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Russian and Iranian English television broadcasters need to issue invitations to Teresa May, Boris Johnson, Niki Haley, Macron, Donald Trump et al, to defend their aggressive stances against Russia, Syria, and Iran,” says candobetter.net’s James Sinnamon. Unbelievable accusations against sovereign states are issuing from the governments of the United States, Australia, the UK and Europe. We are talking about the lines run by US-NATO on the Scripal spy poisonings and the so-called chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, which they have refused in the UN to investigate on the ground. Despite the total implausibility of these stories, the western corporate press, which includes ABC Australia and SBS, promote them uncritically. Yet the purpose of these stories is to provide excuses for war. The only beneficiary of the promotion of war is the military-industrial-media complex. The only thing working against this complex is the alternative media, which happens also to include English programs run by Iran’s Press TV Iran and Russia RT. Why are these programs so popular, especially RT? It is because they appeal to intellectuals because they are so much more complex and nuanced than the frustratingly illogical confabulations that pass for mainstream news in the Anglosphere. Press TV Iran’s The Debate is an especially robust forum.

World leaders like jealous giant children

In a stunning abuse of power, one of the main theatres of initial promotion is the United Nations. The US ambassador, Niki Haley, continues to make outlandish claims in the bullying style of her predecessor, Samantha Power. It is like watching gangster molls with airs, who do not realise that they are being live-broadcast as they threaten plans to assassinate or otherwise remove presidents, invade countries, and bomb cities, all based on totally fabricated enemy ‘profiles’ of popular elected leaders as bad guys. In fact, if war-profits were not a consideration, you would be reminded of jealous children in a playground bullying their more popular colleagues.

Major threats

The major threats to modern civilisation: war, overpopulation, overconsumption, and energy resources scarcity. For a few years ago after the fall of the Soviet Union, war seemed a remote pastime, carried out between small tribal states, but then it began to metastacize from former Yugoslavia, to Afghanistan, to Iraq, then to Libya. Next was Syria and, at the same time, Ukraine. It is like watching the events leading up to the First World War. If you didn’t look at the regional oil and gas interests and rival hegemonies for countries that would afford access to them, then the whole thing seemed inexplicable. Even so, many people whose lives and lifestyles are not yet threatened, just cannot believe that people who have power would do such harm, apparently just out of ego and a desire for even more money.

Alternative press should invite accusing western powers to defend their arguments

James Sinnamon (the man who built Candobetter.net) suggests that PressTV Iran and RT could be still more effective, if they issued invitations to the leaders making accusations, to defend these on PressTV Iran and RT.

“I think that Russia, Iran and other nations, who are defending countries like Syria from military aggression, as a matter of urgency, could use their newsmedia - Russia's RT and Sputnik and Iran's PressTV even more effectively.
Perhaps those who conduct debates and interviews on Press TV Iran - Marcia Hashemi and Waqar Rizvi - and Russia's Oksana Boyko, Afshin Rattansi, [1] Sophie Shevardnadze and others - could, prominently and repeatedly, issue standing invitations to the likes of Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Nikki Haley et al., or their delegated spokespersons, to put their views on their programs and have those views discussed and debated.
Surely, if Theresa May et al. are so confident that they are speaking the truth, they would jump at the opportunity to show, to the audiences of RT and PressTV, how the views presented by those stations are wrong?

Of course, I don't expect that Theresa May et al. will acccept. If they don't RT and PressTV should include their names in lists, displayed prominently on their sites, of all Western political leaders who have declined to appear on RT and PressTV.

Given that hundreds of thousands have already been killed by military aggression, just since the Gulf War of 1991, and that the stakes for humanity are so high if this pattern is not stopped, I see know of no reason for the managers of RT and PressTV to pull any punches from now on.”

Sinnamon adds that, Afshin Rattansi, of Going Underground, leads the way to some extent because he is always issuing invitations to his detractors to appear on "Going Underground". If those who declined to be interviewed by Mr Rattansi were prominently listed, his impact would be even greater.

What does happiness mean to you? We tend to search for it in material things, substances, and career achievements, but often lose sight of what really matters to us in the process. London-based artist and animator Steve Cutts is taking a long hard look at this ‘rat race’ to which we’ve all found ourselves tied, and is examining our modern sources of joy in a satirical new short film that depicts us as the ‘rats’ we’ve become in the eyes of the system. It’s titled after that mysterious high we’re always chasing; “Happiness.” Take 4 minutes out of your busy day and watch the clip for yourself below, and tell us in the comments if you think Cutts hit the nail on the head.

