Random Politics & Religion #00

Good, his safety is way more important than French feelings.

What?

His risk was just as great during that Mandela memorial as it will be during the Paris memorial.

But you think this isn't a slap in the face to the French government?

The President doesn't stop being in charge when they leave the country <.<

What?

His risk was just as great during that Mandela memorial as it will be during the Paris memorial.

But you think this isn't a slap in the face to the French government?

The President doesn't stop being in charge when they leave the country <.<

A landmark legal opinion this week will remind the European Central Bank of the limits it faces as it advances towards money printing, while a tumbling oil price saps inflation in debt-strained Europe.

With expectations high that the ECB is on the verge of buying government bonds with new money to shore up the economy, an influential adviser to Europe's top court will give his view on Jan. 14 about an earlier unused bond-buying scheme.

It is the latest chapter in a long-running and increasingly bitter dispute about quantitative easing (QE) between the ECB and Germany, the largest member of the 19-country bloc, that is likely to limit the size or scope of such a program.

As the debate continues, the euro zone economy is all but grinding to a halt. Germany is expected to announce modest growth on Jan. 15 for last year.

In the United States, fresh data on rising employment as well as retail sales is set to show just how much its recovery has overtaken Europe.

"The global economy is at a precarious point," said Jacob Kirkegaard of Washington think tank, the Peterson Institute.

"The falling oil price is a huge shot in the arm. Nonetheless, it is clear that the ECB will have to do something. There is no growth and the debt burden is too high. The world will be flying on one engine, the U.S., for quite some time."

Oil's second-biggest collapse on record has taken the price of a barrel of benchmark Brent crude to around $50 from $115 in the middle of last year. [ID:LCOc1]

That is a mixed blessing for the stuttering global economy.

While it is good news for a slowing China and should put more money in the pocket of motorists around the world, cheap oil has put price inflation into reverse in the euro zone, increasing the burden on countries with heavy debts.

It has also compounded an economic and currency crisis in neighboring Russia, one of the world's biggest oil exporters. Russia is already locked in conflict with neighboring Ukraine.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has said it will conclude a review of Russia's credit status by mid January. Any downgrade would badge Russian bonds as "junk" for the first time in more than a decade.

INFLATION EYED

Low price inflation, a symptom of the global slowdown, has led some to question the rule of thumb for measuring economic health, namely that there should be a steady up-tick in prices.

British inflation will be watched on Tuesday, with analysts betting it will hit a fresh 12-year low below 1 percent.

Those looking for respite elsewhere may be disappointed. The People's Bank of China cut the cost of borrowing in November and loosened loan restrictions to encourage lending.

It is expected to take further such steps, as the country's property market downturn continues and local governments and companies grapple with heavy debts. Bank lending data and a readout on economic output in the final three months of last year are likely to paint a glum picture.

Hopeful eyes are turning to the ECB. But German opposition to money printing could put a fly in the ointment.

Its Bundesbank has warned that buying bonds issued by euro zone governments -- including politically brittle Greece -- could leave it on the hook for losses.

Next week, an adviser to Europe's top court will give his opinion on a challenge by a group of Germans to an earlier ECB bond-buying program. If he shares any of the concerns of Germany's constitutional court, which referred the case to European judges, it would be significant.

Alain Durre, an economist with Goldman Sachs, said this could lead to the ECB setting a fixed limit on its bond-buying plans or to take priority over other investors when it buys state bonds.

Whatever the outcome, the German protest is likely to get louder. "The ECB has stepped beyond its remit. The European court should forbid the ECB from doing this," said Dietrich Murswiek, a lawyer representing one of the plaintiffs.

"You can draw parallels with quantitative easing. From my point of view, QE is also beyond its remit. This can also lead to legal action."

New Jersey authorities said Friday that they will not file charges against a police officer who struck and killed a 10-year-old boy with his squad car last month.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that Franklin Township Patrolman Nicholas Locilento's action "was not criminal in nature."

He was one of three officers speeding to a nonemergency call on a wet roadway at around 7 p.m. on Dec. 28. Authorities say three boys were running along the road heading to a sleepover.

Police say a 12-year-old boy ran across the road and yelled that a car was coming. Ten-year-old Matthew McCloskey ran into the road and was hit by the police car. The 12-year-old's younger brother did not attempt to cross the road.

The prosecutor's office says the officer had his headlights on but not his siren and flashing lights.

The office said he hit his brakes when he saw the children on the road but was still was traveling about 74 mph in a 50 mph zone at the time of the crash. Officers are allowed to speed to calls, the office said.

The prosecutor's office said Locilento was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and there is no evidence he was using his cellphone when he crashed.

The officer tried to give emergency aid to the boy, who was declared dead at the scene.

Locilento's actions are still subject to an administrative review. The prosecutor's office said it would also study whether police should be required to have emergency equipment on whenever they're exceeding the speed limit.

Personally, I think this would come down to a wrongful death case, and the officer should have had his sirens on when speeding to a call - although common sense would dictate not to speed during slippery-when-wet road conditions are present.

And yet, they'll flash their lights and sirens when speeding through a red light for the closest donut shop.

Tim Horton's

Lies, you don't come from Canada!

Also, they use American products in the Timmy locations in the US, and not Canadian products, so mileage may vary.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday Islam "belongs to Germany", in a clear repudiation of anti-immigration protesters gathering in Dresden and other cities.

A day after walking arm-in-arm with French President Francois Hollande at the front of a massive march in Paris to honor the victims of killings by Islamic militants, Merkel received the Turkish prime minister and urged dialogue among religions.

The conservative chancellor pointed to comments made by former German president Christian Wulff, who said in 2010 that Islam was part of Germany, triggering a fierce debate.

"Former president Wulff said Islam belongs to Germany. That is true. I also hold this opinion," Merkel said at a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who also took part with other world leaders in the Paris march on Sunday.

She was speaking hours before marches by a movement dubbed PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, were due to begin in several German cities.

Such demonstrations, launched in Dresden, have been dwarfed by counter-protests. Merkel has said PEGIDA's rallies are organized by people with "hatred in their hearts".

Merkel said her government was doing everything it could to ensure migrants were being successfully integrated into German society regardless of their religion.

Nearly two in three of the four million Muslims in Germany are of Turkish origin. Roughly half are German citizens.

But Merkel acknowledged the need for better dialogue between religions, praising Muslims for publicly rejecting the use of violence after the Paris killings and calling Turkey an ally in the fight against terrorism.

She and Davutoglu announced that their governments would begin regular German-Turkish consultations, a format in which the cabinets meet once a year and which is reserved for some of Berlin's closest allies, like Israel and France.

Merkel and other German politicians are due to take part in a solemn vigil at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Tuesday. Muslim organizations called the event to remember the victims of last week's Islamist militant assaults on the French satirical journal Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in Paris.

Davutoglu said it was important to fight all forms of Islamophobia in Germany. Speaking later in Berlin, Davutoglu said that if Turkey was accepted in future as a European Union member it would send a powerful message of how Muslims and Christians could live together in peace in Europe.

"If Turkey as a secular and moderate country is not accepted into the EU because of cultural prejudice, that will give a negative message to European people," he said.

A foreigner was insulting Tim Hortons; I came right away eh.
Just like kingnobody's mom last night

Back for more whining?

We're mocking the concept of "your mom" jokes dork; it's called sarcasm.

My mom is a 5th dimensional concept.

Yay! mom jokes! Whats next, meeting by the flag pole after school?
Well as long as the word liberal wasn't used...

^

:P