Chinese Firm Huawei In Control of UK Net Filters

Why not run as a state operation or contract to a domestic firm?
Why are UK politicians handing over control of the internet to the communists?
It's obvious that the politicians are corrupt.

Solution: develop checks and balances that prevent corrupt politicians from damaging the national security interests of democracy. Politicians should not be allowed to sell out their country.       
We need to develop systems that automatically deal with politicians who work for the enemy.
No sane patriot would hand over assets to the communists, not for anything, no surrender.
The people need to organize in support of democratic state sovereignty and security.

Irresponsible traitors will try to bring down our free society and all it has accomplished from within, the people must support the state, and the state must support the people. A symbiotic relationship.

Society is worth preserving, our freedom and the peace that it underpins are not to be cast aside.
Under no circumstance are politicians justified in selling off control to foreign totalitarian regimes. 

The only reason you have rights, the only reason you have democracy is because of the people in the security services and military who volunteer to risk their lives to protect your constitutional rights. If we did not have forces to defend our state security we would not have a state, and with no state we would not be guaranteed constitutional freedom, or a vote, or any sort of basic security.

I very much doubt that MI6 would approve of handing over the keys to the intelligence store to a company founded by a highly placed Chinese Communist military officer. The problem is that the corrupt and incompetent politicians do not listen to the state funded advice provided to them, and in so doing disregard the national security interests of the people. Political re-adjustment is both possible and necessary. Just as the constitution acts as parameters for political action, the national security rights of the public should be enshrined in some kind of parameter that would prevent politicians from betraying state security. If we have freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom to vote, freedom of the press, and general freedom of conscience,  than why do we not have freedom from politicians who sell out national security. Security is the ultimate freedom in that it underpins all else.

Democracy will only last so long as the security services can guarantee its continued existence.
Support the troops, and when you vote, vote to give our lads a fighting chance.
 
Chinese Firm Huawei In Control of UK Net Filters



Chinese firm Huawei controls net filter praised by PM

UK to review involvement of Huawei in Oxfordshire cybersecurity centre, as firm denies spying claims

Britain to review Huawei's UK-based cyber center

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There’s nothing partisan about disclosure of political spending

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Russia's top lawyers sound alarm about government abuse of the Constitution

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Hong Kong Residents Defend Falun Gong From Harassment

People think this through,
What if a member of your family or someone you knew was a falun gong practitioner?
What if a member of your family or someone you knew was an anti-corruption activist?
Making it your policy to arrest members of the community for their beliefs is an unacceptable policy for any party wishing to present themselves as a legitimate ruling party. The persecution of peaceful members of the community who are simply trying to contribute to a better world is unacceptable.
When a political culture becomes so partisan to the point where pragmatic relaxed good governance turns to a wasteful struggle over "power", then the community should expect undesirable results.
Obviously, no one in their right mind would want the communist party to rule their community because no one in their right mind would want to be abused by a totalitarian regime.
Even if you don't care about politics, you probably would care if a regime came after members of the community. What the world needs is virtue, people virtuous enough not to abuse power, to only use it to inspire people to achieve good things. People must abandon partisanship if we are to confront the monumental challenges of our time, the situation demands it. Extremism is a mental illness.
I'm asking you, all of you, to put aside the selfish quest for power and focus on accomplishing what needs to be done. This is not about any one of us, this is not even about our era and how it unfolds. This is about a long term change in consciousness achieved through deep thought and meditation that will bring an end to political violence.           

The struggle for the human soul is greater than any of us.

Chinese Anti-Corruption Rights Activist Detained

The methods and patterns of behavior employed by the communist party are immoral and should not be enabled in any way.

Glaxo and the peril of doing business in China

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Brian Stewart: Egypt's other existential crisis — the Nile

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Chinese Hackers Dropbox Their Viruses

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PMO asked staff to supply 'enemy' lists to new ministers

Plot to bribe unhappy aide involved in ethnic vote scandal

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China Has World’s Most Active Missile Programs

 
China Has World’s Most Active Missile Programs

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Chinese general: Philippines stirs trouble for asking US help

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China-Japan Tensions Flare Again

Japan says faces increasing threats from China, North Korea

Dangerous military actions of China, North Korea must be contained

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In Communist China, Shortwave is a Window to the World

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Iran’s Water Crisis

Tracking Pakistan’s nukes to Saudi Arabia?

Graphic: Saudi Arabia's missile base 'with launch pads aimed at Israel and Iran'

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The Middle-Class Revolution

Overthrow of Egypt's Brotherhood sends Islamists across the Mideast scrambling

Further destabilisation in the Middle East possible according to new report

God and Democracy

God and Democracy

Philosophy is the anti-thesis of ideology. The true philosopher has no pride, no sense of self. The philosopher is king and always will be, as the conceptual limits of our world are often set by men who have been dead for hundreds or thousands of years. The mighty emperor is governed by his ability to perceive the world around him, and his perception is informed by the will and words of the philosopher.

