Deutsche Bank: Only Jesus Can Save The Eurozone

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Deutsche Bank‘s global head of FX strategy, Bilal Hafeez, recently gave a speech at the annual Deutsche Bank Mittelstand (small and medium-sized enterprises) FX conference in Hamburg, Germany.

The bank’s research department transcribed Hafeez’s speech and sent it out to clients in a note.

The speech focuses on the euro area’s economic woes and the need for the currency bloc to move forward with further integration in order to be economically successful.

Hafeez opens the speech with a reflection on parenting and a child’s years as a “terrible teen.” Then, he makes an interesting comparison to the euro area, complete with a religious allegory.

Hafeez said the euro area needs a role model that people across Europe can respect. “I can only think of one figure that is respected by most Europeans and has never sinned, Jesus!” said Hafeez.

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U.S. Cancels Part Of Missile Defense That Russia Opposed

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The United States has effectively canceled the final phase of a Europe-based missile defense system that was fiercely opposed by Russia and cited repeatedly by the Kremlin as a major obstacle to cooperation on nuclear arms reductions and other issues.

Russian officials here have so far declined to comment on the announcement, which was made in Washington on Friday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as part of a plan to deploy additional ballistic missile interceptors to counter North Korea. The cancellation of some European-based defenses will allow resources to be shifted to protect against North Korea.

Aides to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said there would be no reaction until early next week, when they expect to be briefed by American officials. But Russian news accounts quickly raised the possibility that the decision could portend a breakthrough in what for years has been a largely intractable dispute between Russia and the United States. A headline by the Itar-Tass news agency declared, “U.S. abandons fourth phase of European missile defense system that causes the greatest objections from Russia.”

Pentagon officials said that those longstanding objections by Russia played no role in the decision to reconfigure the missile interceptor program, which they said was based on the increased threat from North Korea and on technological difficulties and budget considerations related to the Europe-based program.

“The missile defense decisions Secretary Hagel announced were in no way about Russia,” George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, said Saturday.

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Pope Francis Reaches Out To Jews

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Oded Balilty

Like his predecessor, Pope Francis reached out to Rome’s Jewish community at the very start of his pontificate, pledging to continue to strengthen the increasingly close ties between Catholics and Jews.

Just hours after he was elected the first Latin American pope in history, Francis sent a letter to Rome’s chief Rabbi Riccardo di Segni, saying he hoped to “contribute to the progress that relations between Jews and Catholics” have seen since the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council.

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, di Segni said the dialogue between Catholicism and Judaism was “complicated” but added that the new pope’s background “gives me trust and hope” that relations will continue to improve.

Other Jewish leaders welcomed the election of a pontiff seen as an ally when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. Israeli President Shimon Peres said Francis would be a “welcome guest in the Holy Land” while Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said the new pope “always had an open ear for our concerns.”

“By choosing such an experienced man, someone who is known for his open-mindedness, the cardinals have sent an important signal to the world,” Lauder said. “I am sure that Pope Francis I will continue to be a man of dialogue, a man who is able to build bridges with other faiths.”

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Germany Defies Calls For Stimulus

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Germany has ignored calls from its eurozone partners for more economic stimulus by tabling plans to cut spending and balance its budget ahead of schedule on the eve of an EU summit dedicated to growth.

Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, said on Wednesday that his budget for 2014, involving spending cuts of more than €5bn to trim the total below €300bn, was “a strong signal for Europe”.

The plan means Germany will reach budget balance in 2015, a year earlier than required under the “debt brake” written into its constitution.

He described the 2014 spending plan as “growth-friendly consolidation”, intended to prove to the rest of the eurozone that “consistent sustainable budgeting and growth are not mutually exclusive”. Philipp Rösler, economy minister, said Germany’s public finances were the “envy of the world”.

Publication of the budget was deliberately brought forward by a week to bring out the figures before the EU summit, according to German officials. In spite of tough cuts for health, social security and environment, the plan was rushed through the cabinet well ahead of schedule.

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Holy Smoke! The “New World” Finally Gets Its Pope

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Photo Credit: Sebástian Freire

The white smoke billowing out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaled a changing of the guard for the Catholic Church. Acknowledging the almost half billion Catholics who live in Latin America, the council of Cardinals finally recognized the “new world” by electing Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the next Pope.

The 76 year old Argentinian, will be the first non European Pope to be elected in over 1,000 years. He will be known as Pope Francis from now on, indicating he plans to model his life in the same prayerful and humble role as St. Francis of Assissi.

If it’s any indication of his future humility, Cardinal Bergoglio once went to a hospital where sick aids patients lay. He washed and kissed their feet as he said prayers, blessing and expressing his love for them…..He is also well known for his compassion and outspokenness for the poor and downtrodden

Another first is that he is from the Jesuit order, the Church has never had a Jesuit as Pope before.

Other “new world” Cardinals were mentioned as possible candidates for Pope as well, including Irish American Cardinals: New York’s Timothy Dolan, and Boston’s Sean O’Malley.

Cardinal Dolan, particularly would have been well suited to head the Church as he has a stellar reputation for accomplishing tasks, can maneuver through the world of secular politics and is a master at communicating with the media…Strengths necessary as the Church is besieged by a bevy of problems, including outside secular forces and competition from other sects of Christianity….But many other problems the Church faces, are of their own making.

Rumors swirled around the idea of having an American Pope. Some people think too much power is already vested in America and to have an American Pope would be too much. Others said they would be suspicious that an American Pope would be working for the CIA.

Although Latin America accounts for almost half of the population of Catholics in the world, it only has 22 Cardinals out of the approximately 125 elector Cardinals worldwide. So this new Pope signals the recognition that the Churches future growth, for now, lies in the developing parts of the world.

