Doubts emerging over Poland's Lisbon ratification

PHILIPPA RUNNER
23.06.2008 @ 09:23 CET

Poland is emerging as another potential problem for Lisbon Treaty ratification, with the office of the president - who has yet to sign off on the document - beginning to publicly argue that the EU pact is dead following the Irish No.

"There are a lot of indications that...the Lisbon Treaty today doesn't exist in a legal sense because one of the [EU] countries rejected its ratification," presidential aide Michal Kaminski told Poland's Radio ZET on Sunday (22 June)...

The EU constitution "ended its life" after the French and Dutch referendums in 2005, he explained by way of comparison. Conservative MP Przemyslaw Gosiewski - from the president's Law and Justice party - took the same line on the radio talk-show.

"In my opinion - as a lawyer - we have the same situation as after Holland and France...the rules on ratification of the [Lisbon] treaty unequivocally state that after the Irish rejection, it has not been ratified," he said.

UK ratification was called into question late last week after London's High Court warned the treaty cannot become law until it rules on a legal challenge by eurosceptic millionaire Stuart Wheeler, despite the British queen having given her "Royal Assent."

Read more: Doubts emerging over Poland's Lisbon ratification

Christians: No One Path to Salvation

Americans of every religious stripe are considerably more tolerant of the beliefs of others than most of us might have assumed, according to a new poll released Monday. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life last year surveyed 35,000 Americans, and found that 70% of respondents agreed with the statement "Many religions can lead to eternal life." Even more remarkable was the fact that 57% of Evangelical Christians were willing to accept that theirs might not be the only path to salvation, since most Christians historically have embraced the words of Jesus, in the Gospel of John, that "no one comes to the Father except through me." Even as mainline churches had become more tolerant, the exclusivity of Christianity's path to heaven has long been one of the Evangelicals' fundamental tenets. The new poll suggests a major shift, at least in the pews...

An acceptance of the notion of other paths to salvation dilutes the impact of the doctrine that Christ died to remove sin and thus opened the pathway to eternal life for those who accept him as their personal savior. It could also reduce the impulse to evangelize, which is based on the premise that those who are not Christian are denied salvation. The problem, says Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is that "the cultural context and the reality of pluralism has pulled many away from historic Christianity." ...

The survey's biggest challenge is to the theologians and pastors who will have to reconcile their flocks' acceptance of a new, polyglot heaven with the strict admission criteria to the gated community that preceded it.

Read entire article: Christians: No One Path to Salvation

Sharemarket's Renewed Fear

ASX: Shares tumble

Shares opened lower this morning after the Dow Jones Index closed down on Friday, spurring renewed fears the sharemarket will close in the red for the first time in five years...

Looking abroad, investors can find little solace in the US market as the world's No. 1 economy grapples with a slowdown that has been exacerbated by the credit crunch.

...the US Federal Reserve is expected to keep its fed funds rate steady at 2%, although inflation is showing strength.The choppiness of the US market highlights the negative impact of the credit crunch, which has diminished the earnings outlook at banks and increased the cost of business for the sector both in the US and domestically in Australia.

Macquarie strategist Rory Robertson said the markets were edging closer to their 16-month March low of 5086.1.The question now is whether or not the market will drop further. The credit crunch and high fuel costs are damaging to growth everywhere, he said, and its creating bearishness in the market.

The Reserve Bank's engineered slowdown also coincides with increased skittishness among investors for risky holdings."Now we have momentum-type worries," Mr Robertson said."Investors can't own enough stuff when prices are going up. Now we're getting a reversal of those trends, where the downturn in prices is killing investor confidence

Will The EU Treaty Change Your Life?

Sunday 22nd June 2008

As the fallout from the recent Irish rejection of the EU treaty continues to build many people are actually wondering what the EU treaty is all about and whether it will actually make a difference to their lives.

If the Irish no vote has done one thing, it has actually made people sit up and ask what the treaty actually does for them and more importantly who will pay for it.In essence the treaty brings the EU members together under one single banner, the EU, allowing a vast array of new EU offices to be created.

There is even talk the EU will in due course have its own fulltime army, something which is being resisted by many countries such as the UK, but seems inevitable if the treaty is finally ratified.

The problem for many is the fact that the new look EU will be funded by tax payers around Europe, with countries such as the UK expected to inject more than most.

Read more: Will The EU Treaty Change

EU Presses Ahead With Treaty Ratification Despite Irish “No”

European Union decides Irish vote doesn’t really matter

German calls for removal of Irish commissioner

On Wednesday, Schulz called for Irish EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to be removed from his post, accusing him of contributing to Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

Everything seemingly is spinning out of control

By ALAN FRAM and EILEEN PUTMAN, Associated Press Writers Sun Jun 22, 4:13 AM ET
WASHINGTON -

Is everything spinning out of control?

The sense of helplessness is even reflected in this year's presidential election.

"It is pretty scary," said Charles Truxal, 64, a retired corporate manager in Rochester, Minn."... If you think about things, you have very little power to make it change."

And maybe this is what the 21st century will be about — a great unraveling of some things long taken for granted.