In Egypt, the birthplace of civilization, we witness an illustration of contrast that hopefully will give birth to new understanding. We must first suspend judgement if we are to understand.

There are two opposing forces vying for control of Egypt. Backers of the establishment of an Islamic state believe that man should be governed by Gods will as interpreted by the Koran. Backers of the establishment of a constitutional democracy believe that it is gods will that man should be governed by reason.

This distinction is crucial to understanding what democracy is. Democracy is not about the imposition of Karl Marx, Milton Friedman, or any other version of God. Democracy is rule by reason, rule by philosophy. Democracy is not a dictatorship of the proletariat. Democracy is not a dictatorship of the market. Democracy is not a dictatorship of the Koran. Democracy is not about self it is about truth.

The two faces of ego are ideology and greed. These are manifested when men seek control of the state to impose what they believe without the support of reason, and when men seek control of the state to accumulate wealth and power as an end in and of itself. A cynic would say that the two faces of ego are the only paths history will take, but there is a third way out and its democracy.

Democracy is when people come together and solve issues based on reason. The central word here is reason. Decision making is not allocated based on social status, money, or party monopoly. The objective of democracy is not to “win” what you want or to crush your “opponent”. In a pure democracy you have no opposition and there are no winners or losers. In a pure democracy all you have is people working together. That doesn't mean they will always agree on everything it just means that they will approach governance from the perspective that it is not about them.

The fundamental misunderstanding of the Chinese Communists is the perception that reason is just a tool of power. In their mind everything is war, a political struggle for ideological dominance. They will spend considerable resources constructing ideological arguments in order to manufacture perceptions that advance their interests. Truth can not be manufactured, only perceptions. True reason will stand alone apart from interest.

How ought we as human souls reconcile the truth of our connection? Democracy is the answer to this question. It conceptually nurtures compassion and starves ego. Our duty is to recognize the others as we would ourselves and pursue the public interest based on informed and well reasoned dialogue. The failure of modern liberal states in a global context is not a failure of democracy, it is an example of what happens when people forget what democracy is.

If we are to look to God for answers we should look to him as the original financial advisor. When Jesus Christ said love one another, he implicitly said that if we do not follow that commandment than we will all end up poor, dead or both. Without people there is no wealth, it is a concept within us. If people do not follow the financial advise of God there will be poverty and social problems. Loyalty to your wife and family, respect for others, forgiveness and compassion are the recipe for a better society. God should be a cultural compass that leads to comprehensive wealth, not a system of governance.

As a rejection of ego, democracy is the only option we have that respects people and principal above ideology and greed.

Democracy is the next evolutionary step in human awareness, but there is no guarantee that human society will progress. Democracy is a seedling threatened from all sides by the weeds of selfishness. Totalitarianism lives, and so long as it does it plots to stamp out any alternative to it's authority.

We must defend democracy from the well organized infiltration of communist totalitarian forces enabled by a corrupt and incompetent capitalist class. Our freedom will only be preserved by the actions of brave souls who take it upon themselves to carry the legacy of our forefathers. The people will be preserved and strengthened within the house of the lord. Amen.

A Prescription for what ails Democracy

What I Would Change About Politics in Canada
Elizabeth May


Democracy is, as Winston Churchill once quipped, the worst system of government, except all the others that have been tried.

He also, less famously said, “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter,” but I don’t think the average voter is our problem in Canada. And I do think we’ve got a problem.

The symptoms of the problem are easy to spot — low voter turnout, with worryingly low levels among young people with no sign they will start voting once they are over 30, a less than vital Fourth Estate, undermined by an alarming level of concentration of media ownership in very few hands, public apathy, indifference bordering on antipathy toward the whole process, excessive power in the hands of the few (or the one, since I refer to PMO), a loss of respect for the fundamental principle of the supremacy of Parliament, misuse of the talents of Members of Parliament of the large parties as MPs are expected to toe the party line on every issue, big and small, and its flip-side, excessive control by the un-elected top party brass in all three main parties.

Add to this, that the average voter in Canada — if anyone can be called “average” — is incensed by the goings on related to the excessive claims of certain Senators and the outrageous accommodation for Senator Duffy by the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff cutting him a cheque for $90,000 so he could make it seem he had personally paid back what he took through inappropriate means. The fact of a $90,000 cheque from the Prime Minister’s top ranking staff member and closest confidante remains just simply stunning. It was, on its face, illegal. It makes no sense and no sensible explanation has been offered.

So, what could we change to restore the kind of healthy democracy that would re-engage voters, stop the growth in public cynicism and give Canadians a system — and individual politicians –they could believe in?