In spite of its problems the Catholic Church is the single largest religion in the world with 1.2 billion members. It is the wellspring of world charity in places where little of that exists and has brought education to millions who would have otherwise been denied a chance to be educated. The Church was also instrumental, under the helm of Pope John Paul, in bringing down the Soviet Unions Iron Curtain that had enslaved millions around the world.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

New Pope Francis Called Abortion the ‘Death Penalty for the Unborn’

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The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been selected to become the next Pope, leading the Catholic Church. Like his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, he is a staunch pro-life advocate when it comes to abortion.

Last year, then-Cardinal Bergoglio stated, “Abortion is never a solution. We listen, support and understanding from our place to save two lives: respect the human being small and helpless, they can take steps to preserve your life, allow birth and then be creative in the search for ways to bring it to its full development.”

He once called abortion a “death sentence” for unborn children, during a 2007 speech and likening opposition to abortion to opposition to the death penalty.

In an October 2, 2007 speech Bergoglio said that “we aren’t in agreement with the death penalty,” but “in Argentina we have the death penalty. A child conceived by the rape of a mentally ill or retarded woman can be condemned to death.”

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‘I’m Ready To Rain Bullets On The Enemy’: Boy-Leader Kim Jong Un Gets ‘Hard Man’ Makeover As He Poses With Tanks and Threatens US

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North Korea has issued yet another set of apocalyptic threats as the rogue state refuses to back down in the face of war games between the U.S. and South Korea. An official newspaper has quoted a war veteran vowing to ‘rain bullets on the enemy’ while leader Kim Jong Un urged his troops to ‘cut their windpipes’. The 20-something leader has been seen looking increasingly warlike in recent pictures posing next to tanks and guns, prompting speculation he is trying to project a ‘hard man’ image to shore up his authority ahead of a possible new offensive.

North Korea’s army this week officially cancelled an armistice it signed with the South at the end of Korean War. The move makes it more likely that recent tensions, prompted by new UN sanctions as well as the joint military exercises which started yesterday, could bubble over into all-out warfare.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of Kim’s Workers’ Party, quoted an 80-year-old veteran of the Korean War supposedly expressed the national mood.

‘I am still keeping a bullet that I failed to fire at a trench in the 1950s because the U.S. imperialists and their stooges signed an armistice agreement,’ he apparently said. ‘Send me to the trench. Give me a rifle. I want to rain bullets on the enemy to my heart’s content.’

Kim himself issued a direct threat to the U.S. and South Korea over their long-scheduled drills on the Korean Peninsula. ‘As the saying goes, a guy who is fond of playing with fire is bound to perish in flames,’ he told troops. ‘All the enemies quite often playing with fire in the sensitive hotspot should be thrown into a cauldron once I issue an order.

‘Once an order is issued you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like.’

The leader’s martial attitude in recent photographs is in stark contrast to the laid-back image he attempted to project during the recent visit of former basketball star Dennis Rodman to the pariah nation.

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Venezuela Opening Investigation Into Whether Chavez Given Cancer By US

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The Venezuelan government announced Monday that it will open an inquiry into the conspiracy theory that the cancer that helped kill Hugo Chavez last week was implanted by his American imperialist enemies, but doctors say such a scenario is impossible.

Chavez died last week from a heart attack while suffering from cancer. Even before his death, conspiracy theorists suggested that the anti-American leader’s cancer was the product of an American plot to kill him. Even Chavez gave voice to the conspiracy.

“It’s very difficult to explain, even with the law of probabilities, what has been happening to some of us in Latin America,” Chavez said in 2011, speaking of several Latin American leaders who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, including himself. “Would it be so strange that they’ve invented technology to spread cancer and we won’t know about it for 50 years?”

“We will seek the truth,” Chavez disciple and acting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Monday while announcing the investigation, according to Reuters. “We have the intuition that our Commander Chavez was poisoned by dark forces that wanted him out of the way.”

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Brother of Infamous Nazi Hermann Goering Up For Prestigious ‘Righteous of the Nations’ Award

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Albert Goering, the brother of infamous Nazi Hermann Goering, is now among the candidates to receive the Righteous Among The Nations award. Albert was a German businessman who died in 1966.

According to accounts, Albert saved hundreds of Jews and political dissidents during the Second World War by helping them obtain exit permits and through other means.

Irena Steinfeldt, director of the Righteous Among The Nations department at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and research center in Israel, is supposedly preparing a file on Goering. The award is given to those who not only saved Jews, but risked their lives in doing so.

Despite their conflicting political views, the Goering brothers remained close.

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Israeli Chief Of Staff: Syria ‘Could Blow Up At Any Moment’

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One doesn’t know what to make of murky reports this week about the U.S., Britain, and France training a small force of purportedly moderate Syrian rebels in Jordan—especially with the Obama administration taking the official line that it does not directly aid the Syrian opposition.

If there was ever a time to build a coherent, more or less trustworthy, genuinely moderate Syrian opposition to replace the Assad regime—and it is a questionable proposition—that time would appear to have passed, as the Syrian chaos worsens and the radicals gain strength by the day.

How badly the situation has deteriorated was evident from a report in Israel Hayom on Monday that “Syrian rebels…near the border with Israel threatened…to fight to regain the Golan Heights from Israel following the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Assad.”

The report includes a video in which a “rebel fighter” in the Syrian part of the Golan—just across from the Israeli part—declares:

These lands are blessed and the despicable Assad family promised to liberate them, but for 40 years the Syrian army did not fire a single bullet. We will open a military campaign against Israel. We will fire the bullets that Assad did not and we will liberate the Golan.

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