What democratic forces professor, I don't recall any election for them ? If there was a free and fair vote in Syria today its likely Assad would win with a wide margin. One constantly hears the term"moderate opposition" but who exactly are they and where did they come from. Further, what does the term 'moderate' actually mean? A recent video shows these very same people hacking off the head of a 12 year old boy on the back of a truck!
Grumpy, I seem to recall a previous president and many in his government who declared water boarding legitimate. Then there was the rendition affair which sent victims overseas to undisclosed location specifically to be tortured. It seems to me that many of the things you accuse Trump of have already been the norm for others who have held the post to which he aspires. May I remind you of the chilling interview of Clinton when she was cackling like some kind of demented witch an the horrific murder of Gadaffi.
I hold no brief for Trump but at least he is new to politics and might do something different. Clinton is a known war monger and has a track record to prove it. As I see it, American politicians are just gangsters in suits whilst the lot who pass for politicians over here in the UK have the acumen of a toad and evil of a serpents from hell !
A bit churlish of you professor to put down we doubters of solar, wind and hydro power sources as being a viable alternative to hydro carbons. Clearly renewable power sources is the ideal way to go but unless this energy source can be stored and made available for when the renewable's aren't producing power, they will always just play a supporting role. However, I have not heard about molten salt before professor and it sounds exciting. Can you elaborate or direct us to a site giving more info on the subject.
I think you are losing the main thread here professor, in emphasizing the 'white' factor. Its the old people who are the one's being maligned with colour and religion playing only a small part. There is an ever increasing complaint that governments are largely run by middle age white males which is true for the most part. However, over here in the UK there is a distinct feeling of threat against the older community these days. There is a large vocal section of the younger generation who are complaining that the old are financially better off. The old dominate parliament. The old are responsible for the European referendum vote winning the day to leave the EU. The old shouldn't be driving any more. The old are cluttering up the hospitals and so on. Most young people are saying the elderly should not have been allowed to vote in the recent EU referendum election because the future belongs to the young. The logic of this of course, is that the old shouldn't be allowed to vote at all. Cameron won the last general election due largely to the older voter and it was prime minister Cameron who set up the referendum. Perhaps those in the media who have a wider voice than most of us, should be pointing out that wisdom and experience comes with age. Throughout the history of man kind, in modern governments and simple tribes, its the elders who have occupied the seats at the head of the table because its the older generation who have the experience of life and can see what the young can't see or don't want to see.
As you will be aware professor, British people are not allowed to own guns save in special circumstances. The only people allowed guns over here are farmers and people who shoot game birds. Even then they are only allowed a basic shot gun and licencing is very strict. Perhaps more importantly, the main police force doesn't carry guns either and those that do are mainly at airports or other very sensitive areas. There are armed police available in all police force areas but they are only called out for some kind of armed siege or other. If the public aren't armed then there is no reason for the police to be armed. In the UK in rural areas its a rare sight to see a policeman on foot and police in patrol cars are few and far between. Its curios that the relationship between the state and the people over here is so benign, especially as historically we are a a nation of war mongers and thugs. In fact we still are, but we do our killing of the human race in other people's countries. The USA has always had that 'wild West' attitude to life so guns and their use is in the American psyche.
Professor, there is another aspect to the success of the vote to Leave the EU campaign. Cameron is of course, a Conservative and is roundly detested and hated by the working class. There have been some savage Austerity measures put in place in the last year or so and as Cameron was such a prominent figure in the remain Campaign, a lot of the ire of the working class was directed at him in the form of a leave vote. By playing such an important role in the remain campaign, Cameron may have shot himself in the foot. People don't always vote for whats on the ballot paper and quite often their vote is a protest vote against the government in general
I have read your piece twice professor and I'm still not really sure what you are saying or implying here. The projected outcome of the vote at the moment is 50% for either side, so it would appear you think that 50% of the British people are racist? The real fear among the out campaign isn't actually immigration of dark skin people, but of other EU citizens who are predominately white! The number of white Europeans who are entitled to come to Britain and live and work here, is technically half a billion and they can do so without any restriction whatsoever under the 'free movement of people' EU law. Further, many of we vote out people are doing so because of the ever stifling laws and regulation emanating from unelected EU bureaucrats! As I pointed out to you the other day, there were over 6,000 pieces of legislation passed last year alone that the EU bureaucrats enacted and which we British have to obey. The management of the EU has become a fiasco and though various prime ministers have tried to get reasonable reform of this monolithic institution, they have all so far failed.
As an English man I must take issue with you professor, with regard to your comments that the people of the vote out of the EU campaign are all ultra far right wing. Currently the opinion polls show the leave campaign with a slight majority which represents millions of British voters, of which I am one. The question of immigration whilst a vexed one, is far from being the main reason for wanting out of the EU. Last year alone there were some six thousand pieces of legislation passed by the un-elected EU mandarins which we in here in Britain have to obey. By being an island we have by far the largest fisheries of any other EU country, but our fisheries are controlled by the EU meaning that our fishermen are not allowed to fish for several months of the year. We are absolutely swamped with EU regulations which stifle our industries and out people. As for the immigration question, we are not talking about a few people from the war torn middle East or Africa etc, we are concerned that the WHOLE of Europe can come and settle in Britain under the current arrangement of the free movement of people within the EU. Your own president had the damned cheek to come over here and tell us we should remain within the EU whilst at the same time putting up fences between America and Mexico to stop people coming to the States. If the Americans think its such a good idea to open one's borders to all and sundry, may I suggest they open the Southern borders to South America and Canada! Calling those of us who no longer want to remain in the EU, 'far right' with clear overtones that we are some how 'fascists' is insulting and offensive. No one in Britain voted for the current setup of the European Union. We originally voted for an economic community to enhance trade. Had the British people known at the time of the first EEC vote, we would not have voted for this total domination of our lives from Europe. The murder of the member of parliament was carried out by a man who was unhinged and a lunatic. There is tacit implication in your piece that the leave the EU campaign is is made up of people with extreme views similar to this man. This is unbecoming of a man of your stature and insight, professor and I hope I am wrong.
It only a few weeks back that a huge bomb went of in the Syrian capital and ISIS claimed responsibility for this. Just as in America, there were fifty people killed as well as a many more injured in this attack. America, Britain, France, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the very people who have been arming these terrorists, either directly or indirectly through proxies. Last week I watched a parliamentary committee over here in the UK question a minister and two of his side kicks. Part of the interview was about why we (Britain) hadn't sent more ammunition for the heavy machine guns we had supplied the 'friendly' terrorists. The fact is, the West with its ever growing greed for resources and regime change has stirred up a hornets nest and the chickens are coming home to roost! "As ye sow so shall ye reap"
America is helping the Kurdish people and fighters whilst the Turks, who are also best pals with the Americans, are bombing those same Kurdish people to bits. Its a mad place out there but even madder, the Turks are busy arming the ISIS mob at the same time as the Americans and Kurds are trying to eliminate them! The Americans, we British and parts of the EU membership have created this hornets nest in the first place and we are in the midst of the swarm flailing about with no kind of coherent strategy of any kind. It seems to me the Syrian government with the help of the Russians are the only players who have a real sense of purpose. Get rid of all the terrorists in Syria including the moderate terrorists and imported mercenaries and put the Country back under the legitimate government of Assad. One may not think he has a legitimate mandate to govern, but he has as much right as any of the other lunatics out there including the head chopping friends of America and we British.
Professor, there are Counties all over the globe who might say they have a legitimate claim against the US for compensation. However, if you don't have any US assets you may as well forget it as no US court would approve compensation directly from US coffers. Perhaps the real mystery is why any of these Countries would invest money or place assets in America in the first place. I would have thought the Swiss banks or similar would be a much safer place. It seems to me in these days of electronic money and uncertainty, that gold and other precious metals would be a better way of protecting ones assets.
Well professor, if the West keeps fermenting unrest and causing wars in the middle East, the population will have long immigrated into Europe before climate change kicks in. Today over here in England we have an election for the mayor of London and a Muslim candidate looks set to win. The great exodus from the middle East has already begun and huge numbers of these people are here now in Britain. The EU is swamped with immigrants from the middle East and they keep on coming. America and Britain can together take the blame for much of the unrest in these Countries. However, whilst we in England are taking tens of thousands of immigrants via the European community, America takes only a tiny fraction of the refugees. I don't blame you for that, yet Obama has the cheek to tell the British voter to stay in the EU, have open borders etc.
At least Trump says he puts America first, even if he doesn't mean it. Over here in the UK our worthless politicians like Cameron and Corbin, quite openly want to sell us down the river to the European Union. We even have the American president over here fawning on Cameron and telling us all that we should give away our sovereignty to the EU. If Obama thinks its such a good idea that we over here in the UK stay as members of the EU and open our borders to all and sundry, then he should open his borders between America, Mexico and Canada. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!
We have a similar law over here in the UK which is carried to extreme lengths. For example; if a person overhears a conversation which is less than complimentary about some ethnic race, religion or any other kind of life style, this individual can call the police and have the conversationalist arrested. The person making the complaint does not have to be in any way connected to the overheard conversation or be of an ethnic race themselves. Quite simply, anyone who overhears something in other people's private conversation which they claim offends their sensibilities, can declare an offence committed. If you think this is bordering on the bizarre, there is a law in Germany (recently used against a well know German comedian), which prohibits anyone from criticising any foreign head of state under pain of five years in prison. So if member of the public in Germany made some kind of derogatory remark about say, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, they could end up in prison!! Its a mad world out there.
The notion that either of the two main political parties in the States could claim some kind of success in the event of the complete downfall of ISIS, seems rather far fetched to me. Had the Russians not taken over the task of supporting Assad and driving ISIS from the main cities and towns in Syria, the situation there would be very grave today. ISIS would certainly be running the show. America and her token allies have been supposedly challenging ISIS from the air for some four years or so prior to the Russian intervention, with very little impact. Of course, politicians will turn any event to their advantage no matter how tenuous their connection to it is.
Professor, I agree that seeing peaceful protesters and journalist being roughed up is an ugly sight and very distasteful. However, I have seen lots of footage of American police savaging ordinary American peaceful protesters, protesting about some internal American matter. Erdogan has all the power of a dictator in Turkey and like the North Korean leader, he apparently thinks and really believes that he is some kind of supreme being. The North Korean leader is rightly castigated, but then, he is not in NATO and a friend to the West. Erdogan on the other hand, is feted by American and British leaders and they had little or nothing to say when Erdogan took over a TV station because they were broadcasting unfavourable comment about him and his government.
I watched a documentary recently on RT (Russian television) which we get over here in the UK. The gist of the piece was that a mountain in East America called "coal mountain" is being completely removed for its coal and the locals don't like it. The locals have done a study showing that because of the high altitude of the mountain, wind generators would produce as much electricity as the one coal fired power station does from the coal harvested from the mountain. As the wind is likely to blow for the foreseeable centuries to come, this would mean the locals could have their mountain and there would be electricity produced from it for ever! Obviously, the companies harvesting to coal don't agree. I am not qualified to pronounce on the matter one way or the other. What I find strange however, is that I should only be able to find this documentary on a Russian television station and not on an English or American one. Perhaps you have seen an American version of this documentary, professor?