Here’s a short prescription for what ails our democracy:

1. Get rid of “first past the post” and elect MPs, as is done in most modern democracies, by some form of proportional representation. Make sure every vote counts so voters feel the impact of their vote. Thanks to first past the post, in 2011, a minority of voters elected a majority government. Such “false majorities,” as University of Toronto Prof. Emeritus Peter Russell has dubbed them, have occurred for Liberals as well as Progressive Conservative and now Conservative governments. Such results are only possible due to First past the post.
2. Reduce the powers of the Prime Minister’s Office — regardless of who is the occupant. It is an invention, not mentioned in our Constitution. Its powers and budget are unchecked and unaccountable. It is now at $10 million/year. Cut it in half to $5 million…or cut it more. Its total power in times of majority Parliament is anti-democratic, especially in a situation of a “false majority.” Cut the power of PMO. Restore a healthier Cabinet system of government.
3. Restore a respected, professional civil service. Return to evidence-based decision making. Rebuild the wall between the PMO and the PCO (Privy Council Office). Only under PM Harper have the political operatives in PMO run roughshod over the civil service, contaminating government information with partisan spin. This must be stopped.
4. Pass legislation that deals with concentration of media ownership to encourage the rebirth of local journalism and reduce the powers of a handful of owners (our current legislation dealing with competition in the news media fails to deal with this issue and only addresses issues of the price of media products.)
5. Restore respect for the supremacy of Parliament. Ensure that the control of the public purse is restored to Parliament, where it belongs.
6. Remove the power of leaders of federal parties to sign the nomination forms for their party’s candidates. Allow the caucus members of parties the right to trigger leadership reviews.
7. Senate reform — open conversations and negotiations with provinces. Is abolition possible? Could a council of the federation with more effective representation from municipalities, provinces and territories bring something useful to Parliament?
8. And perhaps most important of all — re-assert the constitutional requirement that MPs are elected to represent their constituents, not to be mere ciphers of the back-room hyper-partisan spin doctors who call the shots.

Bring back Westminster parliamentary democracy. All our rules say we have one; only our political habits tell us we are moving toward an elected dictatorship. This prescription to restore and heal democracy can only be filled when the citizens of Canada demand it.
Canada Day 2013 is a good time to start.

Originally published in the Huffington Post.
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Half of voters don't see Harper Conservatives as an option

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'No more beards!' Egypt celebrates arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leader as army hunts THREE HUNDRED followers of deposed president Morsi
^The military in this instance has acted in defense of democracy. No corrupt political party should be allowed to wield too much power over the people. Political parties are anti-democratic in that they are small groups of organized conspirators who seek to impose their absolute power. Democracy is not about going out to vote for a new dictator every few years, it is a process that is meant to happen all the time. The military and associated security apparatus has a role, it must protect a nation from the corruption of weak "leaders". Take the rise of Hitler as a prime example of how politicians can cause real damage to democratic societies. Hitler was democratically elected but after election he proceeded to dismantle German democracy and violate the human rights of German citizens. The German military should have intervened in the 1930's to protect German democracy. There were plans among the officers to do just that but unfortunately none succeeded. The point is that democracy is not just about elections, it is a process, a state of existence that respects people. My concern is that people from countries without cultural knowledge of what democracy is must have many misconceptions about what it looks like. Even in countries with strong democratic traditions much of the population is unaware of the philosophical origins of the modern world. If you set up a system where a radical segment of the population imposes their agenda on everyone else, that is not democracy. Even if you hold a vote every few years, the winners of the vote still must respect everyone's rights. Democracy is not meant to be about winning power over others, it is about bringing everyone together and finding solutions. I am disgusted that the competing mainstream parties take every opportunity to spout off spin and talking points every time they are granted access to the media. They are all fighting over the opportunity to form a "majority" so they can impose the agendas of their backers. The constant partisan messaging is an exhibition the profound immaturity and ignorance of our politicians. This is in sharp contrast to our brave members of the military who volunteer to risk their lives in service to god and country. I trust our generals more than I do our emperors. Men of honour in the tradition of Roméo Antonius Dallaire and Maximus Decimus Meridius are more trustworthy than most politicians. Just because someone "wins" an "election" it does not mean they are acting democratically or that democracy is healthy and on the right track. Some states have ruling political parties that control the media and arrest dissenters. Some states have ruling corporations and business elites who dominate the political process with money. Just because a vote occurs, it does not necessarily mean that democracy is happening. Democracy is more like a goal on the horizon that we continually chart a course for through reform and reconciliation. Don't get me wrong, we have a lot to be grateful for, our politicians are much better that the thugs of the completely corrupt and evil Chinese Communist party, but there are systemic and cultural issues that need to be resolved if we are to have any hope of dealing with the deteriorating economic and security conditions. We need leaders to put aside themselves, to put aside all sense of self. We must transcend crisis, history, and division to accomplish the preservation of our ideals. Hear me, I am speaking to you. You must make the dream a reality. You, in whatever capacity you serve, must do everything within your power to build our future. You must transcend your"self", and make "us" possible.                       