This is a great interview because it voices the kinds of anxieties many people feel in reaction to the crazy analysis we are being presented with by the mainstream media vis a vis North Korea and the United States, but it brings some common sense to the matter in the form of Senator/Dr Ron Paul. Alex Jones, head of Infowars dot com is an interesting and flamboyant product of US capitalism, religion, and the education system. Loyal to Trump, but spooked, he wants to see something positive in Trump's posturing against North Korea. Senator Ron Paul is an American author, physician, and former politician, with an excellent historic and current grasp on foreign affairs, who finds war a dangerous and stupid creation of the deep state. And he talks from experience. In this interview, Senator Ron Paul points out that Alex has been falling for the neocon propaganda where the US always goes to war to 'defend' nations from 'mad dictators'. Of course the nations finish up almost destroyed by the US, worse off than before, and, you have to wonder why the neocons get away with the same cartoon-like frame up of leaders who have territory that they want. Ron Paul points out Alex Jones dancing to the neocon tune on North Korea, "Alex, you've swallowed the neocon line!" Alex entertains with his typically grotesque, original, and dramatic rhetoric, such as, "Horrible little communist third-generation dictator, fat off the blood of his little skinny citizens." As he interviews Ron Paul, Alex draws a cartoon of plump Kim Jong un approaching Donald Trump with a thought bubble, "Food!" It somehow reminded me of how Trump talked about missiles and chocolate cake in the same mouthful not so long ago regarding another 'mad dictator' (there are so many, apparently).

The following contains excerpts from the interview, which is just under 20 minutes long:

RON PAUL: We've been there way too long and you know this whole idea this stage is set now that you know the Koreans are threatening what we might shoot down an airplane well what if there's now that that stage is said it's progressing because of our involvement somebody's going to use a false flag and somebody's going to shoot down the airplane just so that this war gets started so that's why I believe in non intervention we ought to defend this country but it's time to come home from Korea you've lost too many lives we killed even when we got involved in that war you know with the north and the south we bombed the north to smithereens we killed 30 percent of their population and they had never attacked us we never declared war we went there under UN banner we have an insane foreign policy and unfortunately it really hasn't changed that much with our new president.

Alex: [...] But what happens if China or Russia gets involved Dr Paul?

RON PAUL: Well, they will get involved. [...] When it started way back in the 50s, we thought, well, we'll take care of this and a month after the war broke out. You know, we essentially won the war and then we moved up and [..] said well we'll occupy North Korea. Went up to the border and then the Chinese came in. True they're going to be involved, but I think you just made the case for why we need to be out of there! Because you know the North Korea guy is goofy, but I'll tell you what, he does know what he's doing, because he has to threaten because he believes that if he gives up and capitulates, does exactly what we tell him to do, what will happen [will be]like what happened to Saddam Hussein and what happened to Qaddafi. And you know how we treat Assad in Syria.

We have an empire to defend, we run the world, and it's wrong. It doesn't work. Millions of people have died over this. And it's time we as a people woke up and say we ought to mind our own business. We ought to come home and defend this country. We don't need to be worrying about battleships and bombers and flying back and showing that we have strengths. Their weapons were used in world war II.

And this guy who runs North Korea, he's not going to invade the United States. He's not going to launch a missile. Just remember the whole thing dealing with Iraq about all the danger, great danger.

Deep State propaganda blames other countries to start wars

The propagandist, the deep state, the media, convinced the American people that Saddam Hussein was a danger. They're doing the same thing now with North Korea! And that's why we ought to wise up and just not buy into this and and look at this as a constitutional issue. And not to say, well we need to go to war with this guy. Unfortunately we're marching that way, but we better look at ourselves too and why are we involved in a hundred and twenty different countries with our military personnel and why are we always looking for trouble.

And I would say that it's very very dangerous, but just to say, well it was always Saddam Hussein's fault; it was always Qaddafi's fault; it's always Assad's fault. And then turn around and say, oh yeah, look at Russia look at what they're going to do.

I mean, it is the neocon foreign policy that we have been following. We still follow a neocon foreign policy. I think that's tragic.

Jones: "Horrible little communist third generation dictator, fat off the blood of his little skinny citizens"

ALEX JONES: That said, I agree with you in practice and function, but even people like Joel Skousen that was agreed with you about not having a war you know in the last five or six saying they were frauds, he says when you get down to North Korea now, they do have nuclear weapons, they are being backed by China, they are a real threat, they are firing missiles right over Japan. They can test weapons but but but doing it in this way, threatening preemptively to blow up the US;to say it's inevitable - that's pointing a gun at us and really next-level Bravada! It's incredible chicken! And then you have the Clintons, as you know, transferring the reactors, transferring the missiles in the mid-90s, that you and others criticized when you first got back into Congress. And so there's a lot of blame going around here, and then you just have the horrible little communists third generation dictator, fat off the blood of his little skinny citizens - I agree with you, the poor Koreans, North Korean slaves and their children - I feel sorry for them. I don't want to have to you know nuke the DMZ. But if they do strike us first, I think they may be crazy enough to do it, then it's going to take a major commitment to make sure they can't count on a response. Dr. Paul?

