The "Obama show," as one newspaper calls it, is set to take Berlin by storm on Thursday, July 24. But a small minority is questioning whether the Democratic candidate can live up to the hype -- or justify the costs. In the build-up to what is probably the most anticipated American campaign speech ever held on foreign soil, one of Berlin's main city magazines offered its readership cut-out American flags to wave at Barack Obama's planned address. The presumed Democratic nominee plans to arrive in the German capital on Thursday morning. Not much of his agenda for the day has been made public, but he is set to speak at Berlin's Victory Column -- formally the main site of the Love Parade -- at 7PM local time. Those who want to hear Obama live have been told to start arriving three hours earlier. Berlin authorities say that as many as a million people could attend. Four TV stations are broadcasting the entire speech, and the rest are scrambling to secure prime locations at the site.
In the build-up to what is probably the most anticipated American campaign speech ever held on foreign soil, one of Berlin's main city magazines offered its readership cut-out American flags to wave at Barack Obama's planned address.
The presumed Democratic nominee plans to arrive in the German capital on Thursday morning. Not much of his agenda for the day has been made public, but he is set to speak at Berlin's Victory Column -- formally the main site of the Love Parade -- at 7PM local time.
Those who want to hear Obama live have been told to start arriving three hours earlier. Berlin authorities say that as many as a million people could attend. Four TV stations are broadcasting the entire speech, and the rest are scrambling to secure prime locations at the site.
Cheering is guaranteed at Barack Obama's speech in Berlin on Thursday, but his campaign is still frustrated and nervous. His appearance in the German capital will be a major test for Obama -- and 40 American journalists will be there to report any faux pas he makes back to the US. Candidate Barack Obama's team has been driven to the point of madness by the debate about his upcoming speech in Berlin. Barack Obama's campaign is frustrated over all the vehement discussions about his speech in Berlin on Thursday. SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that the recent criticism (more...) took the campaign by surprise and frustrated Obama's advisors. At first many Europeans complained about Obama not coming to Europe, but then the criticism shifted to his keynote address on the trans-Atlantic relationship -- and fears it might lack substance. The reaction has left members of his team frustrated. Although the discussions over where Obama will appear in Berlin are finally over -- he will speak at the Siegessäule, or Victory Column, at around 7 p.m. on Thursday -- another debate is already heating up. Is Obama using Berlin merely as another prop for his election campaign (more...)? In an editorial, theInternational Herald Tribune is demanding greater "sobriety" from Obama. The Economist is complaining of "disquieting signs of a tendency on Mr. Obama's part to tailor his message to whichever audience he is talking to." The magazine asks if one will be able to find any real clues from his talk about the future course of US policies in the speech. Others bemoan the fact that the senator isn't even bothering to make a symbolic visit to Brussels, the capital of the European Union. How can he truly be interested in positively transforming the trans-Atlantic relationship if he doesn't make a stopover in the city, they are asking? Paris and London are already frustrated: The two countries feel neglected because Obama is paying them only brief visits.
Cheering is guaranteed at Barack Obama's speech in Berlin on Thursday, but his campaign is still frustrated and nervous. His appearance in the German capital will be a major test for Obama -- and 40 American journalists will be there to report any faux pas he makes back to the US.
Candidate Barack Obama's team has been driven to the point of madness by the debate about his upcoming speech in Berlin.
Barack Obama's campaign is frustrated over all the vehement discussions about his speech in Berlin on Thursday. SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that the recent criticism (more...) took the campaign by surprise and frustrated Obama's advisors. At first many Europeans complained about Obama not coming to Europe, but then the criticism shifted to his keynote address on the trans-Atlantic relationship -- and fears it might lack substance. The reaction has left members of his team frustrated.
Although the discussions over where Obama will appear in Berlin are finally over -- he will speak at the Siegessäule, or Victory Column, at around 7 p.m. on Thursday -- another debate is already heating up. Is Obama using Berlin merely as another prop for his election campaign (more...)? In an editorial, theInternational Herald Tribune is demanding greater "sobriety" from Obama. The Economist is complaining of "disquieting signs of a tendency on Mr. Obama's part to tailor his message to whichever audience he is talking to." The magazine asks if one will be able to find any real clues from his talk about the future course of US policies in the speech. Others bemoan the fact that the senator isn't even bothering to make a symbolic visit to Brussels, the capital of the European Union. How can he truly be interested in positively transforming the trans-Atlantic relationship if he doesn't make a stopover in the city, they are asking? Paris and London are already frustrated: The two countries feel neglected because Obama is paying them only brief visits.