Obama Poking Holes in America’s Nuclear Umbrella

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Russia deploying new missile defense radar while seeking curbs on U.S. Defenses

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Chinese military in S.China Sea threatens peace

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Asia driving 'explosion' in global arms trade: study

China's Foreign Minister warns nations seeking help From US will find their efforts "futile"

China Military Buildup Risks Accident

Japan vows to help Philippines amid China sea row

The Obama administration’s risky disarmament agenda

The sequester’s bite

Growing Tyrannies across the world are crushing dissent. 
Is it possible that democracy is dying?

Russia evacuates Tartus, also military, diplomatic personnel from Syria. High war alert in Israel

Russia said to be violating 1987 missile accord

China, Russia gained access to Snowden’s secrets

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DID CHINA BUY NICARAGUA?

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Social Media in China Is ‘War,’ Says Communist Official

Social Media in China Is ‘War,’ Says Communist Official

" Li gives a sobering response: “Psychological warfare, legal warfare, and public opinion warfare are all important tools for modern warfighting. Doing battle on microblogs is also within the ‘three warfares’ category.” "

" The Chinese Communist Party is known to carry out an intensive and intricate policy of Internet surveillance and censorship; as well as deleting posts, the regime also hires an untold number of online commentators, called the “50 cent party,” (for the amount they’re putatively paid per post) whose job it is to steer public opinion. "

Communist Party members seem to be suffering a mental illness. Why do communist party members insist on trying to impose totalitarianism on the globe? So much effort to load every comment board with communist propaganda all because they are so determined to try and control public opinion, all so they can impose a system of dictatorship that will only lead to more human suffering.

Message to communist party thugs, nothing good will come of being an extremist, nothing good will come of trying to eliminate your "opposition". If you were enlightened you would understand that the members of the community that disagree with you are not your enemy. Constitutionally protected human rights and democratic governance are social innovations that create tremendous value for society. When you abandon totalitarianism you allow intellectuals to contribute to the betterment of us all.

If people like Hitler, Stalin and Mao had not embraced such madness, think of how much better we would all be better off today. What is the point of all this? What do these madmen hope to accomplish? Where do we want to be as a world? I'm willing to bet most of us, down at the peasant level, want to love one another. How can that be accomplished if the communist party policy is to put so many resources into stamping out dissent? Why resist constitutionally protected human rights for all citizens? If you want to serve the people then you must end the violence against the people, and this can only be accomplished if they have human rights protected by the constitution? This is not a "Western idea", its just an idea. An idea can not be assigned an identity. To deny an idea based upon the "identity" of the creator is the definition of insanity.

If you want to serve the people, you must become a better human being.
End political repression now. Tear down this wall.
The cost of lost human potential is the price of political repression.          

Compassion is Sanity.

In China, When Police Brutality Is So Common An Off-Duty Officer Gets A Taste

Edward Snowden-the Spy Who Loved Me


Snowden’s Disclosures Tar US With Beijing’s Brush
Accusations suggest false moral equivalence

I don't like this brave new world any more than you do, but the reality is if America would disarm its Signals Intelligence it would not make a dam difference for your privacy since China would still be running its own versions of "PRISM". This capability is a lot like nuclear weapons, if one party unilaterally disarms it only creates incentive for conflict to occur.
If Edward Snowden really wanted to protect us from an architecture of oppression why would he defect to Communist China? This looks like a carefully orchestrated phy-op.
Why defect to a completely controlled police state so you can lecture the world on police states?
Of course the privacy issues raised by Snowden are fair comment in a democratic society, but this entire scenario looks completely staged.
Signals intelligence, with proper checks and balances, is a tool that could be used for good or evil.
These are strange times, the world needs good people, so do all you can to make it good.
While America badly needs reform, Americans still have a lot of freedom that people in China don't have. It just doesn't seem to promote the cause of freedom for Snowden to become a propaganda instrument of the Chinese regime. The Snowden case looks like a highly successful and well thought out/carefully planned "public opinion warfare" operation.     

Chen Guangcheng says China Pressured NYU to Kick Him Out


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Russia says it will fulfill Syria missile system contract

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Adjournment Proceedings Canada-China FIPA

Time to Put the Pieces of the Puzzle in Place

Elizabeth May

"Energy security would start by establishing the principle that we only export once domestic needs are met."

If all the key pieces of Canada’s energy future – the climate crisis, a prosperous economy, labour issues, east-west connectivity, energy efficiency, technological innovation, federal-provincial relations – were jigsaw pieces on our collective family table, it would be worthwhile to find the picture on the box the pieces came in.

The cover of the box, a glorious sustainable energy roadmap, would depict where we want to be, with: a meaningful carbon reduction plan; phasing out coal across the land; bringing in energy conservation and efficiency standards; producing far more energy from renewable sources; applying cleantech solutions broadly; paying attention to energy security; and shifting from a strategy of rapid export of unprocessed product to managed production at a steady rate of upgraded and refined product, with value-added creating far more employment in oil production while energy efficiency targets create jobs everywhere in overhauling our built infrastructure.

In the case of the current energy debate, the dialogue is so devoid of content that one cannot dignify the noise by calling it debate. Back to that Canadian family table with all the jigsaw pieces we need to fit together, sadly, the family cat got on the table knocking most of the pieces to the floor, while toddlers argue over the three remaining pieces shouting “Mine!”

A grown-up discussion starts with acknowledging that Canada needs an energy strategy. Federal and provincial jurisdictions respected, we need to think like a country. Rather than pit one region against another, we should start the conversation by setting out some over-arching goals.

Energy touches everything. A discussion about an energy strategy is not fundamentally about the oil sands. The oil sands are part of the conversation, but, back to our puzzle metaphor, those toddlers are fighting over the oil sands pieces of the puzzle. Nothing gets solved that way.

National goals should include:
 1.    Energy security
 2.    Energy pricing
 3.    An effective greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction plan for the needed transition to a post-carbon     economy
 4.    Full employment goals
 5.    The promotion of innovation and competitiveness in Canada
 6.    Social justice; ending energy poverty
 7.    Energy strategies for a resourceful and resilient Canada

Taken separately, we could be fighting over these individual elements without resolution. Taken together in a grown-up conversation, they all fit together.

Starting with energy security. Right now, if there were a disruption of supply from OPEC nations, most Canadians would have no home heating oil, no gas, and eastern refineries would be in crisis. While debating how best to export as quickly as possible, as much as possible, raw, virtually unprocessed bitumen, more than half of Canada is dependent on imports of foreign oil from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, and Norway. As Gordon Laxer of the Parkland Institute identified, Canada has no energy security. Unlike the US, we have no Strategic Petroleum Reserves. If there was a blockade of foreign oil or economic embargo, those in Eastern Canada would have to wait for tankers to bring them bitumen for processing through the Panama Canal and up the eastern seaboard. As bizarre as that sounds, it was the solution offered by a Suncor executive when asked in Natural Resources Committee about the vulnerability of Eastern Canada to embargos.

The irony is that the dividing line of foreign oil to the east and Alberta oil for the west was the result of deliberate government policy – aimed at helping the Alberta oil and gas sector. Back in 1961, the National Oil Policy decreed that eastern Canadians (east of the Ottawa River) would only receive imported oil while those in the West had to purchase Alberta product. By deliberate policy, Eastern Canadians became dependent on foreign oil, while Alberta oil was consumed by those in western provinces and exported to the US. Now it is time to think like a country.

We also need to improve our east-west electricity grid to allow renewable-rich provinces to export to provinces with less.

The current proposal to link us east-west also makes no sense. Former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna has proposed shipping unprocessed bitumen to Saint John, NB, to put it in tankers and export it from there.

Energy security would start by establishing the principle that we only export once domestic needs are met.

That brings us to the importance of maximizing employment opportunities. It makes much more sense for Canada to upgrade the bitumen, before trying to make it sufficiently fluid to flow in pipelines. Bitumen is not crude oil. And it isn’t even oil at all. It is thick and solid, described as being the consistency of peanut butter. (Before mining, bitumen is 10 percent of the volume of soils, then described as being the consistency of molasses. Oil-like analogies seem to run to food.)

To make it flow, a naphtha-like fossil fuel substance, called a diluent, is added. All the controversial pipelines now under debate (Keystone XL, Enbridge’s Line 9 and Northern Gateway), are intended to carry a 70-30 mixture of bitumen and diluents – brilliantly described as “dilbit.” According to Enbridge’s evidence in the NEB hearings, its twinned pipeline will carry imported diluents from Kitimat to Alberta to be mixed with the bitumen. And the diluents will be purchased from the Middle East, and put in tankers to Canada. So much for being a domestic source of oil.

Back to energy security, jobs and minimizing environmental risks, if the bitumen was upgraded to synthetic crude in Alberta we wouldn’t be talking about moving the most hazardous of all spillable fossil fuels. Check out the US government reports on the findings about the Enbridge spill in the Kalamazoo River to understand how much more damaging dilbit is in the natural environment than any other pre-crude, as well as how much more challenging and expensive it is to clean up a spill. The   summer 2010 Kalamazoo spill is still not completely cleaned up.

Prior to the 2008 recession, several upgraders were planned for northern Alberta. Once the recession ended, the multinationals with under-capacity refineries for unconventional oil looked south to the refineries already built and sitting on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The Alberta upgraders were cancelled and replaced with a pipeline proposal to move dilbit to US refineries. No wonder the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union, representing most of the energy patch workforce, is against the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s taking jobs previously slated for Alberta.

