COFFEE BREAK 45

+ updated at 6:23pm ESDT

+ ENI offers "New world church leader eyes links with other churches, faiths." Excerpt: "The Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, a 48-year-old ordained pastor in the Church of Norway, was elected general secretary of the World Council of Churches on 27 August. 'There is no network in this world like the churches. There is no network so close to the grass roots people in the world. There is no network that is so well linked together and so much called to be together,' said Tveit."

+ Boesak urges Christians to challenge 'destructive' global system > Johannesburg (ENI) Christians have an obligation to take a stand against a system that pervades the lives of all people on earth, wreaking destruction on societies, in the service of a small number of elites, a churches' meeting in South Africa has been told. Addressing a consultation near Johannesburg organized by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Professor Allan Boesak of Stellenbosch University described this system as "empire". This is an "all-encompassing global reality serving, protecting and defending the interests of powerful corporations, nations, elites and privileged people, while imperiously excluding, even sacrificing humanity and exploiting creation", said Boesak.

+ Salon.com offers "Why a 'trigger' for the public option is nonsense" by Robert Reich.

+ Creators.com offers "The Reality of Economic Recovery" by Jim Hightower. Excerpt: "Behind the official stats, the real jobless numbers are sobering. When you tally up the officially unemployed with discouraged workers and the underemployment (part-time workers who want full-time jobs), 19 percent of Americans - 30 million people - can't find the work they need. This is our economy's true crisis, and there can be no happy talk until we deal with it."

+ TruthDig offers "Van Jones and the Boycott of Glenn Beck" by Amy Goodman. Excerpt: "Glenn Beck may claim a notch in his belt, but he’s also helped push Van Jones back into an arena where he can be much more effective, as a grass-roots organizer working for progressive change from outside the administration. And with groups like the NAACP paying more attention to Beck, the advertiser boycott of his show is unlikely to just go away."

+ CommonDreams offers "Tightening the Corporate Grip: The Stakes at the Supreme Court" by Robert Weissman. It begins: "Can things get still worse in Washington? Yes, they can. And they will, if the Supreme Court decides for corporations and against real human beings and their democracy in a case the Court will be hearing today, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission."