"Never discuss politics or religion." Right? If you want to avoid controversy, uncomfortable confrontation, or angry disagreement and argument, just don't even mention those two things. Of course.

But what if those two things have become inextricably intertwined, and the political choices we all must make - for our mutual safety and foreseeable futures as free peoples - boil down to a choice between two religions? Between two irreconcilable, terribly opposite worldviews and religious philosophies?

What do we do when it becomes starkly clear that at least 100 million people all over this planet believe, deeply and as a basic tenet of their devout religion, that all who disagree with them are infidels - and must either be converted, subjugated or put to death. And that their God will handsomely reward any and all who die, accomplishing this "conversion" of the world's population to their religion?

Do intelligent people just shrug these facts off, assuming "it'll all work out; those people don't really believe all that, and even if they do, they'll come to their senses in time"? Do we all just go about our business and pleasure, leaving the "working out" of these diabolically opposite worldviews to diplomats and politicians?

Do reasonable adults even subscribe to the growing notion that Israel is the basic cause of all the problems in the Middle East, and that we Americans should withdraw support for that troublesome, pugnacious little "thorn in our side" and let the Muslim extremists wipe it off the map - believing that all other nations can then breathe sighs of relief and enjoy a harmonious, peaceful world?

The crazed, irrational hatred of Israel is at least partly because of its historic contributions to the world. The thought of Israel's enemies is "Who made the Jews so special?" My answer is God did - that's who. Long ago, the God of Abraham promised, "I'll bless those who bless you, and I'll curse those who curse you. And in you all the nations of the world will be blessed."

Abraham had two sons, only one by his wife Sarah, so God repeated the promises to Isaac. He made other promises to Ishmael, but He also foretold of everlasting enmity between the descendants of the two sons. Now that enmity has taken on global proportions, and no diplomacy or political maneuvering or "friendly persuasion" is ever going to convince those who are committed to another idea of God that anyone who refuses to accept their religion is worthy to live!

There's no neutrality, no spiritual Switzerland here; the lines are drawn in the sand. This conflict, growing and festering and becoming more inflamed by the hour, is between two concepts of God: one "loving the world so much He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" - and the other decreeing that all who will not accept him and his domination must be put to death, now and forever.
It's time to choose, and every single human being must make a choice.

-Evangelicals burned the pope in effigy in the U.S.
-Catholic cathedrals were burned down in Europe.
-Catholic missionaries were attacked in Asia.
-Catholic Bibles were thrown on a bonfire in Africa.
-Protestants kidnapped priests and nuns in Latin America and held them for ransom.
-Threats on the life of the pope poured in from around the world.

YOU SAW ALL THIS ON THE NEWS, RIGHT? OH, YOU DIDN'T? YOU MEAN NON-CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS DID NOT RISE UP IN ANGER AND VIOLENCE WHEN INSULTED BY THE POPE?

WHY IS THAT?

AFTER ALL, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD WHEN POPE BENEDICT EVER-SO-GENTLY CHIDED ITS HISTORY.

Last fall, Pope Benedict gave a speech at Regensburg in which he quoted from a 14th century text that denounced as "evil and inhumane" Muhammad's decree that Islam could be spread by the sword.
Within hours of the address, priests in Islamic countries were murdered and churches were burned. Muslims "protesting" the speech - because it insulted their "peaceful" religion - shot an African nun in the back. Threats were made against the life of the pope. When the pope traveled to Turkey two months later, he was met by tens of thousands of angry demonstrators.

With that recent experience with what we're told is "the religion of peace" in mind, should we not have expected the non-Catholic Christian world to ignite like a powder keg when insulted by Pope Benedict?

YET, IT DID NOT HAPPEN. WHY? IT'S QUITE SIMPLE.

Christians, generally speaking, though constantly criticized by non-believers as intolerant, are actually the most tolerant, peaceable people in the world. They believe in debate. They believe in dialogue. They believe in lively and free expression. They believe in permitting others to speak their minds - even when they profoundly disagree with what is said.