One reason the upgraders were cancelled is that what the late Peter Lougheed used to call “the traffic jam.” The hyper-inflationary bubble over northern Alberta is created by the push for constantly expanding production targets. Labour and capital are both scarce and pricey. (This is the explanation for Stephen Harper’s remarkable transformation regarding China. From his holier than thou treatment of the People’s Republic of China over the Beijing Olympics to the compliant, “Where do I sign?” greeting to President Hu in Vladivostok last September, when he penned the Canada-China Investment Treaty. There just isn’t enough capital from profit-oriented private sector oil multinationals to keep building new, and potentially unprofitable, oil sands mines without China).

We could with a bit of the planned approach, once advocated by Peter Lougheed, produce a steady amount of oil, upgraded and refined in Canada. Without the “traffic jam,” the industry could afford to build the ancillary infrastructure of upgrading and refining. We could do so within a plan for dramatically reduced GHG from Canada, by shutting down all coal-fired power plants, following the lead of another former premier, Dalton McGuinty. The carbon reduction plan would have the benefit of diversifying our energy sector with the commercialization of renewable energy – from wind, sun, geo-thermal, tidal. We also need to improve our east-west electricity grid to allow renewable-rich provinces to export to provinces with less.

It would create jobs in all parts of Canada through the retrofitting of buildings – commercial, institutional, residential – from energy wasters to energy misers, as well as through investments in modern, convenient mass transit.

The cleantech sector has the potential of becoming a $60 billion contributor to the Canadian economy within only seven years, according to a study by the Pembina Institute. Our myopic focus on the oil sands, as if it were the only part of Canadian economy that mattered, is blinding us to other and better opportunities. As the World Energy Outlook, reproduced by the International Energy Agency, pointed out, the world is coming to the realization that we must keep at least two-thirds of all known reserves of fossil fuels in the ground if we are to avoid such catastrophic levels of climate change that we put our very survival as organized societies and successful economies at risk.

A major new report from the UK, “Unburnable Carbon 2013: Wasted capital and stranded assets,” engaged the talents and expertise of Sir Nicholas Stern through a collaborative research project involving Carbon Tracker and the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The result is a new concept – the “carbon bubble.” The essence of their work is this – a great deal of the stated value of stock exchanges around the world is in unburnable fossil fuels. The level of capital expenditure in developing those reserves over the next decade would amount to $6.74 trillion in wasted capital – developing reserves that simply cannot be burned.

This new realization of the “carbon bubble” means that fossil fuel investments could very rapidly become stranded investments leading to financial ruin.

No harm can ever come from diversifying an economy. And that diversification and embrace of clean tech will help address our growing productivity gap with the US through innovation and R&D.

Sustainable energy is attainable. Stopping the waste of energy, noting that more than one half of all the energy Canada uses is lost as waste, is essential. There is no excuse for not getting it done.

Originally published in Policy Magazine.

Apache spill is one of Alberta's largest pipeline ruptures

Kinder Morgan reports oil leak near Merritt, BC

Regulator, industry find oilsands cleanup harder than first thought

Mining, oil and gas companies to face tougher rules around disclosing payments

New BC Liberal government raises pay for political staff

Steelworkers rally against low wage Temporary Foreign Worker Scam

Insight: In Washington, lawmakers' routines shaped by fundraising

^This is a major problem, lawmakers spend so much time begging for money they have no time to actually lead the country. And what happens with all that money, it gets spent buying political ads that do nothing to enhance the quality of political discourse, buying political staff and spin doctors who contribute nothing to society but counter productive ideological talking points, and further the legislative agenda of a class of people who have demonstrated that their business interests are not aligned with the national interest of our society. The problem is not democracy, the problem is that money in politics has blocked democracy from being able to efficiently function. Money in politics is a threat to national security.   

Time for a change at the White House (de)regulatory office

Obama's Top Trade Official Nominee: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

On June 12, House will approve the “AIG Bailout Certainty

Senkaku Islands are "core interest" of China, Xi tells Obama

In New Book, Former US Army Officer Warns of Romancing China

China buildup generates fear in Asia-Pacific

South China Sea row risks wider clashes

The Nicaragua Canal: China’s Secret Motive

Russian protesters march as Putin seeks firmer political footing

Heavy Pressure Led to Decision by Obama on Syrian Arms

Lebanon threatens retaliation against future Syrian attacks

War of words over anti-aircraft missiles could escalate


Could Syria ignite World War 3? That's the terrifying question as the hatred between two Muslim ideologies sucks in the world's superpowers.

