Free Al Jazeera Journalists Peter Greste Mohamed Fahmy Baher Mohamed Abdullah al-Shami and All Other Journalists Detained In Egypt Today

Al Jazeera has unfortunately got caught up in a web of it's own intrigue.  A staunch supported of the Salafist Arab Spring, due to it's political naivety, the relative inexperience of it's editorial staff and the fact that it has become controlled by a Saudi-backed faction (there was a Putsch several years ago which ousted it's fiercely independent chief executive, his team, and replaced them with 'yes' men-bowing like President Obama to everything on Saudi Arabias' Wish List - especially Caliphates and Emirates- throughout the Arab world.)

I have not hesitated in coming out to support Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed but have been quite honestly reluctant to offer support in print to journalists working for a media service (Al Jazeera) in part responsible for the chaos and mayhem which has brought murderous Salafists, Wahabist and Al Qaeda affiliated networks to prominence across the Arab world in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. It is more out of respect for the victims of these butchers that I have refrained from offering public support to a Salafist affiliated and controlled network such as Al Jazeera.

I am only giving verbal support now because their lives are at risk from, yes you guessed it, the new extremists in power in Egypt today - the very extremists their own network was in part was responsible for bringing to power because of it's unflinching support for the Muslim Brotherhood butchers of Christians who preceded the military coup d'état .

At one point it was almost certain that a carnage or ethnic cleansing of the entire Christian population in Egypt was about to be organized by the Muslim Brotherhood - as they started an organized program to capture Christian women, forcing them to marry Muslim men and renounce Christianity and other barbaric practices harking back to an era before the Dark Ages.

The one good thing the military coup d'état has done in Egypt is put an end to violence and persecution against religious and other minorities - which was being systematically organized by Muslim Brotherhood fascist 'Brownshirts' with beards.

All of the above conveniently ignored in their reports for Al Jazeera by Greste, Mohamed and Fahmy.

So before I even say 'free the Al Jazeera journalists!' I need to set this record straight.

Sent back to Egypt after the military coup their sole objective was to seek alternative

(opposition) viewpoints (Muslim Brotherhood Salafist ) to the new military regime.

There is a genuine basis in unbiased (or fair and balanced) media coverage which Middle-East Muslim societies (like other non-Muslim societies in the world today) simply fail to appreciate. But this is made even more complicated when you are working for a network employer which is a known Salafist ideology supporter and in a country where media dissent is not understood nor tolerated to the extent it is in Judeo-Christian Europe and in the United States.

I never backed the Muslim Brotherhood extremists neither do I back the Military Generals.

However, the latter threw a lifeline to Coptic Christians and all other religious minorities:'if you want to live come with us'; at a time when the Christian world (including the Russian and Greek Christian Orthodox Churches) had completely abandoned them.

Russia Today (A Russian-Government part - owned news channel) also stayed on the sidelines - until it's naval base and air access facilities in Syria were at risk.

The Vatican State was the only country to speak out publicly about the atrocities being perpetrated against Christians in Muslim lands following the Arab Spring revolutions.

So I say, yes free the detained Al Jazeera and other journalists, unconditionally, but history should not forget nor forgive their employer for the misery, distress, loss of innocent lives and torn communities it has encouraged with it's reckless and unconditional support for Muslim extremism in the period preceding and in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

Patrick Emek

http://www.smh.com.au/world/greste-and-colleagues-to-make-first-court-appearance-20140220-hvd6p.html

What On Earth Is Happening On The Sun? (Part II)

There is something really unusual happening on the sun.

(In case you missed it, it's that great ball of light you see during daytime in the sky.)

You may recall an earlier article where I said that a new rhythm or cycle may be phasing in-one which perhaps we have never seen before? Well it may just be happening.  Is there any cause for alarm?  Hell no!  The reason why is because we,as a species, can do absolutely nothing to alter our solar system's sun cycle or cycles.

When I was a child I loved reading Isaac Asimov science fiction books at the Public Library.  In one of them he postulated names for possible different types of advanced civilizations in the universe ranging from type 1 to (I think) type 6. (Many subsequent science fiction writers have mimicked his ideas for nomenclature-without crediting him as the originator.)

