I think probably the most often asked question about the show is: Why the Star Trek Phenomenon?

And it could be an important question because you can ask:

How can a simple space opera with blinking lights and zap-guns and a goblin with pointy ears reach out and touch the hearts and minds of literally millions of people and become a cult in some cases?

Obviously, what this means is, that television has incredible power.

"Long live the White Races, and down with the Semite-led subhumans and interracial contacts".

Look at that slogan. Should this be regarded as a great and laudable sentiment or call-to-action?

If you think so, then here are some equally laudable sentiments, provided by the same person and organisation:

"The historic mission of our nation in this critical moment is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival. A crusade against the Semite-led subhumans".

and

"Punish severely sexual perversions and any interracial contacts that lead to the extinction of the white man".

and

"Prepare for further expansion and to struggle for the liberation of the entire White Race from the domination of the internationalist speculative capital".

If you don't like or agree with these sentiments, then you are obviously not a citizen of any European Union country, or any NATO country, or of the United States of America.

That is because the person who said this - on his own behalf, and on behalf of his organisation "Patriots of Ukraine" - is the commander of the unit which is currently fighting under the banner of the glorious and heroic "Azov Battalion". The Azov battalion is - along with many other identically-orientated "Special Units" of the "National Guard" of Ukraine (established by the "Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine") - currently fighting to "liberate" Eastern Ukraine from "Semites" and "Semite-led subhumans"; with the full encouragement of the Ukrainian government.

The Ukrainian government, and all of the many organisations - such as the "Socialist-National Assembly", the "Patriots of Ukraine", the "Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists", the "Tryzub", the "Swoboda" and other such organisations - have taken over the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Internal Affairs and other Key Ministries within the current post-coup government of Ukraine. They are also providing the personnel from within their political party structures to form the "Special Units" of the "National Guard" - tasked with liquidating the (in their words) Semites and Semite-led subhumans in Eastern Ukraine. In this "historic mission" of theirs, they are being completely supported to carry it out with impunity by the member states of the European Union and NATO, and the United States of America.

Over the course of 2014 the prices the world pays for crude oil have tumbled from over $125 per barrel to around $45 per barrel now, and could easily drop further before heading much higher before collapsing again before spiking again. You get the idea. In the end, the wild whipsawing of the oil market, and the even wilder whipsawing of financial markets, currencies and the rolling bankruptcies of energy companies, then the entities that financed them, then national defaults of the countries that backed these entities, will in due course cause industrial economies to collapse. And without a functioning industrial economy crude oil would be reclassified as toxic waste. But that is still two or three decades off in the future.

In the meantime, the much lower prices of oil have priced most of the producers of unconventional oil out of the market. Recall that conventional oil (the cheap-to-produce kind that comes gushing out of vertical wells drilled not too deep down into dry ground) peaked in 2005 and has been declining ever since. The production of unconventional oil, including offshore drilling, tar sands, hydrofracturing to produce shale oil and other expensive techniques, was lavishly financed in order to make up for the shortfall. But at the moment most unconventional oil costs more to produce than it can be sold for. This means that entire countries, including Venezuela's heavy oil (which requires upgrading before it will flow), offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico (Mexico and US), Norway and Nigeria, Canadian tar sands and, of course, shale oil in the US. All of these producers are now burning money as well as much of the oil they produce, and if the low oil prices persist, will be forced to shut down.

An additional problem is the very high depletion rate of "fracked" shale oil wells in the US. Currently, the shale oil producers are pumping flat out and setting new production records, but the drilling rate is collapsing fast. Shale oil wells deplete very fast: flow rates go down by half in just a few months, and are negligible after a couple of years. Production can only be maintained through relentless drilling, and that relentless drilling has now stopped. Thus, we have just a few months of glut left. After that, the whole shale oil revolution, which some bobbleheads thought would refashion the US into a new Saudi Arabia, will be over. It won't help that most of the shale oil producers, who speculated wildly on drilling leases, will be going bankrupt, along with exploration and production companies and oil field service companies. The entire economy that popped up in recent years around the shale oil patch in the US, which was responsible for most of the growth in high-paying jobs, will collapse, causing the unemployment rate to spike.

Anti-Russia hysteria has made it easy for Americans to think that Putin and Russia are the bad guys in Ukraine. But as the following video shows, people in the US are being played - as usual.

Russell Brand unleashed an earful in the direction of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch and those who are spewing hateful speech in the wake of the attacks in Paris. (Rather than sounding slightly unhinged, or even pedantic, the rant was surprisingly refreshing.)