Assad threatens attack against Israel

Wars over water will be everywhere in Africa

Egypt threatens to beat war drums for the Nile

China And The Biggest Territory Grab Since World War II

China And The Biggest Territory Grab Since World War II

China’s Stealth Wars

For China, hacking may be all about Sun Tzu and World War III

UN fears for young North Korean defectors sent home by China

Chinese think tank warns of military clashes with Japan

China angry and nervous as Japan joins arms with India


After Scarborough, is Ayungin next? Chinese general boasts of takeover

PH tells China: Don’t tell us what to do within our territory

‪Chinese Kids Brainwashed into Killing Machines‬

Show of Force: The Growth of the Chinese Military

China moves against U.S. pivot to Asia with stepped up military, diplomatic economic ties to Americas

Brother-in-law of Chinese Nobel winner jailed for 11 years

China's Tiananmen Mothers criticize Xi for lack of reforms

US Commander Issues Stern Warning on S. China Sea Disputes

America and China: The summit

As Beijing becomes more bellicose, Washington clings to the hope that military-to-military relations will somehow relieve tensions. They won't.

The India vs. China Border Standoff: Lessons Learned

With troops and techies, U.S. prepares for cyber warfare

Nuclear Weapons: How Few Is Too Few?

Best Case For Sequester Is Still Disaster, Top Experts Say

Tanks in Beirut as Syria protest leaves one dead

Hezbollah leader says terror org ready to wage war on Israel

As Syrian Fighting Nears Border, Israel Considers Its Options

Mideast War in Our Time?

Russia to keep a dozen ships in Mediterranean to protect its national security

Russia to send nuclear submarines to southern seas

Russia Is Upping The Ante By Sending Its Only Aircraft Carrier To The Mediterranean

Tens of thousands on streets, Turkish PM Erdogan defiant

Fears of "Ottoman revival" explode in Turkey

Egyptian draft law said to dash hopes of free civil society

From Arab Spring to Global Revolution, Age of Upheaval

Obama’s Covert Trade Deal

Unemployed workers march on U.S. Chamber headquarters after 150 mile

President to seek fast track authority to override congress, push through “trade” deals

Motorola's Moto X Phone Will Be Part Assembled in America

Illinois becomes 14th state to back constitutional amendment to allow limits on election

A message From Public Citizen:

" We must be heroes.
Corporate greed has infected every aspect of our lives.


Corporations are taking over our elections.



Emboldened by the Supreme Court’s dumbfounding Citizens United ruling, corporations are buying off politicians left and right. I really don’t know how we can expect democracy to survive if we allow dollars to trump votes.


 

Corporations are taking over the media.

Mainstream newspapers, radio stations and television networks are giving up on investigating corporate wrongdoing and, too often, devolving to be little more than plasterers of pro-corporate propaganda. The infamous billionaire Koch Brothers — who have spent hundreds of millions meddling with elections and who don’t believe in climate science — are now trying to buy venerable papers like the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.



Corporations are taking over national sovereignty.

Not content merely with record profits in the United States, corporations like Apple, Pfizer and Citgroup are offshoring profits to avoid their fair share of taxes while simultaneously backing absurd multinational “trade” pacts that pit countries against each other in a race to the bottom for food and product safety, labor standards, and environmental protections.



And we need to fight back with all the strength and passion we can summon.

This isn’t just about safeguarding consumers from unsafe products or corporate rip-offs.

This isn’t just about advancing progressive ideals like fairness, justice and the American Dream.



This is about standing up — together — to save our country, our fellow citizens spanning the globe, our planet itself from the contagion of corporate power. "

Controversy over temporary foreign miners prompts flood of angry letters

Another pipeline rupture in spill-prone Alberta

Alberta Tory MP Brent Rathgeber quits caucus
``I would submit that if the House does not jealously protect the rights of the members to bring forward matters of concern to their constituents ... the role of the private member, and Parliament and ultimately democracy have all equally been compromised.''

Neoliberal Attacks on the Idea of the Nation State

Human Rights Clause in EU Pact Gives Harper Gov't Pause

Candidates can lie about their finances or omit details thanks to MLAs who nixed penalty

Christy Clark Discloses Zero Assets

Province denies firings aimed to protect BC Liberal donors' profits

NDP tables second wave of legislation to protect lakes and rivers

Canada Defence Minister wants greater military exchange with  China

Raise Oil Sands Tax, Save Alberta (and Our Climate)

Three reasons BC's Northern Gateway rejection is 'good politics'

'What good is it to save the planet if humanity suffers?': Exxon CEO

Never Forget June 4 1989

Report: Chinese Hackers Steal Top Weapons Designs

Report: Chinese Hackers Breach Top Weapons Designs

Confidential report lists U.S. weapons system designs compromised by Chinese cyberspies

Should US companies be allowed to hack China in revenge? New report says yes

Why US Congress Gets Free Trips To China


America is Up for Sale!


