GERMANY HAS LONG PAINTED ITSELF AS THE GOOD EUROPEAN. But German policymakers in Berlin and Brussels are taking a different tack altogether. Why is this? In part it is because political leaders at least as far back as Helmut Kohl, chancellor between 1982 and 1998, know that TALKING A GOOD GAME ABOUT BRUSSELS IS A POLITICALLY SAVVY MOVE AND EVIDENCE OF GOOD WILL. But they also understand that GERMANY IS A GLOBAL POWERHOUSE IN ITS OWN RIGHT - THE WORLD'S LARGEST EXPORTER OF GOODS - with little need or desire for the kind of bureaucracy Brussels imposes on its enormous industrial and manufacturing sectors

"In Germany, unlike in other countries, THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT DEFENDS GERMAN PRIVATE COMPANIES, rather than the common interest," says Claude Turmes, a member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg.The result is a sharp divide between Berlin's rhetoric and policymaking, both in Berlin and in Brussels. German industries' experience, says Regine Günther, head of the WWF-Germany's climate-change program, is that "WITH THEIR POWER THEY CAN STEER POLICY, AND THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO."

Merkel repeatedly reassured the EU she will not continue the close relationship with Russia fostered by her predecessor, Schröder. Yet Merkel was the first EU leader to head to Moscow to congratulate Dmitry Medvedev for his victory in the dubious March presidential election. But more often, Berlin wins. Indeed it is an open secret that IF GERMANY DOESN'T LIKE SOMETHING PROPOSED IN BRUSSELS, IT'S TIME FOR BRUSSELS TO RECONSIDER. And RIGHT NOW, GERMANY SEEMS TO DISLIKE A LOT OF WHAT COMES OUT OF BRUSSELS - no matter what its politicians like to say.

Instead he called her a political descendant of Adolf Hitler and German fascism."Ms. Chancellor, you can go to ...," he said, pausing for effect and eliciting giggles from the audience, a group of military officers, cabinet ministers and government officials. "Because she's a woman I won't say anything else."

The leftist leader, who famously called U.S. President George W. Bush "the devil" at a United Nations assembly, slammed Merkel for calling on Latin American leaders to distance themselves from Chavez. "She is from the German right, the same that supported Hitler, that supported fascism, that's the Chancellor of Germany today," he said.

But other aid groups warned of a growing catastrophe. "It's really crucial that people get access to clean water sources and sanitation to avoid unnecessary deaths and suffering," Sarah Ireland, Oxfam regional chief, said. She said the death toll from the May 3 cyclone could go up to 100,000, a figure also suggested by other aid groups.

"There are all the factors for a public health catastrophe which could multiply that death toll by up to 15 times," she said.

Both President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke on Saturday of their dismay at Myanmar's stance, with each having pressed the United Nations Security Council to intervene. The UN has itself said that a week after Cyclone Nargis hit, only one-quarter of the victims have received any help at all, and it has called the relief effort "a race against time."

A tornado severely damaged the north-eastern Oklahoma town of Picher before hitting the Missouri town of Seneca 15 miles (24km) away. At least six people died in Picher and a total of 12 in Missouri. An emergencies official in Picher said A 24-STREET AREA OF THE TOWN HAD BEEN "VIRTUALLY DESTROYED".

Michelann Ooten warned that the death toll could climb as rescuers sifted through the rubble looking for survivors. Television images showed overturned cars, homes ripped from their foundations and trees stripped of their leaves.

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry has ordered National Guard troops to arrive in Picher by Sunday morning to help in rescue and recovery operations, Ms Ooten added. At least three of the people killed in Missouri died in Seneca. "THE LAST TWO YEARS WE'VE HAD FLOODS AND TORNADOES - IT'S JUST ONE RIGHT AFTER ANOTHER," said Susie Stonner of the State Emergency Management Agency. Mr Henry, who plans to visit the area later on Sunday, said a major emergency response was under way.

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the 20th century has been the war on motherhood and biblical patriarchy. FEMINISTS, MARXISTS, AND LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS HAVE MADE IT THEIR AIM TO TARGET THE INSTITUTION OF THE FAMILY AND DIVEST IT FROM ITS BIBLICAL STRUCTURE AND PRIORITIES. The results are androgyny, A RADICAL DECLINE IN BIRTHRATE, ABORTION, FATHERLESS FAMILIES, AND SOCIAL CONFUSION. By leaving the home, the experience and reality of childhood, family life and femininity were fundamentally redefined, and the results have been so bad that if this one trend is not reversed, our grandchildren may live in a world where both the true culture of Christian family life and the historic definition of marriage are the stuff of fairy tales.