As an evangelical Christian, I was disappointed the pope would approve a document that characterized my faith as "defective" because I did not submit to his authority and the authority of priests but instead live only by the authority of God and His Word.

I disagree with the pope that the church Christ established on this Earth had anything to do with an institution run by men. The church Christ started was not a building. It was not a corporation. It was not a set of rules. It was and is a relationship between Creator and His creation.

Nevertheless, no matter how profoundly I disagree with the pope on this issue, I am not even slightly tempted to burn down Catholic churches or take nuns and priests hostage. I don't think many other non-Catholic Christians are either - as evidenced by the quietude we have experienced in the world since the pope's action.

There's a lesson here.
SOME NON-BELIEVERS LIKE TO PORTRAY CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS AND ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS AS CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH. I think the reaction to these two separate pronouncements from the Vatican illustrates just how profoundly ignorant, unenlightened and bigoted such conclusions are.

No heads were chopped off in the creation of this column.
No children were recruited into the suicide bomber profession in the creation of this column.
No women were stoned to death in the creation of this column.
And none of those things will happen as a result of the pope's difference of opinion with the non-Catholic Christian world.
No, I don't want to kill the pope because of his wrongful conclusions about me and my faith.

Lord Mark Malloch Brown told the Daily Telegraph it was time for a more "impartial" foreign policy and to build relationships with European leaders. Some analysts may consider the Foreign Office minister's remarks evidence of Labour distancing itself from the US.

Earlier, Downing Street denied another minister had criticised the US. International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander warned in a against unilateralism and called for an "internationalist approach" to global problems. "It is very unlikely that the Brown-Bush relationship is going to go through the baptism of fire and therefore be joined together at the hip like the Blair-Bush relationship was," he was reported as saying.

"That was a relationship born of being war leaders together. "There was an emotional intensity of being war leaders with much of the world against them. That is enough to put you on your knees and get you praying together." He went on to speak of forging new links with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as with leaders in India and China.

"You need to build coalitions that are lateral, which go beyond the bilateral blinkers of the normal partners," he added. "My hope is that foreign policy will become much more impartial."

The dig has been approved by the police, but the Israel Antiquities Authority declined to respond to the Waqf's excavations and would not comment on whether one of its archaeologists had approved the move.

The Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, an apolitical group comprised of archaeologists and intellectuals from the left and right, criticized the use of a tractor for excavation at the Temple Mount "without real, professional and careful archaeological supervision involving meticulous documentation."

Speaking for the committee yesterday, archaeologist Eilat Mazar said: "There is disappointment at the turning of a blind eye and the ongoing contempt for the tremendous archaeological importance of the Temple Mount."
At the beginning of the year, Israeli excavations near the Temple Mount, part of a plan to rebuild the Mugrabi bridge walkway, led to violent protests from Arabs in Israel and around the world.

See pictures

The price of milk, poultry and pork is also expected to rise as a result of an increase in the cost of livestock feed, according to Deloitte.Wheat and maize prices are now at the highest level in more than a decade. Arable farmers are now making £130 a ton for their wheat, up from £80 last year, and the trend in prices is up.

Mark Hill, food and agriculture partner at the firm, warned that rising demand for wheat and maize was bound to result in increases in the price of staple foods for British consumers.Mr Hill said the era of cheap subsidised food, which had lasted since the war, was over. He added: "I think we are going to see sustained price inflation - a general upward trend for staple foods such as grains, milk and meat.

"The reason is a very finely balance between supply and consumption. The International Grains Council is predicting wheat production this year at 623 million tons and consumption at 622 million tons."He said that an increasing trend of turning wheat and corn into alternative fuels, had come at a time when grain stocks had been run down. Grain supplies were already under pressure as a result of bad weather which reduced harvests and pushed up prices last year.

Over 20 per cent of the maize crop in the United States is now used for the production of ethanol. The knock on effect on the price of wheat, an alternative in processed food, suggested the wheat price was "only headed one way," said Mr Hill. European farmers have asked the European Commission to allow them to grow crops on the 8 per cent of land currently taken out of production as "set-aside" next year.