How is it a great Country like America with millions of highly intelligent men and women, who are scholars, scientists, engineers, writers, philanthropists and people of vision and integrity, cant find two candidates to stand for the presidency other than these two serpents from hell! On the one hand we have Clinton who clearly unhinged and a war monger. She would be quite at home sitting next to Madam Defarge at the foot of the guillotine, knitting an old sock with a stitch for every bomb dropped on other people's Countries. On the other hand there is Trump, wallowing in his billions of dollars threatening to legalise various forms of torture, deportations and general mayhem What is it with politics that most of the people in it are some kind of lunatics who I wouldn't trust to run a stable for orphaned donkeys! Surely professor, with all your knowledge and experience you must be able to shed some light on this phenomenon. If one of theses two desperate people becomes the president, then God help us all !
Professor, when you start using language like Neo Nazis, KKK and biker gangs, you do an injustice to your otherwise fine journalism and informative work on this site. Trump has no doubt got may undesirable characteristics, but whilst the Republicans mask their own anti ethnic leanings, they most certainly have them. Abu ghraib prison in Iraq springs to mind to say nothing of the history associated with the native American Indians. Whatever you think of Trump, you cannot deny he obviously has a very large following with the votes to prove it, and I doubt they are all Neo Nazis, biker gangs and KKK. and its unfair of you to imply they are are.
I seem to remember seeing a news clip where Hillary Clinton was sniggering about how, as she put it, "the Americans went to Libya and Gaddafi is now dead". I paraphrase of course, but the interview is quite famous over here in the UK. From what I have seen of Clinton she is bordering on being unbalanced and clearly quite dangerous. Trump may well be an extreme candidate, but he has no proven political track record as do some of the other candidates. As for him saying he would kill he families of terrorists, he is in good company. Does the bombing of wedding parties ring any bells or the sacking of Mosul by the Americans using white phosphorus ? The truth is politicians and those who aspire to high office are ruthless when it comes to furthering their own ambitions.
The points you make in your piece professor are of course, valid and informative. However, I would have thought you should be writing with some outrage that the pope is getting involved in America's politics at all. Perhaps the Pontiff might just have something to say about Italian politics, but the notion he is actually trying to influence the outcome of an American election is outrageous
Seems a bit unfair to describe Trump's relationship with Putin as 'creepy'. Surely and aspiring president should try to have relationships with all foreign leaders, especially with Putin, who is in charge of the powerful Country that Russia is. I would have thought the relationship of the current and past administrations with terrorists in Syria (so called free Syrian army) and elsewhere on the globe as 'creepy' as well as criminal, at least in the eyes of the international community.
I can never understand why it is the Russian bombs are always described as indiscriminate, but the bombs of America, Briton and allies are always called good bombs which never hit civilians. The fact that the Syrian government with the help of Russian air power is at last starting clear large parts of Syria from the scourge of terrorists must mean Russian bombs are indeed very accurately targeted. The same applies to the derogatory term 'regime' which the media are so beloved of calling the Syrian government. There were elections in Syria a while back and Assad won most of the votes of those who voted. I don't suppose it was the most inclusive election under the circumstances, However, here in my Country of England, prime minister Cameron has seized power with just 30% of the popular vote with a very large turn out of voters. If legitimate government is based on who gets the most votes rules, then the British government is a 'regime' by anyone's definition.
One can understand European governments welcoming Rouhani as there is a lot of trade to be had now the sanctions are lifted. However, it was bit over the top to do what the Italian government officials did, in ordering that all works of art depicting naked women should be covered up so as not to offend this important visitor! Apparently, the French government refused to do this, but then, the French don't have anything like the number of works of art that Italy does. As far as my Country here in the UK is concerned, he will be quite at home as this Country is as dull and drab as Iran but without the sunshine to take the edge off things.
We don't actually know who was in this prison. There may well have been ISIS prisoners there or the place may have been used as some kind of base or HQ for Al-Qaeda. Last time I heard, Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organisation according to America and the West generally, so their loss together with some ISIS prisoners is a legitimate target by anyone's standards. We always assume that spies on the ground are some kind of monopoly of the West, but as the Russians are there at the request of the Syrian government, they almost certainly have their intelligence people all over the Country as well.
You comment that the terrorists should let the population who are caught up in this nightmare go, misses the point of them being there in the first place. Its these innocent people who prevent the Syrian army from blowing the place to bits, which they surely would do if it was occupied sole by terrorists. As these town are so close to the capital, the Syrian government cannot afford to allow the terrorists to dig in unchallenged.
I am sorry to see a man of your stature and high standing in the world of journalism, using the the word, REGIME to describe the Syrian government. This expression is designed to tarnish the Syrian government and Assad in particular. You don't refer to the Chinese government as a regime where there is no real democracy, or to the British government as a regime (my Country) where the monarchy (the queen) is head of state and entirely unelected ! Dr Assad was a surgeon here in London some years ago and is an educated man and not some kind of mad axe wielding mad man as he is so often portrayed by the media and journalists. I doubt Assad has ever killed anyone in his life any more than has the queen of England. Assad is trying to defend his Country against the West's imported Jihads, mercenaries and terrorists. My own wretched government under prime minister, Cameron, pours arms into Saudi Arabia where democracy flourishes like fresh green lettuce in the desert, but few in the British parliament or the media in general refer to Saudi Arabia by the derogatory term, REGIME. If the hacks in the world of journalism had half the education and skills of Assad, they might be able to produce a more balanced and informed copy.
As any man of science will tell you, there is no such thing as God, so who worships which ever God is merely of academic interest. There is however, one God which man kind universally worships, and that is the God of money.
Professor, you seem to be confusing terrorists with the free Syrian army. Numerous Countries are supplying the FSO with weapons, funds and logistics and are doing it quite openly. This includes America, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and other middle East Countries, and of course Turkey. The fact that the free Syria army no longer really exists is irrelevant, as the Countries listed above use this name as an excuse to arm the various terrorist factions in Syria. There are thousands of terrorists from all over the world, including my Country, Britain, using Turkey as a conduit to join the terrorists. Obviously Turkey is arming and facilitating the free movement of terrorists through their Country and Russia was quite right to accuse Turkey of aiding terrorists. Lets face it, were'r all at it as it seems the only thing that matters to the West is the defeat of the Assad and the current Syrian state.
It is hypocrisy on the part of the Turks to complain that a Russian jet was just inside their air space when Turkey is flying right into Syria to bomb the Kurds who are fighting ISIS. The Russians have a right under international law to be in Syria as they were invited in by the government of Syria. The Turks, like all other Countries bombing Syria are in violation of international law. I think Putin should warn the Turks that another incident of this kind will result in a massive barrage of missiles rained down on the air base from which the attacking plane originated.
It was Hollande, Cameron and Obama who armed these terrorists in the first place. I can still see fool William Hague and Cameron going on march of triumph and glory and full of glee, to shake hands with the terrorists who had destroyed Libya and murdered Gadaffi with the arms and military assistance which we and the French supplied. While the Russians are dropping bombs on the terrorists in Syria, the Americans are dropping ever more arms and munitions for the (good) terrorists to use on the legitimate government of Assad. When the terrorists who the French have armed now turn on the French, its the innocent citizens who get it in the neck, where it should be those in the French government who started and fermented this madness in Syria and the middle East !
It would appear that the Russians are eliminating one set of terrorists for another group of terrorists, thus making them partners with the bombing campaign by the West. We have a demonstration here in London today against our government, but I bet they won't suddenly have automatic rifles, RPGs shoulder mounted missiles etc, as the demonstrators in Syria and Libya suddenly acquired when they had a demo. That's because unlike Syria and Libya who were armed by Obama, Cameron, fool William Hague and Hollande of France, The London demonstrators don't have any warmongers to arm them. The complaint against Assad is that he is unelected and so must go. It just so happens that the Queen of England (our head of state) is unelected and Cameron only has one third of the votes of the British people. 60% of the voters voted against him! The British demonstrators are being called scum and low life by the media and internet posters, but its not a question of what might be right or wrong, its what the 'establishment see as their agenda and the press and media follow them like sheep. Demonstrators don't just acquire war munitions out of the blue, they are supplied by war criminals intent on fermenting terror and ultimate subjugation of the population.
As I understand it, Assad has indicated he would stand again in any free and fair elections and would most likely win. I can't see ISIS getting many votes in the regions they control and have so devastated. The people in these areas that haven't been murdered are cowed and terrified and difficult though life may have been under Assad, its was heaven compared with life under ISIS or any of the other terror groups.
Surely you can't seriously be suggesting that a great church like St Peters in Rome should be covered in solar panels., are you professor ? No doubt the Catholic church like the church of England has a lot of open land which could support solar farms, but please don't desecrate the worlds ancient and historic buildings with these ugly panels. I dare say America hasn't got much in the way of great religious architecture, but the great churches we have over here in England like the glorious Salisbury cathedral or the fabulous Kings college chapel in Cambridge as well as the Catholic London Oratory, are a source of pride, joy and inspiration to we Brits. I suspect the same is true of the many European Catholic cathedrals as well. Cover Notre Dame Cathedral in solar panels? !! Whatever are you thinking about professor ?
Oh come off it Juan, give it a rest. I know you are a real global warming fan, but places like Pakistan and India have know very high temperatures for centuries. I can tell you, over here in England we are still waiting for the start of summer, even though its mid June.
You may be right professor, but I recall reading a piece written by a Shiite in Baghdad pointing out that when Saddam Hussein was running the Country, he and his Sunni neighbour could go down to the Tigris river at midnight fishing and they had absolutely no fear of anyone, including the police and military. They certainly can't do that now, by day or night. Even going to local market to get food is an ordeal, with police checks etc. Saddam and Tariq may well not have been everyone's idea of a best friend, but at least they kept order where all could go about their business in a terror free environment !!
Professor, its not possible to have 100% energy from wind and solar power because neither of these two systems work when there is no sun and no wind. This can be for days on end at night in Spain as I can attest having been there many times.
Professor, war mongers like Bolton and McCain don't assess the cost of war in the same negative tones as yourself. To them, the more a war costs, the more money they make. Death and destruction just doesn't enter their calculations! If they see your figures they will be busy trying to extrapolate how much cash they can make for themselves and their pals in the military inndustries
I don't know when you last read 1984 Professor, but room 101 was rather more dire than phone tapping !! You are of course right, the scale of spying by the authorities is way beyond the scope of anything imagine by Orwell in his 1984 book.
In the solar stakes I'm surprised that China with its huge land mass and hot climate doesn't make more use of the solar panels it actually produces for the rest of the world. The deserts of China would be ideal for vast solar farms, and seeing as China is a massive world user of fossil fuels, you would think they would go down this rout. The real problem however, is that man has yet to find an efficient method of storing electrical energy.
Thank God for an alternative voice professor. Heaven only knows what the MSM got away with before the advent of the internet. I know you are an alternative energy supporter so I thought you might like to know that Jaguar are bringing out an electric car in 2018 and its quite something. It does 310 miles per full charge. Has a rapid full charge of two hours with 90 minutes for an 80% charge. Has a top speed of an incredible 200 MPH and goes 0 to 60 in four seconds for those who are interested in this sort of thing. Obviously the interior has the high spec one would expect from Jaguar together with a huge trunk. There's lots more to read but no doubt if you are interested you can look it up for yourself. The down side its very expensive. £60,000 in UK money. The science of the electric car doesn't have to go much further to make it a real alternative to the combustion engine. Anyway, good luck and a happy new year. I know my donation is small but every little helps
With the kind of people you have in charge in your Country and the shower we Brits have over here in England, there is no chance of generosity of spirit, peace or harmony. The politicians we have are like Locusts devouring everything in their path. Their greed makes the swine in my local farm seem positively genteel by comparison. Men like Kennedy are few and far between and I think he was unique and a one off. Over here in Britain our politicians are basically: the upper class school types who think they are born to rule, the self serving greedy ones, criminals and clowns. People like Tony Blair are in a class of their own and it would take a professor of psychiatry to classify them.
