NightOwl

Archive: [ https://archive.is/sEZIL ]

Coal accounted for 80 per cent of Alberta’s electricity grid in the early 2000s and it still amounted to 60 per cent just 10 years ago. When phasing out coal was just an idea being batted around, many said it couldn’t be done. This is not dissimilar to the rhetoric today around decarbonizing the grid. But Alberta’s experience phasing out coal shows environmental progress of this magnitude is possible.

At issue is the NATO two per cent doctrine. That calls for NATO nations to spend two per cent of their GDP on defence.

American politicians, along with retired Canadian generals and Ottawa think tanks who receive funding from the arms industry, have used that to hammer Canada as a failure on defence.

Defence Minister Bill Blair has recounted how hard it is to try to convince cabinet as well as Canadians about the need to meet the two per cent commitment because “nobody knows what that means.”

Add to that mix the current fiscal environment and ongoing concerns from Canadians who have been struggling financially. Directing tens of billions of tax dollars into more tanks, submarines and fighter jets isn’t a top priority among Canadian families.

Germany has become a key supplier of arms for Ukraine, second only to the United States. About 65% of German weapons exports so far this year have gone to Ukraine.

Germany has resumed significant arms exports to Saudi Arabia, despite allegations of human rights abuses. The kingdom was fourth on the government’s list of countries receiving the largest totals of German military exports, at almost €132.5 million.

With Words of Iron, social media users are encouraged to amplify pro-Israel content by commenting with autogenerated text created by the website’s developers, as well as mass-report content deemed “anti-Israel.”

“[I]f every individual spends just 10 minutes a day utilizing this tool, sharing messages in unwavering support of Israel, our collective voice will resonate globally,” Israel Tech Guard wrote on LinkedIn announcing the project.

While Words of Iron is not the first online mechanism promoting Israeli propaganda, DFRLab notes that it is more sophisticated than previous technology.

“Words of Iron is more advanced in terms of its design and user interface, incorporating gamification and automation for example, and ability to generate endless content with specific targeting,” the DFRLab researcher said.

Among those criticizing the new law are the BC and Canadian Civil Liberties Associations, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, Amnesty International, the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council and Independent Jewish Voices Canada.

In a joint statement, they say C-70 “will likely have significant impacts — both directly and in the form of a chilling effect — on freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and on privacy, and it could well be used to profile people on political, racial, religious, or nationality grounds. The law will allow the undermining of academic freedom, freedom of the press, the right to protest and engage in dissent, and efforts at international cooperation and solidarity.”

CSIS has parroted US intelligence agencies allegations regarding China for the past five years, refusing to heed warnings about threat exaggeration from US senator Bernie Sanders, economist Jeffrey Sachs, or Congresswoman Judy Chu.

Mainstream media unfortunately have been hammering the theme of foreign interference. For example, the Globe and Mail has been campaigning for a foreign influence registry for over a year. Likewise, its reporters have unabashedly used CSIS leaks to engage in sensationalist reporting, failing to verify CSIS information. This has created a political maelstrom to the benefit of CSIS.