Less than one hundred years ago, the architects of THE ATHEISTIC COMMUNIST SOVIET STATE ANTICIPATED THE DEATH OF THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY. They explained the need for destroying the Christian family with its emphasis on motherhood, and replacing it with a vision for a "new family." In his 1920 International Working Women's Day Speech, Lenin emphasized: "The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labour, to liberate them from 'domestic slavery,' to free them from their stupefying [idiotic] and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery. This struggle will be a long one, and it demands a radical reconstruction, both of social technique and of morale. BUT IT WILL END IN THE COMPLETE TRIUMPH OF COMMUNISM."

To defeat motherhood the enemies of the biblical family MUST SEAR THE CONSCIENCE OF AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF WOMEN. This is done through the doctrines of SOCIAL EMANCIPATION FROM THE HOME, SEXUAL LIBERATION, BIRTH CONTROL, AND ABORTION - all four of which cause a woman to war against her created nature. Instead of being the blessed guardian of domesticity for society, she is taught that CONTENTMENT CAN ONLY BE FOUND BY ACTING, DRESSING, AND COMPETING WITH MEN. Instead of being an object of respect, protection, and virtue, she sells herself cheaply, thus devaluing her womanhood. Instead of glorying in a fruitful womb she cuts off the very seed of life. SOMETIMES SHE EVEN KILLS THE LIFE.

To defeat motherhood, the enemies of the biblical family must do more than make it a social inconvenience, they must teach women to despise themselves by viewing their own wombs as the enemy of self-fulfillment. But even this is not enough. YEARS OF PLAYING THE PART OF A MAN HARDENS A WOMAN. It trains women to find identity in the corporation, not the home. It teaches them to be uncomfortable around children and large families - the mere presence of which is a reminder of the antithesis between God's design for womankind and the norms of post-Christian societies.

BUT WOMEN ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WITH SEARED CONSCIENCES. MEN HAVE THEM TOO. Consider that fifty years ago a man would have winced to think of female soldiers heading into combat. TODAY'S MAN HAS A SEARED CONSCIENCE. He no longer thinks of himself as a protector of motherhood, and a defender of womankind. HE HAS LOST HIS MANHOOD. This is why the attack on motherhood has produced a nation of eunuchs - socially and spiritually impotent MEN WHO HAVE LITTLE CAPACITY TO LEAD.

Delays in delivering relief to the victims, the inaccessibility of the stricken areas and the poor state of Burma's infrastructure and health systems mean that number is sure to rise. With as many as 1 million people still at risk, IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT THE DEATH TOLL WILL, WITHIN DAYS, APPROACH THAT OF THE ENTIRE NUMBER OF CIVILIANS KILLED IN THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR.

SO WHAT IS THE WORLD DOING ABOUT IT? NOT MUCH. The military regime that runs Burma initially signaled it would accept outside relief, but has imposed so many conditions on those who would actually deliver it that barely a trickle has made it through. Aid workers have been held at airports. U.N. food shipments have been seized. U.S. naval ships packed with food and medicine idle in the Gulf of Thailand, waiting for an all-clear that may never come.

Burma's rulers have relented slightly, agreeing Friday to let in supplies and perhaps even some foreign relief workers. The government says it will allow a US C-130 transport plane to land inside Burma Monday. But it's hard to imagine a regime this insular and paranoid accepting robust aid from the U.S. military, let alone agreeing to the presence of U.S. Marines on Burmese soil - as Thailand and Indonesia did after the tsunami. The trouble is that the Burmese haven't shown the ability or willingness to deploy the kind of assets needed to deal with a calamity of this scale - and the longer Burma resists offers of help, the more likely it is that the disaster will devolve beyond anyone's control.

"We're in 2008, not 1908," says Jan Egeland, the former U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "A lot is at stake here. If we let them get away with murder we may set a very dangerous precedent." THAT'S WHY IT'S TIME TO CONSIDER A MORE SERIOUS OPTION: INVADING BURMA. Some observers, including former USAID director Andrew Natsios, have called on the U.S. to unilaterally begin air drops to the Burmese people regardless of what the junta says.

Calls for his resignation came from left, right and center although all acknowledged that by vowing, as he did Thursday night, to resign if charged, Olmert had won himself time. The investigation will probably take another month or two. "The public doesn't have too much more patience," Colette Avital, a member of Parliament from the Labor Party, a partner in the governing coalition with Olmert's Kadima party, asserted in a typical comment. "He is simply discredited. It may take some more weeks or even months, but he won't be able to go on."

But this inquiry is widely viewed as the most serious, involving allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes were passed to him by a New York businessman, Morris Talansky, over the course of a decade. Olmert said that they were legal campaign contributions and that his name would be cleared.

Numerous analysts argued that Israel's intense security challenges could not effectively be met by a leader benefiting from such low public confidence. Peace negotiations with the Palestinians, a process that President George W. Bush is hoping to bolster by coming here next week, and moves toward Syria require hard decisions, especially in the wake of the violent Hezbollah takeover of parts of Beirut on Friday.

Now a window has been opened on faith and religion in a country where six decades of Communist philosophy and rule might seem to have pushed those subjects into obscurity. In a recent report the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has analyzed available surveys, some a few years old, and concluded that 31 PERCENT OF THE CHINESE POPULATION CONSIDERS RELIGION TO BE VERY OR SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT IN THEIR LIVES, with only 11 percent rating it as meaningless. Even the exact STARTING TIME OF THE SUMMER OLYMPICS IS ROOTED IN CONFUCIANISM and Chinese folk religions, the report adds, where the numeral 8 is revered for its luck and power. The games will start on the 8th day of the 8th month of '08 at precisely 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 o'clock.

This does not mean that religious affiliation is high in China. Only one in five adults has an active connection, the report says, with one of the country's five major religions - Buddhism (by far the largest single group), Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam and Taoism. That compares to 8 in every 10 adults in the United States who claim a religious affiliation. But a recent report from East China Normal University in Shanghai appearing in state-approved media said that about 300 million Chinese over 16 - slightly less than a third of the population in that age group - are religious, perhaps indicating the government has given recognition to the depth of religious sentiment.

The question is whether China's modernization brought about by its economic engine will bring religion into society in a bigger way. The report notes that Hu Jintao, general secretary of the country's Communist Party, earlier this year told the Chinese Politburo the leadership should try to "CLOSELY UNITE RELIGIOUS FIGURES AND BELIEVERS to build an all-around prosperous society while quickening the pace toward the modernization of socialism."

Swedish new site Europaportalen has an interview with EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel ahead of the Commission's "health check" of the Common Agricultural Policy, which will be published on 20 May. ON THE QUESTION OF THE SURGE IN FOOD PRICES, SHE SAYS, "ISN'T THAT GREAT! Do you know what, prices have fallen for 20 years straight. In Denmark, the average family spends 10% of their income on food - they spend more money on their kitchens. So yes, I'm really happy that prices are going up."

She also "completely discards" the notion that biofuels are behind the global surge in food prices. "THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IS THE CLIMATE", SHE SAYS, ADDING THAT FARMERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES MAY IN FACT BENEFIT FROM HIGHER PRICES.

It notes: "It is common to hear that A NO VOTE IN A SMALL COUNTRY CANNOT BE PERMITTED TO INTERFERE WITH THE SMOOTH RUNNING OF THE EU", but that, "It would be absurd to punish Ireland for voting No. The Irish government is the only one in the EU to have called a referendum on Lisbon. IF THEY WERE HONEST, THE 26 OTHERS WOULD ADMIT THAT THEY WOULD STRUGGLE TO SECURE A YES VOTE, TOO", noting that THE LISBON TREATY IS MERELY A REPACKAGED VERSION OF THE CONSTITUTION SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO AVOID REFERENDUMS.

It concludes: "The pro-Lisbon camp faces a dilemma. Hinting that voters will suffer if they reject Lisbon is an obvious way to boost turnout - and a high turnout is key to securing a Yes. But it is hardly a positive argument. True friends do not become pariahs just because they disagree with you. IF NOBODY CAN FIND MORE CONVINCING ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE LISBON TREATY, THE EU AS A WHOLE MAY YET FIND ITSELF WHISTLING IN THE DARK."

A U.N. official said MYANMAR'S JUNTA HAS CONFISCATED ALL THE FOOD AND EQUIPMENT that the World Food Program had flown into the country for cyclone victims. WFP spokesman Paul Risley said Friday that the WFP "has no choice" but to suspend further aid shipments until the matter is resolved. Risley said all "the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated." The shipment included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits.

