June 2015
The real price of cheap oil
Fossil fuels subsidised by $10m a minute, says IMF
18 May 2015 — Fossil fuel companies are benefitting from global subsidies of $5.3tn (£3.4tn) a year, equivalent to $10m a minute every day, according to a startling new estimate by the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF calls the revelation “shocking” and says the figure is an “extremely robust” estimate of the true cost of fossil fuels. The $5.3tn subsidy estimated for 2015 is greater than the total health spending of all the world’s governments. (More)
How U.S. and its western flunkies broke international law
as greatest manhunt in history failed to take Ed Snowden
How the U.S. forced Snowden to seek asylum in Russia
28 May 2015 — In 2013, Julian Assange of WikiLeaks played a pivotal role in helping National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden leave Hong Kong for Russia. During the U.S. hunt for Snowden, Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane was forced to land in Austria for 14 hours after Spain, France, Portugal and Italy closed their airspace under pressure from the United States over false rumors Snowden was on board. Assange gives the inside story on why that plane was targeted. (More)
From the Desk of Frances Sedgwick, Contributing Editor
Raging Grannies join hundreds in the rain to protest
Harper's hysterical, terrorizing, anti-democratic C-51
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Ottawans say No to Harper's terrorism and torture show
By Matthew Behrens
Homes not Bombs
Based on what is exhibited and who is in attendance, CANSEC15 is essentially a terrorism and torture trade show. Raging Grannies and members of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, as well as Artistes Pour la Paix, were also there. (More)
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Saturday 30 May 2015 — Several hundred protesters braved thunderstorms in the capital Saturday afternoon as part of a final push to oppose Bill C-51, also known as the Anti-Terrorism Act, that is headed towards third reading and final approval next week.
Marchers chanted determinedly from the Human Rights Memorial to Parliament through downtown, in one of about 20 similar protests across the country, according to organizers.
In Ottawa's Byward Market, the marchers’ spirits were buoyed as bystanders cheered and drivers honked. (More including autoplay video)
Macedonia unrest
‘American warning to Skopje against new Turkish pipeline’
Macedonia has become important to the U.S. because it could become the only way for Russia’s proposed Turkish Stream pipeline to reach Central Europe, which Washington does not want
RT
12 May 2015 — About thirty have been charged with 'terrorism' over a deadly shoot-out in Macedonia at the weekend. A fierce battle erupted between police and an armed gang in the town of Kumanovo, in the north of Macedonia. The district is populated by ethnic Albanians who make up about a quarter of Macedonia's population. The Macedonian authorities say the gunmen were plotting terror acts against government institutions.
Political analyst Srdja Trifkovic: Albanians do not react the way they acted or reacted over the past three days without encouragement from the outside. We saw this 14 years ago, in 2001 when the Albanians were caught in the village of Aracinovo, and there were some American fighters with them. (More)
Active opposition prompts Canada Post to continue
its door-to-door delivery up on Hamilton Mountain
3 June 2015 — Canada Post’s plan to end door-to-door delivery on Hamilton Mountain has apparently been put on "indefinite hold," according to the union representing postal workers. Hamilton postal workers were informed Tuesday 2 June by Canada Post managers that no new date for the end of door-to-door delivery would be scheduled at this time. (More)
NDP Chinook blows through Alberta
1 June 2015 — I’ve read pages of columnists and listened to hours of analysis about the battle in Alberta … how did the NDP pull it off … how did Jim Prentice lose it … why did voters push his Tories into third place?
But what all the commentators seem to have forgotten is that the ‘demos’ in democracy means ‘people’. And it’s what the people do in an election that matters.
The Orange Wave in Alberta is not such a shocker when you consider how people there think about things ... (More)
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Strange Democracy
British Tories win 12-seat majority with 24% of vote
16 May 2015, LONDON — The electoral kaleidoscope has been shaken and the pieces are in flux. But where will they land? After last week’s election it certainly appeared Britain had turned deep blue. But has it? Only 24 percent of the British people voted for David Cameron and yet he has untrammelled power for the next five, long years.
