Bob Thiel's Blog, page 1239

Euro-zone about to break up? Could it?

European Central Bank, Frankfurt (Eric Chan) COGwriter A reader sent me the following a few hours ago: December 9, 2014 Do you want to worry about something real, now that everyone is in such a good mood? I suggest worrying about the breakup of the euro zone again. Yeah, yeah, I know — that was [...]

Barack Obama rightly condemns USA’s use of torture, but . . .

COGwriter The US Senate released a report today on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, otherwise known as torture: December 9, 2014 The United States has released a long-awaited report detailing how the Central Intelligence Agency employed extreme interrogation methods on suspected terrorists following the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Senate Intelligence Committee disclosed a [...]

Police arrest 150+ protesters in Berkeley, California; others protest in Phoenix, Seattle, and NYC

Downtown Berkeley with SF Bay (Introvert) COGwriter Since Ferguson, there have been many protests.  Over 150 protesters were arrested in California: December 9, 2014 (Reuters) – More than 150 protesters were arrested in California overnight after shutting down a major freeway in another outbreak of nationwide demonstrations against police use of deadly force on minorities. [...]

Catholic Fulton Sheen taught we were in the last days; Might Pope Francis be confirming this?

Archbishop Fulton Sheen COGwriter Catholic Archbishop Fulton Sheen died on December 9, 1979.  He was known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Five years, Zenit.org, a pro-Vatican website, reported: The “World’s Preacher” Remembered Masses Mark 30th Anniversary of Archbishop Sheen’s Death I mentioned sometimes Fulton Sheen in articles at COGwriter. [...]

WSJ: Data centers increasing in Europe in response to USA espionage

European water-cooled Data Center in Strasbourg (Michael Kauffmann) COGwriter The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that more data centers are going to Europe in response to reports of espionage by the USA leaked by Edward Snowden: December 8, 2014 PARIS—U.S. businesses are building more computing data centers in the European Union ahead of new data-protection [...]

Remembering evangelist Dibar Apartian

COGwriter and Dibar Apartian COGwriter Dibar Apartian died four years ago, on December 8, 2010.  For those unfamiliar with him, he had been an evangelist in the Church of God (COG) for decades. He was born of Armenian parents and his family had to flee when he was quite young because of persecution from the [...]

Feast of the Immaculate Conception?

COGWriter December 8th is observed by Roman, as opposed to Eastern Orthodox, Catholics as the ‘Feast of the Immaculate Conception.’ It is an official  holiday for certain countries in Europe and Latin America. Here is some of what The Catholic Encyclopedia says about it: The feast of the Immaculate Conception The older feast of the [...]

Merkel lashes out against Putin for interfering with with EU’s expansion plans

Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin COGwriter The Chancellor of Germany lashed out at the President of Russia for interfering with the European Union’s expansion plans: December 7, 2014 BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel accused Russia on Sunday of interfering in the domestic affairs of numerous countries that are seeking closer ties to the [...]

Armenia votes to join Putin’s Eurasian Union

Yerevan, Armenia (Սէրուժ Ուրիշեան) COGwriter The government in Armenia voted to join the upcoming Eurasian Union: December 5, 2014 Armenia has sealed its Russia-deal, cinching its choice of the Russian-led EU over the EU proper, but is not entirely happy about it. By a 103-7 vote, the National Assembly on December 4 endorsed Armenia’s long-expected [...]

Typhoon Hagupit and other extreme weather

Typhoon Hagupit COGwriter The Philippines was hit by a major typhoon: December 7, 2014 MANILA—Typhoon Hagupit caused flooding, high waves, and knocked out power as it made its way across the central Philippines Sunday.At least two people in central Iloilo province have died due to the typhoon, disaster-response agency chief Alexander Pama said. However, some storm-weary [...]