Forgive my asking professor, but I puzzled about the role of the millions of Sunni refugees who fled Iraq to Syria during and after the invasion post Saddam Hussein. These people were as I understand it, in fear of the Shiites but they went to a Country where the government is friendly with Iran which is Shiite. Are the Iraq Sunni refugees of the same religion as the Sunni rebels fighting Assad and are they neutral as far as this battle goes. There are after all, several million of them.
Many people asking how could militia turn heavy weapons (or for that matter, any weapons) on civilians. That's because the term militia and rebel is a false one. In fact they are terrorists imported by people like Cameron, fool Hague the FM, and of course, Obama. There is massive financial and material support for these criminals from our proxy war partners in Saudi Arabia who are currently behind the terrorists in the Syria conflict. Many of the terrorists in Syria have come directly from Libya. It seems to me that if one is a genuine rebel having won the day, you would be back in your own Country supporting the government and getting things back to normal. Yes that's right, NORMAL as it was under Gadaffi.
Where is Snowdon when you need him. Over here in England there is outrage about the silencing of this report, not least because its one of several and costs the tax payer millions of pounds. The main reason for the incredulity of the public and political commentators, is the fact that this report is being blocked by a civil servant and not by anyone in parliament or the house of Lords (our version I think of your senate). Its astounding that this unelected clerk can exercise such power even greater than the prime minister or even the Queen herself. If you Americans think your government is being manipulated by backroom boys, you should come over here and see what we've got, hands up the rectum and puppets come s to mind!!
I hate to say it, professor, but you were all for the attack by we British and the French on Libya, together with tacit approval and help from the USA. Gadaffi ran this once beautiful Country well and there was plenty of everything for all the people. Now there is nothing but fear and destitution. Strangely, when Iraq was being smashed to pieces by the Americans and we British, you were quite rightly against it. I don't understand your double standards here and why you seem to expect anything other in Libya, than that which followed the Iraq debacle.
Professor I am not quite sure what the import of your piece is. Why writers would self censor when they publish their stuff anyway I don't understand. I can quite see that writers who are producing some kind of clandestine underground publication would not want the attention of the state examining their work, but people like yourself who are widely read and in the open anyway, as well as authors etc, are not going to be spied on by the NSA. The NSA etc can just go and read the publication or buy the book. If you are suggesting that the writers are afraid of the American government as was the case in Stalin's Russia, then this is a sad turn of events indeed.
Hey professor, don't write mankind of just yet. Consider the following: horses, trains, high speed trains, cars, planes, jets flying through the skies lack palaces with wings, rockets, mobile phones, smart mobile phones, ipods, that horrible institution we call the NSA that can store everything we every say or do on phones and internet and so it goes on. We have come a long way in less than a century or two. They say we can't travel faster than light, yet a black hole is there because light is being pulled into it faster than it can get out, so if light is traveling backwards faster than it can travel forwards, then the speed of light can be exceeded!! I know, the scientists among you can knock my point down, but never underestimate man's ability to find a solution.
Professor, you forgot one very important statistic, the arms manufacturers and those companies which provide services for the war machine. I think you will find their story is a huge success. These people are wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice and a they are a powerful lobby in America and other Western Countries. I very much doubt they see it as a quagmire, for them its an indication that business is doing well !
Professor whilst I agree with you that electric cars would be wonderful they are just not going to happen until they are comparable with the combustion engine. Currently electric cars that aren't like some kind of toy box will only do a journey of about 40 miles at very best and they take some eight hours to recharge the batteries! At this rate a trip by car say, across America would take months and would actually be quicker by horse! If an electric four seat car could do say, some 150 to 200 miles per charge with a re-charge time of not more than twenty minutes, then there would soon be as many electric cars as petrol or diesel. At the moment electric cars are somewhere near valve driven computers of the fifties and need the invention of the transistor to get them that one important step nearer reality.
Quite a large number of these people are coming from Libya. They weren't coming from that Country before Britain, France and America undermined Gaddafi and sent in our own terrorist and well armed army of criminals. Libya is now in chaos and all but destroyed thanks to our blatant interference and regime change, contrary to international law. There are now a massive number of refugees from Syria, who again weren't fleeing their Country before our halfwit foreign secretary, William Hague, Cameron and Obama, tacitly armed, financed and supported disparate gangs of terrorists. Apparently, most of the terrorists in Syria are from outside the Country and get their arms from us by way of our proxy war partners in Saudi Arabia, that bastion of democracy who the West call their friends ! I would have hoped all these refugees would have headed for France and the UK. We broke it, so we should fix it and take in all who want to leave.
It is always a tragedy when a child or very young person is injured and maimed in war, but the fawning over this girl who is in my Country stinks of a massive PR job which demeans this young girls honest out pourings about the situation in Pakistan. There are hundreds of children who have hideous injuries and are maimed and disfigured for life as a result of American drones. They are of course, kept well in the background as they are in Afghanistan following attacks on them from we British and American bombs. Those kids who are harmed by the Taliban are ripe for exploitation by the media and the governments war machine. The ones we have so brutally damaged remain in the shadows and well out of the public eye. The notion that this girl would get the peace prize just shows what a superb job the PR people are capable of and how stupid are we the public to believe in this charade.
Whilst America and Britain are responsible for the overall situation in Iraq today, which wasn't there before our illegal attack on this Country, it does not help the Shiites when the government carries out weekly hangings of Sunnis. I think there would be far less backlash from the Sunnis if these hangings (actually murders as it was the case with Saddam Hussein) were to cease completely. The hate these murders by the Shiite government foster cannot be under estimated. The horror of these endless executions started when America handed over Saddam Hussein to be murdered on their behalf like some kind of internal rendition, for which the Americans and we British are famous.
Your piece is very interesting but somehow falls down towards the end when you start to talk about the PAID for denialists. The inference of this comment is that those on the other side of the argument (the global warming enthusiast) don't get any funding. This is patently untrue: they get far more funding than almost anyone else in academia and science. In fact global warming has become big business in its own way and the big bucks are paid to the global warming enthusiasts, not the other way round. It seems to me your historical research is is based on a rather tenuous interpretation of history as we know it. But the problem with history its anything but reliable and you can't really use historical 'guess work' as an alternative to hard science. Your contention that past ancient wars are in some way connected to global climate change is stretching your case well beyond the limits of credibility. As far as I can see both sides of the argument have tried to link their case with just about anything that might bolster their claims, even if the links border on the bizarre.
If you want to keep your emails private just write the email and put it into your draft folder. The recipient will know your email pass word and will bring up your email account and read the draft. After he or she reads the draft email its deleted, thus, an email has been exchanged but never actually sent!! You can have a private email account for yourself and several other accounts for your friends. They do the same of course, all having the appropriate pass words. The draft email can be heavily encrypted as also. So NSA, see if you can get past that one !!
Looks like you have met your match here professor with all these technical experts !! My beef your interesting article is that you use the wretched kilometer measurement instead of miles. Most of us ordinary folk have no idea what 500 KMS means.
Professor, your posts are 95% worthy of praise and well worthwhile reading. This post however, is not one of your best. in fact it boarders on the ludicrous. You seem to have accepted the ravings of Kerry and the mischief put out by the so called intelligence people as fact. It is not a fact and there is absolutely no real proof at the present time that Assad used these weapons. As for strategy, there is clearly no strategy other than saving Obama's face. You know, that silly phrase, "the red line" As for your idea of a fair fight, what do you think the terrorists and cannibal now operating in Syria are, Some kind of chivalrous knights of old England. The terrorists and additional factions now in Syria and gathering on the out side are like vultures waiting their turn to feed off the carcass that Syria is rapidly becoming.
Professor, I don't understand how Rajsanjani can admit to anything. He is not Syrian, isn't in Syria and probably doesn't know anything more about the affair than any other commentator?
Although little has been said or made of it, it is a fact the British people were very unhappy about the dirty trick played by Cameron and is side kick Hague FM, when they ordered an all out attack on Libya. As you know, the original intervention in Libya was to be just a no fly zone. The appalling way Gadaffi died and the sheer lack of concern by our government about this event also stuck in the throats of much of the electorate over here. This time at least 85% of the British population are against any intervention by us in Syria. So it wasn't just the ghost of Iraq, although this was much quoted in parliament . There was a feeling here that Cameron and Hague were looking to grandstand again to get that feeling of greatness, power, and elation they had when they went on their march of triumph into Libya. At least some of our members of parliament have got some balls and told Cameron where to go. Pity you folks in America don't have a similar mechanism to do the same !!
I watched several hours of the debate over here in Britain and was surprised that the government lost the vote. I have been watching our debates for over half a century and I can honestly say there have been less than ten occasions when the government actually lost a vote. It was close this time with a majority of just thirteen. Cameron was visibly furious and William Hague, our foreign minister, was practically crying in his porridge. I believe he and Cameron enjoyed their march of triumph into Libya so much, that they wanted to do it again in Syria.
But spying abroad professor, means that the NSA can state with some assurance that the chemical weapons alleged to have been used in Syria were deployed by Assad's military. They apparently have the a recording of the phone call that officers were alleged to have made in panic about this event. If you want to catch the bad guys in wrong doing overseas then you you have to spy on them. If the good guys get spied on as well and you know the now infamous saying " if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear" then all is well isn't it?
This article by the professor is informative and coherent. The professor however fails to account for the massive amount of weaponry already in circulation in Syria now. This may well include chemical weapons as well. The present farrago started off as a demonstration only, but quite suddenly these demonstrators had large amounts of weaponry hardware. Where did this stuff come from. In London a years or so ago we had demonstration against the government which started off being quite severe, but they petered out soon enough and weapons were out of the question. I believe America and we British armed these people through our proxy partners in that bastion of democracy, Saudi Arabia and others, just as we have done in places like Libya and Afghanistan to name but a few. It seems to me we provide fuel for the fire and then march in like heroes to put it out.
The smart thing surely is not to have a smart phone. I can buy here in the UK a new phone costing about ten dollars. It makes and receives phone calls and texts. That's it, it does nothing else at all. When I look at other peoples smart phones it seems to me that the smart things these phones can do, no actually does it on them.
There is much outrage over here in England from some well know personalities. There will of course, be no cry of indignation from prime minster Cameron and Hague FM. What is so frightening for us Brits is the amount of control the Americans security services seem to have over even our air port staff, let alone our security services. These are dark times indeed. As a great philosopher once said. It unwise to be right when your government is wrong !!
I seem to remember columnists, writers and politicians everywhere were extolling the virtues of the Arab spring and there was a rush to arm Libyan terrorists and currently Syrian terrorists who actually practice cannibalism. There can be no doubt that the uprising in Egypt was largely orchestrated by the West and the present bloodshed and chaos is the result. Mubarak ran the Country well and he was the best man for the job. He must be having a quiet laugh from his sick bed at the moment. There never was an Arab spring and the whole thing was manufactured by a few individuals who had malevolent intent.
I wouldn't have thought John McCain has any credibility for talks anywhere. He lost all his credibility when he sang a song about lets "bomb bomb bomb Iran" etc. Clearly the man is an oaf.