There is no credible currency against which it can collapse. (Unless you count gold). None of the world's rival power blocs have the economic and demographic depth to challenge American dominance.

Yes, we have a dollar rout on our hands. The markets have suddenly begun to discount a nasty crunch in the US as the subprime debacle spreads through the credit markets. The prospect of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve is drawing closer, knocking away the dollar's yield prop. Investors have switched reflexively to the euro as the default currency. This cannot last.

No, the 21st Century will be the American century, just like the 20th Century. Americans may have to tighten their belts a bit after all the sins of Alan Greenspan and the Clinton-Bush debt generation. But the dollar will still be the world's reserve currency long after the euro has disappeared and the yen has been forgotten? Now, the Indian Rupee? Hhm. Another day.

Full article

The Telegraph reports that EU Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has said THE CHARTER WILL APPLY TO LARGE PARTS OF BRITISH LAW, DESPITE UK GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT THE OPT-OUT WILL PREVENT THIS. Wallstrom said the Charter will be binding for member states when they implement EU law, and EU officials therefore predict Britain's opt-out on the European working time directive, for instance, will be challenged in the courts in Brussels because it affects European laws.

A senior European Parliament source, close to negotiations on the new EU treaty, told the Telegraph that MEPS ARE PLANNING TO SPONSOR EARLY CHALLENGES TO BRITAIN'S OPT-OUTS. "We are going to make sure that this issue is constantly before the European Court of Justice," he said. "There is 30 years of EU jurisprudence to say there can be no two-tier system of European rights." Open Europe's director Neil O'Brien as saying, "Trying to stop the charter changing our laws will be like trying to carry water in a sieve."
Telegraph

Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates said that the 'negotiations' would not stick to the mandate agreed last month. "The agreement reached at the European Council gives a clear and precise mandate. We are now in a position to move forward. One thing is clear to me. Our mandate is not to change the mandate, but to turn the mandate into a Treaty". Socrates was backed by Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who said: "IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT AN AGREEMENT THAT WAS ACHIEVED UNANIMOUSLY SHOULD BE REOPENED."

MEP Richard Corbett said the fact that the IGC mandate "salvages" 90% of the Constitution has excited much comment, but argued that although "mice and men" are 90% identical, the 10% difference is rather important. He said that the changes, including the dropping of the symbols of the EU, "will make it easier to ratify".

BARROSO: EU IS AN EMPIRE .
The Telegraph reports that EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said yesterday in Strasbourg: "We are a very special construction unique in the history of mankind. SOMETIMES I LIKE TO COMPARE THE EU AS A CREATION TO THE ORGANISATION OF EMPIRE. We have the dimension of empire" . According to the Eupolitix, Barroso added "We should not have existential doubts about the EU's future - it is what it has always been. IT IS THE WORLD'S FIRST NON-IMPERIAL EMPIRE, with 27 member states that have agreed to pool their sovereignty and work together."

EU TO UNVEIL NEW RULES ON SPORT TODAY; BRUSSELS' POWER IN THIS AREA TO BE EXTENDED BY NEW TREATY.
Euobserver reports - Controversial proposals giving the EU a capacity to regulate sport across Europe will be put forward by Culture Commissioner Jan Figel today. The white paper will outline new EU powers over contentious issues such as the selection and transfers of players, corruption and TV rights. Many member states have questioned the need for EU interverntion in this field. EUROPE HAS TRADITIONALLY HAD NO ROLE IN THE AREA OF SPORT, BUT EU COMPETENCE IN THIS AREA WAS AGREED AS PART OF THE DEAL ON THE NEW EU TREATY AT THE BRUSSELS SUMMIT LAST MONTH.