Risley said it is not clear why the material was seized. It was also not clear if the shipment seized was the one that was flown in Thursday or another one. Earlier Friday, the U.N. blasted Myanmar's military government, saying ITS REFUSAL TO LET IN FOREIGN AID WORKERS TO HELP VICTIMS OF A DEVASTATING CYCLONE WAS "UNPRECEDENTED" IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITARIAN WORK.

While the junta dithered and appeared overwhelmed by Saturday's disaster - the worst in the country's records - MORE THAN 1 MILLION HOMELESS PEOPLE WAITED FOR FOOD, SHELTER AND MEDICINE, many crammed in Buddhist monasteries or just camped in the open.

Ban says it will "STUDY THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE CRISIS," AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS FOR "COORDINATED GLOBAL ACTION" at a summit of world leaders in June. Ban might want to consider CONVINCING THE OIL-RICH NATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST TO PROVIDE MORE THAN THE NEAR-INVISIBLE AMOUNT OF MONEY THEY CURRENTLY GIVE to the World Food Program (WFP), the U.N.'s food-giving arm, which is charged with alleviating the food crisis.

WFP internal documents show that the major oil producing nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) GIVES ALMOST NOTHING TO THE FOOD ORGANIZATION, even as skyrocketing oil prices and swollen oil revenues contribute to the very crisis that the U.N. claims could soon add 100 million more people to the world's starving masses.

THE OVERWHELMING BULK OF THE BURDEN IN FEEDING THE WORLD'S STARVING POOR REMAINS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND A SMALL GROUP OF OTHER PREDOMINATELY WESTERN NATIONS, a situation that the WFP has done little so far to change, even as it has asked for another $775 million in donations to ease the crisis. Saudi Arabia, with oil revenues last year of $164 billion, does not even appear on the website donor list for 2008.

It is reported that Peter Struck, the SPD parliamentary group leader and a former Defence Minister, proposed that the common European army should consist of a "combined military", and called for an EU air transport command, a "real" ministerial defence council and the creation of an EU military academy.

The article quotes Hennign Riecke, Head of the European Foreign and Security Policy at the German Council on Foreign Relations, saying that the move towards a combined military SHOULD BE LABELLED AS A PROCESS OF SLOW MILITARY INTEGRATION, with new institutions created that lead to an organic growth toward a common army, IN ORDER TO AVOID RESISTANCE IN SOME MEMBER STATES.

The article also notes that "The EU reform treaty appears to be heading in this direction when it specifies that member states will cooperate to 'take concrete measures to enhance the availability, interoperability, flexibility and deployability of their forces.'"

The Russian leadership has decided to revive the Communist-era custom of featuring military hardware in the annual Victory Day parade. New President Dmitry Medvedev said the army and navy were getting stronger.
Observers say the point of the parade was to demonstrate that Russia is a serious military force. THE KREMLIN INSISTS THE EVENT, WHICH MARKS THE DEFEAT OF NAZI GERMANY IN 1945, IS NOT MEANT TO THREATEN ANYONE.

Marching bands and 8,000 troops goose-stepped across Red Square, and heavy weapons such as Topol-M ballistic missiles and T-90 tanks were on display. The cobbles of Red Square had been reinforced, in advance of the parade, to cope with the tanks and other heavy weaponry.

But analysts say that despite these signs of military might, there is evidence of the Russian army and navy suffering from lack of money, a shortage of training, and low morale. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow says conscripts in the army can be subjected to shocking brutality. Last year 450 conscripts died from beatings or suicide.

The foreign ministry said Burma was happy to accept aid, but insisted it would control the distribution itself. The statement follows pressure from the United Nations to speed up the issuing of visas to foreign relief experts. The World Food Programme's Paul Risley said the delays were "unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts".

Dozens of aid experts are reported to be waiting for visas in neighbouring Thailand. The UN says that up to 1.5 million people may have been affected by Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Irrawaddy Delta region on Saturday. Burmese state media say 22,980 people were killed, but there are fears the figure could rise to 100,000.

Hundreds of thousands of people have no food, water or shelter. International aid agencies on the ground say they have reached only 10% of those that need help. In a statement, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the junta to prioritise the aid effort over tomorrow's nationwide referendum on a widely-criticised new constitution. It would be "prudent to focus instead on mobilising all available resources and capacity for the emergency response efforts", he said.