The professor asks ten intelligent and well thought out questions, but apart from us, to whom in government does he think these questions should be addressed? Unless there is someone in government or elsewhere who has the power to bring about change, these question will fall on deaf ears except of course, we who read these columns and are already converted.
Its just been reported in the Guardian newspaper that Snowden has leaked information which states that the NSA in America has given GCHQ (our version of your NSA) over here in England, 100 million pounds funding. The NSA also told our agency that it "has to pull its weight" so there is much more than just cooperation between to like minded agencies. I don't know how our members of parliament will react, but I anticipate a degree of outrage at the least. The Russians haven't take in Snowden for nothing, because the man in a mine of information.
The trouble with information of this kind is the way the law is framed. Committing war crimes is a duty, but reporting them is a felony. As long as this is the case men of courage like Manning, Assange, and Snowden will be few and far between.
This is why we need lots of Bradley Manning's in every department of state and especially in the military. There will be many armed forces personnel alive right now who know exactly what happened but are afraid to speak out for fear of arrest and incarceration.
This was of course a show trial just like the ones they used to have in Russia under Stalin and co. Clearly, the evil cabal which passes for a government in America had to have their revenge on the man who had shown the world what these criminals were up to. Millions of people around the world will be thinking of Mr Manning today and he has their sympathy. The world owes this great man a debt for his courage and sacrifice. Lets hope Manning's fine work will inspire others to follow in his footsteps and expose the criminals in the organs of government where they reside like a cancer in the soul of America.
Well professor, we have the Royals and you have the likes of Obama, Clinton and Bush. At least our nominal heads of state, the Royals don't do any harm. You might have been better remaining British although spying on the population was going on long before America was even invented, at least in its present incarnation. However, like you we are still cursed with the likes of Tony Blair Cameron and the Westminster joker, William Hague and just like your leaders they are some kind of anti Christ. Maybe they will call the new baby that no one really gives a damn about, DAMIEN !
I conclude from this interesting piece that a strong non religious leader like Saddam, Gadaffi and Assad are really what these Countries need. Had the West cooperated with these leaders instead of getting rid of them, the mayhem, death and destruction we see in the middle East today would not be taking place. The old saying "if it aint broke don't fix it" comes to mind.
As an Englishman over here in the UK I regard our news media as second rate at best. That's why I read Informed comment and other internet news and comment sites. Our BBC channel two TV is well able to give politicians and others short shrift and they get away with nothing. We have a morning radio programme called 'Today' run by John Humphrys. This is the terror of politicians, spokesmen and quangocrats everywhere. But the rest of our TV and radio leaves much to be desired. I have seen some American TV news outlets and listened to one or two radio talk shows and it seems to me they are talking to an idiot audience. What I don't understand is why Americans listen to it. I have met many Americans over here in the UK and they are always critical of their own news media but seem to be news aware in general. Are there two kinds of Americans? If you don't listen to the sheer propaganda of say, Fox news, the station will soon shut down. The trouble is, Americans listen this drivel in their millions.
France, Britain and America basically attacked Libya for no good reason and did so without the benefit of a UN mandate. Libya is now unstable and this once beautiful Country is in ruins. Britain France and America have obviously been arming terrorists in Syria, all be it by indirect means and they now intend to do it directly, as the Syrian government seems to be getting on top of the situation. In Britain, prime minister Cameron says he will allow a parliamentary vote on whether or not arm the Syrian terrorists. Its quite likely he won't win the vote as no one hear in the UK believes for one minute the rubbish Obama came out with about the Syrian government using chemical weapons. The press here is also against any arming of terrorists by our Country and the main leader writers and columnists make no bones about the folly of such an action. It seems that Cameron and his court jester William Hague (foreign minister) are the only two people in the Country who want to start a war in Syria. As the professor rightly points out, there isn't the slightest chance of a UN mandate for an attack on Syria regardless of how minimalist it may be. Iraq was attacked and turned into hell on the basis of a lie about weapons of mass destruction and this sad Country continues to burn ten years later. Surely America won't attack Syria on the basis of another lie about chemical weapons. I know the public in America and Britain are quite stupid, but they can't be so stupid as to be taken in again and support their Country in another killing spree in someone else's Country, who are absolutely no threat to them.
It seems Obama has already done a Blair and Bush and come up with lies and deception and announced to the world that America has conclusive proof the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in the civil war there. As usual, they are not prepared to say how they know or what evidence there is for this scurrilous charge citing security reasons. Now the Americans and we stupid British under the leadership of a clown foreign minister, William Hague will be arming terrorists. followed no doubt by a no fly zone and later invasion. This complete, the oil will be stolen and military bases set up everywhere, all ready for the attack on Iran. The West goes on yet another killing spree !!
Assuming the American elections aren't rigged, you get to vote for the dictatorship in the USA and elsewhere. In a real dictatorship you don't get to elect anyone, including the incumbent dictator.
Governments have always wanted to spy on its citizens. As time has gone by the technology has got better and better and at the present level, its almost foolproof and total. The moment anything new is invented the government will always make use of it even though they managed perfectly well before. We have cctv cameras everywhere, we have road traffic speed cameras on just about every bit of road etc. When electricity was discovered the Americans straight away used in for the electric chair to kill people. In car sat navs are already being used to track motorist where ever they go, as indeed are cell phones etc. The internet has sent shivers down the spines of the state, because for the first time people could communicate and publish opinion with out any control by the all powerful government. This they appear to have now overcome and I doubt they will be relinquishing this power any time soon. Governments the world over must give thanks for terrorists as it gives them the excuse for unfettered power.
The American government recently wanted the extradition of a young man over here in England for hacking into a government web site. I don't remember which one. Anyhow, much to the annoyance of the Americans the British courts refused the application for extradition on medical grounds of the accused young man. The point is, can the people of Britain now demand the extradition of say, Obama or the head of the pentagon or whatever as clearly the the email accounts and much more will have been accessed by the American state ?
The trouble here professor is the word "think" Who decides what someone in a government agency thinks about a particular communication. We have a similar set up over here in England which has been resisted or watered down by our parliament. The secret services under the guise of the home office want to record all phone calls and emails for up to a year. Members of parliament rejected the idea (probably because some of them have communications they would rather not have anyone know about), but every time there is some kind of terrorists related incident, the legislation is brought out again and dusted off ready for use. In the end the law will most likely come into force. This is because the British voter, like the American voter, is frankly stupid. We will doubtless vote the same gang of politicians in next time round.
In Syria recently a child was allowed to cut of the head of a captured Syrian soldier and in another incident a man is seen cutting out the heart of another captured soldier and eating it. No one in England was particularly exercised or bothered by this. However, when one considers that the terrorists who perpetrated this horror are being armed and supported by are own idiot foreign secretary, William Hague I wonder why one appalling act of genocide which my Country supports is some how different to the attacks in Woolwich, London the other day.
Curious professor. Quite rightly you condemn Bush, Blair and co for the devastation they have left in Iraq. However, you seem content with America and Britain supplying sophisticated weaponry and machines of war to the Syrian Terrorists where the death toll is now in the many thousands. We have even seen terrorists children cutting of captured soldiers head in the street and men cutting out the hearts of others and eating them. Why do you find dead Syrians less important that dead Iraqi people ?
Professor, as an Englishman I can't do the American lottery. If I could, I would and take my chances of whether or not it brings me any happiness. Look at it this way: poverty definitely bring despair, misery and unhappiness. So logically, lots of lovely dollars must bring happiness.
It is tacitly implied by the professor that the estimate of 70,000 dead are all the work of the government. Clearly both sides are killing each other with the terrorists now using sarin gas according to the UN. Interesting that the use of sarin gas by the rebels is all but ridiculed by much of the Western media and governments. However, the UN's estimate of 70,000 dead is lapped up as fact, even though its is based on nothing more than hearsay and extrapolation.
When it was stated that the Syrian government has used the gas it was regarded as a fact in some quarters and the question of invading was mooted. But when the terrorists are accused its seems the UNs investigation is not given any credence and it has to be treated with caution and more evidence is needed etc. It is quite clear the terrorists (some people foolishly refer to them as "revolutionaries") are committing appalling atrocities and the use of gas is just one of their ploys to get the British, Americans and French to invade and let the real slaughter begin.
Whilst I am sure your analysis is correct, you couldn't sell that story in England for a dime, if it was a bucket of fresh water in the desert. I don't know what its like in the States, but the unfounded prejudice against Muslims over here is staggering.
Whatever one says about this bombing, its nothing compared to the mayhem and murder of men, women and kids by American bombs and drones. America has killed thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Libya Afghanistan and now getting involved in Syria. The Americans will no doubt go on a killing spree in Iran soon and we stupid British will follow along in their wake.
Thatcher is almost as mythical a being as was Princess Diana. Neither of these people were really any kind of higher being and were just people who the media have built up into some kind of saints. I was working in Kensington when Princes Diana died and it was staggering to see thousands and thousands of people bring expensive bunches of flowers to lay on the pavement outside her home. None of these people knew this woman or had ever even seen her in the flesh. It was a kind of frightening hysteria whipped up by the media. Thatcher's life was much the same and she is really only famous for taking on the unions which prime ministers before her had failed to do. The notion she should have a state funeral is absurd and is once again, driven by the media who are painting her into some kind of superior being, which she isn't.
Professor, you fail to mention that the terrorists in Algeria are actually heroes by your definition of the "revolutionaries" in Syria. I cannot understand why you call one lot of terrorists 'revolutionaries and another lot rebels. They are all murders and thugs who want to take over the Country (or any Country) for that matter in which they are fighting.
Alex Salmond didn't get his high percentage of renewable energy off his own back. He got from the billions of pounds which we English pour into Scotland every year. Scotish members of parliament can vote in Westminster, but English Members of parliament can't vote in Scotland. This means Salmond can do what he likes with our cash. If he gets independence and has to use his own Countries money, I don't think you will hear much more about 100% renewable energy then as it costs a lot of money.
If the electric car was even half viable (which it is not) what do you think would happen to the vast oil and petrol industries. Everyone from oil tanker staff to the humble petrol pump attendant would be out of work, but perhaps more importantly, the really wealthy boys at the top of this chain would also lose out. I don't think they would allow that! As long as the range of an electric car and the charging time remains non competitive with the combustion engine, nothing will change.
The idea that this is a solution anywhere beyond an island environment of this type is absurd. I don't think it would work well in New York or London. What is needed is a whole new approach to battery technology. If we can ever make a battery perform as well as a tank full of gas and recharge in less than say, twenty minutes, then I think we have a real chance at a solution to global warming. We can produce clean electricity, but I suggest we have gone as far as we can with a with pollution free combustion engine.
It won't be a problem because the American media will tell the American people that its all someone else's fault. So they will believe it and just put up with it. The American public like the British public are frankly stupid, and will go on voting for the two main stream parties indefinitely.
To say the rebels (in fact terrorists) in Libya Defeated Qaddafi with little help from the West is absurd and absolutely untrue. The West bombed Qaddafi's troops to pieces leaving the rabble we called freedom fighters, free to do whatever they liked. Burning, looting rape and untold damage to the infrastructure of the Country. This Country is now in ruins and is a place of fear and despair.
What democratic forces professor, I don't recall any election for them ? If there was a free and fair vote in Syria today its likely Assad would win with a wide margin. One constantly hears the term"moderate opposition" but who exactly are they and where did they come from. Further, what does the term 'moderate' actually mean? A recent video shows these very same people hacking off the head of a 12 year old boy on the back of a truck!
