chemical-engineers

"The agreement [between the DAANES and the Syrian transitional government] is a beginning. The people must remain vigilant."

"What everyone should know is this: it is the Kurds who defend democracy."

"We are profiting from the unrest. It is a historical chance for us. We have a right and are making use of it. We do not kill anyone and we also do not fight against anyone. We are preparing our people and ourselves for the period after the fall of the regime."

"The leadership blocked this new plot through agreements and warnings, particularly about the risk of 'new Gazas' and the need for caution in Rojava."

"Mr. Abdullah Öcalan firmly believes that political action is the best path forward. We align with this stance because in North and East Syria, we carried weapons only to defend ourselves. If the attacks against us stop, we will lay down our arms—we are not war enthusiasts."

"There are some who hold up the slogan: the fall of the regime. In contrast we demand the fall of the oppressive authoritarian system. Our problems are not problems of powers. The ruling powers in Damascus come and go. For us Kurds, this isn't so important. What is important is that we Kurds assert our existence. The current regime does not accept us, nor do those who will potentially come into power. Our politics differ from a politics that seeks power."

"They [i.e. the Syrian transitional government] say they want to enter into dialogue with all components [i.e. ethnic groups] in Syria. That is precisely why we are seeking contact with them. … We already have twelve years of experience living peacefully with all communities, so we can and want to help the transitional government. … We are not separatists. We want to help build the new Syria."

"We were looking for a movement that would answer our questions and analyze the experiences of the Kurds. While we were [still] young, I learned from the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] cadres that the movement we were looking for had formed."

"Öcalan resurrected a dead people. The people were dying, about to be finished, but Mr. Öcalan didn't allow that; he pulled the Kurd out of the wolf's mouth."

"Before [Öcalan] left Syria, we came together as a whole and discussed our situation. The formation of the PYD is, in fact, a result of this. Öcalan was trying to develop a strategic relationship between the Syrian regime and the Kurds in Rojava. However, the Syrian regime lacked the understanding and capacity to do so. If they had understood him, the situation in Syria today could be different. If they had listened to his suggestions and ideas, we could have seen a different Syria."

"If they [i.e. the US-backed Syrian Islamist opposition] accept to live in a secular country, in which everyone can express themselves, it's OK. We believe religion should be on the ethical side, not more than that. Religion should not be used as a tool for politics, which is not valid for the Muslim Brotherhood because they are looking to establish a caliphate. They should keep religion in the church and the mosque."

"We think of a democratic nation or democratic state, they [i.e. the Syrian National Coalition-affiliated Kurdish National Council] are still looking for a nation-state, which is different. We accept pluralism for living together with Arabs and other components [i.e. ethnic groups]. They are calling for a nation-state for the Kurdish people. They cannot accept Arabs and other minorities."

"The [democratic Syrian] federalism we talk about is not a geographical line. Maybe tomorrow it's going to be expanded to Raqqa, and other places. … Maybe even the people of Daraa will join."

"Drawing and dying for borders is a European illness from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."

"Within one half-hour, we can stop all Kurdish forces and they will obey this, but for those groups [i.e. armed factions represented by the Syrian National Coalition] it is not true."

"We are not a small people; 15% of the population are Kurds. As you know, we can protect ourselves even from the regime and extremists. So we have to have a word in the solution. If they ignore the Kurds, they will not find a way to solve the Syrian problem. … Because the coalition [i.e. the Syrian National Coalition] doesn't recognize the Kurds, they cannot represent the Kurds [in the Geneva peace talks], only the coalition."

"Until now, PYD members were jailed, captured and many of them killed by torture. If [the Assad government] calls for the Kurds, the Kurds cannot trust them. Actually, they have called us many times to have separate discussions. … The regime and the Salafists are the same. We don't believe that one of them is better than the others."

"I do not know … why American officials are not willing to meet with us. … We have never had any animosity against America and the American people. Quite the opposite, we see our future in Western democracy, and we are trying to implement it in our own society. … The United States is the cradle of democracy and the American people support freedom for everyone. … There is no doubt that the interests of the American people are not contrary to ours."

"Russia has recently been very vocal about the vicious crimes against us, but the US and Europe have not even condemned atrocities against civilian Kurds! Why are they ignoring attacks of these al-Qaeda related jihadists? … Everybody in Syria received international aid, but not us, the Kurds! On the contrary, we are under an embargo from all around."

"We consider anyone who does not publicly take a stand against the Turkish position to be one of Turkey's henchmen."

"We, as the Kurdish Freedom Movement, … reject classical models like federalism, con-federalism, self-government, and autonomy. Our goal is the formation of a new Kurdish society, the formation of a free person, a person with free will and free thought. … The point is to renew society from the bottom up."

"He was a true patriot of the Syrian lands. He knew how to be fully Kurdish with the Kurds; an indispensable friend with the Arabs; a true brother with the Turks. … He was a cornerstone of Rojava that I always trusted, and he will remain so. I see him as the twin brother of Sırrı Süreyya, whom we lost during the Peace and Democratic Society Process."

"America today is self sufficient in oil and gas... and it is because of this new technology, which is extremely safe and well proven. With the demise of huge swathes of manufacturing in the north of England, expansion of the fracking industry would be a big creator of jobs."

""He is my inspiration. Kip’s work on the LIGO – not LEGO, mind you – the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (I checked Wikipedia!), changed how we understand the universe. But what truly fascinated me was how he bridged science and storytelling. He consulted on Interstellar, turning theoretical physics into cinematic art. That taught me something profound – science doesn’t have to live in isolation. It can inspire, educate and even entertain. I realised my place could be right there – where science and pageantry speak the same language of wonder.”"

"We must ensure that we have diversified sources of energy throughout the country, both renewable and non-renewable."