EU COMMISSION TO MAKE COMMUNICATING THE BENEFITS OF EU TREATY "A PRIORITY"; BUT WANTS TO AVOID AWKWARD QUESTIONS
Euobserver reports - Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom says THAT PROMOTING THE NEW EU TREATY WILL BE "ONE OF THE MAIN POLITICAL PRIORITIES" FOR THE COMMISSION IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS. Wallstrom said, "It's probably a wise tactic that we decide to pursue this quickly so that we don't leave room for a bunch of new questions. We should strictly stick to the mandates".

BRITAIN ISOLATED AS SARKOZY'S MAN BECOMES EU CANDIDATE FOR IMF HEAD
Le Figaro reports that Britain, advocating "open and transparent competition" for the post of head of the IMF, found itself isolated at a meeting of EU finance ministers yesterday, with the result that Sarkozy's candidate, former Socialist Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is now the EU's as well. But the Guardian reports that the UK is refusing to abide by the other 26 member-states' decision, with Treasury sources saying "the EU is not mandated to vote as a bloc and there was no majority or unanimous decision."

EU FINANCE MINISTERS YESTERDAY GAVE A FINAL GREEN LIGHT TO CYPRUS AND MALTA JOINING THE EURO ON 1 JAN 2008.
Nezavisimaia Gazeta

THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FT reports that mortgage fears in US have sparked a sell off in credit markets, and have brought the dollar to record lows against the Euro.

COMMISSION CALLS FOR MEMBER STATES TO CO-OPERATE AGAINST BIO-TERROR THREAT
Brussels is insisting on the danger of a simultaneous bio-terrorist attack on several member states, and, claiming that 'no member state can hope to go it alone', has proposed a 'European bionetwork' putting intelligence services, scientists and police forces of the 27 member states in contact. With member state jealously guarding their prerogatives in security, the Commission will make more detailed proposals in October.
Le Figaro


FRATTINI OPPOSES SCHAEUBLE'S SUGGESTION THAT TERRORISTS COULD BE ASSASSINATED
Responding to German interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's suggestion that terrorists could be assassinated, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said, "the fact that we are fighting against terrorism can't mean we kill people," adding that he was against "any form of the death penalty." Schaeuble had said that if bin Laden's whereabouts were known it would be legitimate to kill him with a missile.
El Pais

The IDF Military Intelligence (MI) assessment was reported Tuesday to the Knesset and included a concrete assessment determining that Iran could cross the technological threshold required to produce nuclear weapons in the next 6-12 months and possess an operational warhead by the middle of 2009.

The assessment is at odds with US estimates that put the date between 2010 and 2013. Both agree, however, that military strikes could set back the technology for years.IDF MI also is of the opinion that sanctions against Iran have not weakened the regime, because huge oil reserves still provide all the money necessary to neutralize any pressure created by the international community.

The assessment also revealed that Israel's withdrawals - from Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005 - have added precedents and solidified belief throughout the Middle East that armed struggle can achieve the destruction of Israel within this generation.Lieberman said that although Europe or the US could not be relied upon to attack Iran on Israel's behalf, they would support Israel's actions. "If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the US will support us," he said.

US Senator Joseph Lieberman has been publicly calling for US strikes on Iran.He repeated the call last week, saying the Islamic Republic "has declared war on the US" and is waging a "proxy war" against coalition forces in Iraq.The Connecticut Senator and former Vice-Presidential candidate said intelligence reports proved Iran was behind much of the terrorism in Iraq and must be confronted directly. "Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us."

Countries in the Middle East and Africa have long dealt with water shortages but now the likes of China, India and the United States are grappling with the problem.And the United Nations says five billion people will be living in areas with limited water availability by 2025, which will only exacerbate tensions and demand for the limited supply.

Water management has been pushed to the top of the political agenda in some countries and military leaders are now being drawn into long-term planning to help strategize how governments will face their dry futures.
While it's not yet expected that water will be the sole cause of a war, the report suggests a fight over natural resources could be the final straw that pushes countries into conflict.

Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians said she doesn't doubt the Americans would try to pressure Canada into sharing its water in a time of crisis."I am absolutely convinced that the United States has already targeted Canada's water, I'm absolutely convinced there are high-level conversations going on between some people in government and business in our country and the United States," she said.