Grumpy, I seem to recall a previous president and many in his government who declared water boarding legitimate. Then there was the rendition affair which sent victims overseas to undisclosed location specifically to be tortured. It seems to me that many of the things you accuse Trump of have already been the norm for others who have held the post to which he aspires. May I remind you of the chilling interview of Clinton when she was cackling like some kind of demented witch an the horrific murder of Gadaffi.
I hold no brief for Trump but at least he is new to politics and might do something different. Clinton is a known war monger and has a track record to prove it. As I see it, American politicians are just gangsters in suits whilst the lot who pass for politicians over here in the UK have the acumen of a toad and evil of a serpents from hell !
A bit churlish of you professor to put down we doubters of solar, wind and hydro power sources as being a viable alternative to hydro carbons. Clearly renewable power sources is the ideal way to go but unless this energy source can be stored and made available for when the renewable's aren't producing power, they will always just play a supporting role. However, I have not heard about molten salt before professor and it sounds exciting. Can you elaborate or direct us to a site giving more info on the subject.
I think you are losing the main thread here professor, in emphasizing the 'white' factor. Its the old people who are the one's being maligned with colour and religion playing only a small part. There is an ever increasing complaint that governments are largely run by middle age white males which is true for the most part. However, over here in the UK there is a distinct feeling of threat against the older community these days. There is a large vocal section of the younger generation who are complaining that the old are financially better off. The old dominate parliament. The old are responsible for the European referendum vote winning the day to leave the EU. The old shouldn't be driving any more. The old are cluttering up the hospitals and so on. Most young people are saying the elderly should not have been allowed to vote in the recent EU referendum election because the future belongs to the young. The logic of this of course, is that the old shouldn't be allowed to vote at all. Cameron won the last general election due largely to the older voter and it was prime minister Cameron who set up the referendum. Perhaps those in the media who have a wider voice than most of us, should be pointing out that wisdom and experience comes with age. Throughout the history of man kind, in modern governments and simple tribes, its the elders who have occupied the seats at the head of the table because its the older generation who have the experience of life and can see what the young can't see or don't want to see.
As you will be aware professor, British people are not allowed to own guns save in special circumstances. The only people allowed guns over here are farmers and people who shoot game birds. Even then they are only allowed a basic shot gun and licencing is very strict. Perhaps more importantly, the main police force doesn't carry guns either and those that do are mainly at airports or other very sensitive areas. There are armed police available in all police force areas but they are only called out for some kind of armed siege or other. If the public aren't armed then there is no reason for the police to be armed. In the UK in rural areas its a rare sight to see a policeman on foot and police in patrol cars are few and far between. Its curios that the relationship between the state and the people over here is so benign, especially as historically we are a a nation of war mongers and thugs. In fact we still are, but we do our killing of the human race in other people's countries. The USA has always had that 'wild West' attitude to life so guns and their use is in the American psyche.
Professor, there is another aspect to the success of the vote to Leave the EU campaign. Cameron is of course, a Conservative and is roundly detested and hated by the working class. There have been some savage Austerity measures put in place in the last year or so and as Cameron was such a prominent figure in the remain Campaign, a lot of the ire of the working class was directed at him in the form of a leave vote. By playing such an important role in the remain campaign, Cameron may have shot himself in the foot. People don't always vote for whats on the ballot paper and quite often their vote is a protest vote against the government in general
I have read your piece twice professor and I'm still not really sure what you are saying or implying here. The projected outcome of the vote at the moment is 50% for either side, so it would appear you think that 50% of the British people are racist? The real fear among the out campaign isn't actually immigration of dark skin people, but of other EU citizens who are predominately white! The number of white Europeans who are entitled to come to Britain and live and work here, is technically half a billion and they can do so without any restriction whatsoever under the 'free movement of people' EU law. Further, many of we vote out people are doing so because of the ever stifling laws and regulation emanating from unelected EU bureaucrats! As I pointed out to you the other day, there were over 6,000 pieces of legislation passed last year alone that the EU bureaucrats enacted and which we British have to obey. The management of the EU has become a fiasco and though various prime ministers have tried to get reasonable reform of this monolithic institution, they have all so far failed.
As an English man I must take issue with you professor, with regard to your comments that the people of the vote out of the EU campaign are all ultra far right wing. Currently the opinion polls show the leave campaign with a slight majority which represents millions of British voters, of which I am one. The question of immigration whilst a vexed one, is far from being the main reason for wanting out of the EU. Last year alone there were some six thousand pieces of legislation passed by the un-elected EU mandarins which we in here in Britain have to obey. By being an island we have by far the largest fisheries of any other EU country, but our fisheries are controlled by the EU meaning that our fishermen are not allowed to fish for several months of the year. We are absolutely swamped with EU regulations which stifle our industries and out people. As for the immigration question, we are not talking about a few people from the war torn middle East or Africa etc, we are concerned that the WHOLE of Europe can come and settle in Britain under the current arrangement of the free movement of people within the EU. Your own president had the damned cheek to come over here and tell us we should remain within the EU whilst at the same time putting up fences between America and Mexico to stop people coming to the States. If the Americans think its such a good idea to open one's borders to all and sundry, may I suggest they open the Southern borders to South America and Canada! Calling those of us who no longer want to remain in the EU, 'far right' with clear overtones that we are some how 'fascists' is insulting and offensive. No one in Britain voted for the current setup of the European Union. We originally voted for an economic community to enhance trade. Had the British people known at the time of the first EEC vote, we would not have voted for this total domination of our lives from Europe. The murder of the member of parliament was carried out by a man who was unhinged and a lunatic. There is tacit implication in your piece that the leave the EU campaign is is made up of people with extreme views similar to this man. This is unbecoming of a man of your stature and insight, professor and I hope I am wrong.
It only a few weeks back that a huge bomb went of in the Syrian capital and ISIS claimed responsibility for this. Just as in America, there were fifty people killed as well as a many more injured in this attack. America, Britain, France, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the very people who have been arming these terrorists, either directly or indirectly through proxies. Last week I watched a parliamentary committee over here in the UK question a minister and two of his side kicks. Part of the interview was about why we (Britain) hadn't sent more ammunition for the heavy machine guns we had supplied the 'friendly' terrorists. The fact is, the West with its ever growing greed for resources and regime change has stirred up a hornets nest and the chickens are coming home to roost! "As ye sow so shall ye reap"
America is helping the Kurdish people and fighters whilst the Turks, who are also best pals with the Americans, are bombing those same Kurdish people to bits. Its a mad place out there but even madder, the Turks are busy arming the ISIS mob at the same time as the Americans and Kurds are trying to eliminate them! The Americans, we British and parts of the EU membership have created this hornets nest in the first place and we are in the midst of the swarm flailing about with no kind of coherent strategy of any kind. It seems to me the Syrian government with the help of the Russians are the only players who have a real sense of purpose. Get rid of all the terrorists in Syria including the moderate terrorists and imported mercenaries and put the Country back under the legitimate government of Assad. One may not think he has a legitimate mandate to govern, but he has as much right as any of the other lunatics out there including the head chopping friends of America and we British.
Professor, there are Counties all over the globe who might say they have a legitimate claim against the US for compensation. However, if you don't have any US assets you may as well forget it as no US court would approve compensation directly from US coffers. Perhaps the real mystery is why any of these Countries would invest money or place assets in America in the first place. I would have thought the Swiss banks or similar would be a much safer place. It seems to me in these days of electronic money and uncertainty, that gold and other precious metals would be a better way of protecting ones assets.
Well professor, if the West keeps fermenting unrest and causing wars in the middle East, the population will have long immigrated into Europe before climate change kicks in. Today over here in England we have an election for the mayor of London and a Muslim candidate looks set to win. The great exodus from the middle East has already begun and huge numbers of these people are here now in Britain. The EU is swamped with immigrants from the middle East and they keep on coming. America and Britain can together take the blame for much of the unrest in these Countries. However, whilst we in England are taking tens of thousands of immigrants via the European community, America takes only a tiny fraction of the refugees. I don't blame you for that, yet Obama has the cheek to tell the British voter to stay in the EU, have open borders etc.
At least Trump says he puts America first, even if he doesn't mean it. Over here in the UK our worthless politicians like Cameron and Corbin, quite openly want to sell us down the river to the European Union. We even have the American president over here fawning on Cameron and telling us all that we should give away our sovereignty to the EU. If Obama thinks its such a good idea that we over here in the UK stay as members of the EU and open our borders to all and sundry, then he should open his borders between America, Mexico and Canada. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!
We have a similar law over here in the UK which is carried to extreme lengths. For example; if a person overhears a conversation which is less than complimentary about some ethnic race, religion or any other kind of life style, this individual can call the police and have the conversationalist arrested. The person making the complaint does not have to be in any way connected to the overheard conversation or be of an ethnic race themselves. Quite simply, anyone who overhears something in other people's private conversation which they claim offends their sensibilities, can declare an offence committed. If you think this is bordering on the bizarre, there is a law in Germany (recently used against a well know German comedian), which prohibits anyone from criticising any foreign head of state under pain of five years in prison. So if member of the public in Germany made some kind of derogatory remark about say, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, they could end up in prison!! Its a mad world out there.
The notion that either of the two main political parties in the States could claim some kind of success in the event of the complete downfall of ISIS, seems rather far fetched to me. Had the Russians not taken over the task of supporting Assad and driving ISIS from the main cities and towns in Syria, the situation there would be very grave today. ISIS would certainly be running the show. America and her token allies have been supposedly challenging ISIS from the air for some four years or so prior to the Russian intervention, with very little impact. Of course, politicians will turn any event to their advantage no matter how tenuous their connection to it is.
Professor, I agree that seeing peaceful protesters and journalist being roughed up is an ugly sight and very distasteful. However, I have seen lots of footage of American police savaging ordinary American peaceful protesters, protesting about some internal American matter. Erdogan has all the power of a dictator in Turkey and like the North Korean leader, he apparently thinks and really believes that he is some kind of supreme being. The North Korean leader is rightly castigated, but then, he is not in NATO and a friend to the West. Erdogan on the other hand, is feted by American and British leaders and they had little or nothing to say when Erdogan took over a TV station because they were broadcasting unfavourable comment about him and his government.
I watched a documentary recently on RT (Russian television) which we get over here in the UK. The gist of the piece was that a mountain in East America called "coal mountain" is being completely removed for its coal and the locals don't like it. The locals have done a study showing that because of the high altitude of the mountain, wind generators would produce as much electricity as the one coal fired power station does from the coal harvested from the mountain. As the wind is likely to blow for the foreseeable centuries to come, this would mean the locals could have their mountain and there would be electricity produced from it for ever! Obviously, the companies harvesting to coal don't agree. I am not qualified to pronounce on the matter one way or the other. What I find strange however, is that I should only be able to find this documentary on a Russian television station and not on an English or American one. Perhaps you have seen an American version of this documentary, professor?
How is it a great Country like America with millions of highly intelligent men and women, who are scholars, scientists, engineers, writers, philanthropists and people of vision and integrity, cant find two candidates to stand for the presidency other than these two serpents from hell! On the one hand we have Clinton who clearly unhinged and a war monger. She would be quite at home sitting next to Madam Defarge at the foot of the guillotine, knitting an old sock with a stitch for every bomb dropped on other people's Countries. On the other hand there is Trump, wallowing in his billions of dollars threatening to legalise various forms of torture, deportations and general mayhem What is it with politics that most of the people in it are some kind of lunatics who I wouldn't trust to run a stable for orphaned donkeys! Surely professor, with all your knowledge and experience you must be able to shed some light on this phenomenon. If one of theses two desperate people becomes the president, then God help us all !
