in Tennessee, in which the company was accused of requiring a 19-year driver to work past sundown on his Sabbath, which violated his beliefs as a member of the United Church of God. UPS denied that it engaged in discrimination, but agreed to pay $23,500 in damages to the employee.

“And in January, a federal jury in New Jersey ordered UPS to pay $10,000 to a man who was denied a job because his Rastafarian religious beliefs forbid him from shaving his beard.”

More U.S. Banks Fail

Bloomberg wrote on August 29:

“Regulators closed banks in California, Maryland and Minnesota yesterday, pushing U.S. bank failures to 84 this year amid continuing fallout from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver for Affinity Bank of Ventura, California, Bradford Bank of Baltimore and Mainstreet Bank of Lake Forest, Minnesota, after yesterday’s closings, the FDIC said. Assets of $1.9 billion and deposits of $1.7 billion from the three banks were turned over to new lenders at a total cost of about $446 million to the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund…

“Regulators have closed banks at the fastest pace in 17 years and more are likely… A total of 416 banks with combined assets of $299.8 billion failed the FDIC’s grading system for asset quality, liquidity and earnings in the second quarter, the most since June 1994…

“The FDIC insures deposits at 8,195 institutions with roughly $13.5 trillion in assets and reimburses customers for deposits of up to $250,000 per account when a bank fails. The surge in failures has depleted the Washington-based regulator’s deposit insurance fund, which fell to $10.4 billion at the end of June from $13 billion in the previous quarter… The total was the lowest since 1993.”

Macabre Merchandise of “Bodies of Men”

Der Spiegel wrote on August 31:

“The German company Tutogen’s business in body parts is as secretive as it is lucrative. It extracts bones from corpses in Ukraine to manufacture medical products, as part of a global market worth billions that is centered in the United States… In addition to strips of skin, tendons, bones and cartilage are removed from the bodies…

“The incident in the Ukrainian capital is part of the secretive daily routine of a little-known but highly lucrative branch of the medical industry, in which companies use corpses to make medical spare parts. In doing so, they reuse almost everything the human body has to offer: bones, cartilage, tendons, muscle fascia, skin, corneas, pericardial sacs and heart valves. In the jargon of the profession, all of this is referred to as tissue…

“According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, more than a million bone parts are used in transplants every year. In no other country [other than the USA] is it possible to make so much money with body parts. If a body were disassembled into its individual parts, then processed and sold, the total proceeds could amount to $250,000 (€176,000). For a single corpse! The US tissue industry generates total revenues of about $1 billion a year…

“Tutogen paid its Ukrainian partners a fixed price for each body part. In January 2002, the company paid €42.90 for a complete femur, €42.90 for a humerus and €13.30 to €16.40 for a pericardial sac, depending on its size. Graduated prices were also arranged with the Ukrainians. Take, for example, the removal of patellar tendons with bone segments, known as ‘bond-tendon-bone,’ or BTB. When coroners supplied less than 40 BTBs on-site, Tutogen paid €14.30 apiece. For larger numbers of BTBs, the price went up: to €23 apiece for 40 or more BTBs and to €26.10 for 60 or more. For a coroner, who makes about €200 ($287) a month in Ukraine, such graduated prices must have been an incentive to remove as much body material as possible…

“The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently lists 20 facilities in Ukraine that are authorized to supply body parts for the US market. But no matter which of these facilities one clicks on in the FDA database, all share the same contact information: the telephone number of Tutogen Medical GmbH in northern Bavaria.”

The Death of Senator Edward Kennedy

The Financial Times wrote on August 26:

“Edward Kennedy, who died on Tuesday night from the consequences of a brain tumour at the age of 77, surely found political and personal redemption in the end. He did not fulfil the ambitions of his dynastic family by becoming president of the United States, as one brother did and as another might have, both victims of the assassin’s bullets, but he became a lion of the US Senate, liked and admired by friend and foe alike.