Alex, you're buying into neocon garbage

RON PAUL: I ... You're buying into all the garbage that's passed out there by the deep state and neoconservatives and and the media. My suggestion, very clearly, on what we should do is we should allow the South Koreans to talk to the North Koreans. What's wrong with that? They're the ones that have everything at stake and we don't even allow them to do that. And and yet they were willing to! Just last week, the South Koreans, in an effort to break this conflict, they sent a couple million dollars to North Korea to take care of some of the people, the kids that are suffering from our sanctions. The people suffer. We killed people. We killed almost a million Iraqis with our sanctions before we went to war. And all these sanctions do is just provoke the bitterness! [...] Why do we prohibit the South Koreans from talking to the North Korea?"

ALEX JONES: [...] Sure, sure, I mean it's like Madeline Albright said, 'A half million Iraqi children is a good price to pay with the sanctions.' It's probably way over a million. The Lancet British medical journals it was like 1.3 back in like 2007 going back to 1990 and, understand, Dr. Paul I'm just wargaming both sides of the debate I've not bought in to the garbage that we need to have a war or that sanctions are always the best thing. As you said, Vietnam now loves us hates communist China, becoming a free-market powerhouse. And we should have made a deal with Ho Chi Minh to go in there and be free market to begin with but we double-crossed him tried to overthrow him as you know back in ... so I understand the history of it as you do, as a former Air Force officer.

The only thing I'm getting at here is is that we can certainly recognize communist regimes are also horrible evils. Just because we have neocon problems here, I mean certainly this is a great example of how communism is a horrible nightmare like Venezuela.

Let North & South Korea talk; let Russia and China negotiate; This isn't US territory

RON PAUL: Well I still think that you're seeing them as a much greater threat [than they are] and when I was drafted in 1962 of the Cuban crisis, you know there was a real hot cold war going on at the time. But we had danger then. The Soviets had 30,000 nuclear missiles and weapons, but we didn't provoke or think we had to get rid of them! We actually dealt with them and Kennedy talked to them and got rid of that crisis we had in Cuba. North Korea, they don't have this capability. China is not interested and it's not in their interest to allow this guy to provoke and get into a war with us. That isn't quite accurate to say that they're in cahoots with China, that they have nuclear bombs and and all this sort of thing.

I think that we should allow South Korea to start having negotiations. Let's let China and Russia [...] they should be more involved in this. Let them monitor the standpoint. But why are we, six, seven thousand miles away? Once again we've been involved in a civil war that's been going on endlessly. It's time we stopped it.

Alex: But what about the evil dictators?

ALEX JONES: Let's be clear, I agree with you. I have four children you've got a bunch of children. You've got a bunch of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I'm told now. And I absolutely do not want to have a nuclear war. I do not want this to happen. I understand that what you're saying is historically true. I'm simply pointing out that President Trump has been right on so many other issues and I understand that it looks like there's been an escalation. He believes that the strategic appeasement, the strategic patience, has run out and [...] he's looking for some other way to get North Korea to come to the bargaining table. Hell! Months ago, Rex Tillerson was saying let's have talks, stop this rhetoric, and it only seemed to encourage Kim Jong-un. So I understand you can say we're ganging up on North Korea and the people hurt are the poor folks in it. That's true. I'm not saying you're wrong, but what about the dictators? What about the horrible evil leaders of the nation? What are we supposed to do about them? What do we do?

Alex,that's the neoconservative line again

RON PAUL: Alex you're speaking for the neoconservatives! That's their line of talking why we have to do this. And I'm just arguing it's totally unnecessary. [It] didn't work - you admit it didn't work in Vietnam and we should have done that differently. And we're friends with them. We win more in peace than we do in war. But we've been in Korea! This whole thing is just based on a lot of misconceptions. I think our administration has accepted neocon lies and they're going with it but they're agreeing to trouble because of the diplomacy [JONES talks over Ron Paul]

ALEX JONES: And I agree with you. [...]What is your advice to President Trump? What is your advice to the president?