Professor, when you start using language like Neo Nazis, KKK and biker gangs, you do an injustice to your otherwise fine journalism and informative work on this site. Trump has no doubt got may undesirable characteristics, but whilst the Republicans mask their own anti ethnic leanings, they most certainly have them. Abu ghraib prison in Iraq springs to mind to say nothing of the history associated with the native American Indians. Whatever you think of Trump, you cannot deny he obviously has a very large following with the votes to prove it, and I doubt they are all Neo Nazis, biker gangs and KKK. and its unfair of you to imply they are are.
I seem to remember seeing a news clip where Hillary Clinton was sniggering about how, as she put it, "the Americans went to Libya and Gaddafi is now dead". I paraphrase of course, but the interview is quite famous over here in the UK. From what I have seen of Clinton she is bordering on being unbalanced and clearly quite dangerous. Trump may well be an extreme candidate, but he has no proven political track record as do some of the other candidates. As for him saying he would kill he families of terrorists, he is in good company. Does the bombing of wedding parties ring any bells or the sacking of Mosul by the Americans using white phosphorus ? The truth is politicians and those who aspire to high office are ruthless when it comes to furthering their own ambitions.
The points you make in your piece professor are of course, valid and informative. However, I would have thought you should be writing with some outrage that the pope is getting involved in America's politics at all. Perhaps the Pontiff might just have something to say about Italian politics, but the notion he is actually trying to influence the outcome of an American election is outrageous
Seems a bit unfair to describe Trump's relationship with Putin as 'creepy'. Surely and aspiring president should try to have relationships with all foreign leaders, especially with Putin, who is in charge of the powerful Country that Russia is. I would have thought the relationship of the current and past administrations with terrorists in Syria (so called free Syrian army) and elsewhere on the globe as 'creepy' as well as criminal, at least in the eyes of the international community.
I can never understand why it is the Russian bombs are always described as indiscriminate, but the bombs of America, Briton and allies are always called good bombs which never hit civilians. The fact that the Syrian government with the help of Russian air power is at last starting clear large parts of Syria from the scourge of terrorists must mean Russian bombs are indeed very accurately targeted. The same applies to the derogatory term 'regime' which the media are so beloved of calling the Syrian government. There were elections in Syria a while back and Assad won most of the votes of those who voted. I don't suppose it was the most inclusive election under the circumstances, However, here in my Country of England, prime minister Cameron has seized power with just 30% of the popular vote with a very large turn out of voters. If legitimate government is based on who gets the most votes rules, then the British government is a 'regime' by anyone's definition.
One can understand European governments welcoming Rouhani as there is a lot of trade to be had now the sanctions are lifted. However, it was bit over the top to do what the Italian government officials did, in ordering that all works of art depicting naked women should be covered up so as not to offend this important visitor! Apparently, the French government refused to do this, but then, the French don't have anything like the number of works of art that Italy does. As far as my Country here in the UK is concerned, he will be quite at home as this Country is as dull and drab as Iran but without the sunshine to take the edge off things.
We don't actually know who was in this prison. There may well have been ISIS prisoners there or the place may have been used as some kind of base or HQ for Al-Qaeda. Last time I heard, Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organisation according to America and the West generally, so their loss together with some ISIS prisoners is a legitimate target by anyone's standards. We always assume that spies on the ground are some kind of monopoly of the West, but as the Russians are there at the request of the Syrian government, they almost certainly have their intelligence people all over the Country as well.
You comment that the terrorists should let the population who are caught up in this nightmare go, misses the point of them being there in the first place. Its these innocent people who prevent the Syrian army from blowing the place to bits, which they surely would do if it was occupied sole by terrorists. As these town are so close to the capital, the Syrian government cannot afford to allow the terrorists to dig in unchallenged.
I am sorry to see a man of your stature and high standing in the world of journalism, using the the word, REGIME to describe the Syrian government. This expression is designed to tarnish the Syrian government and Assad in particular. You don't refer to the Chinese government as a regime where there is no real democracy, or to the British government as a regime (my Country) where the monarchy (the queen) is head of state and entirely unelected ! Dr Assad was a surgeon here in London some years ago and is an educated man and not some kind of mad axe wielding mad man as he is so often portrayed by the media and journalists. I doubt Assad has ever killed anyone in his life any more than has the queen of England. Assad is trying to defend his Country against the West's imported Jihads, mercenaries and terrorists. My own wretched government under prime minister, Cameron, pours arms into Saudi Arabia where democracy flourishes like fresh green lettuce in the desert, but few in the British parliament or the media in general refer to Saudi Arabia by the derogatory term, REGIME. If the hacks in the world of journalism had half the education and skills of Assad, they might be able to produce a more balanced and informed copy.
As any man of science will tell you, there is no such thing as God, so who worships which ever God is merely of academic interest. There is however, one God which man kind universally worships, and that is the God of money.
Professor, you seem to be confusing terrorists with the free Syrian army. Numerous Countries are supplying the FSO with weapons, funds and logistics and are doing it quite openly. This includes America, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and other middle East Countries, and of course Turkey. The fact that the free Syria army no longer really exists is irrelevant, as the Countries listed above use this name as an excuse to arm the various terrorist factions in Syria. There are thousands of terrorists from all over the world, including my Country, Britain, using Turkey as a conduit to join the terrorists. Obviously Turkey is arming and facilitating the free movement of terrorists through their Country and Russia was quite right to accuse Turkey of aiding terrorists. Lets face it, were'r all at it as it seems the only thing that matters to the West is the defeat of the Assad and the current Syrian state.
It is hypocrisy on the part of the Turks to complain that a Russian jet was just inside their air space when Turkey is flying right into Syria to bomb the Kurds who are fighting ISIS. The Russians have a right under international law to be in Syria as they were invited in by the government of Syria. The Turks, like all other Countries bombing Syria are in violation of international law. I think Putin should warn the Turks that another incident of this kind will result in a massive barrage of missiles rained down on the air base from which the attacking plane originated.
It was Hollande, Cameron and Obama who armed these terrorists in the first place. I can still see fool William Hague and Cameron going on march of triumph and glory and full of glee, to shake hands with the terrorists who had destroyed Libya and murdered Gadaffi with the arms and military assistance which we and the French supplied. While the Russians are dropping bombs on the terrorists in Syria, the Americans are dropping ever more arms and munitions for the (good) terrorists to use on the legitimate government of Assad. When the terrorists who the French have armed now turn on the French, its the innocent citizens who get it in the neck, where it should be those in the French government who started and fermented this madness in Syria and the middle East !
It would appear that the Russians are eliminating one set of terrorists for another group of terrorists, thus making them partners with the bombing campaign by the West. We have a demonstration here in London today against our government, but I bet they won't suddenly have automatic rifles, RPGs shoulder mounted missiles etc, as the demonstrators in Syria and Libya suddenly acquired when they had a demo. That's because unlike Syria and Libya who were armed by Obama, Cameron, fool William Hague and Hollande of France, The London demonstrators don't have any warmongers to arm them. The complaint against Assad is that he is unelected and so must go. It just so happens that the Queen of England (our head of state) is unelected and Cameron only has one third of the votes of the British people. 60% of the voters voted against him! The British demonstrators are being called scum and low life by the media and internet posters, but its not a question of what might be right or wrong, its what the 'establishment see as their agenda and the press and media follow them like sheep. Demonstrators don't just acquire war munitions out of the blue, they are supplied by war criminals intent on fermenting terror and ultimate subjugation of the population.
As I understand it, Assad has indicated he would stand again in any free and fair elections and would most likely win. I can't see ISIS getting many votes in the regions they control and have so devastated. The people in these areas that haven't been murdered are cowed and terrified and difficult though life may have been under Assad, its was heaven compared with life under ISIS or any of the other terror groups.
Surely you can't seriously be suggesting that a great church like St Peters in Rome should be covered in solar panels., are you professor ? No doubt the Catholic church like the church of England has a lot of open land which could support solar farms, but please don't desecrate the worlds ancient and historic buildings with these ugly panels. I dare say America hasn't got much in the way of great religious architecture, but the great churches we have over here in England like the glorious Salisbury cathedral or the fabulous Kings college chapel in Cambridge as well as the Catholic London Oratory, are a source of pride, joy and inspiration to we Brits. I suspect the same is true of the many European Catholic cathedrals as well. Cover Notre Dame Cathedral in solar panels? !! Whatever are you thinking about professor ?
I have read a lot of your work professor and it s all serious stuff. Nice to see you have a sense of humour as well.
Oh come off it Juan, give it a rest. I know you are a real global warming fan, but places like Pakistan and India have know very high temperatures for centuries. I can tell you, over here in England we are still waiting for the start of summer, even though its mid June.
You may be right professor, but I recall reading a piece written by a Shiite in Baghdad pointing out that when Saddam Hussein was running the Country, he and his Sunni neighbour could go down to the Tigris river at midnight fishing and they had absolutely no fear of anyone, including the police and military. They certainly can't do that now, by day or night. Even going to local market to get food is an ordeal, with police checks etc. Saddam and Tariq may well not have been everyone's idea of a best friend, but at least they kept order where all could go about their business in a terror free environment !!
Professor, its not possible to have 100% energy from wind and solar power because neither of these two systems work when there is no sun and no wind. This can be for days on end at night in Spain as I can attest having been there many times.
Professor, war mongers like Bolton and McCain don't assess the cost of war in the same negative tones as yourself. To them, the more a war costs, the more money they make. Death and destruction just doesn't enter their calculations! If they see your figures they will be busy trying to extrapolate how much cash they can make for themselves and their pals in the military inndustries
I don't know when you last read 1984 Professor, but room 101 was rather more dire than phone tapping !! You are of course right, the scale of spying by the authorities is way beyond the scope of anything imagine by Orwell in his 1984 book.
In the solar stakes I'm surprised that China with its huge land mass and hot climate doesn't make more use of the solar panels it actually produces for the rest of the world. The deserts of China would be ideal for vast solar farms, and seeing as China is a massive world user of fossil fuels, you would think they would go down this rout. The real problem however, is that man has yet to find an efficient method of storing electrical energy.
Thank God for an alternative voice professor. Heaven only knows what the MSM got away with before the advent of the internet. I know you are an alternative energy supporter so I thought you might like to know that Jaguar are bringing out an electric car in 2018 and its quite something. It does 310 miles per full charge. Has a rapid full charge of two hours with 90 minutes for an 80% charge. Has a top speed of an incredible 200 MPH and goes 0 to 60 in four seconds for those who are interested in this sort of thing. Obviously the interior has the high spec one would expect from Jaguar together with a huge trunk. There's lots more to read but no doubt if you are interested you can look it up for yourself. The down side its very expensive. £60,000 in UK money. The science of the electric car doesn't have to go much further to make it a real alternative to the combustion engine. Anyway, good luck and a happy new year. I know my donation is small but every little helps
A small donation from me to keep the wheels turning, professor. A happy Xmas and an even better new year
You don't always get it right professor but most of the time you are pretty good and a nice antidote the the junk we get from the media in general
With the kind of people you have in charge in your Country and the shower we Brits have over here in England, there is no chance of generosity of spirit, peace or harmony. The politicians we have are like Locusts devouring everything in their path. Their greed makes the swine in my local farm seem positively genteel by comparison. Men like Kennedy are few and far between and I think he was unique and a one off. Over here in Britain our politicians are basically: the upper class school types who think they are born to rule, the self serving greedy ones, criminals and clowns. People like Tony Blair are in a class of their own and it would take a professor of psychiatry to classify them.