"We must encourage energy use across multiple sectors — not only for household lighting, but also for transport, industry, commerce, and other productive activities — to boost the nation’s economic capacity."

"Our shared ambition is clear: we all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football."

"You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it?"

"20 years ago, our electrification rate was at 10%. Electricity is a key driver for creating a positive business environment. Many strides have been taken, and thanks to the efforts of His Excellency the President and the rest of the government, just in the last 20 years we’ve jumped from 10% to 57%."

"Today, our transmission networks are constrained. Our system is struggling in many areas. We continue to experience energy losses, although they are on a decline compared to 20 years ago, so we’ll be looking to invest more in our transmission network. Additionally, the new Electricity (Amendment) Act of 2022 removed the single-buyer mode, where our national utility company, Uganda Electricity Transmission, was the sole buyer for all power generated in the country."

"Our petroleum industry is being developed in a sustainable manner when it comes to environmental and social governance, and this includes the issues around land acquisition. We go through comprehensive resettlement action planning, where all compensations are approved by the chief government valuer, and then we proceed to pay the project affected persons."

"Our mandate is to ensure sustainable exploitation of our petroleum resources, among other extractives that we have as a country, as well as to ensure we are improving on our access to clean energy while ensuring that it is affordable and reliable."

"When I first went to MIT I thought I would be working for Bob Brown in fluid mechanic simulation, because my undergraduate thesis was on the Newtonian fluid flow simulation, and my undergraduate research advisor graduated from Washington, Seattle, working for Bruce Finlayson."

"And, I do want to thank the AVS Society again for this recognition."

"I hid in my mother’s legs. We could hear screaming outside"

"What did the triumphant revolution offer our women? A new life, filled with possibilities and prospects, in which their deepest dreams might become reality. A society in which that which is most precious to us all-our children's future-would be assured. A different society, where the people would be masters and mistresses of their own destiny, where they would exert their rights fully, where new values would come into being. The triumph offered our women the opportunity to study and to work, it offered them economic security, thereby putting an end to oppression and hardship. It opened prospects of health care, of social security. For women, the revolution meant the opportunity to attain human dignity."

"In the PSP a group of us organized a woman's caucus; in fact this is what most of the women in Left organizations did. We studied the writings of the Russian leader, Clara Zetkin on the "women's question." We read about revolutionary Cuban women-Haydée Santamaría, Vilma Espín-and the role they played in toppling the Batista government."

"Voluntary work was beginning to fulfill its purpose: opening new horizons for women, showing them it was possible to take part, creating a new consciousness."

"We had to change women's mentality-accustomed as they were to playing a secondary role in society. Our women had endured years of discrimination. We had to show her her own possibilities, her ability to do all kinds of work. We had to make her feel the urgent needs of our revolution in the construction of a new life. We had to change both woman's image of herself and society's image of women."

"When the revolution came to power there were tens of thousands of prostitutes, hundreds of thousands of illiterate women, 70,000 domestic servants. Gambling was a big business, vice and corruption were encouraged, and the population was denied its most elementary rights: access to education, to medical care, to hospitals, to recreation. All that was reserved for the privileged classes alone."

"If you heal yourself you can heal others."

"I’ve been vegan for a month, I’m trying it. […] A friend of mine, Arnold Schwarzenegger, produced this documentary called The Game Changers, about plant-based diet and athletes, so I checked it out and then I figured I would try it out. […] I like it. The most effect I’ve noticed is that your blood sugar is more constant, so you don’t get tired as easily and you feel lighter."

"I walked in to a Westwood movie theater [at the Rocky IV premiere] as Grace Jones' boyfriend and walked out ninety minutes later as the movie star Dolph Lundgren. I was shell-shocked for years from the mind-boggling and daunting experience of being a student-athlete from tiny Sweden suddenly having to live up a new action-star persona. […] Karate and physical fitness have kept me reasonably sane in a very tough and sometimes insane business."

"In order to convince people, especially locals, that the area (along Kim Kim River) is clear of pollution, I have visited the area without wearing safety equipment."

"In my Ministry, you don't need to know me. You only need to know how. Knowing me will not give you an advantage in any project. Make sure you know how."

"I was not able to fight my way through, as they were both involved in it. I told Modi what the CBI had found [that the charges were false], and what the Supreme Court's ruling was [not guilty on all counts]. The CBI had asked the state government to take action against the police officers [responsible for malicious allegations], but they sat on it without divulging what they were doing about it. When the Kerala government wanted to go ahead with the case even after that, the court quashed it with heavy strictures. I also told him about the compensation that I have demanded from the state and Union governments."

"I was not an admirer of Modi. But after meeting him, I have developed an admiration for him because I felt, 'Here's a person who is concerned about a matter of national importance.'"

"I came out of the room full of admiration for Modi. Somebody from the media asked me later, 'Why did you meet a chief minister from Gujarat?' I asked him, 'Why not? Kerala has had five chief ministers—K. Karunakaran, A. K. Antony, E. K. Nayanar, V. Achuthanadan[,] and Oommen Chandy—since the case broke out, but not even one chief minister had the courtesy to talk to me.' But somebody from Gujarat showed an interest in meeting me and hearing my story. I felt great about it. If he had any political motive in meeting me, he would have done so in the public glare. But instead, he met me quietly at 9:30 pm, and he issued no press statement about the meeting."

"Surprisingly, when I met Modi, he did not utter a single word about [R. B.] Sreekumar. He asked me why my case is getting prolonged for so long. He said, "I understand that it has been more than 19 years." I told him that it was because of the games played by various political parties that it was still going on. I told him that it was a false case foisted by both the coalition fronts (the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front) in Kerala, as was established by the CBI. Neither coalition wanted to admit the error in their judgment, as it was a matter of prestige for both."