Advice to President Trump: Get out of interventionism. We're acting like insecure bullies

RON PAUL: Bring the troops home! I would advise him just what my position has been for years. Get out of interventionism! Bring the troops home. Get out of all this. Get out of Syria, out of Iraq, the whole works! Start dismantling our empire. Get all our troops out of Korea and allow people to settle their own disputes. But not to join this neocon effort to continue to run the world and distort the truth, because they love the wars in the Middle East. And now the neocons are behind all this activity, [the're] why we have this great enemy of the North Koreans. I think when we get so upset about that, that we're insecure. We act like a bunch of bullies. We're insecure, we don't know how to react, and say, 'Oh they're coming! They're gonna cut us, then they're gonna bomb us!' Alex, that is not true and the Chinese aren't on that side of that issue at all. They're are holding him back, if nothing else, because they have too much to lose. They don't want any more war in North Korea than we do. So I don't really think it's right to say this guy in North Korea is going to because he's aligned with the Chinese, that they're going to help him provoke a war with the United States.

ALEX JONES: Just to be clear, their main trading partner is the Chinese. I'd love to see the two countries unified in this nightmare and I'm not going with that line I'm looking at both the lines of reasoning here just to play devil's advocate I overall agree with you and hope that's the way this goes but they do say they have hydrogen bombs. It is believed they have them. They're saying they're preemptively using them, so they're putting out horrible rhetoric as well. I get your point that they need to look strong; they saw what happened to Iraq and other countries that didn't have nuclear weapons. They look at you know Iran looks at that so so moving away from that is that we actually agree on that subject and I pray everything turns out alright they've got your article posted on info wars.com promoting that. [...]

"The so-called “International Coalition” led by the US, which was created three years ago to allegedly fight terrorists groups such as ISIL, has killed much more innocent Syrians, mostly women and children, than terrorists and has destroyed vital infrastructure that the Syrians have worked for years to build. It has also used phosphorus bombs and other internationally-prohibited weapons before the eyes of the whole world. We cannot understand the silence of the international community in the face of these crimes. The international community has not condemned or sought to stop these crimes, even though the Syrian government has made a number of appeals to the Security Council to assume its main responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. The Syrian government has urged the Council to implement its own resolutions on counter-terrorism, particular resolution 2253, and prevent the Coalition from committing more crimes against the citizens of my country." (Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem)

New York, SANA – Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem delivered a speech at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, in which he affirmed that Syria is marching steadily towards the goal of rooting out terrorism, and that any solution in Syria must respect Syria’s non-negotiable principles, which include the territorial unity of Syria and its people, and the rejection of any external interference.

Minister al-Moallem affirmed that Syria is determined to scale up reconciliation efforts, and that it is committed to the memorandum on de-escalation zones, the establishment of which is a temporary arrangement, adding that the Syrian government reaffirms its commitment to the Geneva process.

Following is the full text of the speech:

President of the seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, I would like to congratulate you on your election as President of the current session of the General Assembly and wish you all the success. I would also like to thank your predecessor for his important role at the helm of the General Assembly during the previous session. I congratulate Mr. Antonio Guterres on his appointment as Secretary-General of the United Nations and wish him the best in carrying out his responsibilities in service of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.

Ladies and gentlemen, as we meet again, our world is facing mounting challenges and dangers on a daily basis, and a persistent standoff between two sets of forces: forces that seek to control and dominate nations and their riches, by turning back the clock, re-establishing a unipolar world order, fueling chaos and war, and violating international and humanitarian laws: and opposite forces that work tirelessly to create a more balanced, secure, and just world, one that respects the sovereignty of the states and the right of peoples to exercise self-determination and build their own future.

As we meet again, many people continue to pay dearly and sacrifice their lives, security, stability and livelihood, as a result of the policies of certain countries. Those countries falsely believe that they could use terrorism as a tool to satisfy their greed and further their ill-conceived agendas, which do not serve the interests of any people, not even their own. No people has suffered at the hands of terrorism more than the Syrian people, who, for six years now, has fought against terrorists pouring from all over the world, supported by parties from the region and beyond.

For more than six years, Syrians have endured the worst and have made great sacrifices to defend their country in the face of a terrorist war of unprecedented brutality, which has spared no one and no-thing, targeting innocent people, services, the infrastructure and cultural heritage. Despite it all, Syria is determined, more than ever, to eradicate terrorism from every part of the country, without exception, thanks to the sacrifices of our army and the steadfastness of our people.

Mr. President, since the beginning of the war, our state policy has followed two main tracks: combating terrorism, and working hard towards a political solution that stems the bloodshed and restores stability.