Forgive my asking professor, but I puzzled about the role of the millions of Sunni refugees who fled Iraq to Syria during and after the invasion post Saddam Hussein. These people were as I understand it, in fear of the Shiites but they went to a Country where the government is friendly with Iran which is Shiite. Are the Iraq Sunni refugees of the same religion as the Sunni rebels fighting Assad and are they neutral as far as this battle goes. There are after all, several million of them.
Many people asking how could militia turn heavy weapons (or for that matter, any weapons) on civilians. That's because the term militia and rebel is a false one. In fact they are terrorists imported by people like Cameron, fool Hague the FM, and of course, Obama. There is massive financial and material support for these criminals from our proxy war partners in Saudi Arabia who are currently behind the terrorists in the Syria conflict. Many of the terrorists in Syria have come directly from Libya. It seems to me that if one is a genuine rebel having won the day, you would be back in your own Country supporting the government and getting things back to normal. Yes that's right, NORMAL as it was under Gadaffi.
Where is Snowdon when you need him. Over here in England there is outrage about the silencing of this report, not least because its one of several and costs the tax payer millions of pounds. The main reason for the incredulity of the public and political commentators, is the fact that this report is being blocked by a civil servant and not by anyone in parliament or the house of Lords (our version I think of your senate). Its astounding that this unelected clerk can exercise such power even greater than the prime minister or even the Queen herself. If you Americans think your government is being manipulated by backroom boys, you should come over here and see what we've got, hands up the rectum and puppets come s to mind!!
I hate to say it, professor, but you were all for the attack by we British and the French on Libya, together with tacit approval and help from the USA. Gadaffi ran this once beautiful Country well and there was plenty of everything for all the people. Now there is nothing but fear and destitution. Strangely, when Iraq was being smashed to pieces by the Americans and we British, you were quite rightly against it. I don't understand your double standards here and why you seem to expect anything other in Libya, than that which followed the Iraq debacle.
Professor I am not quite sure what the import of your piece is. Why writers would self censor when they publish their stuff anyway I don't understand. I can quite see that writers who are producing some kind of clandestine underground publication would not want the attention of the state examining their work, but people like yourself who are widely read and in the open anyway, as well as authors etc, are not going to be spied on by the NSA. The NSA etc can just go and read the publication or buy the book. If you are suggesting that the writers are afraid of the American government as was the case in Stalin's Russia, then this is a sad turn of events indeed.
Hey professor, don't write mankind of just yet. Consider the following: horses, trains, high speed trains, cars, planes, jets flying through the skies lack palaces with wings, rockets, mobile phones, smart mobile phones, ipods, that horrible institution we call the NSA that can store everything we every say or do on phones and internet and so it goes on. We have come a long way in less than a century or two. They say we can't travel faster than light, yet a black hole is there because light is being pulled into it faster than it can get out, so if light is traveling backwards faster than it can travel forwards, then the speed of light can be exceeded!! I know, the scientists among you can knock my point down, but never underestimate man's ability to find a solution.
Professor, you forgot one very important statistic, the arms manufacturers and those companies which provide services for the war machine. I think you will find their story is a huge success. These people are wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice and a they are a powerful lobby in America and other Western Countries. I very much doubt they see it as a quagmire, for them its an indication that business is doing well !
Professor whilst I agree with you that electric cars would be wonderful they are just not going to happen until they are comparable with the combustion engine. Currently electric cars that aren't like some kind of toy box will only do a journey of about 40 miles at very best and they take some eight hours to recharge the batteries! At this rate a trip by car say, across America would take months and would actually be quicker by horse! If an electric four seat car could do say, some 150 to 200 miles per charge with a re-charge time of not more than twenty minutes, then there would soon be as many electric cars as petrol or diesel. At the moment electric cars are somewhere near valve driven computers of the fifties and need the invention of the transistor to get them that one important step nearer reality.
Quite a large number of these people are coming from Libya. They weren't coming from that Country before Britain, France and America undermined Gaddafi and sent in our own terrorist and well armed army of criminals. Libya is now in chaos and all but destroyed thanks to our blatant interference and regime change, contrary to international law. There are now a massive number of refugees from Syria, who again weren't fleeing their Country before our halfwit foreign secretary, William Hague, Cameron and Obama, tacitly armed, financed and supported disparate gangs of terrorists. Apparently, most of the terrorists in Syria are from outside the Country and get their arms from us by way of our proxy war partners in Saudi Arabia, that bastion of democracy who the West call their friends ! I would have hoped all these refugees would have headed for France and the UK. We broke it, so we should fix it and take in all who want to leave.
It is always a tragedy when a child or very young person is injured and maimed in war, but the fawning over this girl who is in my Country stinks of a massive PR job which demeans this young girls honest out pourings about the situation in Pakistan. There are hundreds of children who have hideous injuries and are maimed and disfigured for life as a result of American drones. They are of course, kept well in the background as they are in Afghanistan following attacks on them from we British and American bombs. Those kids who are harmed by the Taliban are ripe for exploitation by the media and the governments war machine. The ones we have so brutally damaged remain in the shadows and well out of the public eye. The notion that this girl would get the peace prize just shows what a superb job the PR people are capable of and how stupid are we the public to believe in this charade.
Whilst America and Britain are responsible for the overall situation in Iraq today, which wasn't there before our illegal attack on this Country, it does not help the Shiites when the government carries out weekly hangings of Sunnis. I think there would be far less backlash from the Sunnis if these hangings (actually murders as it was the case with Saddam Hussein) were to cease completely. The hate these murders by the Shiite government foster cannot be under estimated. The horror of these endless executions started when America handed over Saddam Hussein to be murdered on their behalf like some kind of internal rendition, for which the Americans and we British are famous.
Your piece is very interesting but somehow falls down towards the end when you start to talk about the PAID for denialists. The inference of this comment is that those on the other side of the argument (the global warming enthusiast) don't get any funding. This is patently untrue: they get far more funding than almost anyone else in academia and science. In fact global warming has become big business in its own way and the big bucks are paid to the global warming enthusiasts, not the other way round. It seems to me your historical research is is based on a rather tenuous interpretation of history as we know it. But the problem with history its anything but reliable and you can't really use historical 'guess work' as an alternative to hard science. Your contention that past ancient wars are in some way connected to global climate change is stretching your case well beyond the limits of credibility. As far as I can see both sides of the argument have tried to link their case with just about anything that might bolster their claims, even if the links border on the bizarre.
If you want to keep your emails private just write the email and put it into your draft folder. The recipient will know your email pass word and will bring up your email account and read the draft. After he or she reads the draft email its deleted, thus, an email has been exchanged but never actually sent!! You can have a private email account for yourself and several other accounts for your friends. They do the same of course, all having the appropriate pass words. The draft email can be heavily encrypted as also. So NSA, see if you can get past that one !!
Looks like you have met your match here professor with all these technical experts !! My beef your interesting article is that you use the wretched kilometer measurement instead of miles. Most of us ordinary folk have no idea what 500 KMS means.
Professor, your posts are 95% worthy of praise and well worthwhile reading. This post however, is not one of your best. in fact it boarders on the ludicrous. You seem to have accepted the ravings of Kerry and the mischief put out by the so called intelligence people as fact. It is not a fact and there is absolutely no real proof at the present time that Assad used these weapons. As for strategy, there is clearly no strategy other than saving Obama's face. You know, that silly phrase, "the red line" As for your idea of a fair fight, what do you think the terrorists and cannibal now operating in Syria are, Some kind of chivalrous knights of old England. The terrorists and additional factions now in Syria and gathering on the out side are like vultures waiting their turn to feed off the carcass that Syria is rapidly becoming.
Professor, I don't understand how Rajsanjani can admit to anything. He is not Syrian, isn't in Syria and probably doesn't know anything more about the affair than any other commentator?
Although little has been said or made of it, it is a fact the British people were very unhappy about the dirty trick played by Cameron and is side kick Hague FM, when they ordered an all out attack on Libya. As you know, the original intervention in Libya was to be just a no fly zone. The appalling way Gadaffi died and the sheer lack of concern by our government about this event also stuck in the throats of much of the electorate over here. This time at least 85% of the British population are against any intervention by us in Syria. So it wasn't just the ghost of Iraq, although this was much quoted in parliament . There was a feeling here that Cameron and Hague were looking to grandstand again to get that feeling of greatness, power, and elation they had when they went on their march of triumph into Libya. At least some of our members of parliament have got some balls and told Cameron where to go. Pity you folks in America don't have a similar mechanism to do the same !!
I watched several hours of the debate over here in Britain and was surprised that the government lost the vote. I have been watching our debates for over half a century and I can honestly say there have been less than ten occasions when the government actually lost a vote. It was close this time with a majority of just thirteen. Cameron was visibly furious and William Hague, our foreign minister, was practically crying in his porridge. I believe he and Cameron enjoyed their march of triumph into Libya so much, that they wanted to do it again in Syria.
But spying abroad professor, means that the NSA can state with some assurance that the chemical weapons alleged to have been used in Syria were deployed by Assad's military. They apparently have the a recording of the phone call that officers were alleged to have made in panic about this event. If you want to catch the bad guys in wrong doing overseas then you you have to spy on them. If the good guys get spied on as well and you know the now infamous saying " if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear" then all is well isn't it?
This article by the professor is informative and coherent. The professor however fails to account for the massive amount of weaponry already in circulation in Syria now. This may well include chemical weapons as well. The present farrago started off as a demonstration only, but quite suddenly these demonstrators had large amounts of weaponry hardware. Where did this stuff come from. In London a years or so ago we had demonstration against the government which started off being quite severe, but they petered out soon enough and weapons were out of the question. I believe America and we British armed these people through our proxy partners in that bastion of democracy, Saudi Arabia and others, just as we have done in places like Libya and Afghanistan to name but a few. It seems to me we provide fuel for the fire and then march in like heroes to put it out.
The smart thing surely is not to have a smart phone. I can buy here in the UK a new phone costing about ten dollars. It makes and receives phone calls and texts. That's it, it does nothing else at all. When I look at other peoples smart phones it seems to me that the smart things these phones can do, no actually does it on them.
There is much outrage over here in England from some well know personalities. There will of course, be no cry of indignation from prime minster Cameron and Hague FM. What is so frightening for us Brits is the amount of control the Americans security services seem to have over even our air port staff, let alone our security services. These are dark times indeed. As a great philosopher once said. It unwise to be right when your government is wrong !!
I seem to remember columnists, writers and politicians everywhere were extolling the virtues of the Arab spring and there was a rush to arm Libyan terrorists and currently Syrian terrorists who actually practice cannibalism. There can be no doubt that the uprising in Egypt was largely orchestrated by the West and the present bloodshed and chaos is the result. Mubarak ran the Country well and he was the best man for the job. He must be having a quiet laugh from his sick bed at the moment. There never was an Arab spring and the whole thing was manufactured by a few individuals who had malevolent intent.
I wouldn't have thought John McCain has any credibility for talks anywhere. He lost all his credibility when he sang a song about lets "bomb bomb bomb Iran" etc. Clearly the man is an oaf.