Read all: Everything seemingly is spinning out of control

European Union and Israel Ties

Diplomatic relations

• The Israeli Foreign Ministry has begun a strategic overhaul of relations with the EU and its member nations, increasingly "plugging into" EU institutions and, in turn, allowing Europe to play a greater role in Israeli diplomatic and economic processes. Jerusalem's strategy is to enhance cooperation with Europe in a variety of fields and to demonstrate that Israel can help with some of the EU's many interests in the region. To that end, Israel has in the past few weeks sent a detailed proposal to the European Union for negotiations on "significant" Israeli involvement with Europe in nine fields, including finance, education, environment, youth development, law enforcement, security cooperation and scientific research collaboration. [2]

• Part of Israel's strategy to strengthen relations with Europe involves de-linking those ties from the vicissitudes of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Israeli-European ties have tended to fluctuate parallel to progress, or the lack thereof, in negotiations with the Palestinians. [3]

The EU: A trade partner for Israel

• The EU is the main trade partner of Israel. According to an economic analysis prepared by the Commercial Department at the Israeli Mission to the EU,

Read more: European Union and Israel Ties

Jordanian Priest New Latin Patriarch of Occupied Jerusalem

Pope appoints new Occupied Jerusalem Latin Patriarch

June 21, 2008, 17:37
Vatican City:

Pope Benedict on Saturday appointed Archbishop Fouad Twal as Latin Patriarch of Occupied Jerusalem. The appointment makes 67-year-old Twal the Roman Catholic church's top Latin rite cleric for Palestinian territories and Israel. Twal replaces 75-year-old Archbishop Michel Sabbah, who resigned after holding the post since 1987. The Jordanian-born Twal served as deputy parish priest in Ramallah in the 1960s before landing a diplomatic career for the Vatican.

Europe’s calamity

It has happened. After France and the Netherlands rejected the European Constitutional Treaty, Ireland's "No" vote is the second and probably decisive blow against a united and strong Europe.

Read more: Europe’s calamity

There is still a minuscule chance to avert the debacle if Ireland with its "No" vote remains isolated within the EU. Beyond that, however, we should seriously consider whether, within the framework of the Treaty of Nice and on the basis of the Common Market, all parties involved and Europe would be better off parting ways: members favoring political integration should move on, while those satisfied with the Common Market should stay behind.

This formula worked with the Monetary Union. So why not with political integration? At any rate, comprehensive opt-outs are better than long-lasting blockades and disintegration of the European project.

Responses to EU Muddle

1. Brace yourself for bullying and threats

Fact-massaging and guilt will be the tools employed to sort out the treaty crisis, writes Gene Kerrigan

By Gene Kerrigan
Sunday June 22 2008

Up to 10 days ago, there was a pretence that voting mattered. Now, the gloves are off, the teeth are bared. We didn't do as we were told -- and our betters are really pissed off at us.

It's so refreshing, this admission that democracy isn't all it's cracked up to be. Frankly, some of us think democracy is worth more than the hurt feelings of a bunch of inept politicians...

Ms McKenna, according to a Government minister, is a liar. What's the record?

(She said)...Ms McKenna had stated that ratification of the proposed EU Constitution had stopped in 2005 after referendums in France and the Netherlands voted it down. In theory, if even one of the 27 EU nations fails to agree on such a major change, the matter has to be dropped.

Despite Ireland's vote, Ms McKenna pointed out, the big countries continue to urge ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

Here's Dick Roche on Morning Ireland on Thursday: "Not for the first time in this campaign, Ms McKenna has been completely and absolutely untruthful."

"It is simply not the truth for her to say that ratification stopped in other countries [in 2005]," said Dick. "She knows that. She knows, for example, that Luxembourg had a referendum after France and the Netherlands."

Ms McKenna, according to a Government minister, is a liar. What's the record?

MUST Read entire article: Brace yourself for bullying and threats

Irish Independent, Ireland - 3 hours agoBy Gene Kerrigan It was rude and unseemly when Government Minister Dick Roche called Patricia McKenna a liar. Otherwise, the fallout from the defeat of the ...

2. A RATIFIED RESPONSE: What part of “no” do Barroso and his Euroclan in Brussels not understand? He claims that 18 countries have ratified this muddled treaty, but that was the politicians, not the inhabitants.

John JamesMilford on Sea, Hampshire

GIVE EVERYONE THE VOTE: You quote Daniel Cohn-Bendit as saying that “it is not truly democratic that less than a million people can decide the fate of almost half a billion Europeans”. He’s absolutely right. The half a billion should have a vote as well, not just their largely self-appointed “leaders”.

Philip CakebreadBanstead, Surrey

THE ‘WRONG’ ANSWER: The rules say that every country has to ratify it, but the only country democratic enough to allow its population to decide said no. The European response to this, just as when the treaty’s previous incarnation was rejected, is to continue regardless. Apparently, in Europe, one is not allowed to give the “wrong” answer. Is there a parallel with the situation in Zimbabwe?

David HelliwellSilecroft, Cumbria

Read more:
Ireland a thorn in the European

clipped from Google - 6/2008

3. Lisbon: concessions – then a second vote?

Sunday Business Post, Ireland - 8 hours ago

A second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty looks like the best option for the EU and, if we vote No again, then we could be invited to leave the union. ...