By Michael Faulkner - 10.06.13

We are inundated with significant anniversaries of distant “world-shaking” events. The government has promised that the whole of next year will be dedicated to commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. No doubt there will be room between the soul-searching and solemnity of these reflections to remember a key date in the Second World War - D Day, June 6. 1944 – the seventieth anniversary of which also falls next year.  We may expect poignant recollections and celebration of the ‘liberation of Europe’ by Anglo-American forces.

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By Michael Faulkner – 09.22.13

“He who values security above liberty deserves neither.” Benjamin Franklin.

On 6 September the New York Times and The Guardian both led with an exclusive report that was by any standards sensational. On its front page The Guardian broke the news with a detailed revelation titled “How the US and Britain unlock privacy on...

 

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By Michael Faulkner – 09.08.2013

Less than a week ago, at the end of August, a tripartite missile attack against Syria by the U.S., France and the U.K. seemed certain and imminent. Now (September 2.), while such an attack, without British participation, remains likely sometime soon, it is no longer certain to happen. The plans have gone awry due largely to the Westminster parliament’s failure to vote for the coalition government’s motion sanctioning such an...

 

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By Michael Faulkner – 08.18.13

The days immediately preceding, and immediately following the birth on 22. July,  of a baby to a young woman called Kate Middleton, who is married to William, son of the Prince of Wales, presented a media spectacle of what by any rational standards can only be described as drooling, obsequious idiocy. Even the rare exceptions that didn’t completely take leave of...

 

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By Michael Faulkner – 07.28.13

The British government does not expect the people of Scotland to vote for independence in next year’s referendum, according to the defence secretary, Philip Hammond. In this expectation he may well be right. Nevertheless, the old saying about counting chickens from un-hatched eggs comes to mind. If the Ministry of Defence had wanted to hand a...

 

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By Michael Faulkner – 07.07.13

“These are the times that try men’s souls” wrote Thomas Paine in the first of his Crisis papers, written in 1776 to help rally the American colonies against British rule. And now, more than 130 years later, these are times that should arouse the righteous anger of all who care about democracy and civil liberties. During the past few weeks we have had irrefutable proof that the security services of...

 

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