'He made us laugh, he made us cry': Obama leads tributes to Robin Williams as the beloved comic is found dead in apparent suicide at his California home following a long battle against depression , Daily Mail

The legendary comic actor was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California

The Marin County Coroner said the cause of death was believed to be suicide due to asphyxia

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday on the comedian

His third wife Susan Schneider said: 'I lost my husband and my best friend, the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings'

President Obama said: 'He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most'

Williams had battled depression for years

He won an Oscar for the 1997 film Good Will Hunting

President Obama has led the tributes to Robin Williams after the comic genius was found dead aged 63 from an apparent suicide in his home, police in California said on Monday night.

Praising the Oscar winning actor's versatility, the president issued a touching statement, speaking volumes for the comedian and his huge impact on American culture throughout the past 35-years.

'Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien - but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit.

'He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin's family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.'

And in the wake of the Oscar-winning actor's tragic death on Monday, Zelda Williams has tweeted a poignant quote about her loss.

She posted a exerpt from Antoine De Saint-Exupery's novella The Little Prince which read: 'You - you alone will have the stars as no one else has them... In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night... You - only you will have stars that can laugh.'

She finished the post with the words: 'I love you. I miss you. I'll try to keep looking up, Z.'

Comment:

I was saddened this morning,  to hear of the tragic alleged suicide of the Comic genuius and talented actor Robin Williams,  to me and many people Robin Williams will always be known as Mork from Mork and Mindy,  his many films and tv apperances from comedy roles to more serious and sometimes darker acting roles from one hour photo to Law and Order Svu,  were thought provoking  and challenging, he made us laugh, he made us cry,  he challenged us with his acting skills, like many he faced challenges and suffered from depression, unfortunately  despite his fame, he took his own life at the relevant young age of 63,  He touched my life though I never  knew him personally, because of his film and tv performances like many I felt I knew up,   he was a great man who tragically took his own life after a battle with depression,  Robin Williams we will miss you.

Top Tories tell PM 'get involved' and launch air strikes to stop ISIS slaughter in Iraq

PRESSURE is mounting on David Cameron to allow Britain to join US air strikes on Islamic militants to stop the brutal ethnic cleansing sweeping Iraq.

As The UK prepared to ramp up its aid mission to help tens of thousands of stricken Iraqis, Boris Johnson became the highest profile politician to publicly call for British military action insisting it’s “time to get involved”.

The London Mayor accused the world of “watching a catastrophe unfold” as ISIS fighters massacre women and children in northern Iraq.

“I am certain that it is time to get involved, and to support the American-led operation,” he said.

“We have to act because this is a humanitarian crisis.”

He was joined by the former head of the army Lord Dannatt who claimed troops may be needed “on the ground” in Iraq to help target air strikes.

The interventions, which pile further pressure on the Prime Minister to return from holiday to deal with the deepening crisis, came after the former head of the Australian army, Peter Leahy, warned it could take '100 years' to defeat the threat from radical Islam.

Professor Leahy, a leading defence and strategic analyst, said the fight against Muslim extremists would be "paid in blood" and would require pre-emptive as well as reactive action.

He said: "We are in the early stages of a war which is likely to last for the rest of the century.

“We must be ready to protect ourselves and, where necessary, act pre-emptively to neutralise the evident threat. Get ready for a long war.”

Read more here:

Comment:

I believe we in the UK,  have several  options in regards into dealing with Isis

·        Supporting the Americans and the Kurdish Peshmerga with Istar ( Intelligence,  Surveillance , Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) using RAF and Army units such as Reaper Drones, Sentinel R1 and Shadow R1 Aircraft which could be based in Cyprus,  and SAS assets based in theatre this would also include Hercules and C17’s for Air Supply and Voyager’s  for refueling other aircraft.

·        Using SAS and other Special Forces to train the Kurdish Peshmerga and also equipping the Kurdish Peshmerga with better weaponry and vehicles

·        Using Tornado and Typhoon Aircraft for Air Strikes, and Apache Helicopters for Close Air Support plus support units

·        Using all of the above  plus “ boots on the ground “  such as the 3 Commando Brigade, 16 Air Assault Brigade or the Brigade of Gurkha’s plus support  units

Spectator: If Scots Vote NO, Blame Alex Salmond.

Spectator: If Scots Vote NO, Blame Alex Salmond.: There were numerous critics, many of them quite vociferous, of the early part of the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, which was l...

Operation Sealion by Leo McKinstry: A new look at why the Nazis didn't invade Britain, Daily Express

THE Daily Express columnist argues that British ruthlessness, political nous and an uncompromising spirit forced Hitler to dither and finally fail in his planned invasion

England faced one of its tensest ever periods in the summer of 1940. Much of Europe had fallen to Hitler, and it was believed that invasion by the Nazis was imminent.

