Apologies if someone else has mentioned this:
News @ rt.com:
“UN begins search for next secretary-general
The UN has kicked off the race to be the next secretary-general with a letter that for the first time invited candidates, AFP reported. The choice of the UN chief has for decades been the purview of the five permanent Security Council members in a selection process kept mostly behind closed doors. A UN resolution adopted by the General Assembly in September lifted some of the secrecy surrounding the process. Candidates were asked to present their resumes and lay out their vision for the job. The letter sent on Tuesday calls for ‘candidates to be presented with proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.'”
My candidate for the office is Naomi Klein. On the strength of my father’s participation in peace keeping UN monitoring during 18 months participation in Kashmir in the early 1950’s, I’m hoping my recommendation will be seconded and considered seriously!

Posted by: juliania | Dec 16 2015 18:20 utc | 104

Posted by: Julian | Dec 16, 2015 9:21:21 AM | 99 & P et al.
You’ll be delighted to hear that the joke is on me. The TORNADO, which the Weather Bureau was “confident is a TORNADO” immediately after things began to settle down, is now (48 hrs later) being described as a SUSPECTED TORNADO. And if there are pics of tornado-like destruction in Sydney, they’re a well-kept secret.
Nevertheless, I still have more faith in the intellect of, and evidence from, Climate Change Scientists, than the anti-intellectual GW Hoax crowd (bouts of over-enthusiasm, like the Sydney TORNADO, from GW fans excepted).

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 17 2015 2:32 utc | 106

Comments…?
***
Putin’s ‘peculiar walk’ linked to KGB weapons training, report claims
Study published in the British Medical Journal links Russian president’s ‘gunslinger gait’ with his time in the Soviet security agency. RFE/RL reports
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/16/putin-gunslinger-gait-kgb-training-report?CMP=fb_gu

Posted by: MadMax | Dec 17 2015 3:19 utc | 108

always, follow the money.
*During the public debate around the question of whether to attack Syria, Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser to George W. Bush, made a series of high-profile media appearances. Hadley argued strenuously for military intervention in appearances on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg TV, and authored a Washington Post op-ed headlined “To stop Iran, Obama must enforce red lines with Assad.”
In each case, Hadley’s audience was not informed that he serves as a director of Raytheon, the weapons manufacturer that makes the Tomahawk cruise missiles that were widely cited as a weapon of choice in a potential strike against Syria. Hadley earns $128,500 in annual cash compensation from the company and chairs its public affairs committee. He also owns 11,477 shares of Raytheon stock, which traded at all-time highs during the Syria debate ($77.65 on August 23, making Hadley’s share’s worth $891,189). Despite this financial stake, Hadley was presented to his audience as an experienced, independent national security expert.*
http://www.globalresearch.ca/conflicts-of-interest-in-syria-debate-and-news-commentary-links-to-us-defense-contractors/5495100

Posted by: denk | Dec 17 2015 16:53 utc | 110

Posted by: From The Hague | Dec 17, 2015 10:17:29 AM | 109
Good ol’ Russian diplomacy?
I feel a bit cheated. Putin’s such a gentleman that We’ll probably never know what he said that made every hair on Kerry’s head stand on end.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 17 2015 17:44 utc | 112

Reese Ehrlich:
A correction for post # 113:
“At the same time the Turks are bombing that same coalition because they are fighting under umbrella of the syrian Kurds”.
– The 3 largest groups are Jabhat Al Nusra, ISIS & Jam al Sharm. But in the case that Assad has been gotten rid of these groups will fight each other for control of Syria.
– First the US wanted to get rid of Assad. Then the US wanted to get rid of Assad by supporting the “rebels”. Now the US wants to fight ISIS, keep Syria from fragmenting and get rid of Assad later. But the US also doesn’t like Russia supporting Assad.
– Russia supporting Assad is sign of Assad’s weakness and not of Assad’s strenght.
Source:
http://scotthorton.org/interviews/2015/11/04/110415-reese-erlich/
Russia is wooing America’s closest allies
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/putin-wooing-americas-closest-syrian-allies-213317