“His legislative record, touching domestic subjects as vital as immigration, healthcare and education, was second to none. As the country drifted to the right over the past 30 years, his was the distinctive and loudest voice of the liberalism born in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Yet, as politics became more bitterly partisan, he worked across party lines, forming alliances with the most improbable opponents…

“His hand appeared to be in virtually every piece of legislation, aided by a staff that was, and is, widely reckoned to be unmatched in talent on Capitol Hill. His principal causes remained immigration, lifting the minimum wage, healthcare, education, the environment and everything to do with the administration of justice.

“And for all his reputation as the leading liberal, he made practical friendships and relationships across the aisle – with Senator John McCain of Arizona on immigration reform and with the staunchly conservative Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah on judicial matters. He even helped steer President Bush’s ‘no child left behind’ education act through the Senate, though he subsequently became critical of its implementation and, in his view, under-funding. That apart, he had little truck with the administration’s overall policies, voting against authorising the war in Iraq and frequently eviscerating everything the justice department did, especially when Alberto Gonzales was attorney general.

“… when Ted Kennedy endorsed Mr Obama, not Hillary Clinton, for the Democratic presidential nomination in the early spring of 2008, there was clearly the sense of the passing of the liberal torch…”

Haaretz wrote on August 26:

“President Shimon Peres on Wednesday expressed deep sorrow on behalf of Israel at the death of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy… Peres said that… ‘Kennedy was a clear friend of Israel the whole way, and in every place that he could help us he did help’… Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also expressed his condolences, calling Kennedy a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people. He added that Kennedy protected human rights, and was the son of a distinguished family who stood by Israel, even in difficult times, during his many years of service in the Senate…

“During his nearly half century in the chamber, Kennedy became known as one of Washington’s most effective senators, crafting legislation by working with lawmakers and presidents of both parties, and finding unlikely allies. At the same time, he held fast to liberal causes deemed anachronistic by the centrist ‘New Democrats,’ and was a lightning rod for conservative ire. He helped enact measures to protect civil and labor rights, expand healthcare, upgrade schools, increase student aid and contain the spread of nuclear weapons.”

Bild Online wrote on August 26:

“US Senator Edward Kennedy… served in the senate for 47 years and his passing has left a massive hole in Washington’s political life. ‘Time’ magazine wrote in 2006 that Ted Kennedy had affected the life of every American… He was branded a socialist by his political enemies, and feared for his enormous influence in Washington. To his allies he was a figurehead and torchbearer of liberalism and respected by all…

“At the start of his Senate career he was badly injured in a plane crash and was forced to recover on the sidelines for six months. He later said that his experiences of the American health system after the crash led him to fight for universal healthcare…”

The Wall Street Journal added on August 26:

“The death of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts is not only a personal loss for many of his Senate colleagues, but it also leaves Democrats short a key vote as they attempt to pass major legislation in the coming months, including a health care overhaul. Before his death, Kennedy wrote a letter to Massachusetts political leaders asking them to change the succession rules so as not to have a prolonged vacancy until a special election can be held early next year…

“In his request, Kennedy asked state leaders to give Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick the authority to appoint a temporary seat-filler until the election can be held… Initially, the request was met with a lukewarm response and none of the key lawmakers publicly embraced the plan. But on Tuesday, Senate President Therese Murray signaled… that she is now open to such a request.”

Brown’s Deal With Gaddafi Over Release of Convicted Libyan Terrorist

The Guardian wrote on August 23:

“Gordon Brown faced fresh questions tonight after it emerged that he discussed with Colonel Gaddafi detailed conditions for the Lockerbie bomber’s return nearly six weeks ago, while senior Labour figures warned of an economic backlash from angry Americans ‘costing our country dear’.

“Downing Street released the text of a cordial letter sent to the Libyan leader on the day that Abdulbaset al-Megrahi was released, asking that the event be kept low key because a ‘high-profile’ ceremony would distress his victims and their families. But critically the letter also refers to a meeting between the two leaders six weeks earlier at the G8 summit in Italy, adding that ‘when we met [there] I stressed that, should the Scottish executive decide that Megrahi can return to Libya, this should be a purely private family occasion’ rather than a public celebration.