On the counter-terrorism, the Syrian Arab Army along with its supporting forces and allies are making daily achievements, clearing out territories and uprooting terrorists. However, the threat of this plague persists, claiming the lives of the Syrians on a daily basis, and depleting the country’s resources. We must all understand that terrorism and underlying Takfirist extremist ideology will continue to spread like a tumor throughout the world and haunt all of our people unless every one of us demonstrates a genuine will to cooperate to confront it together. Any such endeavor must respect the sovereignty and of states and the interests of the people, and must let go of the illusion that terrorism can be used as a tool for political gains and narrow interests.

On the political front, the Syrian government has spared no effort since the early months of the crisis to stop the bloodshed. The success of local reconciliations would not have been possible without the leadership’s political support and the numerous amnesty decrees issued by President Bashar al-Assad, which allowed everyone who had taken up arms to lay them down and resume their normal life.

These successful reconciliations have allowed tens of thousands of IDPs and refugees to go back home and helped improve the living conditions of a great number of Syrians who had fallen victim to terrorist crimes. Syria is determined to scale up reconciliation efforts, whenever possible, because it is the best means to alleviate the suffering of Syrians and restore stability and normalcy.

Ladies and gentlemen, since day one, the Syrian government has positively considered all initiatives to put an end to the war. However, these initiatives eventually failed after states that supported and fuelled terrorism decided to persist in their aggressive policies against Syria and its people.

As for the Astana and Geneva tracks, the Syrian government has shown seriousness and commitment and has done its best to provide the necessary conditions for these efforts to succeed and achieve their goals.

We are encouraged by the Astana process and the resulting “de-escalation zones” and hope that it will help us reach and actual cessation of hostilities and separate terrorist groups. Such as ISIL, Al-Nusra and others, from those groups that have agreed to join the Astana process. This will be the real test of how committed and serious these groups and their Turkish sponsors are. So far, Turkey under Erdogan has persisted in its aggressive policies against the Syrian people and continued to labor under the illusion that terrorism will help serve its subversive agendas in Syria and the countries of the region. Turkey’s position stands in stark contrast to the positive and constructive role played by Russia and Iran.

Notwithstanding its commitment to the memorandum on the ‘”de-escalation zones”, Syria reserves the right to respond to any violation by the other party. Syria also stresses that these zones are a temporary arrangement that must not violate the territorial unity of Syria.

The Syrian government reaffirms its commitment to the Geneva process and further progress on that track. This process has yet to bear fruit in the absence of a genuine national opposition that can be a partner in Syria’s future, and as countries with influence over the other party continue to block any meaningful progress.

Mr. President, it is truly unfortunate that these countries that block a solution in Syria are members of this international organization, including members of the Security Council.

The Syrian government has always insisted that any solution in Syria must respect Syria’s non-negotiable principles which are a red line for all Syrians. These include the complete rejection of terrorism, the territorial unity of Syria and its people, and the rejection of any external interference in political decisions regarding Syria’s future. Only Syrians have the right to make such decisions, whether now or in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, for decades, Israel has continued its unscrupulous thuggish actions with full impunity.

This usurper entity has occupied Arab territories in Palestine and the Golan for more than seventy years and has committed horrific crimes against innocent civilians. Israel did not stop there. It has publicly interfered in the Syrian crisis since its early days. Israel has provided all forms of support to Takfirist terrorist gangs, including funds, weapons, material, and communication equipment. Israel has also bombed Syrian Army positions to serve terrorist agendas. Coordination between the two was at its best when terrorist groups decided to target Syrian air defense assets used to defend Syria against Israeli aggression. The unlimited Israeli support to terrorists in Syria did not come as a surprise. After all, the two share the same interests and goals. However, let me be clear. It is delusional to believe, even for a moment, that the crisis in Syria will take us for our inalienable right to recover the occupied Syrian Golan fully to the lines of June 4, 1967.

For more than six years, states and parties that were behind the war on Syria, have continued to peddle lies and falsely accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons, despite a confirmation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that Syria has fully eliminated its chemical program. This is enough proof that there is an ill-conceived intention to tarnish the real image of the Syrian government in the international public eye, and come up with new excuses to continue the aggression against Syria in favor of terrorists and their supporters. This was the case when the United States blatantly attacked the Shayrat airbase, claiming that it contained chemical weapons used in the alleged Khan Shaykhun attack. And as was the case after every accusation of this kind, we confirmed our readiness to receive and cooperate with UN investigation teams.

Ladies and gentlemen, certain countries have boasted about fighting terrorism in Syria and having the interests of Syrians at heart. They have established “coalitions” and held dozens of conferences under deceiving titles, such as “friends of the Syrian people”. It is quite ironic that those are the same countries that are shedding the blood of the Syrians by supporting terrorists, bombing innocent civilians, and destroying their livelihoods.

