Venus got theirs first!

With an average surface temperature of 462C (864F), Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system today, thanks to its proximity to the sun and its impenetrable carbon dioxide atmosphere, 90 times denser than Earth’s. At some point in the planet’s history this led to a runaway greenhouse effect.
'Guardian' report of scientists' work on venus.

Useless Idiots

Dear Editor  - exclusive to the Times; NOT for publication in the Express and Star or the Birmingham Post.

Useless Idiots

You wrote, “Nato was created in 1949 as an alliance of free nations to deter Soviet expansionism and aggression.” THE TIMES 15 September.

The ‘Guardian’ in February 2014​,​ proved in their four page spread that it was not the USSR but the UK that has had their armed forces in action in other countries in every single year since at least 1914.  It was hoped that 2015 would be the first year since at least 1914 that the UK was not killing foreigners in their own lands.

It seems that the Cold War was stoked and Nato formed by the West out of paranoia that it was about to be attacked and overrun by the Soviet Union.  This, mind you, after the Russians had just sacrificed about 25 million of their people to help us win a war they had no part in starting! Nato was formed in 1949 and continues.  Their equivalent, the Warsaw Pact lasted from 1955 to 1991. In other words, ​formed ​in response to the West’s unfriendly alliance that they felt threatened them.​ They dissolved their military alliance in 1991.  Since ​then​, the West has continued to spread its influence eastwards to diminish Russian influence and to expand the West’s EU and Nato membership.

Fear of attack by Russia was also used to justify a huge arsenal of weapons of every description.  Nato helped to give respectability to the three leading members for their many wars of expansionism, aggression and regime change around the world.  So much for setting a fine example to other countries! If you make yourself an enemy, you must expect to be treated as an enemy.

The West has unilaterally strengthened itself while the Russians dissolved the Warsaw Pact and saw it Eastern bloc friends go over to the West.​  Ukraine was the most damaging, led to Crimea annexation and civil war that continues to this day.​ The West stirred things up. Useless idiots.

Tim Weller​  (contact details at the foot)

Questions for Radio Scotland Big Debate

Is the panel horrified or relieved that Jeremy Corbyn has said that he would never press the nuclear button if he was PM?

Are those responsible for the car emission test also at fault for not picking up that there must have been a much higher proportion of VW Group diesel cars passing the emission test when compared with other manufacturers?

If VW Group engineers felt it was necessary to put in defeat devices to meet emission standards, does that indicate that the emission test was far too rigorous for even the world's top car engineers to meet?  Even they could not possibly reach the target that was required!

Should not the expenditure and effort go towards minimising harmful emissions as quickly as possible?  VW already make some of the cleanest cars.

What is the point of Real Driving Emissions testing, that is so vital for Patrick McLoughlin, if vehicle manufacturers cannot meet the standard?  Does it not already happen?  In fact, more of it should be taking place on the road to clean up or remove the most polluting vehicles.

"I am pushing hard for a joined up re-testing programme across Europe."  Patrick McLoughlin, letter to Louise Ellman MP, 9 October 2015  But not pushing hard to reduce the cocktail of poisonous gases that all petrol and diesel vehicles spew out.

Should our 0.7% of GDP overseas aid budget be used to build a prison in Jamaica to facilitate British born Jamaican prisoners repatriated to Jamaica?

QUESTION for BBC Radio Scotland's The Big Debate on Friday 2 October, at Wigtown Book Festival (that I am attending in the ten days)

and, copied to my heavily war reliant MP, James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

When we are told this week that it is going to be years before Islamic State is defeated (if ever), is it not immoral, illegal and pointless to drone kill Syrians and Iraqis that we think, we hope, are members of Islamic State?

It continues our 101 year foreign policy of every single year ('Guardian' 4 page spread of evidence on 12 Feb 2014) attacking other countries to protect our vital strategic interests in so many countries around the world, who have not declared war on us.

Remembering what went wrong over our so virtuous military intervention in Iraq

This is written ten years on since London was awash with 1-2 million opponents of our nation's intention to attack, invade and occupy Iraq.  "Britain's biggest ever political protest"  (Andrew Murray in the Guardian 15.2.2013).  This blog has partly relied on that article (here, in double quotation marks) to catalogue the many blunders of those who should have been men and women of integrity and honour.  Instead, I think, they became war criminals and terrorists.

1. Iraq is steeped in history.  It is the birthplace of civilisation.  Indeed, the birthplace of Abraham who was the father/founder of three world faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Even so, they are at loggerheads and, there is an absence of understanding or even respect amongst them.  Each faith believes that it alone has the Truth and Right on their side.
2. There was an over reliance on what the enemies of Saddam Hussein were saying about his weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  An over-reliance because he was no longer our friend but was our enemy by this time.
3. An under-reliance on finding the evidence for WMD before the attack commenced on the 19 February 2003.
4. Our crime of aggression in attacking Iraq seems to have been about finishing the job from the Gulf War of 1990/1, when we failed to remove Saddam Hussein and had been kicking ourselves ever since for not doing so.
5. Saddam was no friend of Al-Qaeda, not an Islamist or militant Muslim and, he governed a secular state.  Yet, it was widely believed that he was, in order to help justify attack, regime change and occupation by ourselves - and retribution for 9/11!
6. The UN inspectors were not allowed to finish the job before our premature and over-enthusiastic desire for the opening shock and awe attack.  Unseemly haste, sidelining, even dismissing our own, Western, weapons inspectors.  They didn't come up with what we wanted them to say, so we went ahead anyway before their final and definitive report confirming that there were almost certainly no WMD.
7. The UN did not "give the attack a patina of legality." Andrew Murray (patina = shallow covering or cosmetic gloss)
8. The war did not make the Christian West safer from terrorism.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  We saw martyrdom videos showing that the martyrs saw themselves as soldiers defending Islam from the Christian Western attackers and occupiers of holy Muslim soil.
9. The Iraqi people did not welcome the invaders as liberators.
10. "Tony Blair was motivated solely by his secret pledges to stand by President Bush come what may."
11. "Consideration of legality and British public opinion scarcely registered with him."
12. "The Iraqi people have paid a staggering price" for the unwarranted and unlawful eight year war.
13. "The war was justified by the dodgy dossier" and a student's dissertation.
14. Justified by: "The 45 mins Iraqi missile threat."
15. There was "Duplicitous diplomacy."
16. Saddam Hussein - a one time ally and excellent customer of our highly valued arms industry and traders.
17.  This man and many tens of thousands of his citizens were wiped off the face of the map without a trial for him or, UN support for such extra-judicial killing by ourselves.
18. Even after Saddam was removed from power and we were in total control throughout the country, still no WMD could be found.  In other words, we were completely fooled and our intelligence experts and politicians proved, yet again, to be in the wrong.  They were led up the garden path.  They are guilty and were gullible.  They are war criminals.