American bankers could put world at financial risk, story by Alex Brummer, City Editor, Daily Mail

American bankers could put world at financial risk !

The eyes of the world have been on General David Petraeus, America's top military commander, this week as he outlined plans for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

But another influential group of figures in Washington were plotting an even more important course for the world. The normally tight-lipped governors of the Federal Reserve, America's powerful central bank, embarked on an unprecedented information exercise.

Flying across the country - from Manhattan to San Francisco - they began a series of speeches seeking to convince American businesses and consumers that the mortgage meltdown that began in the nation's trailer parks and suburbs, and which is now clogging the arteries of the global financial system, is under control.


Their intention is to make sure this crisis will not bring the U.S. economic juggernaut - and possibly that of the world - to a shuddering halt.





Read More:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=481300&in_page_id=1770

Comment: We're beginning to see the damaging results of other peoples greed on the World Economy. We could also be seeing the beginning of the demise of the so-called American Empire as the World's only Global Superpower, because of a possible looming world financial crisis and the damage they have caused in the Middle East.

Today's Word from Joel Osteen. " Be a Prisoner of Hope"

Be a Prisoner of Hope

Today's Scripture

“If you will be a prisoner of hope, God will restore back to you double everything that was stolen” (Zechariah 9:12).

Today's Word from Joel and Victoria

Are you in an emotional prison today? You may not have thought about it that way, but if you are holding unforgiveness or bitterness towards someone who has wronged you—whether it was five, ten, or thirty years ago—that is an emotional prison. The Word of God promises that if you’ll step out of that prison and become a prisoner of hope, God will restore back to you double for your trouble! That means if someone does you wrong, instead of getting negative and bitter, your attitude should be, “They just did me a favor. They just qualified me for double.” That attitude will make you a prisoner of hope. When you’re a prisoner of hope, you simply can’t stop hoping. You are locked in! Lock into that attitude of victory that says, “I will not be defeated. It may look impossible, but I know God can do the impossible. They may have treated me wrong, but I’m not worried. I know God is my Vindicator. It may be taking a long time, but in due season I know I will reap if I just don’t give up.” Stand in that place of hope knowing that you will come out with twice the peace, twice the joy, and twice the victory today!

A Prayer for Today

Gracious, Heavenly Father, today I choose to release those who have wronged me. I know You are my Vindicator. You are my Redeemer. Today I choose to be a prisoner of hope. Teach me to see others the way You see them today.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Joel Osteen Ministries, 3700 Southwest Freeway, Houston TX 77027 .

Copyright © 2007 by Joel Osteen Ministries

Social Networking, Excellent Story from the BBC's Bill Thompson

Social net offers new perspective

Social networking has extended friendships around the globe


Columnist Bill Thompson asks whether social networking could underpin a new politics of connection.

When BBC reporter Michael Buerk brought us film of the starving children of Ethiopia in 1984 it motivated the country to action. In 1985 Bob Geldof and Midge Ure's Live Aid raised millions of pounds, and the attendant publicity put humanitarian aid onto the agenda of the senior politicians of the day, forcing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to take seriously an issue which they had not, hitherto, seen as a high priority.



Twenty years later Geldof was at it again, though the cultural and political impact of Live 8 was diminished for many by the sight of too many millionaire rock stars seeking to revive their careers on the back of the world's poor.



But something else had changed. In 2005 we didn't need the Six O'Clock News to bring us pictures from Darfur or Bangladesh, and we didn't need the journalistic talents of Buerk and others to tell the stories in a way that made it impossible not to respond.



The internet, through the web, instant messaging, email and its other applications, had brought the world into our living rooms - and our offices, classrooms, cafes, clubs, bars and railway carriages. The last decade of the twentieth century saw a transformation in the forms of communication available to the lucky billion with easy access to the network, and the impact on the way we perceived the world was immense.





Read More, from Bill Thompson's story here:-





http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6989327.stm