In an episode of Russell Brand's "The Trews," posted online this week, the comedian was baffled by comments made by Fox News' Jeanine Pirro - especially when she advocated for violence. In the video below, he attempts to dissect Pirro's comments, look deeper into potential motives, and most importantly makes a much-needed call for peace and tolerance. Watch below via "The Trews":

Neoconservatives arrayed in their Washington offices are congratulating themselves on their success in using the Charlie Hebdo affair to reunite Europe with Washington's foreign policy. No more French votes with the Palestinians against the Washington-Israeli position. No more growing European sympathy with the Palestinians. No more growing European opposition to launching new wars in the Middle East. No more calls from the French president to end the sanctions against Russia.

Do the neoconservatives also understand that they have united Europeans with the right-wing, anti-immigration political parties? The wave of support for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists is the wave of Marine Le Pen's National Front, Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party, and Germany's PEGIDA sweeping over Europe. These parties are empowered by the anti-immigration fervor that was orchestrated in order to reunite Europeans with Washington and Israel.

Once again the arrogant and insolent neoconservatives have blundered. Charlie Hebdo's empowerment of the anti-immigration parties has the potential to revolutionize European politics and destroy Washington's empire. See my weekend interview with King World News for my thoughts on this potential game-changer.

The reports from the UK Daily Mail and from Zero Hedge that Russia has cut off natural gas deliveries to six European countries must be incorrect. These sources are credible and well-informed, but such a cut-off would have instantly produced political and financial turmoil, of which there is no sign. Therefore, unless there is a news blackout, Russia's action has been misunderstood.

In the last few days I've seen more than enough cartoonish clichés of pens and pencils vs. swords and guns scrolling through my Twitter feed.

I don't think this is about cartoons.

Imagine a world where the western powers were not invading, occupying, drone bombing, kidnapping, torturing and holding Muslims in prison without trial. Now try to imagine that world in which cartoonists who drew Islamophobic cartoons were murdered.

I can't.

Governments throughout Europe have responded to the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in France by moving quickly to push through a raft of anti-democratic measures. They are exploiting the shock and confusion generated by the event in Paris to take actions that have long been prepared, but that have so far encountered resistance.

Immediately after the attacks, the police presence at airports, in front of embassies, government buildings, newspaper offices and public places was reinforced by thousands of security forces in European capitals and major cities.

Heavily armed and camouflaged military troops have been deployed throughout Paris and elsewhere in France, including at the Eiffel Tower and in all public places. Parts of the city resemble a war zone.

On Monday, the Ministry of Defence in Paris announced the deployment of 10,000 troops to maintain peace and order and protect public buildings. In addition, the government has provided 4,700 police officers and gendarmes to guard Jewish schools and synagogues that are considered particularly vulnerable.

After a cabinet meeting on Monday, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke of a permanent threat. Prime Minister Manuel Valls promised more money for the secret services and more effective surveillance.

At a security summit last weekend in Brussels, the European powers agreed that a European-wide passenger data system must be adopted as soon as possible. Airlines will be obliged to retain the records of their passengers for up to five years. US General Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA and chief of the NSA, also took part in the meeting. Hayden has been responsible for implementing and expanding much of the illegal and unconstitutional spying programs developed in the United States.

Little more needs to be said. Watch.

It was Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight who tipped me over the edge.

To be fair, he wasn't wholly responsible. If it wasn't for all the lunacy that preceded him, I probably would have dismissed his cartoon as just another Herald Sun atrocity, more a piece of Murdoch-madness to be mocked rather than trigger for outrage. But context is everything. And after days of sanctimonious blather about freedom of speech and the Enlightenment values of Western civilisation, his was one pencil-warfare cartoon too many.

The cartoon in question depicts two men - masked and armed Arab terrorists (is there any other kind of Arab?) - with a hail of bomb-like objects raining down on their heads. Only the bombs aren't bombs. They are pens, pencils and quills. Get it? In the face of a medieval ideology that only understands the language of the gun, the West - the heroic, Enlightenment-inspired West - responds by reaffirming its commitment to resist barbarism with the weapons of ideas and freedom of expression.

It is a stirring narrative repeated ad nauseam in newspapers across the globe. They have been filled with depictions of broken pencils re-sharpened to fight another day, or editorials declaring that we will defeat terrorism by our refusal to stop mocking Islam.

It is well past time to call bullshit. Knight's cartoon made the point exceptionally clear, but every image that invoked the idea that Western culture could and would defend itself from Islamist extremism by waging a battle of ideas demonstrated the same historical and political amnesia.

Reality could not be more at odds with this ludicrous narrative.

For the last decade and a half the United States, backed to varying degrees by the governments of other Western countries, has rained violence and destruction on the Arab and Muslim world with a ferocity that has few parallels in the history of modern warfare.