Downing Street is dismayed that Barack Obama has agreed to meet Tony Blair ahead of Gordon Brown on his whistle stop tour of Britain. Mr Obama will fly into Britain on Friday for a meeting at his London hotel with Mr Blair to discuss the Middle East and climate change. He will meet Mr Brown the following day at Downing Street but has declined to take part in a televised press conference with the Prime Minister. He will appear instead on the steps of Downing Street with Mr Brown to answer a few questions. He will then meet David Cameron the Tory leader. The Democratic presidential candidate has given priority to Mr Blair, who he is expected to have breakfast or dinner with, because he is still enormously popular in the United States. Mr Brown, by contrast, is barely known across the Atlantic. The six-nation tour by Mr Obama has enjoyed saturation coverage in the American media. Mr Obama's advisers calculated that photographs and television footage breaking bread with Mr Blair would play much better back home than with the Prime Minister.
Mr Obama will fly into Britain on Friday for a meeting at his London hotel with Mr Blair to discuss the Middle East and climate change.
He will meet Mr Brown the following day at Downing Street but has declined to take part in a televised press conference with the Prime Minister.
He will appear instead on the steps of Downing Street with Mr Brown to answer a few questions. He will then meet David Cameron the Tory leader.
The Democratic presidential candidate has given priority to Mr Blair, who he is expected to have breakfast or dinner with, because he is still enormously popular in the United States. Mr Brown, by contrast, is barely known across the Atlantic.
The six-nation tour by Mr Obama has enjoyed saturation coverage in the American media.
Mr Obama's advisers calculated that photographs and television footage breaking bread with Mr Blair would play much better back home than with the Prime Minister.
Or just a sign that poodlehood is the main quality sought in European leaders? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Smog, dust particles, algae blooms: the high levels of pollution at Olympic venues has the sporting world worried. The Chinese authorities are working feverishly to address the problem -- closing factories, banning cars from the roads, and renewing promises of "green games." But will it be enough? Down in the courtyard there's a silver-colored building made of corrugated sheet metal that looks something like a missile control center. Inside, large screens hang on the wall with position lights and graphs showing current cloud formations throughout China. Double rows of scientists in white coats sit silently in front of computers and compile data.
Smog, dust particles, algae blooms: the high levels of pollution at Olympic venues has the sporting world worried. The Chinese authorities are working feverishly to address the problem -- closing factories, banning cars from the roads, and renewing promises of "green games." But will it be enough?
Down in the courtyard there's a silver-colored building made of corrugated sheet metal that looks something like a missile control center. Inside, large screens hang on the wall with position lights and graphs showing current cloud formations throughout China. Double rows of scientists in white coats sit silently in front of computers and compile data.
Thomas Arthur has been on death row since 1982. His execution is set for July 31 -- although strong doubts remain about his guilt. The governor of Alabama is refusing to allow DNA tests that may prove his innocence. Twice already, Sherrie Stone has said farewell to her father for what she thought was the last time. Twice she told him "my goodbyes," as she puts it, in a prison in Atmore, Alabama. Twice she watched him shuffle off to his cell on death row, where he has been waiting to die for 26 years. Twice his execution has been postponed, only hours beforehand. Next week, Stone, 47, will go to Atmore a third and probably last time. An eight-hour drive from Florida, where she lives, to Alabama, where her father, Thomas Arthur, has been incarcerated for murder since 1982. On July 31, when he is finally to die by lethal injection, Stone will go through the farewell motions yet again. It doesn't get any easier.
Thomas Arthur has been on death row since 1982. His execution is set for July 31 -- although strong doubts remain about his guilt. The governor of Alabama is refusing to allow DNA tests that may prove his innocence.
Twice already, Sherrie Stone has said farewell to her father for what she thought was the last time. Twice she told him "my goodbyes," as she puts it, in a prison in Atmore, Alabama. Twice she watched him shuffle off to his cell on death row, where he has been waiting to die for 26 years.
Twice his execution has been postponed, only hours beforehand.
Next week, Stone, 47, will go to Atmore a third and probably last time. An eight-hour drive from Florida, where she lives, to Alabama, where her father, Thomas Arthur, has been incarcerated for murder since 1982. On July 31, when he is finally to die by lethal injection, Stone will go through the farewell motions yet again. It doesn't get any easier.