The so-called “International Coalition” led by the US, which was created three years ago to allegedly fight terrorists groups such as ISIL, has killed much more innocent Syrians, mostly women and children, than terrorists and has destroyed vital infrastructure that the Syrians have worked for years to build. It has also used phosphorus bombs and other internationally-prohibited weapons before the eyes of the whole world.

We cannot understand the silence of the international community in the face of these crimes. The international community has not condemned or sought to stop these crimes, even though the Syrian government has made a number of appeals to the Security Council to assume its main responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. The Syrian government has urged the Council to implement its own resolutions on counter-terrorism, particular resolution 2253, and prevent the Coalition from committing more crimes against the citizens of my country.

Ladies and gentlemen, while the coalition failed to make any meaningful progress against the terrorist group of ISIL, the Syrian Army, along with its allies and friends has been able to secure real and significant gains and drives out terrorists from large parts of the Syrian Desert. In what was considered a strategic achievement, the Army was recently able to break the siege imposed on the city of Deir Ezzor and its people by ISIL more than three years ago. This achievement will significantly improve the humanitarian situation in the city and contribute to fight against terrorism in general.

We have declared more than once that it is impossible to combat terrorism without coordination with the Syrian government. This is the only way to make real gains in the war on terrorism. Any presence of foreign troops on Syrian grounds, without the consent of the government is considered a form of occupation, a wanton aggression, and a flagrant violation of international laws and Charter of the United Nations.

Mr. President, the war that the most powerful countries and terrorist groups are waging against Syria is not only a military war. It has taken other forms, no less brutal or aggressive, to break the will of the Syrian people and punish them for their firm support of the Army in its efforts to defend Syria’s political independence and territorial unity. For this reason, those countries have imposed a suffocating economic blockade on Syria, in blatant violation of international law, to destroy the livelihoods of the Syrians and increase their suffering.

These unilateral coercive measures have been imposed on vital sectors, most notably healthcare services. Syria used to have an advanced healthcare system. Today, however, Syrians are denied access to many types of medicine, even those used to treat life threatening conditions, such as cancer. Such sanctions are a clear sign of the hypocrisy of certain countries that shed tears over Syrians while practicing a different form of terrorism.

The refugee problem is one of the consequences of terrorism. As Syria will need the efforts of every Syrian over the upcoming period, the Syrian government has made the return of Syrians to their homes a top priority. To this end, the Syrian government has embarked on a mission to liberate and secure the areas occupied by terrorists improve the basic living conditions of all Syrians.

Mr. President, given the United Nations’ failure to uphold its own Charter and the principles of the international law, we must all consider reforming this international organization to be able to effectively play its role and to defend the legitimate rights against the law of the jungle that some are trying to impose.

Our nations yearn for a safer and more secure, stable and prosperous world. Such a world will remain a fantast as long as certain countries believe that they can go around, spreading chaos, creating troubles and imposing their will with full impunity.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my country, along with its steadfast people and its brave army, supported by our loyal allies, is marching steadily towards the goal of rooting out terrorism. The liberation of Aleppo and Palmyra, the lifting of the siege of Deir Ezzor and the eradication of terrorism from many parts of Syria prove that victory is now within reach.

I am confident that, when this unjust war on Syria is over, the Syrian army will go down in history as the Army that heroically defeated, along with its supporting forces and its allies, the terrorists that came to Syria from many countries and received large support from the most powerful countries of the world, including arms, funding, training, access and political cover.
Those terrorists have tried and failed to impose their backward ideology on a powerful nation that has been for decades a cradle of civilization.

The annals of history will recall for generations to come that achievements of the Syrian people and steadfastness in the face of a barbaric terrorist campaign and unjust measures, which have compounded their suffering and deprived them of their basic needs. The Syrian people have stood their ground, against all odds, because they knew that this was a war that sought to eliminate their country, and with it, their own existence. They are an example to follow by any people who might face, now or in the future, similar attempts to break their will and deny them their freedom and sovereignty.

Thank you Mr. President.

Here it is, that time of year,
When we look back and shed a tear
To me the facts are very clear
That better times are in the rear

The world around me is going bats
Replacing houses and gardens with big ugly flats
Digging caverns for cars - are they underground bunkers?
Melbourne's traffic increasing by ever more clunkers

Further afield every bit of space
is under attack from those seeking a place
For ever more cars and bicycle wheels
Thru our peaceful parks where we once cooled our heels

Small pieces of land with scatters of trees
Are deemed surplus to needs and sold off in the breeze
"No one will notice" behind closed doors they say
But the community loses a little each day

On a national scale we had an election,
It threw up an amazing Senate confection!
Such a surprise, One Nation arise!
Who else can the poor, disaffected turn to?