More cuts and austerity and undreamt of privatizations are on the horizon. For our first post-election show, we've assembled two of the most astute observers of the British political scene: Seumas Milne, the associate editor of the Guardian newspaper, and Neil Clark one of Britain's shrewdest political analysts. We ask what mandate David Cameron really has? (More)
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The Old Man's Last Sauna
by Carl Dow
'Life is scary, frustrating and sometimes funny. All of these themes are explored in Carl Dow’s collection of short stories, told with the pristine elegance that we haven’t seen since the likes of Stephen Leacock or even Pierre Berton.'
— Award-winning author Emily-Jane Hills Orford
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Lia Tarachansky
A Jew reports from Israel
Brilliant writer of critical analyses in prose and poetry
provides a documentary about the Israeli-Palestine crisis
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Our electoral system reconsidered
First past the post or proportional
On the other hand
'2015 UK general election most unfair in history'
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‘Bigger role’ for US in Minsk II accords
Are you sure you're wanted Ms. Nuland?
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Chrétien invites Russia to attend dignitaries' meeting
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US instructors frustrated with state of Ukraine army
Accidents turn tanks upside down (See video)
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BRICS summit in Russia to launch New Development
Bank and currency pool to rival IMF and World Bank
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EU not sure where Ukrainian
‘Frankenstein monster’ will lead it
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The ISIS mystery is unravelled
Biting the hand that fed them, ISIS, now a 'threat'
was funded by the U.S. and Britain from the start
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Wrong again, Obama, the ISIS is Islamic and fanatic
6 incredibly important things all should know re ISIS
YOU'LL FIND ALL THIS AND MORE BY CLICKING HERE FOR
 True North Perspective publishes in
the best traditions of Canadian journalism
If you think it's too radical, please rea
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Editor's Notes
Much foolish negative ado about something worthwhile
NDP spending money in home ridings is common sense
Because True North Perspective is grossly underfunded and our skeleton crew grossly overworked, I haven't been able to make time to pay close attention to the noise about Québec New Democrat MPs spending money in their ridings. However, it seems to me that that is what more MPs should be doing.
I know for a fact that these glamorous federal representatives of the public good must contend with serious challenges other than FIFA, armed conflict in the Middle East and a government that is determined to make a secret deal to turn our democracy over to international corporate power. They get calls from irate constituents because sand is blowing on their lawns, because some of their garbage was not picked up, or because a dog is barking. (More)
Op Ed
Network debates without Harper? No problem
By Jeffrey Simpson
The Globe and Mail
23 May 2015 — Canada’s major broadcasters must ask themselves one simple question about election debates: Do we, the networks, with our public licences, serve the citizenry or the political parties? They came up with the right answer. Good for them. (More)
Harper backs corporations against Canadian democracy
'Free Trade' deals put profits over public interest
Canadians have a very good reason for alarm at betrayal
29 May 2015 — Opponents of so-called free trade deals have always struggled with the question of why these international treaties don't generate more alarm and vocal opposition from Canadians. These treaties, after all, trump all other Canadian authority to make laws — provincial legislatures, Parliament, the courts and even the Constitution. If, instead of being bored by news of another ho-hum "trade deal," Canadians were told that a panel of three international trade lawyers would be reviewing all new laws and determining, in secret, which ones passed muster by meeting with the approval of their giant corporate clients, would they react differently? (More)The Binkley Report
Alex Binkley is a foremost political and economic analyst, whose website is www.alexbinkley.com. Readers will be aware that his columns in True North Perspective have foreseen political and economic developments in Canada. This week in ...
TPP talks divide farm community
High level negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) scheduled for Guam this month have opened a rift in Canada’s farm community that successive governments have tried to prevent.
