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KryssTal Opinions
KryssTal opinions sent by e-mail to various organsiations and responses (if any)
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[Language]
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KryssTal Opinions
KryssTal opinions sent by e-mail to various organsiations and responses (if any)
Page 3 of 3
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20 March 2003: To the UK newspaper, The Independent, after television showed UK school children in an anti-war demonstration:
I have managed to find something positive from the Iraq crisis. Despite politicians, newspapers, and TV news broadcasts talking about weapons of mass destruction, human rights, United Nations resolutions, and democracy, the school children demonstrating against the war know that it is about oil and American power.
Well done, kids.
9 March 2003: To Human Shields, an organisation sending observers to Iraq before the Anglo-American invasion:
With the coming invasion of Iraq and the subsequent control of news from that area (smart bombs rather than body parts), it may be a good idea for your shields to use video cameras to record what is really happening and place the images onto the internet.
9 March 2003: To Peter Biles after his piece about the French using their UN veto on the BBC television programme, "Newsnight":
I watched your Newsnight report about the use of the veto in the United Nations. You mentioned how rare the use of the veto is and listed the dates of the last vetos used by France, China and Russia.
However, you forgot to mention the fact that the USA last used its veto in 2002 and has in fact used its veto over 50 times, more than all the other veto-holding powers put together. With the credibility of the UN being one of the threats being used by the USA in its bid to invade Iraq I would have thought that this piece of information would have been useful to your viewers.
I have made a list of the vetos used by the USA (as many as I could find) and I hope that this is helpful to you. See the link below:
23 May 2002: To BBC programme, Question Time, during a debate about drugs:
Number of Deaths from various drugs in UK in 1999
Cannabis 7
Ecstacy 26
Cocaine 87
Diazepam 112
Paracetamol 267
Methadone 298
Heroin 754
Alcohol 33,000
Tobacco 120,000
To Bill Blum after reeading his book, Rogue State
Mr Blum,
I must congratulate you on your excellent book, Rogue State.
Great to see all that information in one place. On my web site The Acts of the Democracies I attempt something similar but for all the democratic countries since the Second World War. I have added your book on my Amazon recommended books section.
Keep up the good work.
The response was:
Dear Kryss,
Nice to hear from you, and thanks for the plug. I'll have a look at your site; it sounds like a lot of work. Keep the faith, in touch, and on truckin',
Bill Blum
30 November 2001: To a company called UCS from Arkansas, USA after they requested my product list:
Huh? I don't sell anything. I don't even know how to pronounce Arkansas properly!!
10 November 2001: To The Winamac Rotary Club from a small town in Indiana, USA after an invite to come and pay just $4 for a chicken:
It's a long way for me to come for a chicken.
Their reply:
No Doubt! LOL
I have absolutely No idea how you got this message. This is a radio station and this was an old current day event from long ago. It was sent on Friday at 5:24PM, a time when almost everyone is gone. How it got to your email address is beyond me.
3 November 2001: To UK journalist Robert Fisk:
Dear Mr Fisk,
Can I thank you for your excellent journalism. I always enjoy reading your eloquent articles both in the Independent and on the web.
The other day I saw you being vilified in The Sun along with other journalists like John Pilger. This pleased me because I am of the opinion that anything that is bad for Rupert Murdoch is good for the rest of us.
If it is OK with you, I have used some of your quotes on a web page called The Acts of the Democracies. This details the way in which democracies violate their own principles in their dealings with other people and countries. Once again, thanks and keep up the good work.
29 October 2001: To "American Pride" after receiving an email to be patriotic and buy their products:
I, too, am patriotic. Unfortunately for your products I live in the UK.
There is a tendency to assume that all internet users are from only one country. The internet is a WORLD Wide Web.
25 October 2001: Feedback to "Panorama" during a UK television debate about terrorism in Northern Ireland:
The panel must be aware that 48% of deaths in Northern Ireland are from Republican terrorism. What about the so-called Loyalist terror.
5 October 2001: To "The Southern Web Ring" for not making it clear which country they meant:
I live in the South (of England). Can I join your web ring? Can someone living in the Southern Hemisphere join?
The term "The Southern Web Ring" would need no embelishment if it was a magazine coming out in a particular country. On the WORLD Wide Web however, the information can be picked up in any of 200 countries and so must be more specific. Otherwise it appears as if the writer is ignoring the majority of the WORLD.