Type 1 was where an advanced civilization could master engineer weather and other conditions on it's own planet. Those conditions could include genetic engineering and all other types of engineering which enabled a species to be in control of it's own planet.  Then he went on to discuss civilizations which could master engineer their own solar system to even more advanced civilizations capable of master engineering galaxies perhaps on to those capable of engineering universes. On this scale we do not even register 1–as yet.

A solar flare could destroy the earth in  eight minutes and we would be literally oblivious. Yes, yes, yes I know this is just a lot of hogwash-it's only in the imagination of those capable of understanding such events and providing us with the information which enables us to consider the possibilities. Of course the assumption is that this will never happen and our predictable solar system will continue as it has yesterday.   But our solar system (and outer space) is anything but predictable nor a tranquil environment.  Yes there are radiations, flares, meteors, comets which we can predict–but there are also events totally unpredictable-such as a directed solar burst of energy impacting a planet in our solar system, changing it's ellipse and impacting on planets, their weather conditions,gravitational fields and stability, in this solar system.

But there are too many imponderable possibilities that to consider all as a priority would be a hopeless and futile exercise in predictive futurology analysis.
So the unusual weather conditions we are experiencing may have absolutely nothing or little to do with global warming nor global freezing and much or everything to do with unusual events happening on an entity which is 4.6bn years old and a distance of 149,600,000km from this little planet.  Even the best minds in town are at a loss to say what will happen next.  But you know something, I don't think that is what the politicians want to hear-so it's unlikely you will be getting such 'upbeat' news in the mainstream media!

This is a complex subject and I have researched references which explain in layman's terms the basis of the argument I present above-that it is alteration in solar cycle activity as the greater contributor to global warming-not just on this planet but on other planets in our solar system-as far distant as Pluto.  The former reference debunks the idea-and provides some easy to understand analytics-whereas the latter provides data to support the solar-critical influence concept. 
I have chosen one reference site because it is easy for the layperson to grasp in an instant both the math and the arguments involved (scientists are not famed for their abilities to communicate complex detail in an easy to understand format-which is why this site is,in my opinion,a good starting point.)
Those references can be found at:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/solar-cycles-global-warming.htm
http://www.skepticalscience.com/solar-activity-sunspots-global-warming-advanced.htm 
temperature trends in our solar system:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/acrim-pmod-sun-getting-hotter.htm
http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-on-jupiter.htm
http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-on-mars.htm
http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-on-neptune.htm 

Updated references (as at 14th February, 2014):
Why Is The Sun Going Quiet?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25743806
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/sun-all-quiet/
http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=16&month=09&year=2013

 

Patrick Emek

Tailoring The Next Ukrainian Government

A lot is being made of a hacked telephone conversation between The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Ms Victoria Nuland, and the U.S. Ambassador to The Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.

The conversation was between Ms Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Pyatt.

The call can be listened to at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSxaa-67yGM&feature=youtu.be

Having listened to the extract as far as I could hear there is nothing amiss.

It's a perfectly mature assessment about making arrangements for the smooth transition of The Ukraine from a totalitarian Russian-style model towards a democratic open society.

What is being discussed is the basis or framework for a process of transition.

Ms Nuland's comments about the EU are rather direct, but very honest.

She pulls no punches with expressing her frustration at the EU - as it has it's own local agenda for the direction of The Ukraine within the firm framework of the European monetary and political structure.

What is interesting is the impact of media scrutiny (and thus public opinion) on the private lives  (and inter-personal working relationships) of potential senior public figures in today's political world in open societies in contrast to the situation existing in Russia where the public are oblivious to internal dissent in senior political hierarchical levels - as their own media does not inform them.

Even the hint of a potential scandal (or personality conflicts leading to 'separations' ) in the West and in the United States is bad news and the basis for colleagues persuading  potential political candidates to excuse themselves until matters in question are fully settled and resolved.

Thankfully there are still individuals like Nuland and Pyatt with the maturity of vision and perception to assist and advise The Ukraine and it's fledgling democracy during these turbulent days as it too breaks free of the Iron Curtain.

Patrick Emek

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26072281

Is There A Conspiracy To Shatter U.S. - India Bilateral Relations?

It is highly unlikely that there is - but there are certainly public interest questions arising from the Khobragade incident, which could affect India-U.S. bilateral trade to the tune of $100bn U.S.