In the US t'was the same situation
though they really did it to utter perfection
Not just a loud voice from the red gallery
A developer star from reality TV

Over in Britain, they put in a lady
to mop up the spillage, (we won’t call her Sadie)
from a sudden and brutal and final exit
From the EU by a disgusted proletariat

Meanwhile in a wedge between India and France
We just can’t ignore that there isn’t a chance
Of stopping the wars in the Middle East
Or all sitting down to a peace giving feast

Until all are united in stamping out ISIS
or Da’esh or any damned name in a crisis.
With this situation let’s watch this space
We really don’t know quite what we will face.

Next year’s an unknown in international affairs
If you are religious then please say your prayers
Can it be worse ? Well may you wonder.
Lets hope that Trump, as he promised, will cast war asunder.

I’m not a vegan or even a vegetarian. I guess you could call me a reasonably discerning but practical omnivore but I’m becoming rather desperate to find something I can eat without feeling guilty about the harm I am doing to someone, something or to the environment.

Farmed fish

The other night I had salmon for dinner but my pleasure in eating it was destroyed by knowing that it is farmed in Tasmania where salmon farming is so intensive it is badly polluting the local environment and that salmon raised in crowded conditions suffer stress as do all animals forced to live in such an unnatural manner. I felt turned off by the current media about how the salmon we buy is artificially coloured pink as the fish do not eat the normal diet they would have in the wild to give them their colour but instead are expected to form their flesh from dried up wastage from the chicken industry! How can I enjoy salmon again unless I know it was caught in the wild rather than corralled and extracted from a paddock in the sea. Where do I find wild salmon? Is there enough to go around and do I need to set aside a day’s pay for one serve?

Free range eggs

The next day for lunch I opted for an omelette made from free range eggs. But my conscience was not clear. I know the eggs labelled as such are not necessarily genuine free range. Even if they are “ free range”, I know is not free in the sense that the birds have an enjoyable life scratching around and eating a varied diet straight from the earth as do the happy hens on a friend’s tiny farmlet in a town an hour or so from Melbourne. Instead, hens producing “free range” eggs for the masses have a couple of hours per day outside and otherwise they are crowded into barns. So I could not feel 100% happy about my omelette.

Vegetables

What about vegetables? Well apart from the fact that the growing of vegetables for humans displaces nature on the land required I suppose I can consume with reasonable impunity. I could grow them myself but on the tiny amount of land I own and the small amount of sunshine available after the house next door and its tall hedge have stolen most of it except in summer, my supply would be extremely erratic. No, I cannot rely on that except the occasional garnish of parsley..

Biscuits, bread and pastry

Aside from vegetables a vegetarian diet may include biscuits, bread and pastry all of which can transform a vegetable selection into a satisfying meal. But hold on a moment! I see from the packet that the biscuits I am about to eat contain palm oil the production of which has driven land clearing in the places it grows best. This land clearing has destroyed the habitat of one of our close relatives, the orangutan and as species , they are in peril! I can’t eat those biscuits. I’ll opt for those not containing palm oil. But all biscuits are made from grains. The production of grains for an ever growing population of humans drives land clearing and habitat loss! This is undeniable! All land taken over for agriculture must be taken from other species, be they orangutans, elephants , kangaroos, all kinds of birds reptiles, insects (including bees).

I can avoid palm oil but can I avoid grains if I am a vegetarian?

Dairy

The other large category (before I get onto meat!) that is morally problematic is “dairy”. Milk, yoghurt, cheese, cream, butter all of which I love. But they are produced by animals (usually cows) that are forced to calve annually, to be separated from their babies before those babies even have the brief pleasure of suckling from their mothers. The babies (“poddy” calves) are hand fed up to the day they go market . Forlorn and abandoned they await their fate to become another delicacy that I decided long ago not indulge in – veal. I cannot eat any dairy products without thinking of the poor exploited animals who provide it to me.

Chicken

What about meat from land based animals? Firstly let’s take chicken. I love it! I also love chickens. They are delightful creatures. The chickens bred for meat now look nothing like the chickens we may have known personally as children. I knew them from my grandparents' place where they happily scratched round all day after producing an egg each in the nests in their coop. My grandmother would select one to eat maybe 3 times per year so they had a dual role! Meat chickens now are lethargic and inelegant sedentary creatures displaying little curiosity. Such a creature can garner a lot of flesh on its bones quite quickly unlike the active, exploring, scratching sort of chicken we think of when we think of a chicken. I find that off-putting. For me it is a step too far into genetically engineered dinner.