“… the new letter, addressed to ‘Dear Muammar’ and signed off by wishing him a happy Ramadan, suggests that the decision was well enough advanced and Brown well enough briefed to set terms for a homecoming – albeit unsuccessfully. A jubilant Libyan crowd, some waving Scottish flags, greeted Megrahi at the airport…

“Tonight the shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, redoubled calls for the government to release official records of conversations about the release, as Gaddafi increased the embarrassment by publicly thanking ‘my friend Brown, his government, the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth, and Prince Andrew who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to take this historic and courageous decision’.

“The scale of fury in America was laid bare in a vitriolic letter from the director of the FBI, Robert Mueller – who as a justice department lawyer led the investigation into the bombing – describing the release in a scathing letter to [Scottish justice minister]MacAskill as a ‘mockery of the rule of law’ and of the victims’ grief.

“… public anger at scenes of the convicted bomber receiving a hero’s welcome has prompted demands from ordinary Americans for economic reprisals… Senior Scottish Labour figures say that MacAskill’s references in his original statement last week to the compassion of Scotland’s people had turned the entire country, which earns £260m a year through American tourists, into an economic target…”

Merkel World’s Most Powerful Woman

The Netzeitung reported on August 20:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named the world’s most powerful woman for the fourth year running in a report released on Thursday by US business magazine Forbes… The ranking is based on influence and economic clout… As the head of Europe’s largest economy, Merkel excels in both of these areas.

“‘Merkel is the only woman at the head of a G8 economy, so she is a big power in Europe and has a big GDP at her disposal,’ commented Mary Ellen Egan, Executive Managing Editor… ‘She makes the top because she is the highest ranking woman according to office, and also because of the amount of money she controls. She is very well-regarded as a leader,’ added Egan… Merkel has been instrumental in cementing relations with Russia, and promoting the Nord Stream gas pipeline project to carry Russian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea, the magazine said.

“There was no change in the top three this year, with Sheila Bair, US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman in second place again, followed by last year’s 3rd-placed woman, PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi.”

Netanyahu in Germany

Deutsche Welle reported on August 27:

“The construction of Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands must be stopped, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting in Berlin… while Merkel expressed a willingness to consider the sanctions [against Israel], she also reiterated calls from the Palestinians and US President Barack Obama to halt the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem… But Netanyahu told reporters that ‘no decision has been made.'”

Islamist “Holy War” Against Germany?

The Netzeitung reported on August 21:

“With just over a month to go before Germany’s general election, daily newspaper Die Welt reported on Friday that an unprecedented number of Islamist videos encouraging holy war against the country have flooded the internet. Most recently, two Moroccan brothers from Bonn have appeared in terrorist propaganda videos online. The two men… are thought to be currently in hiding on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan…

“The latest wave of propaganda attacks began in January with videos published by another German of Moroccan origin… The newspaper reported that the 31-year-old… appears on a video announcing in German that he would ‘blow himself up for Allah.’ His appearance in an al-Qaida video… has reportedly caused concern for the German security services. In it he makes a specific reference to September’s election as the point when the German people will decide their own fate.

“‘Recently, more people have been travelling from Germany to “terror camps”,’ Deputy Interior Minister August Hanning told the newspaper. He said this trend poses a threat not only to the German armed forces stationed in Afghanistan ‘but also for us in Germany.'”

Ten African Leaders Meeting in Ethiopia Push Against West

Reuters wrote on August 24:

“African leaders will ask rich nations for $67 billion PER YEAR to mitigate the impact of global warming on the world’s poorest continent… Ten leaders are holding talks at AFRICAN UNION (AU) HEADQUARTERS IN THE ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL to try to agree a common stance…

“Earlier this year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi called on rich countries to compensate Africa for warming, arguing that pollution in the northern hemisphere may have caused his country’s ruinous famines in the 1980s…

“Africa is the region most at risk from warming and is home to 15 of the 20 most vulnerable countries [according to a report]… Developing nations accuse the rich of failing to take the lead in setting deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and say they are trying to get the poor to shoulder more of the burden of emission curbs without providing aid and technology. A new climate treaty is due to be agreed” at a U.N. summit on climate change in Copenhagen in December.

… and Now — Practicing Homosexuals as Lutheran Ministers…

USA Today wrote on August 22:

“Leaders of the nation’s largest Lutheran church voted Friday to allow sexually active gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy. Gays and lesbians are currently allowed to serve as ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America only if they remain celibate. The proposal to change that passed with 68% approval…

“The final decision on whether to hire gay clergy in committed relationships will lie with individual congregations. Some critics of the proposal have predicted its passage could cause individual congregations to split off from the ELCA, as has been the case with other Christian denominations, including the Episcopal Church…

“Katrina Foster, a pastor in the Metropolitan New York Synod, pointed out that the church has ordained women and divorced people in violation of a literal interpretation of scripture.”

So, rather than correcting a wrong, the Lutherans felt it was more expedient to add insult to injury in allowing for additional wrongs.

Unprecedented Dangerous Expensive “Voluntary” Massive Swine Flu Vaccinations

The Washington Post wrote on August 23:

“Government health officials are mobilizing to launch a massive swine flu vaccination campaign this fall that is unprecedented in its scope — and in the POTENTIAL FOR COMPLICATIONS. The campaign aims to vaccinate at least half the country’s population within months. Although more people have been inoculated against diseases such as smallpox and polio over a period of years, the United States has never tried to immunize so many so quickly.

“But even as scientists rush to test the vaccine to ensure it is safe and effective, the campaign is lagging. Officials say only about a third as much vaccine as they had been expecting by mid-October is likely to arrive by then, when a new wave of infections could be peaking. Among the unknowns: how many shots people will need, what the correct dosage should be, and how to avoid confusing the public with an overlapping effort to combat the regular seasonal flu…

“‘This is potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history,’ said Howard Markel, a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan…

“The vaccine effort carries political risks for the Obama administration… The campaign is haunted by memories of the government’s ill-fated 1976 effort to vaccinate against swine flu. The epidemic fizzled, but the vaccine was given to 40 million people and blamed for causing a rare paralyzing disorder known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome…

“‘This is an overreaction,’ said Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center, which OPPOSES MANY VACCINE POLICIES. ‘There is no national security threat here. Why are we operating like this? This is not polio. This is not smallpox’…

“Authorities are adamant that vaccination will be VOLUNTARY… To address concerns of pregnant women and parents with young children, some vaccine is being produced without a MERCURY ADDITIVE… Schools considering giving shots to children are making plans to get PERMISSION FROM PARENTS…

“The federal government has spent close to $2 billion to buy up to 195 million doses of vaccine AND ADJUVANT, including the standard shots and the newer FluMist nasal spray vaccine… The government is prepared to buy enough to vaccinate EVERY PERSON — 600 million doses all together — if the pandemic or demand warrants it. That could increase the cost to $5 BILLION FOR THE VACCINE alone. It would cost at least $9 BILLION to ADMINISTER the vaccine to the ENTIRE POPULATION…

“Experts also worry the swine flu will divert attention from the seasonal flu, which can cause serious illness. Officials will launch the seasonal flu vaccine campaign Sept. 10 — about a month early in the hopes of vaccinating as many people as possible before the swine flu campaign. The more people who get both vaccines, the less likely the swine flu virus will mingle with one of the others to produce a more dangerous mutant…”

Backwards Approach on Circumcision

The New York Times wrote on August 24:

“Public health officials are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS… Experts are also considering whether the surgery should be offered to adult heterosexual men whose sexual practices put them at high risk of infection. But they acknowledge that a circumcision drive in the United States would be unlikely to have a drastic impact: the procedure does not seem to protect those at greatest risk here, men who have sex with men.

“Recently, studies showed that in African countries hit hard by AIDS, men who were circumcised reduced their infection risk by half. But the clinical trials in Africa focused on heterosexual men who are at risk of getting H.I.V. from infected female partners… There is little to no evidence that circumcision protects men who have sex with men from infection.