The professor asks ten intelligent and well thought out questions, but apart from us, to whom in government does he think these questions should be addressed? Unless there is someone in government or elsewhere who has the power to bring about change, these question will fall on deaf ears except of course, we who read these columns and are already converted.
Its just been reported in the Guardian newspaper that Snowden has leaked information which states that the NSA in America has given GCHQ (our version of your NSA) over here in England, 100 million pounds funding. The NSA also told our agency that it "has to pull its weight" so there is much more than just cooperation between to like minded agencies. I don't know how our members of parliament will react, but I anticipate a degree of outrage at the least. The Russians haven't take in Snowden for nothing, because the man in a mine of information.
The trouble with information of this kind is the way the law is framed. Committing war crimes is a duty, but reporting them is a felony. As long as this is the case men of courage like Manning, Assange, and Snowden will be few and far between.
This is why we need lots of Bradley Manning's in every department of state and especially in the military. There will be many armed forces personnel alive right now who know exactly what happened but are afraid to speak out for fear of arrest and incarceration.
This was of course a show trial just like the ones they used to have in Russia under Stalin and co. Clearly, the evil cabal which passes for a government in America had to have their revenge on the man who had shown the world what these criminals were up to. Millions of people around the world will be thinking of Mr Manning today and he has their sympathy. The world owes this great man a debt for his courage and sacrifice. Lets hope Manning's fine work will inspire others to follow in his footsteps and expose the criminals in the organs of government where they reside like a cancer in the soul of America.
Well professor, we have the Royals and you have the likes of Obama, Clinton and Bush. At least our nominal heads of state, the Royals don't do any harm. You might have been better remaining British although spying on the population was going on long before America was even invented, at least in its present incarnation. However, like you we are still cursed with the likes of Tony Blair Cameron and the Westminster joker, William Hague and just like your leaders they are some kind of anti Christ. Maybe they will call the new baby that no one really gives a damn about, DAMIEN !
I conclude from this interesting piece that a strong non religious leader like Saddam, Gadaffi and Assad are really what these Countries need. Had the West cooperated with these leaders instead of getting rid of them, the mayhem, death and destruction we see in the middle East today would not be taking place. The old saying "if it aint broke don't fix it" comes to mind.
As an Englishman over here in the UK I regard our news media as second rate at best. That's why I read Informed comment and other internet news and comment sites. Our BBC channel two TV is well able to give politicians and others short shrift and they get away with nothing. We have a morning radio programme called 'Today' run by John Humphrys. This is the terror of politicians, spokesmen and quangocrats everywhere. But the rest of our TV and radio leaves much to be desired. I have seen some American TV news outlets and listened to one or two radio talk shows and it seems to me they are talking to an idiot audience. What I don't understand is why Americans listen to it. I have met many Americans over here in the UK and they are always critical of their own news media but seem to be news aware in general. Are there two kinds of Americans? If you don't listen to the sheer propaganda of say, Fox news, the station will soon shut down. The trouble is, Americans listen this drivel in their millions.
Why refer to Snowden as a 'leaker' which disparages his courage as a whistle blower. He is reporting criminal activity and should be praised for that.
Bring back Mubarak all is forgiven. He ran the Country well for years and was subservient to the West which is what really matters.
France, Britain and America basically attacked Libya for no good reason and did so without the benefit of a UN mandate. Libya is now unstable and this once beautiful Country is in ruins. Britain France and America have obviously been arming terrorists in Syria, all be it by indirect means and they now intend to do it directly, as the Syrian government seems to be getting on top of the situation. In Britain, prime minister Cameron says he will allow a parliamentary vote on whether or not arm the Syrian terrorists. Its quite likely he won't win the vote as no one hear in the UK believes for one minute the rubbish Obama came out with about the Syrian government using chemical weapons. The press here is also against any arming of terrorists by our Country and the main leader writers and columnists make no bones about the folly of such an action. It seems that Cameron and his court jester William Hague (foreign minister) are the only two people in the Country who want to start a war in Syria. As the professor rightly points out, there isn't the slightest chance of a UN mandate for an attack on Syria regardless of how minimalist it may be. Iraq was attacked and turned into hell on the basis of a lie about weapons of mass destruction and this sad Country continues to burn ten years later. Surely America won't attack Syria on the basis of another lie about chemical weapons. I know the public in America and Britain are quite stupid, but they can't be so stupid as to be taken in again and support their Country in another killing spree in someone else's Country, who are absolutely no threat to them.
It seems Obama has already done a Blair and Bush and come up with lies and deception and announced to the world that America has conclusive proof the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in the civil war there. As usual, they are not prepared to say how they know or what evidence there is for this scurrilous charge citing security reasons. Now the Americans and we stupid British under the leadership of a clown foreign minister, William Hague will be arming terrorists. followed no doubt by a no fly zone and later invasion. This complete, the oil will be stolen and military bases set up everywhere, all ready for the attack on Iran. The West goes on yet another killing spree !!
Assuming the American elections aren't rigged, you get to vote for the dictatorship in the USA and elsewhere. In a real dictatorship you don't get to elect anyone, including the incumbent dictator.
Governments have always wanted to spy on its citizens. As time has gone by the technology has got better and better and at the present level, its almost foolproof and total. The moment anything new is invented the government will always make use of it even though they managed perfectly well before. We have cctv cameras everywhere, we have road traffic speed cameras on just about every bit of road etc. When electricity was discovered the Americans straight away used in for the electric chair to kill people. In car sat navs are already being used to track motorist where ever they go, as indeed are cell phones etc. The internet has sent shivers down the spines of the state, because for the first time people could communicate and publish opinion with out any control by the all powerful government. This they appear to have now overcome and I doubt they will be relinquishing this power any time soon. Governments the world over must give thanks for terrorists as it gives them the excuse for unfettered power.
The American government recently wanted the extradition of a young man over here in England for hacking into a government web site. I don't remember which one. Anyhow, much to the annoyance of the Americans the British courts refused the application for extradition on medical grounds of the accused young man. The point is, can the people of Britain now demand the extradition of say, Obama or the head of the pentagon or whatever as clearly the the email accounts and much more will have been accessed by the American state ?
The trouble here professor is the word "think" Who decides what someone in a government agency thinks about a particular communication. We have a similar set up over here in England which has been resisted or watered down by our parliament. The secret services under the guise of the home office want to record all phone calls and emails for up to a year. Members of parliament rejected the idea (probably because some of them have communications they would rather not have anyone know about), but every time there is some kind of terrorists related incident, the legislation is brought out again and dusted off ready for use. In the end the law will most likely come into force. This is because the British voter, like the American voter, is frankly stupid. We will doubtless vote the same gang of politicians in next time round.
In Syria recently a child was allowed to cut of the head of a captured Syrian soldier and in another incident a man is seen cutting out the heart of another captured soldier and eating it. No one in England was particularly exercised or bothered by this. However, when one considers that the terrorists who perpetrated this horror are being armed and supported by are own idiot foreign secretary, William Hague I wonder why one appalling act of genocide which my Country supports is some how different to the attacks in Woolwich, London the other day.
Curious professor. Quite rightly you condemn Bush, Blair and co for the devastation they have left in Iraq. However, you seem content with America and Britain supplying sophisticated weaponry and machines of war to the Syrian Terrorists where the death toll is now in the many thousands. We have even seen terrorists children cutting of captured soldiers head in the street and men cutting out the hearts of others and eating them. Why do you find dead Syrians less important that dead Iraqi people ?
Professor, as an Englishman I can't do the American lottery. If I could, I would and take my chances of whether or not it brings me any happiness. Look at it this way: poverty definitely bring despair, misery and unhappiness. So logically, lots of lovely dollars must bring happiness.
It is tacitly implied by the professor that the estimate of 70,000 dead are all the work of the government. Clearly both sides are killing each other with the terrorists now using sarin gas according to the UN. Interesting that the use of sarin gas by the rebels is all but ridiculed by much of the Western media and governments. However, the UN's estimate of 70,000 dead is lapped up as fact, even though its is based on nothing more than hearsay and extrapolation.
When it was stated that the Syrian government has used the gas it was regarded as a fact in some quarters and the question of invading was mooted. But when the terrorists are accused its seems the UNs investigation is not given any credence and it has to be treated with caution and more evidence is needed etc. It is quite clear the terrorists (some people foolishly refer to them as "revolutionaries") are committing appalling atrocities and the use of gas is just one of their ploys to get the British, Americans and French to invade and let the real slaughter begin.
Whilst I am sure your analysis is correct, you couldn't sell that story in England for a dime, if it was a bucket of fresh water in the desert. I don't know what its like in the States, but the unfounded prejudice against Muslims over here is staggering.
Whatever one says about this bombing, its nothing compared to the mayhem and murder of men, women and kids by American bombs and drones. America has killed thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Libya Afghanistan and now getting involved in Syria. The Americans will no doubt go on a killing spree in Iran soon and we stupid British will follow along in their wake.
Thatcher is almost as mythical a being as was Princess Diana. Neither of these people were really any kind of higher being and were just people who the media have built up into some kind of saints. I was working in Kensington when Princes Diana died and it was staggering to see thousands and thousands of people bring expensive bunches of flowers to lay on the pavement outside her home. None of these people knew this woman or had ever even seen her in the flesh. It was a kind of frightening hysteria whipped up by the media. Thatcher's life was much the same and she is really only famous for taking on the unions which prime ministers before her had failed to do. The notion she should have a state funeral is absurd and is once again, driven by the media who are painting her into some kind of superior being, which she isn't.
Professor, you fail to mention that the terrorists in Algeria are actually heroes by your definition of the "revolutionaries" in Syria. I cannot understand why you call one lot of terrorists 'revolutionaries and another lot rebels. They are all murders and thugs who want to take over the Country (or any Country) for that matter in which they are fighting.
Alex Salmond didn't get his high percentage of renewable energy off his own back. He got from the billions of pounds which we English pour into Scotland every year. Scotish members of parliament can vote in Westminster, but English Members of parliament can't vote in Scotland. This means Salmond can do what he likes with our cash. If he gets independence and has to use his own Countries money, I don't think you will hear much more about 100% renewable energy then as it costs a lot of money.
If the electric car was even half viable (which it is not) what do you think would happen to the vast oil and petrol industries. Everyone from oil tanker staff to the humble petrol pump attendant would be out of work, but perhaps more importantly, the really wealthy boys at the top of this chain would also lose out. I don't think they would allow that! As long as the range of an electric car and the charging time remains non competitive with the combustion engine, nothing will change.
The idea that this is a solution anywhere beyond an island environment of this type is absurd. I don't think it would work well in New York or London. What is needed is a whole new approach to battery technology. If we can ever make a battery perform as well as a tank full of gas and recharge in less than say, twenty minutes, then I think we have a real chance at a solution to global warming. We can produce clean electricity, but I suggest we have gone as far as we can with a with pollution free combustion engine.
It won't be a problem because the American media will tell the American people that its all someone else's fault. So they will believe it and just put up with it. The American public like the British public are frankly stupid, and will go on voting for the two main stream parties indefinitely.
To say the rebels (in fact terrorists) in Libya Defeated Qaddafi with little help from the West is absurd and absolutely untrue. The West bombed Qaddafi's troops to pieces leaving the rabble we called freedom fighters, free to do whatever they liked. Burning, looting rape and untold damage to the infrastructure of the Country. This Country is now in ruins and is a place of fear and despair.