Barack Obama said today that there was a window of opportunity to tackle the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but warned of mounting "hopelessness and despair" on both sides. "I think we have a window right now that needs to be taken advantage of," said Mr Obama in the rocket-battered southern Israeli town of Sderot. In a swipe at President George Bush's slowness to wade into the Middle East, he added: "I will not wait until a few years into my term or my second term if I am elected in order to get the process moving."
Barack Obama said today that there was a window of opportunity to tackle the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but warned of mounting "hopelessness and despair" on both sides.
"I think we have a window right now that needs to be taken advantage of," said Mr Obama in the rocket-battered southern Israeli town of Sderot.
In a swipe at President George Bush's slowness to wade into the Middle East, he added: "I will not wait until a few years into my term or my second term if I am elected in order to get the process moving."
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday it is in Israel's interest to achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians, but he emphasized Israeli's right to defend itself. He also said that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, but that the issue should be settled through negotiation. "That's an issue that has to be dealt with the parties involved, the Palestinians and the Israelis, and it is not the job of the United States to dictate the form in which that will take, but rather to support the efforts that are being made right now to resolve these very difficult issues that have a long history," Obama said.
He also said that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, but that the issue should be settled through negotiation.
"That's an issue that has to be dealt with the parties involved, the Palestinians and the Israelis, and it is not the job of the United States to dictate the form in which that will take, but rather to support the efforts that are being made right now to resolve these very difficult issues that have a long history," Obama said.
Barack Obama today pledged his "unshakeable commitment to Israel's security" after a day of meetings with Israel's most senior leaders and a helicopter flight to a town targeted by rockets from Gaza.Most of the talks on his visit were dominated by the Israeli government's concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions -- a concern echoed by the Democratic presidential candidate. "A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said.Obama also spoke of his hope for a Middle East peace agreement that would see the creation of a "viable and peaceful Palestinian state" alongside a secure Israel.The Illinois senator travelled in a heavily guarded convoy to Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, where he met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and prime minister, Salam Fayyad. The one-hour meeting in the Palestinian territories - which came during a 36-hour visit to Israel - still managed to trump his Republican challenger for the White House, John McCain, who spoke to Abbas only by telephone during his trip to Israel in March.
Barack Obama today pledged his "unshakeable commitment to Israel's security" after a day of meetings with Israel's most senior leaders and a helicopter flight to a town targeted by rockets from Gaza.
Most of the talks on his visit were dominated by the Israeli government's concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions -- a concern echoed by the Democratic presidential candidate. "A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said.
Obama also spoke of his hope for a Middle East peace agreement that would see the creation of a "viable and peaceful Palestinian state" alongside a secure Israel.
The Illinois senator travelled in a heavily guarded convoy to Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, where he met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and prime minister, Salam Fayyad. The one-hour meeting in the Palestinian territories - which came during a 36-hour visit to Israel - still managed to trump his Republican challenger for the White House, John McCain, who spoke to Abbas only by telephone during his trip to Israel in March.
When it comes to Barack Obama, I'm not merely disappointed anymore. Now I'm scared. From Paul Joseph Watson in Infowars Presidential frontrunner Barack Obama has called for a "civilian national security force" as powerful as the U.S. military, comments that were ignored by the vast majority of the corporate media but compared by one journalist to the Nazi Hitler Youth. "We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded," Obama told a Colorado Springs audience earlier this month.
When it comes to Barack Obama, I'm not merely disappointed anymore. Now I'm scared.
From Paul Joseph Watson in Infowars
Presidential frontrunner Barack Obama has called for a "civilian national security force" as powerful as the U.S. military, comments that were ignored by the vast majority of the corporate media but compared by one journalist to the Nazi Hitler Youth.
"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded," Obama told a Colorado Springs audience earlier this month.
Instead rereading "The fear of freedom", you must write "The love of security. The yearning of a perfect world police". When Procrustes looks after you, you're sure to fit in.
Anyone for rounding up Repubs? Gitmo's still open for business. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
The militarisation of America's society continues apace. keep to the Fen Causeway
i hope this is alex jones-type paranoia...
although once again it might dilute-by-draft the 'security' forces, rather preferable to the born thugs attracted to blackwater etc.
sad to have to use relativity this way...
maybe it's (another) bluff, like FISA.
gotta give some, to get more... ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
It would also help if civil defence were civilian, not military (the civil defence organisations are civilian as far as I know in Spain and the UK, but in the US there's only the National Guard).