"The situation is critical for those already living on the edge, struggling to cope with the combined impact of successive crop failures, poverty and HIV/AIDS," UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes said in a statement late on Wednesday. UNAIDS says about 270,000 people -- making up 14 percent of Lesotho's population -- are infected with HIV, giving it one of the worst AIDS crises in the world.The food crunch was triggered by the country's worst drought in over 30 years, which OCHA said had cut the staple maize crop harvest by more than 40 percent.

Close to 328,000 tonnes of cereals are now needed to feed hungry people in the country, which only harvested a meagre 72,000 tonnes of cereals during its last harvest, down from 126,000 tonnes last year.Sparse supplies, and reduced harvests in neighbouring South Africa, the regional supplier, have helped to push prices beyond the reach of many in Lesotho, which is one of the poorest countries in the region.

Lesotho's crisis has spurred wider calls for food aid to other parts of southern Africa. More than 5 million people in the region, including up to four million in Zimbabwe alone, are expected to need food assistance due to drought this year, the U.N. said.

Many families fled to beaches as the fire came down to the water's edge, fanned by strong winds. The three resorts affected were Aghia Paraskevi, Troulos and Kolios, on the southern part of the island.British tourists on the heavily-wooded island of Skiathos described the progress of the fire as absolutely terrifying.
Greece has been afflicted by a seemingly never-ending series of fires this summer, our correspondent says.

On Wednesday, three firefighters on the island of Crete were killed when they were trapped by swirling flames suddenly changing direction in powerful winds.

Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.

Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim. Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.

The small tablet, the size of "a packet of 10 cigarettes" according to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, is a bill of receipt acknowledging Nabu-sharrussu-ukin's payment of 0.75 kg of gold to a temple in Babylon.
The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 595BC, 12 years before the siege of Jerusalem.

Evidence from non-Biblical sources of people named in the Bible is not unknown, but Nabu-sharrussu-ukin would have been a relatively insignificant figure. "This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A THROWAWAY DETAIL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT TURNS OUT TO BE ACCURATE AND TRUE. I THINK THAT IT MEANS THAT THE WHOLE OF THE NARRATIVE [OF JEREMIAH] TAKES ON A NEW KIND OF POWER."

The full translation of the tablet reads: (Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

Tintin In The Congo was the second comic book, written and drawn by the Belgian author Hergé, to feature the boy reporter. It was first published in 1931 but was redrawn in 1946, when Hergé removed several references to Congo being a Belgian colony.

Spokesman for the CRE said: "This book contains imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice, where the 'savage natives' look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles. "It beggars belief that in this day and age Borders would think it acceptable to sell and display Tintin In The Congo. High street shops, and indeed any shops, ought to think very carefully about whether they ought to be selling and displaying it."

Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative MP, said it was "ludicrous" for the CRE to try to ban a 75-year-old book and claimed its outburst would damage the watchdog's reputation. "I understand the view that it shouldn't be on sale to children but the publishers have taken care of that. "It brings the CRE into disrepute - there are many more serious things for them to worry about."

The National Bureau of Statistics raised its estimate of China's 2006 growth rate from 10.7 percent to 11.1 percent. It nudged up its estimate of total output by 146.4 billion yuan ($18.8 billion) to 21.1 trillion yuan ($2.705 trillion).

The revision brought China closer to Germany, the world's third-largest economy after the United States and Japan. Germany's 2006 output was $3 trillion but its 2.5 percent growth rate was well below China's.
China's trade surplus soared to a new monthly high of $26.9 billion in June, the government reported Tuesday.

The statistics bureau's brief announcement on Wednesday said the biggest increase in China's estimated output was in secondary industries, which includes manufacturing, construction and utilities.

The exact size of China's economy is a matter of debate, with foreign analysts saying the small statistics agency lacks the resources to provide more than a general estimate. In December 2005, Beijing raised the official size of the economy by nearly 17 percent and retroactively boosted annual growth figures for the previous decade following the first nationwide census of China's booming service industries such as restaurants.