“Observational studies have found that uncircumcised men have higher rates of other sexually transmitted diseases like herpes and syphilis, and a recent study in Baltimore found that heterosexual men were less likely to have become infected with H.I.V. from infected partners if they were circumcised.”

Rather than not engaging in illicit sex, public health officials recommend circumcision instead, so people can continue engaging in illicit sex. We need to understand that circumcision was never a health law–otherwise it would still be in effect today and God would have enforced it for Gentiles, which He did not. The New Testament makes it very clear that Christians are no longer required to be circumcised or to circumcise their children–even though they ARE required to abide by real health laws, such as refraining from eating pork, fat or blood. 

How Evolutionists Justify Their Ignorance

The Times wrote on August 22:

“While most non-fundamentalist Christian traditions have largely accepted evolution, Islam was still much more hostile, [Professor Richard Dawkins] said [who is a strong believer in and supporter of the evolution hypothesis]. ‘It’s the fact that Islam teaches the Koran is the literal word of God, unlike most Christian sects, which say the Bible is LARGELY SYMBOLIC. That could well be the cause’…

“Professor Dawkins’ new book, The Greatest Show on Earth, brings together the scientific evidence that shows the theory of evolution to be true. He hopes to convince those who espouse creationism because they are IGNORANT OF SCIENCE…”

The West–A Culture of Death

The following article was written from a Greek/Russian Orthodox Church perspective. Even though clearly subjective and biased, it includes interesting facts and thoughts worthy of consideration.

The Pravda wrote on August 20:

“From the early 1800s, the West, in an affront to God, has moved ever more rapidly into a culture of death and destruction, away from the teachings of Christ… The foundation of this was laid by the Augustinian theories of Just War. This created an atmosphere that condoned murder, even if under strict circumstances.

“… the wars that the Orthodox peoples [following the teachings of the Greek/Orthodox Church] have fought have always been viewed AS A SIN, as the shedding of human blood is a grave sin… To that end, an Orthodox soldier who has shed blood is UNCLEAN and thus must cleanse himself through prayer and fasting, seeking the FORGIVENESS OF GOD for what was done…

“The range of who should die was widened. Starting in the 1800s and reaching full strength in the first half of the 1900s was the eugenics movements, out to breed the perfect human being…  Abortion… the murder of God’s most precious gift, became a standard…

“Homosexuality, too, was brought in as an affront to God, destroying the traditional family, mutating the moral standings of children and breeding a hedonistic, self destructive life style…

“Suicide is self murder… In Russian, our word for suicide is… quite literally: self-murder. We do not have the right to terminate the gift of life that God gave us. Just because we live in pain does not mean that we do not live to fulfill some aspect of God’s plan. The pain is a test of our faith in God, something to work through and to continue to seek to serve God. As such, suicide, self-murder, is an escape of our responsibilities before God…

“Many of these concepts are alien to our cultures, many others were imported with the Marxist revolution and we are still suffering their ill effects. On abortion, Russia, which still allows it, has curtailed it to the first 12 weeks and there is much pressure to end this murder fully. Euthanasia is illegal in Russia. Eugenics is also something that never took root…”

France’s Plague of Bee-Eating Hornets

The Telegraph wrote on August 19:

“The bee-eating hornets, instantly recognisable by their yellow feet, are rapidly spreading round France and entomologists fear that they will eventually cross the Channel and arrive in Britain. Hundreds of the insects attacked a mother on a stroll with her five-month-old baby in… southwestern France… They then pursued two passers by and two Dutch tourists on bikes. The victims were treated in hospital for multiple stings, which are said to be as painful as a hot nail piercing the skin…

“The Vespa velutina, which grow up to an inch in length, is thought to have arrived in France from the Far East in a consignment of Chinese pottery in late 2004… Denis Thiery, an Asian hornet specialist at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, said there was nothing to halt their spread. ‘From one nest discovered in 2004, there were 2,000 in the Bordeaux area in 2007. Today there are probably several thousand in surrounding departments,’ he said. ‘According to our studies, they are able to settle in 50 per cent of the country. The European hornet is no match for them, with only a few hundred individuals per nest compared to several thousand for the yellow-footed hornets…’

“Besides the risk to humans, the hornets have decimated France’s already dwindling bee population. Squadrons of the insects hover over hives and pick off hapless honeybees in mid-air. A handful can destroy a nest of 30,000 bees in just a couple of hours… Beekeepers suspect that the creatures are also massacring other indigenous insect species….”