In a few countries such as Jordan and Singapore (see Singapore Civil Defence Force), civil defense is essentially the same organization as the fire brigade. In most countries however, civil defense is a government-managed, volunteer-staffed organization, separate from the fire brigade and the ambulance service. As the threat of Cold War eased, a number of such civil defense organizations have been disbanded or mothballed (as in the United Kingdom and the United States civil defense), while others have changed their focuses into providing rescue services after natural disasters (as for the State Emergency Service in Australia). However the ideals of Civil Defense have been brought back in the United States under FEMA's Citizens Corps and CERT.
MOSCOW: President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia declared Tuesday that their countries would more closely coordinate their actions on global oil and gas markets and that they would work together on foreign policy, a sphere in which both countries have sought to counter American influence. Chávez, who was also expected to sign contracts to purchase more than $1 billion worth of Russian arms, called for the two nations to become "strategic partners" to defend against what he called an American threat to his country. "That will guarantee the sovereignty of Venezuela, which the United States is now threatening," Chávez said, according to the official Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, at the start of two days of planned meetings. Medvedev, who met Chávez for the first time since succeeding Vladimir Putin as president, stopped short of endorsing his guest's sharp remarks about the United States. So did Russian officials, who stressed the business significance of the new cooperation, including three new deals to expand Russian oil and gas companies' presence in Latin America, rather than its political import.
MOSCOW: President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia declared Tuesday that their countries would more closely coordinate their actions on global oil and gas markets and that they would work together on foreign policy, a sphere in which both countries have sought to counter American influence.
Chávez, who was also expected to sign contracts to purchase more than $1 billion worth of Russian arms, called for the two nations to become "strategic partners" to defend against what he called an American threat to his country.
"That will guarantee the sovereignty of Venezuela, which the United States is now threatening," Chávez said, according to the official Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, at the start of two days of planned meetings.
Medvedev, who met Chávez for the first time since succeeding Vladimir Putin as president, stopped short of endorsing his guest's sharp remarks about the United States. So did Russian officials, who stressed the business significance of the new cooperation, including three new deals to expand Russian oil and gas companies' presence in Latin America, rather than its political import.
WASHINGTON - Al-Qaeda is back - with a vengeance of sorts. Listen to Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed - a senior al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan, in a very rare interview with Pakistan's Geo TV, shot in Khost, in eastern Afghanistan. "At this stage this is our understanding - that there is no difference between the American people and the American government itself. If we see this through sharia [Islamic] law, American people and the government itself are infidels and are fighting against Islam. We have to rely on suicide attacks which are absolutely correct according to Islamic law. We have adopted this way of war because there is a huge difference between our material resources and our enemy's, and this is the only option to attack our enemy." The interview is not only about defensive jihad. Yazeed delves into classic al-Qaeda strategy - inciting a cross-border Taliban jihad against the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces and blasting a state, in this case the government of Pakistan. According to him, "Sadly, it is the government of Pakistan which has most damaged our cause. President [Pervez] Musharraf violated the trust of Muslims and contributed to the destruction of the Islamic government of Afghanistan ... Musharraf and his government have made big mistakes, there is no such example in other Islamic states." Yazeed also said al-Qaeda was responsible for the suicide car bombing on the Danish Embassy in Islamabad in early June, when six people were killed. So why is al-Qaeda feeling so emboldened to have one of its top commanders on camera - and on a foreign TV network to boot, not as-Sahab, al-Qaeda's media arm?
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia should respond to U.S. missile defense plans for Central Europe by reopening a 'spy' facility in Cuba to gather intelligence on the United States, a Russian analyst said on Wednesday. The electronic monitoring and surveillance facility near Havana at Torrens, also known as the Lourdes facility, the largest Russian Sigint site abroad, was shut down in October 2001 by then- president Vladimir Putin. "Cuba is a unique place to gather intelligence on the United States. I believe that the reopening of this station is both possible and necessary amid the threat that the Americans are creating for Russia," Alexander Pikayev, head of the disarmament and conflict resolution department at the Russian Academy of Sciences' World Economics and International Relations Institute, told a news conference at RIA Novosti. "Russia has every right to respond," he added.
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia should respond to U.S. missile defense plans for Central Europe by reopening a 'spy' facility in Cuba to gather intelligence on the United States, a Russian analyst said on Wednesday.