Posted by: Willy2 | Dec 17 2015 23:03 utc | 114

Reese Erlich:
“Now Obama wants to help the Kurds? Russia’s already there.”
http://reeseerlich.com/2015/11/30/us-and-russia-compete-to-woo-syrian-kurd-rebels/

Posted by: Willy2 | Dec 17 2015 23:12 utc | 116

…
By the way didn’t Hoarsewhisperer say he quite fancied her [not her politics]on this blog several months ago?
Posted by: harry law | Dec 15, 2015 4:19:48 PM | 34
I don’t recall saying that. But it’s not untrue. Strong, ambitious, unscrupulous women have always appealed. Women who’ve kicked a path for themselves through Biz/Bloke-World are a more commonplace example. Very sexy. Lots of fun. But you can’t “own” one. And that’s OK too…

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 18 2015 3:42 utc | 118

Donald Kagan, Bennie Netanyahu, and me.

Posted by: The Prophet Elijah | Dec 18 2015 8:01 utc | 120

Continuing # 109 111
This development took me by surprise.
It also changed my view on UNSCR 2249
Maybe Russia invited others to Syria just to tell them, once in Syria, who is the boss.
(and the boss is the one with S-400)
Way to Go, Putin!
Britain is not in a rush to strike Syria, says Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, as it is revealed the Royal Air Force (RAF) has not struck an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) target in the country for 11 days.
The admission jars with the urgent tone of debate before the vote held a fortnight ago on extending airstrikes from Iraq into Syria
http://tapnewswire.com/2015/12/uk-halts-syria-bombing-as-russia-deploys-s-400-anti-aircraft-missile/

Posted by: From The Hague | Dec 18 2015 11:14 utc | 122

ad # 122
‘There is a new crisis for the international effort to destroy the Islamic State, created by the Kremlin. The U.S. has stopped flying manned air-support missions for rebels in a key part of northern Syria due to Russia’s expansion of air defense systems there, and the Barack Obama administration is scrambling to figure out what to do about it.’
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-17/new-russian-air-defenses-in-syria-keep-u-s-grounded

Posted by: From The Hague | Dec 18 2015 15:50 utc | 124

8.
MSM i(Bild) is allowed to write about cooperation with Assad
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-18/syria-stunner-german-intelligence-cooperating-assad-berlin-may-reopen-embassy-damasc

Posted by: From The Hague | Dec 19 2015 14:28 utc | 126

I had liked to give a number 10 of examples/proofs of the CHANGE.
But maybe however it’s all DECEPTION.
That should mean that, for the SECOND time, Russia is fooled into an UNSC Resolution.
As Russia TWO times frustrated (ceasefires/Minsk) separatist winning movements in East Ukraine.
But I don’t know. Very interesting times
thanks to:
Back on declarations ant counterdeclarations:
final analysis is that Kerry went to Russia bearing the olive branch to soften the Russians
into believing that they had changed their minds on Assad,
In fact it was just a ruse to get Putin to concur in the new UNSC resolution.
Yom Kippur revisited.
Now, Bashad/Russia/Iran/Hezbollah will have to forego all their advances and will give their almost
vanquished enemies time to rest, rearm, restore, reposition, resupply, retrain, recruit and
start anew and with renewed spirit a war they had lost.
Meanwhile, the US is back to bombing the wrong side in Irak. Nothing new under the sun. And while they removed the F-15s they had in Turkey, they are installing an air defense system.
Duplicity 404.
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes did not seem to be in Putin’s awareness.
Too bad.
Posted by: CarlD | Dec 19, 2015 4:58:20 PM | 78

Posted by: From The Hague | Dec 19 2015 23:35 utc | 128

@ Su Tzu | Dec 21, 2015 8:33:04 AM | 129
Today’s El País in english with election results. The print version was comprehensive. If arrangements to form a new government don’t gel, a new election will be held. Spain will likely never know a majority government again and learn compromise politics as a natural way to govern, marking the end of the two party compromise that transitioned from the end of the Franco dictatorship until now.
http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Dec 21 2015 18:03 utc | 130