Livestock and grain groups have gone public with a demand that the federal government fully engage in the talks and while they don’t actually say it, Ottawa must essentially be prepared to abandon the supply management sector to win membership in the TPP.
“As a country we need to be fully engaged in the negotiations to ensure that Canadian exporters attain the same access to markets as exporters from other TPP countries,” says a letter to the Harper government issued by the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance and many of its members including the Canadian Meat Council, the Canadian Pork Council, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, and Cereals Canada. (More)
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That said, Bruce Muirhead, the Associate Vice‑President of External Research at the University of Waterloo, says the negative reaction of Dairy Farmers of Canada to cheese quotas offered to Europe as part of the tentative CETA deal was perplexing. I thought it was a pretty decent deal that they got. (More)
From the Desk of Dennis Carr, Sustainable Development Editor
Let's go to Starbucks and guzzle a Monsanto
Neil Young's new Anti-GMO song Rock Starbucks
Watch an excerpt from Neil Young’s newest video for his song Rock Starbucks from his forthcoming record, The Monsanto Years.
Young recorded the album with Willie Nelson’s sons, Micah and Lukas. "I want a cup of coffee, but I don’t want a GMO," Young sings on Rock Starbucks, "I love to start my day off without helping Monsanto." (Video HERE)
For Notley, eight steps to reform the broken Petrostate
It may be tricky to tread, but Alberta's path forward is clear
9 May 2015 — The Alberta Spring has arrived and it heralds opportunities as profound as the protest movements that rocked the Middle East after oil prices collapsed in 2008. After 44 years of stultifying one-party rule, the citizens of Alberta voted for historic change this week.
In the process, they threw out Prime Minister Stephen Harper's power base: a cadre of Tory politicians rendered visionless in the face of powerful hydrocarbon interests. Albertans replaced them with a largely young bunch of ordinary, working Albertans led by Rachel Notley, a labour lawyer. (More)
Colombian takes BP to court in UK
over alleged complicity in kidnap and torture
BP says it will defend unprecedented claim by trade union leader Gilberto Torres in case that spotlights role of big carbon in one of Colombia’s darkest periods
The Guardian
22 May 2015 — A Colombian trade union leader is beginning an unprecedented claim for damages against BP in the high court in London, alleging the oil company’s complicity in his kidnap and torture 13 years ago.
Gilberto Torres, 52, was abducted in February 2002 while driving home from an oil-pumping station in Casanare, eastern Colombia, and was released after 42 days, only after workers threatened a national oil strike.
His lawyers say that it is the first time a union leader has been able to lodge a claim for human rights abuses against a multinational oil company in the high court. They believe his claim could pave the way for scores more similar actions. (More)
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan tells Kinder Morgan
opponents he's ready to be "arrested to stop" the pipeline
22 May 2015 — The mayor of Burnaby has said he is prepared to get arrested and see his career in politics come to an end if that’s what it takes to stop a proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline.Bits and Bites of Everyday Life
On Hope and Gratitude
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. (Christopher Reeve)
By Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair
True North Perspective
Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair is the author of The Neglected Garden and two French novels. Visit her website to learn more www.albertevilleneuve.ca.
1 June 2015 — I was asked some interesting questions lately, questions that led me to ponder the answers and to review some facts about my life. The question that set off a flurry of questions was asked at a breakfast last week. I was showing my novels to a group and a lady asked, “What prompted you to start writing?”
Although writing has always been a part of my life because I love words, I had never thought of writing anything significant. I was very proud of a poem of mine that had been published in our high school year book. But what made me decide to write a novel was the need to free myself from the hurt and the betrayal of a marriage gone wrong. Seven years after my first husband’s suicide, I had learned of yet another painful betrayal, one that left me reeling with anger. (More)
'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you'
1 June 2015 — “A man’s heart can be judged by how he treats animals.” So wrote Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) who is probably better known and less well understood for his Categorical Imperative. His magnum opus, A Crtique of Pure Reason is a major stumbling block for most students of philosophy. The above statement is a pleasant break from his deep philosophical writings. Nevertheless what he says about man’s relationship to the animal world raises difficult moral questions for us humans.
