"People should not be hired based only on their degrees. There are a range of other factors, according to Government, that should be taken into account. These include prior learning, previous experience and capacity to acquire competence in a reasonable time."

"...instead of trying to integrate Russia into the West after the Cold War, the United States alienated it. U.S. abrogation of the ABM Treaty played a part in bringing about this estrangement. Now in the wake of U.S.-Russian tensions over Georgia, the unnecessary U.S. deployment of missile defense in Europe risks a downward spiral in U.S.-Russian relations into active hostility."

"By selectively turning principles into propagandist slogans for scoring points, the United States no longer occupies the political high ground. Washington’s lectures sound like hectoring, not sincere admonitions that could sway international public opinion and restrain Russian actions."

(Without his shell, McCain is simply a nut that needs to be cracked, picked apart and exposed)

"All things considered, and even bearing in mind the validity of these objections, the release of 198 Palestinian prisoners associated with the PLO and PA is an important step toward rationalizing Israel's approach to releasing of terrorist prisoners: as a tool for peace rather than as a feature of warfare."

"The attempt by Israeli leaders and, unfortunately, some Palestinians to portray this release as a political achievement by the Palestinian leadership is pathetically misguided. President Abbas, as a political leader, is expected by his public to solve the political problem and end the occupation as a way to bring to an end the whole phenomenon of Palestinian imprisonment. He is not expected to get bogged down is minor prisoner releases."

"Some Iraqi Americans spoke of the horror they experienced seeing the devastation of their country and its growing political fragmentation. They expressed their desire for an American withdrawal while at the same time noting their fears of what the future might hold for Iraq. And some Palestinians noted that eight years of neglect had resulted in a Middle East where, despite the consensus on the two-state solution, such a solution is now more difficult to achieve than ever."

"Over the past four decades, Israel has declared nearly two-thirds of the West Bank as “state land”, seizing it on a variety of pretexts and transferring much of it to the jurisdiction of settler councils. According to the figures of the Israeli group Peace Now, the settlers are in direct control of more than 40 per cent of the West Bank."