Scary

The market is down - much further than I ever thought it would go. 8,000 would be the bottom - so I thought not too long ago. It's right now hovering around 7,300. It is really scary to see how scared investors are. What are they doing? Buying gold and pharmaceuticals and bonds and nothing else? What if this really turns into a depression? Then, to make matters worse, there is plenty of uncertainty in the global political sphere - wars and conflicts all over the place - Israel, Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Africa in general, just to name five. What do you do with so many belligerent nations? There is definitely a scarcity of good government. Sooner or later, some one will tire of all this confusion and insecurity and urge a joining of strong forces - the reunification of church and state. That's the only thing that will keep unruly people in line. Europe will make a sharp turn to the right and probably catch everyone by surprise. The U.S. will simply keep playing games. Buy a house in Europe or Brazil or Argentina and good luck.

Russia and Europe

From Yahoo! News: “WASHINGTON – A standoff over an obscure air base in a Central Asian country few Americans could find on a map is becoming an opening salvo in a new kind of Cold War with Russia. The prize is not military mastery or the global supremacy of ideas, but the defensive protection of resources and security. Each of the 20th century’s nuclear superpowers wants say-so over the decisions the other has reserved the right to make, and with a new U.S. administration signaling possible compromise with Russia on a missile-basing plan detested by Russia, Moscow is using U.S. dependence on the base for the Afghan war to drive a hard bargain. Security officials in Kyrgyzstan said Friday the United States must quit the Manas air base, but U.S. officials said they have not gotten any official eviction notice and that negotiations to stay are under way.” Let us not forget the Russians are expert chess players. Caught in the middle of all this are Germany and France, as always... somewhat amusing if it weren’t such serious stuff.

Church and State again

Well, now the saga between the pope and the newly re-instated bishop and the Jewish council in Israel has escalated to include the German government. Whatever happened to separation of Church and State? The pope has even asked the wayward bishop (in Argentina) to recant, which I'm sure he won't do. This will get dicey for sure, though the Vatican is very good at diplomacy. (See post of January 28 - Bishops and Rabbis)

Protests in Moscow

People in Paris might riot but Russians can only protest - if they riot they'll probably be shot on sight. Anyway, thousands showed up in a Moscow demonstration on Saturday to show their anxiety over the global economic crisis. As far as I know, nobody was hurt, though police kept a watchful eye on everybody. What good is a demonstration anyway? Will that create jobs? Are Russians allowed to own guns? I do not know. On January 19, two people were shot while walking near the Kremlin - Anastasia Baburova, a reporter for Novaya Gazeta (New Gazette), and Stanislav Markelov, a human rights attorney. Both were very young. Many thought the murders were orchestrated by conservative political fringe groups. I had recently heard a story on NPR about the Russian Orthodox Church getting cozy with the Kremlin. Is that really so? In the eyes of a lot of people, a re-uniting of church and state is probably overdue. Imagine the power that can emanate from such an entity.

Church on Sunday

From Yahoo! News: “VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI is getting his own channel on Google. It says the Vatican TV Center and Vatican Radio are collaborating with Google on the project. The Vatican's press office said Saturday that texts and video of the pope's speeches as well as news about the pontiff would be posted directly onto the channel. It says more information will be given next week. The Vatican began using its Web site widely to publish teachings and pronouncements under the late Pope John Paul II.” This might make it easier for the Church and the State to re-unite. What do I know? Nothing, that’s what. If commerce can be globalized, why not religion?