The animal kingdom is under severe stress. In a recent study by Dr. Mark Urban of the University of Connecticut, he points out that earth is on a course to lose biodiversity, virtually by degrees — literally — as climate change exacts an inexorable toll on the species around the globe. (More)
A class question
It's middle income, not middle class, and what about
a focus on everyone else, from pensioners to youth?
By Frances Sedgwick — True North Perspective
1 June 2015 —All three parties seem fixated on the so-called middle class. Common sense knows that what they mean is middle-income earners.
Despite pretensions to the contrary the so-called middle class are really only among the higher-paid working class. The lower-paid working class deserves attention too.
And what about the rest of society? The under-waged, the jobless, the homeless, and desperate seniors trying to survive on a fixed income against a rising cost of living? (More)
Mexico roundup by Isabella Tandutella, Contributing Editor, Mexico City
UN calls on Mexico to step up probe into thousands of ‘disappearances’
The UN urged Mexico to investigate the involvement of state forces in “disappearances,” including in the case of 43 students reportedly murdered last year. The UN’s Committee on Enforced Disappearances said it received information illustrating that the large number of people vanishing “could be qualified as enforced disappearances.” These types of cases are linked to detention by state agents, who conceal what happens to the apprehended individuals. Mexico's delegation told the Committee last week that 11,300 people were unaccounted for. Amnesty International released a statement saying that more than 22,600 have gone missing in the past eight years.
44 killed in Mexico drug battle, including 2 police
At least 44 were killed during clashes between security forces and suspected drug gang members on Friday 22 May in western Mexico, according to local officials. At least two police officers were shot dead and another one badly wounded, Reuters quoted a source as saying. The other 42 killed were suspected members of the of the Jalisco New Generation (JNG) cartel. The armed battle took place in the Tanhuato municipality, Michoacan state – an area known for drug cartels.
Mexico officially stops vaccinating babies after deadly accidents
Mexican authorities have suspended the vaccination of infants and have launched an investigation after two babies died after receiving vaccinations for tuberculosis, rotavirus and Hepatitis B. According to an official statement, 23 children are currently in stable condition and six are in serious condition. The cause of the adverse reactions is not known. Originally, as a precaution, the authorities stopped administering vaccines nationwide on Saturday. The adverse reactions started Friday 22 May and the babies were taken to a hospital in Simojovel, Chiapas.
HarperWatch
A culture of vengeance: The case of Omar Khadr
Supreme Court rejects Harper government
claim that Omar Khadr was adult offender
Canada’s prison watchdog is being fired after raising alarm
on race problems, solitary confinement, and violence in jails
Budget day letter to Music Canada confirms Harper's
copyright extension the product of industry lobbying
Bill C-51 violates Universal Declaration of Human Rights, OSCE finds
National Post View: The government has been caught
re-writing the rules to suit its own purposes — again
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From the Desk of Darren Jerome
A continuing update on the war against WikiLeaks transparency
Please be advised that the below is not just the same old thing. By clicking on it you'll find the petition in support of Julian Assange and discover fascinating on-going reports and videos related to one of the most important events in modern history, and the desperate attempts to put a lid on information that everyone should know. Don't miss this special opportunity to stay informed.
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WikiLeaks is raising $100,000 reward for the
Trans-Pacific Partnership 'TPP' Obama text deal
'Ottawa seems to use 1984 as an instruction manual'
Canada's Information Commissioner, Suzanne Legault, raised alarm bells on May 14 when she stated that Bill C-59 would enable past laws, in this case those pertaining to ensuring public access to gun registry records, to be retroactively changed and make what was at the time an illegal withholding of information now legal.Always say 'never'
For terrorist fearmongers, it's always the scariest time ever
By Glenn Greenwald
The Intercept
2 June 2015 — Two weeks ago, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was widely mocked for this breathless, fearmongering tweet:
We have never seen more threats against our nation and its citizens than we do today.
— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) May 22, 2015
For the fearmongers in the West and their allies, it’s always the scariest time ever; that “the threat has never been greater” is basically a slogan they reflexively spew. In March, the right-wing Canadian defense minister, Jason Kenney, arguing for new surveillance powers, announced: “While few believe full-scale conventional war is likely any time soon, the threat of terrorism has never been greater.” (More)
There can be no life without laughter
From the Desk of Nick Aplin, Contributing Editor
Classic Quiz
By Mark Kearney and Randy Ray
Mark Kearney of London, Ont. and Randy Ray of Ottawa are the authors of nine books about Canada, with best-seller sales of more than 50,000. Their Web site is: www.triviaguys.com
Questions
1. What’s the main food in a polar bear’s diet?
a) seals b) walruses c) salmon d) lichen
2. True or false. Canadian Steve Christie holds the Super Bowl record for the longest fumble return?
3. What is Stephen Harper’s middle name?
a) Scott b) Joseph c) Walter d) he doesn’t have a middle name
Answers
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Randy Ray, publicist / speaker agent / author
www.randyray.ca - www.triviaguys.com
(613) 425-3873 - (613) 816-3873 (c)
O Canada! Getting to know you!
This is one of a series on the heartbeat of Canada
Aboriginals, Métis were heroic leaders in World Wars
but continued to face racist discriminaton back home
David Jón Fuller is a Winnipeg Free Press copy editor and the author of two short stories featuring the 107th Battalion, in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History and Kneeling in the Silver Light: Stories From the Great War.
November 8 2014 — When the First World War erupted, many Canadians enlisted out of patriotic spirit to help Britain. But military aid to Britain was nothing new to many aboriginal people, whose ancestors had fought on the side of the British against the French, in the American Revolution, or in the War of 1812.
By the early 20th century, the government of Canada was depriving indigenous people of their lands, instituting residential schools and encouraging white settlement. Despite this, many aboriginal people enlisted to fight in the First World War. Their motives were as varied and their courage as great as their white counterparts. But those who survived the trenches found, upon their return, battlefield solidarity and commendations didn’t mean equal rights at home. (More)
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"News is what (certain) people want to keep hidden. Everything else is just publicity."
-- PBS journalist Bill Moyers.
Your support makes it possible for True North to clear the fog of "publicity" and keep you informed on what's really happening in the world today. Please send your donation to:
Carl Dow, True North, Station E, P.O. Box 4814, Ottawa ON Canada K1S 5H9.
Or use our new Paypal system! Just click the secure link below —
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Books
Exhilaration, Hopes and Inspiration
The Sixties in Cuba through a Canadian's Eyes
By Lisa Makarchuk
Special to True North Perspective
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This remarkable first-person story tells how a 22-year-old farm girl from Saskatchewan found herself at the heart of the Castro revolution in 1961. Originally published as Chapter 1 in Cuba Solidarity in Canada: Five Decades of People-to-People Foreign Relations, Friesen Press, Victoria, BC, 2014. Reprinted with permission from Nino Pagliccia, Editor.