While Churchill was a popular figure as Prime Minister, there had been several difficult periods, not least the near-annihilation of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk and the loss of virtually all of their equipment.

By rights, Britain should have been invaded and conquered as its neighbours were and German plans were drawn up for such an assault, codenamed Operation Sealion. And yet, standing alone against the German threat, it remained impregnable, and Operation Sealion never took place. Why was this?

In his immaculately researched and gripping work, Leo McKinstry paints a vivid picture of what was happening in England. After the outbreak of hostilities the previous year, an uneasy state of tension had existed, namely the so-called “Phoney War”, in which the country sat ready for action but nothing seemed to happen. All the while, Hitler planned his campaign.

Read more here:

Crisis in Iraq - five things you can ACTUALLY do to help, Published 08 August 2014 | Martin Saunders Christianity Today

A few weeks ago, I changed my social media profile photo. Like many others, I was responding to the awful situation in Mosul, Iraq, where my fellow Christians are reportedly being forced to convert to Islam, or otherwise being threatened with execution. It was a vague attempt to do something - anything - to help. I was standing in solidarity, if nothing else, and hopefully encouraging others to do the same.

The trouble of standing in solidarity however, is that when it's done from being a laptop screen in a cosy branch of Costa Coffee, it achieves pretty much nothing.

Fast forward a few weeks, and the situation is worse than ever. I don't need to recount here the horrible stories of forced conversions, people starving up mountains and beheaded children.

Here's the thing: we can't stand by while this happens. We just can't. If we call ourselves Christians - or even just human beings - we have to care enough to put down whatever we're doing and take a few minutes to engage.

So what, practically, can we do? I've spent a little while thinking, praying and asking others about that question, and here is a start.

Read more here:

Further Reading

The last Christian flees Mosul as ISIS continues its reign of terror in Iraq

Key Iraqi Christian leader: 'ISIS is worse than Genghis Khan'

The rise of ISIS: how an unknown splinter group came to dominate Iraq

Iraq persecution: The hidden minorities targeted by IS

"Simplicity" from Rend Collective (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)

Brian Monteith: Rushing towards fiscal uncertainty, The Scotsman

IT’S difficult to trust Salmond’s economic judgment after his previous prevarications and u-turns, writes Brian Monteith

WHILE pundits and spin doctors seek to suggest who won the first referendum debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling, what is self-evident is that the debate helped to distil the question down to one single issue. In the event that Alex Salmond cannot get the currency option of his choice (a formal currency union using sterling) what is his Plan B? The answer, there was none.

As we hurtle at break-neck speed to the vote on 18 September I am sure we can expect more of the same; the personal but small distractions will be tossed aside and we shall focus more on what for the majority of us are the big issues. Such as what will be the new more expensive price for Scotland remaining a member of the European Union, or how will Scotland pay for the cost of its pension liabilities when our workforce will be shrinking and our pension bill rising (before even considering Nicola Sturgeon’s promise of a lower pensionable age in some parallel universe that only she inhabits).

There may be others, such as the pick-and-mix sweetie shop of freebies and goodies that nationalists have been dreaming up to be paid for by the munificence of oil revenues – while at the same time telling us we can have a sovereign oil fund that by implication requires a more austere approach to public welfare.

We shall see what matters most, but for all that, the one crucial issue that Scots residents (as opposed to the broader body of Scots that would more usually have a say in the future of their country) are already well tuned into is how our economy might or might not work if we secede from the United Kingdom and choose the SNP’s offer of independence without independence. (For those of you not used to reading my column let me recap that there will be no referendum on the new price of EU membership and its tighter straightjacket, there will be less influence than present with any formal currency union and even less still with any unofficial use of sterling, while many other institutions that we shall seek to keep access to such as the BBC we shall have no say in).

Read more here:

Further reading:

Scottish independence: ‘Mortgages up £1600 if Yes’

Scottish independence: No campaign 'playing with fire' says Salmond

Alex Salmond goes on the counter attack over pound claiming: No camp's tactic of ruling out currency union makes no economic sense

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective,

Labour question how an independent Scotland would fund state spending after 37% fall in revenue from North Sea tax

Alex Salmond demands Danny Alexander apologises for a missing 'mountain of black gold' as the two trade blows over oil figures

Scottish independence: FM stands firm on currency, The Scotsman

“An independent Scotland would keep the pound because it’s our currency and it would be in the interests of the rest of the UK to agree to currency sharing. But if the rest of the UK won’t agree, an independent Scotland would punish it by repudiating its pro rata share of UK debt…..Yes, it would remove a hefty burden from our shoulders. But an independent country that began life with debt repudiation would find it could not raise money in international markets without lenders demanding substantially higher interest rates. Scotland’s credit rating would be rock bottom.”