26 September 2001: To the UK newspaper, The Independent, after an article about "Global Law":
I am in full agreement with your article about Global Law in the Independent (14 September 2001).
However, I would go further.
Againts rebels, I would support all governments who are fairly elected by ALL the people they have jurisdiction over if the government does not discriminate against ethnic groups within its borders.
Conversely, I would not support governments who are unelected (Afganistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Iraq), or who's elections do not represent significant minorities within their borders (Turkey, Russia), or who's electorate does not cover the entire area over which they operate (Israel). Countries that restrict voting like the old South Africa, or who intimidate or ban opposition parties (Zimbabwe, the old Serbia) would also be unsupported. A policy like this would reduce the number of people having to live in the sort of environment that breeds extremism.
I would also make it a point of law for ALL elections to be monitored by UN commissions to ensure that they really are fair and correct. I would include the recent election in the USA here.
15 September 2001: To Yasmin Alabhai-Brown, a UK journalist after an essay about double standards by religious communities:
Just a few words of support over your stand on the recent Question Time and your recent articles in the Independent. I want to see a fairer world where people can live in dignity whatever their beliefs.
I am of ethnic Greek origin and my wife is Pakistani although neither of us is religious. I find it off-putting when countries like Greece uncritically supported Serbia (because they are the same religion - Christian Orthodox) and when Muslims support regimes solely because they are Muslim without looking at the actualities. All peoples have their good sides and their bad.
In Chad, the Christian south is persecuting the Muslim north. In Sudan its the reverse. In Indonesia the Muslim majority makes life difficult for non-Muslims. The Christian Serbs committed great evil against the Bosnian Muslims.
Each situation has to be looked at individually.
One thing that I admire about the British is that they gave aid when Iran had an earthquake a few years back even though this country had called us everything bad under the Sun and we had no official relations with them. Many Muslims only get activated to react when it is Muslims that are the victims and will do nothing otherwise. So, floods in El Salvador produce no reaction whereas the same floods in Bangladesh elicit aid. They will join a jihad in Bosnia but will say nothing about Indonesia. These double standards do great damage - like the USA'a double standards in the Middle East.
Keep up your thought-provoking writing in the Independent (peace and longevity be upon it!) and thanks.
26 August 2001: To (the UK television station) BBC after the regular Saturday night football program "Match of the Day" was replaced by a new earlier programme on the commercial ITV channel:
What have we all done?
We had our Match of the Day every Saturday, one of the great pleasures of following football. We had Goal of the Month and superb pundits who knew about the game in depth and great coverage of matches. How I used to look forward to it.
The new version (between that awful Cilla and the obnoxious Mel Spice woman ) is dreadful. I no longer get pleasure from my Saturday night's football. It's so bad that I now record it so as to whizz through all the rubbish and adverts. I've got better things to be doing on a Saturday at 7pm.
Why oh why can't the BBC keep its sports coverage. People used to look up to the BBC. Even the commercial channels would attempt to emulate the quality of the BBC. Now everything is dumbed down. I hate being patronised and spoken to as if I'm a 12 year old.
I realise that it's not your fault but I can't be bothered complaining to commercial TV stations - they are not part of my heritage the way the BBC is.
Is there any way you can get Match of the Day back? I watched last night's football with the sound off! I miss Motty and Davis. I miss Hansen, Brooking and Lawrenson. Even Gary was OK in a characature type of way.
Your Radio 5 stuff is still superb, especially Alan Green, Stewart Hall and Mike Ingham. I listened to it when I was in Brazil as Arsenal became champions. I often listen to Radio 5 while watching live matches on other channels.
Note: After a few weeks, the ITV football programme returned to its late evening time slot. The BBC regained the rights to show football for the 2004-2005 season.
11 August 2001: To a web site dealing with censorship:
Excellent site; just a small point.. you say,
"I urge you to take the time: To find out what the government is doing about censorship.."
What government? The internet is a WORLD wide web. Your readers can be in any country.
Check out my page about communicating on the internet (under "Spell It Out") ....it's got more info about this...
Loved the site.
30 July 2001: To the UK Labour Party on the announcment of a possible privatisation of the London Underground:
If the Labour party (who I have always voted for) make the same error as the Tories with the tube then I will vote Lib Dem next time. The tube should be a public service and we should be passengers not customers.