In 1960, when C. Wright Mills’ book Listen, Yankee: the Revolution in Cuba became a must-read and both Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russell took positions solidly in support of the revolution in Cuba, I was one of a young generation that was curious and searching, groomed by a cold war atmosphere that many people accepted but was rejected by others. Growing up with MAD (Mutually-Assured Destruction) within a foreboding shadow of the mushroom cloud, we perked up our ears at the distant drumming of new ideas for a better life that was emanating from Cuba and many of us were very receptive to them. There was something delectably and unspeakably daring about a small number of dedicated men and women being able to take on a national government supported by a powerful neighbour — and win! Many Canadians like me were ready to embrace the rebels' victory in Cuba. About 3,000 "barbudos" (bearded ones) from the Sierra Maestra Mountains had overcome an army of 80,000 regulars, trained and equipped by the U.S. Eroded by self-doubt and failures, the regulars began to desert in droves as the news spread that the rebel captors generally treated any prisoner respectfully usually releasing them if they promised not to bear arms against the rebels. (More)
Voice of America falling behind RT
on Facebook and YouTube – BBG Watch
The US taxpayer-funded Voice of America is losing out to Russian multimedia broadcaster RT in popularity on social networks and services, according to analysis by BBG Watch, an independent watchdog blog that follows American media outreach abroad. (More)
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Dude, where's the sexism?
TheTyee.ca
UK media ignored, failed to investigate Trident leaks
RT
29 May 2015 — The official UK reaction to whistleblower William McNeilly’s report on security lapses on Trident nuclear submarines is an insult to the public and the claims need to be investigated further, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told RT.Kiev bars Ukrainian-born RT journalist at border
An RT Deutsch correspondent, who has recently covered stories on the Ukrainian crisis, including the Odessa massacre, has been turned back at the border by Ukraine’s Security Service, and banned from entering the country for three years. (More)
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Tuesday 26 May 2015
A liar or an innocent among liars
Bob Woodward's credibility finally hits the ocean floor
The latest entrant in the Mistakes Were Made sweepstakes regarding C-Plus Augustus's [George W. Bush - Ed] blundering in Iraq is journalistic giant — and stenographer to the powerful — Bob Woodward, who stopped by Fox News Sunday this weekend because he is a big-time Beltway 'ho who doesn't care what kind of riff-raff leaves the money on the dresser these days. Anyway, Bob wants to assure us that the leadership of the late Avignon Presidency were babes in the woods. (More)
Technology
Solar Road in the Netherlands works better than expected
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Solar power ready now, not tomorrow - MIT study By Walter Einenkel
DailyKos.com
12 May 2015 – MIT has released a pretty comprehensive study on solar energy, appropriately titled: The Future of Solar Energy. The study explores the practicality of solar-powered energy being able to help achieve carbon emissions goals. One of the more important findings of the study was the plausibility of achieving the technological touchstones needed.
In sum, there appear to be no major commodity material constraints for terawatt-scale PV deployment through 2050. (More)
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11 May 2015 — The Netherlands made headlines last year when it built the world's first solar road - an energy-harvesting bike path paved with glass-coated solar panels.
The Netherlands made headlines last year when it built the world's first solar road - an energy-harvesting bike path paved with glass-coated solar panels.
Health Watch
Cuba has a lung cancer vaccine, it could share with the U.S.
IFLScience
Cuba launched the world's first lung cancer vaccine, Cimavax, to the public back in 2011. Each shot costs about $1, but the Cuban government has made the vaccine available to the public for free. Now it's 2015, and other countries are starting to get curious and want to get their hands on it too.Science
One hundred years of research solves mystery of holes
in Swiss Cheese — and it ain't those cheese lovin' mice
RT
28 May 2015 — The cause of those characteristic holes in Swiss cheese has finally been determined – and it only took researchers about 100 years to solve the mystery.
According to scientists from Agroscope – a state-run center for agricultural research in Switzerland – the holes found in cheeses such as Emmental and Appenzell are caused by tiny bits of hay present in the milk used to make the products. (More)
New project aims to establish a human colony on Mars
Mars Daily
26 May 2015 — MarsPolar, a newly started international venture is setting its sights on the Red Planet. The project consisting of specialists from Russia, United Arab Emirates, Poland, U.S. and Ukraine has come up with a bold idea to establish a human settlement on Mars' polar region, the part of the planet with abundant quantities of water ice.
The targeted area could be very interesting in terms of alien life hunting as the MarsPolar team puts it: "life begins where the water exists." The plan is to create the colony around 2029. (More)
