ITALY - Regardless of who wins next weekend's parliamentary election, Italy's long economic decline is likely to continue because the next government won't be strong enough to pursue the tough reforms needed to make its economy competitive again. Bankers, diplomats and industrialists in Rome and Milan despair at how Italians are shifting allegiances ahead of the February 24-25 vote to favor of anti-establishment upstarts and show disgust with the established parties. That makes it more likely that no bloc will have the political strength to tackle Italy's deep-rooted economic crisis, which has made it Europe's most sluggish large economy for the past two decades.
MALI - Al-Qaeda's list of 22 tips for dodging drone attacks - including at least one believed to originate with Osama bin Laden - has been found hidden inside a manila envelope in a building abandoned by Islamists in Mali. The document includes advice such as "hide under thick trees" (believed to be bin Laden's contribution), and instructions for setting up a "fake gathering" using dolls to "mislead the enemy". "This new document... shows we are no longer dealing with an isolated local problem, but with an enemy which is reaching across continents to share advice," said Bruce Riedel, a 30-year veteran of the CIA, now the director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institute.
USA - Is the US economy about to experience a major downturn? Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of signs that economic activity in the United States is really slowing down right now.
FRANCE - The CEO of a US tire maker has delivered a crushing summary of how some outsiders view France’s work ethic in a letter saying he would have to be stupid to take over a factory whose staff only put in three hours work a day.
BULGARIA - Bulgaria's centre-right government tendered its resignation on Wednesday (20 February) after days of street protests against rising electricity prices. The move is the latest in a series of EU governments stepping down amid public anger over austerity and mismanagement, in countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and Romania. "The people gave us power and today we are returning it," Prime Minister Bojko Borisov said when making the surprise announcement in parliament.
BULGARIA - Imagine your monthly income is $250 and your snowy January electricity bill is $200. Will you be among those throwing eggs at the Capitol Hill? It is an unlikely scenario for America – with its generous food stamps, earned income credit, welfare checks, Medicaid, housing vouchers, free cell-phones and the ability to print the world’s currency.
ITALY - Comparisons to Jesus, professions of love: Supporters of Silvio Berlusconi are rabidly faithful. As the campaign winds down ahead of elections in Italy, the rhetoric has heated up. For those who deify "Il Cavaliere," the Germans are to blame for their country's woes.
ITALY - A former Communist from a staunchly Catholic family, the son of a petrol station attendant. The 61-year-old leader of the Italian Left, Pier Luigi Bersani is the only larger-than-life element of the centre-Left Democratic Party, whose decent and calm image is a far cry from the over-the-top personality of his main challenger, Silvio Berlusconi. Bersani has pledged to continue the agenda of outgoing prime minister Mario Monti’s fiscal programme, but he wants to introduce more pro-growth measures in an attempt to blunt Mr Berlusconi’s persistent claims that austerity has halted economic recovery. He is a staunch Europhile, calling for the creation of a United States of Europe, he is also the front runner in opinion polls ahead of the Italian election.
EUROPE - The euro crisis may have dropped out of the headlines recently, but Spain and Italy would seem to be doing their best to bring it back. Real estate giant Reyal Urbis' bankrupcy has raised fresh concerns about Spanish banks and many fear that a Berlusconi election victory could drive Rome to seek emergency aid.
VATICAN - Pope Benedict may change rules governing the conclave that will secretly elect his successor, a move that could move up the global meeting of cardinals who are already in touch about who could best lead Catholics through a period of crisis.
USA - History may not repeat itself, but the parallels between the world economy in the 1930s and the world economy today are becoming hard to ignore. Then, as now, the world was in the grip of a severe economic downturn and painfully high unemployment. Then, as now, governments tried to restore growth and exports by devaluing their currencies and carving out trade blocs, risking a chain reaction around the world. Then, as now, the system was rudderless, unstable, and insecure – which persuaded countries to protect their own national interests, even at the expense of the collective good.
USA - The US Treasury just released a new report claiming to have performed an audit of US gold held by the Federal Reserve. To be blunt, the report is a complete joke. The report says that the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General performed an audit of the US Treasury’s schedule of US gold reserves held by the Federal Reserve. In other words the report states that they performed an audit of a paper trail and not the actual gold itself. What good is this so-called audit if all they did was check some numbers listed on a schedule? There is little doubt that this report is part of a deliberate disinformation campaign to mislead people into believing that a real audit of US gold reserves was performed.
USA - The US Air Force is developing tiny unmanned drones that will fly in swarms, hover like bees, crawl like spiders and even sneak up on unsuspecting targets and execute them with lethal precision. The Air Vehicles Directorate, a research arm of the Air Force, has released a computer-animated video outlining the future capabilities of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). The project promises to revolutionize war by down-sizing the combatants. 'MAVs will become a vital element in the ever-changing war-fighting environment and will help ensure success on the battlefield of the future,' the narrator intones. 'Unobtrusive, pervasive, lethal - Micro Air Vehicles, enhancing the capabilities of the future war fighter.'
USA - The Navy plans to shut down four of its active aircraft carriers in one of the worst-case scenarios presented to Congress by the service since the debate on budget cuts heated up this winter.
USA - The Pentagon notified Congress on Wednesday it will be furloughing its civilian workforce of 800,000 employees if sequestration goes into effect March 1. Defense officials have warned lawmakers that sequestration will devastate the military and lead to a hollow force, but the civilian furloughs will be one of the first major impacts felt by the across-the-board cuts. The Pentagon furloughs will affect civilians across the country. Pentagon officials have said that civilians could face up to 22 days of furloughs, one per week, through the end of the fiscal year in September. The employees would receive 30 days' notice before being furloughed.
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
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