The US Economy

More US Banks Fail… Shrinking the FDIC’s Fund Even More…

The Associated Press reported on August 22:

“Guaranty Bank became the second-largest U.S. bank to fail this year after the Texas lender was shut down by regulators and most of its operations sold at a loss of billions of dollars for the U.S. government to a major Spanish bank. The transaction approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. marked the first time a foreign bank has bought a failed U.S. bank. The bank failure, the 10th largest in U.S. history, is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $3 billion…

“The FDIC also announced Friday the closures of Internet-based ebank, located in Atlanta… First Coweta, based in Newnan, Ga… and CapitalSouth Bank, based in Birmingham, Ala… Those failures are expected to cost the insurance fund an estimated $63 million for ebank, $48 million for First Coweta and $151 million for CapitalSouth Bank.”

Another sign of the times–foreign banks take over US banks, and in light of the figures in the article above, the FDIC’s insurance fund would only be at a level of about $3.4 billion.

Raising Taxes…

Reuters reported on August 21:

“The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion… The White House budget office will also lower its deficit forecast for this fiscal year, which ends September 30, to $1.58 trillion from $1.84 trillion next week AFTER REMOVING $250 BILLION SET ASIDE FOR BANK BAILOUTS…

“Politically, the deficit has been an albatross for Obama… who is pushing forward with plans to overhaul the U.S. healthcare industry — an initiative that could cost up to $1 trillion over 10 years… Many economists think it is unlikely the government can curtail spending, which means TAXES WOULD HAVE TO GO UP to cover the rising costs of providing retirement and healthcare benefits to aging Americans… Obama has promised not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 a year.”

… Or Cutting Entitlements

The Financial Times wrote on August 21:

“The US government… must finance spending this year that will be almost double tax receipts, while reassuring buyers of Treasuries that PRINTING DOLLARS is only a temporary measure… retaining the confidence of debt buyers worried about unsustainable borrowing will require CUTTING ENTITLEMENTS to Social Security and healthcare for America’s ageing population…”

On August 23, The Associated Press confirmed fears that the government will cut, somehow, social security benefits:

“Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise. The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won’t be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn’t happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

“By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly.”

More Bad Economic News–“Deeper” Recession Ahead

Bloomberg wrote on August 25:

“U.S. unemployment will surge to 10 percent this year and the budget deficit will widen to $1.5 trillion next year, reflecting a ‘deeper recession’ than previously expected, White House budget chief Peter Orszag said. The Office of Management and Budget also forecasts that the U.S. economy will shrink 2.8 percent this year…

The Financial Times added on August 25:

“Tuesday’s sharply upgraded forecasts for growth in US national debt over the [next] decade could hardly have come at a worse time for Barack Obama… fears of the Great Depression have receded only to be replaced by mounting concern over the country’s long-term creditworthiness… In particular, prospects for enacting Mr Obama’s proposed $1,000bn (€700bn, £610bn) 10-year expansion in healthcare coverage this autumn are beginning to look dicey given the projected rise in the national debt of more than $9,000bn in the next decade…

“David Walker, head of the Peterson Foundation and former head of the General Accountability Office…  is among a growing body of observers who believe America’s deteriorating debt position could have consequences for the country’s national security – even compromising its superpower status…”

The Uncertain Future of the US Dollar

The Wall Street Journal wrote on August 26:

“On Tuesday, the Obama administration added fuel to concerns about the dollar, saying the U.S. will run a cumulative budget deficit of $9 trillion over the next 10 years, $2 trillion more than it had previously projected.

“‘That’s going to be negative for the dollar,’ says Adam Boyton, a currency analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. President Barack Obama also reappointed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose efforts to rescue the economy have… entailed pumping large amounts of freshly created dollars into the financial system…”