Bacon

The first favorite food in my life was bacon. I loved it, especially the way my mother cooked it – crisp, hot and a few ribbons of fat bordering the very tasty lean meat. I still love bacon but I have hardly eaten it at all for 20 years because of what I know about the conditions that pigs live in before they are harvested for us. It makes me very sad to see a sow’s body pressed up against a metal frame supposedly for her own good and pigs living in concrete enclosures. I would feel happy eating bacon if I knew the pig had run around and wallowed in mud during its life.

Beef

Beef- well maybe the cattle involved get the best deal. I know people who produce beef and I know they care about their animals. Perhaps their lives are acceptable til it is time to meet their maker. I would be happy to eat a porterhouse steak if I knew that the animal’s life had allowed him to express his nature, that he had felt the sun on his back and enjoyed the shade of a gum tree whilst looking at the sunset and later met a swift, unconscious end, knowing nothing about it. But when I see the way our beef cattle from the north are treated overseas, it puts me off beef full stop. I stop trusting anything about its production.

Wild fish

Where does this leave me ? Sushi has lost its shine, Orange Roughy is a no- no ; its life cycle is too long for a regular harvest to be sustainable. What about tuna? Well it might be Ok except that it is caught with large nets that take in other marine animals. There are also some doubts about the sustainability of this "resource", anyway.

Where do I go from here? There are problems with everything as I try to compose my menu.

Hunting and gathering

The problem is that everything needs to be produced on such a large scale to fulfil the needs to humans who have spread all over the globe and increased their population from 1 billion around 1800, to now over 7 billion and rising! About 2 billion people globally are hungry or undernourished. Many in first world countries are malnourished on a diet of addictive junk foods such as fries and hamburgers and these same people may well be obese from the excessive but empty calories of their diet. As for me, I just suffer from “moral starvation”. This is not an inability to access food, but an inability to find anything I can eat with a clear conscience that is not part of a harmful industry. I suppose I could hunt for and gather my own food but there is little game or produce in the suburbs.

One dramatic impact of the Paris terror attack and the contradictions within the NATO camp and vis a vis the GCC-Turkish Camp, is that all of Putin's worst detractors are queuing up to meet him and seek his words of wisdom ....

The photos of Putin, Obama with their 2 advisors sitting around a table for just 4 has gone all across the world

Cameron who was a anti-Putin Hawk was today getting himself photographed with Putin ensuring all cooperation ....

Hollande will be dashing, or should I say - Da-eshing off :) :) off to Moscow and DC to iron out all details for future coordination ...

Even Erdogan is behaving himself ...

Putin has emerged as the central figure in this Global war against ISIS and terror in general ... the most popular leader across the world ...

It was just last year, at the G20, were Obama, Merkel, Cameron, Hollande were not even willing to look at Putin, leave along even shake hands with him .... now its all dramatically turned around ...

The question here for all of us to consider is that why has the PARIS False Flag boomeranged so fast?? They expected the NFZ-SZ strategy, but the contradictions to Up the Ante in Syria, were too strong to be resolved.

Which of the EU nations are the strong dissenting voices ...?? Led by Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania ?? more ??...

Also in the US its not taken the NFZ-SZ route despite immediate statements to that effect by Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham and Chertoff

Need our European & American friends to enlighten us here ....

Professional growth spruiker, Bernard Salt of KPMG, says that 80% of Australia does not want population growth. ("Straightening out Bananas", Property Council Congress, 2011) So how come we are being swamped?

There is a theory to explain how unpopular and costly policies survive in a 'democracy' when the benefits are focused among a few people who can organise to protect those benefits, whereas the costs are diffused among many people thus difficult to recognise and organise against. This theory explains why 80 % of Australia does not want population growth for good reasons like the cost of housing and the wrecking of the environment, but we still have it because the Growth Lobby makes billions of dollars (not just millions) out of it. (See Chapter 5 of Sheila Newman, The Growth Lobby and its Absence.)

The cartoon illustrates this, as an organised and wealthy rent-collecting Growth Lobby Inc. swoops with a helicopter, while people look around them, confused about what’s happening.

Permission to publish this eloquent and magnificently drawn cartoon gratefully acknowledged to the artist, Keith Nesbitt of Sustainable Population Australia, South Australia. The original drawing was done in black and white. Jill Quirk (President of SPA Victoria and Tasmanian Branch) coloured it electronically.

Cartoon by Ray Smith.