"The question of the family ... is the question of what it means to be a man, and what it is necessary to do to be true men," he said. The Pope spoke of the "falseness" of gender theories and cited at length France's chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, who has spoken out against gay marriage.

"Bernheim has shown in a very detailed and profoundly moving study that the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper," he said. He cited feminist gender theorist Simone de Beauvoir's view to the effect that one is not born a woman, but one becomes so – that sex was no longer an element of nature but a social role people chose for themselves.

"The profound falsehood of this theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious," he said. The defence of the family, the Pope said, "is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears."

The Republican rank and file and Democrats may face an equally stark choice: work together for a change, or plunge together off the cliff. Boehner tried to ram a "fallback" plan through the House on Thursday - a relatively tiny tax increase on millionaires and billionaires - and failed. His rambunctious Republicans, who see opposition to all tax hikes as a matter of bedrock principle and of political survival, refused to go along.

President Barack Obama and his Democrats who control the Senate take the opposite view - tax hikes on the wealthy are a condition for their support of a fiscal cliff bill. If there is to be a resolution it will largely depend on an improbable scenario - Democrats in the House teaming up with less militant Republicans to back away from the fiscal cliff. Compromise has been out of style in recent years, and many think it could require some prodding from the markets.

"At this point, I only see one route to avoiding the cliff, a replay of the TARP debacle in 2008," said George Washington University's Sarah Binder, an expert on Congress. In September 2008, the House defeated the bank bailout bill and the market collapsed, prompting terrified lawmakers to reconsider and pass it.

"Clear signals" must finally be given and "concrete proposals for security policy cooperation" presented, rather than non-binding declarations of intent. For example, a fusion of the air forces of Germany and France would provide a good opportunity for promoting military as well as arms industry cooperation. Experts in Berlin have been complaining since some time that the desperately needed cooperation of the arms industries throughout the EU still has not really materialized, despite persistent political appeals.

Aside from the advantages for the arms industry, this plea for the creation of a German-French air force is aimed at the recent French-British military cooperation, considered in Berlin as a means for preventing a German predominance of the EU's war policy. Practical measures have now been taken to split the British-French alliance.

Citibank experts are expecting the Greek economy to shrink by 7.4 percent next year and 11.8 percent in 2014, because the austerity policy being imposed by Berlin allows no margin of manoeuvre for measures fostering growth. The unemployment rate will rise to 40 percent during the same period, predict the economists.

Social collapse is accompanying the escalation of the crisis, leading to not only a doubling of the suicide rate since 2010, but also to hostility toward Athens' political elite and the EU, under German domination, as well as to rapidly spreading xenophobic violence. Recently the UN High Commission for Refugees reported that from January-September, at least 87 migrants had been victims of brutal attacks - including murders.

At the same time, neo-Nazi organizations are growing stronger than ever before - and are heating up rumors of a putsch

The European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality prepared a report that calls for a ban of all books that "show the traditional family where the father is the breadwinner and the mother takes care of the children" in schools and day care centers of Europe. According to the authors, these books are bad for the future life of children, especially girls, and promote wrong behavioral patterns. In the future, it may prevent them from building a career.

Feminists are concerned that children from an early age are constantly faced with "negative gender stereotypes" in television shows and commercials. The word "negative" in the report is synonymous with the word "traditional". Over time, the ban would be extended to television and advertising. So far it was decided to start with books.

The authors of the report strongly recommend urgent legislative measures in the field of children's literature. In particular, they suggest introducing a policy of "equality of all social sectors." An example of alternative children's literature is a book "King and King" with kissing men on the cover. According to the report, this would help children to learn about the "true sexual diversity of society."

The organization, “is subordinate to the State Council and reports to the Communist Party of China’s Propaganda and Public Information Departments.” In other words, Xinhua represents the pinnacle of Chinese state-run media. Whatever is printed in its editorial pages represents the opinion of the ruling Communist Party leaders. The article adds that Barack Obama should begin “to make preparation for a protracted war,” with a massive political cost if he wants to eviscerate the second amendment.

As Brandon Darby points out, “The current Chinese government, the communist People’s Republic of China, was established in a revolution led by Mao Zedong, who killed an estimated 40-70 million people with starvation, executions, and re-education camps.” Indeed, it was Mao himself who said “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” This should provide a hint as to what happens when tyrants are unleashed upon a disarmed population, and why China’s call to repeal the Second Amendment rings chillingly hollow.

Doomsayers have reportedly identified Sirince-- reputed to be the site from which the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven - as a safe haven that will be spared destruction thanks to the positive energy flowing through it.

But if the world ends Friday - as prophesied by those who say the end of the Mayan "Long Count" calendar can mean only that - and Sirince survives, there will be fewer illuminati than journalists on hand to rebuild after the apocalypse.

Shop owners who have been preparing for a mass influx of thousands blame the media for the miscalculation one merchant said had led to an "utter stocking failure". "To me it sounds like a hoax invented by the media. People have been stocking up on wine, just in case, so I guess it will be one huge party tomorrow to finish it up." Ali Gulumser, a 38-year-old shop owner said.

Except for the media frenzy and the 500 gendarmes cautiously dispatched from the nearby city of Izmir, it was just another day in Sirince as the end of days loomed.