The electronic monitoring and surveillance facility near Havana at Torrens, also known as the Lourdes facility, the largest Russian Sigint site abroad, was shut down in October 2001 by then- president Vladimir Putin.
"Cuba is a unique place to gather intelligence on the United States. I believe that the reopening of this station is both possible and necessary amid the threat that the Americans are creating for Russia," Alexander Pikayev, head of the disarmament and conflict resolution department at the Russian Academy of Sciences' World Economics and International Relations Institute, told a news conference at RIA Novosti.
"Russia has every right to respond," he added.
Uprising Against the Ethanol Mandate Kevin Moloney for The New York Times Published: July 23, 2008 The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as fuel. Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has begun competing with food for cropland. "When you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging," Mr. Perry said in an interview. "And we are in a hole."
Published: July 23, 2008
The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks.
Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as fuel.
Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has begun competing with food for cropland.
"When you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging," Mr. Perry said in an interview. "And we are in a hole."
The entire California delegation opposed ethanol mandates and then sought exemptions from them. Very little corn is grown in California. They saw this as another Enron. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Drying out is a subject on which President George Bush has personal insights. And when he used the metaphor of a drunk sobering up after a bender to describe America's economic travails, people sat up and listened. "Wall Street got drunk," Mr Bush told a private gathering in Texas as he sought to explain why the world's biggest and most complex economy was teetering on the brink of recession. When speaking in public, the President, a Harvard MBA, usually prefers euphemisms to refer to the millions of people who are hurting and losing their homes. "Challenges in the housing and financial markets," is a favourite one. But speaking to a closed-door Republican fund-raiser in Houston last week his explanation was much blunter.
Drying out is a subject on which President George Bush has personal insights. And when he used the metaphor of a drunk sobering up after a bender to describe America's economic travails, people sat up and listened.
"Wall Street got drunk," Mr Bush told a private gathering in Texas as he sought to explain why the world's biggest and most complex economy was teetering on the brink of recession.
When speaking in public, the President, a Harvard MBA, usually prefers euphemisms to refer to the millions of people who are hurting and losing their homes. "Challenges in the housing and financial markets," is a favourite one. But speaking to a closed-door Republican fund-raiser in Houston last week his explanation was much blunter.
Discredited as President and so unpopular that even John McCain shuns him,
not exactly positive for the candidate either. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
German firm halts bank note sales to Mugabe regime - Yahoo! News
FRANKFURT, Germany - A German company that has been supplying paper used by Zimbabwe's central bank to print bank notes said Tuesday it is stopping shipments immediately at the request of Germany's government. The move could be a new problem for the regime of President Robert Mugabe, which has been churning out currency amid skyrocketing inflation that forces Zimbabweans to shop with bundles of cash. A pint of milk can cost 3 billion Zimbabwe dollars, or about 30 U.S. cents. Giesecke & Devrient GmbH of Munich said it would stop delivering bank note paper to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe "with immediate effect." It said the decision came in response to an official request from the German government and calls for international sanctions by the European Union and United Nations. "Our decision is a reaction to the political tension in Zimbabwe, which is mounting significantly rather than easing as expected, and takes account of the critical evaluation by the international community, German government and general public," chief executive Karsten Ottenberg said in a statement. Zimbabwe's currency needs have spiraled upward as a shattered economy spurs overheated inflation. Prices rose 165,000 percent in February, according to government figures, but independent experts say the real inflation rate is closer to 4 million percent.
FRANKFURT, Germany - A German company that has been supplying paper used by Zimbabwe's central bank to print bank notes said Tuesday it is stopping shipments immediately at the request of Germany's government.
The move could be a new problem for the regime of President Robert Mugabe, which has been churning out currency amid skyrocketing inflation that forces Zimbabweans to shop with bundles of cash. A pint of milk can cost 3 billion Zimbabwe dollars, or about 30 U.S. cents.
Giesecke & Devrient GmbH of Munich said it would stop delivering bank note paper to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe "with immediate effect." It said the decision came in response to an official request from the German government and calls for international sanctions by the European Union and United Nations.
"Our decision is a reaction to the political tension in Zimbabwe, which is mounting significantly rather than easing as expected, and takes account of the critical evaluation by the international community, German government and general public," chief executive Karsten Ottenberg said in a statement.
Zimbabwe's currency needs have spiraled upward as a shattered economy spurs overheated inflation. Prices rose 165,000 percent in February, according to government figures, but independent experts say the real inflation rate is closer to 4 million percent.
i wonder what each banknote cost to print? ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