This is chicken feed in terms of U.S. global interests - but it stretches beyond just money into cooperation to prevent a nuclear holocaust on the Indian sub-continent (involving over 1.4 billion people) the expansion of the power of China and Russia in the region and future U.S. interests in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan.

Anything of such magnitude is deserving of a public (or at the very least Closed Session) Inquiry - involving The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the CIA, the DIA and, an input assessment (of potential impacts arising out of a loss of India as a vital strategic partner) from the  Military Intelligence Corps.

In a statement last Friday, U.S.Attorney Bharara made it unequivocally clear that enormous weight must be given to the Federal Prosecutor's interpretation of events surrounding this case as opposed to those submissions of the Defense lawyer acting on behalf of Dr. Khobragade.

The full background to this incident needs to be carefully investigated-leaving no doubt that the Department of Justice was properly guided and advised with regard to the entire events which led to the arrest and subsequent expulsion of Dr. Devyani Khobragade.
In addition to this there are serious international basic human rights issues – with regard to the treatment of Dr. Khobragade's spouse and family, which also need to be properly investigated.
Because of the fact that the incident took place with events unfolding on the Indian sub-continent, there may well be back issues and back story(ies) which provides a legend(s) not only to the events which unfolded in the United States but to historical background issues which may or may not have a pertinent bearing on this case.

There is no doubt that Attorney Preet Bharara acted in good faith carrying out his tasks in a highly professional manner and only relying on legal advisors views pertinent to the matter in question.   As he himself has said: ''You don't want a justice system where you have prosecutors who are cowboys¹.''   Hence the need to ensure public confidence and re-assurance that the handling of the Khobragade Incident was properly advised.

Patrick Emek

1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preet_Bharara#cite_ref-22

Dr. Devyani Khobragade - The Pentagon Finally Weighs In

After months of indecisive dithering by the White House the Pentagon has taken the initiative expressing it's disgust at the treatment of former Indian Deputy Counsel, Dr Devyani Khobragade.

It seems also likely that the Obama administration has finally woken up to what is at stake if relations with India go down the toilet.

As I said earlier, what is incredible is the ignorant petty bureaucracy and pseudo-principled stances which have shattered normalcy in U.S.-India diplomatic relations-most especially for U.S. diplomats based in India who had a status equaled by no other foreign representatives.

  U.S. staff have in the past, gotten away with, dare I say it, crimes which would have landed individuals in special detention facilities, such as Fort Leavenworth, had they occurred in the U.S. but much has been overlooked by Indian authorities, in the interests of good bilateral relations, so individuals have been, in the past, quietly shipped back home to avoid public humiliation.  This will not be the case henceforth.

It is likely that the India media will go to town on the more serious past violations of Indian laws as this row continues to evoke passions like no other on the Indian sub-continent.

The question always is will the U.S. learn anything. The answer is that it will not.  It's not the fate of superpowers of the past, the present nor the future to take lessons from their clients.  However, as a onetime student of history, I appreciate that it is the fate of empires to fall when all the Barbarians decide they have had enough of 'Rome rule', bury their vast differences just to overwhelm the empire.  Such was the case when the Helvetians (Swiss), Germanic and Gallic Tribes all overwhelmed the Empire's defenses in the 5th century A.D.  (I used to know all of their names off by heart but time and age have taken their toll - so I must now refer you to historical records to verify these facts.)

But history lessons aside, it's taken an incredibly long time for the Obama administration to weigh in on this debacle-and even with it's involvement the President is still taking the high ground in the mistaken belief that, being above the fray, by not commenting, he is doing a service to U.S. and allied interests.

I remember the childhood story, 'The Emperor's New Clothes' ("Keiserens nye Klæder") by Hans Christian Andersen.   President Obama would not waste time to read it - and start to think outside the box on this particular diplomatic incident.

 

 Patrick Emek

 

http://www.firstpost.com/world/pentagon-expresses-dismay-over-handling-of-khobragade-case-1315531.html?fb_action_ids=700562916621999&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=feed_opengraph&action_object_map={%22700562916621999%22%3A786360744713079}&action_type_map={%22700562916621999%22%3A%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map=[]

 

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/ugo-bardi/peak-civilization

http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-003.htmlhttp:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8438599/What-led-to-the-fall-of-the-Roman-Empire.html

//www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Roman_rule_in_Britain