Slowed by Debate and Uncertainty, New Rules Green Light Response to Cyber Attacks

US Feels Pinch of Erratic Spending Cuts

Germany fears EU revolutions over youth unemployment caused by outsourcing, cheap foreign imports

German Chancellor Merkel shows weakness, corruption, vows to lobby EU to avoid trade spat with China over solar panels

South China Sea tension mounts near Filipino shipwreck

China sends nuclear ICBMs to North Korea

Time Running Out for Taiwan if Russia Releases S-400 SAM to China

India, China troop face-offs continue after Ladakh military stand-off

Russia anti-aircraft missiles to Syria: Israel hints at another air strike

Analysis: Syria contagion strikes deep into Lebanon

Le Monde Witnesses Use Of Chemical Weapons In Syria

Backlash in Bangladesh: Workers Escalate Safety Demands

Reanimated Arctic plants offer hope for humans aiming to colonize Mars

Head of Elections Canada confirms witnesses not co-operating in robocalls case

Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Timeline of Events

Surveying the Rubble after BC's Election

Why Can't Canada Innovate?

Canadian Government Officials On Chinese Payroll

‪
Officials Hired to work at Communist controlled Mining Company, conflict of interest.
 
Chinagate: Aftermath‬

Questions Remain in HD Mining Case

Questions Remain in HD Mining Case
Key evidence was struck from the record in federal court, say unions.

‪Chinagate: Who's Minding the Resource Store?‬


Asia tension could lead to conflict—DFA chief

China seals first free-trade deal with Switzerland

China should not be a "free rider" in global trade, the EU's trade commissioner has warned.

Report Hits Out At China's Black Jails, Self-Immolations

Activists Warned Off Tiananmen Memorial March

Toxic Rice Highlights China's Lack of Openness on Pollution

Kinder Morgan takes next step in its Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion plan

Bitumen Doesn't Float

Activists demand public hearings for coal export project

USDA Stands Firm on Consumer Meat Labels, but Will the WTO Continue its Anti-Consumer Legacy and Authorize Trade Sanctions?

RECAP FROM LIMA: Experts, Activists, and Peruvian Members of Congress Rally Against the TPP

London on edge and police fill the street as public beheading stokes ethnic tensions

Stockholm calmer but violence spreads outside Swedish capital

Accused in alleged terror plot seeks lawyer who will use Qu'ran as 'reference'

Canadian drug policy experts recommend decriminalizing all drugs

Russia’s top military officer skeptical about further nuclear arms cuts

Police agency Interpol quashes Russian bid to hunt down UK investor

Court dismisses union challenge of temporary foreign worker permits

Court dismisses union challenge of temporary foreign worker permits 

If there is one thing that this entire incident has proven, it is that Unions are the only political force left that will protect the people. It was the Unions that stood up for us, not business, not government. I was raised to hate unions, anti-union propaganda everywhere, but when the chips fell and everything was on the line the only thing that stood up for us was the Unions. The Unions make every effort to protect our jobs, our communities, to stop unfair trade treaties, to protect workers health and safety, to protect our national sovereignty, to defend the middle class from the 1%. Unions are the reason we have weekends, property, savings, education. Unions prevent slavery and the temporary foreign worker program is the evidence. Unions have proven to be almost as important as the military as a mechanism for national defense. God bless Tommy Douglas and his Big Government National Health Care. God bless Big Government for winning World War II.

Everything political is a matter of organization, just look at how we the people have suffered national humiliation under big business and foreign powers. The answer to this is that we unite and organize into a political entity that sets objectives based on the interests of the people.

Big Government wins wars.

It is the only force capable of this, and we must gain power over it.

God bless the Unions.
God bless the Military.
God bless the Police.
God bless National Health Care.
God bless any Public institution that Defends the People.

We are public citizens, it is our duty to uphold our society.
Trust must be re-build between Government and Citizenry.
Individualism will not save us from this decline, collectivism will.

We must establish a new social contract, one where we take on greater responsibility for society in return for a government that backs us up when we need it too. What we have now is an arrangement where everyone looks out for themselves, big business attacks our countries, while citizens behave with extreme irresponsibility. This does not work. We need to look out for each other, work as a team. Whether you believe in god or not is irrelevant to the fact that Christianity was a code of conduct that provided a cohesive and functional social order. This is now gone and we are seeing the result.

Government should protect our people from both military and economic attacks. Government should protect our people from the conspiracies of the elite. Government should be a part of our family, our community. We should be the government, our interests should be represented in government.
Our government should be concerned with providing us with jobs, affordable housing, and education. Not catering to a foreign elite who stifle citizen opportunity, inflate housing prices, and destroy the cultural cohesiveness and values of our once prosperous communities.  

It is your responsibility to take care of yourself and your community. Eat right, exercise, don't use drugs or alcohol, educate yourself, work hard, pay your taxes, commit everything to building up the society around you. Live below your means and invest the excess wisely. Become a kinder, more patient person and be ethical. When you speak to people, say what you mean, be genuine. The biggest problem the world faces is one of communication, be genuine and don't judge. Have a heart. Commit to being a better person, commit your life and time to achieving a better world around you. Chose your spouse carefully and stick with them. Take care of them and your children for the rest of your life. Stop this endless cycle of broken homes and social problems. Learn to love, then learn to love the whole of society as it where your own family, because it is.

Time is something that people don't understand. That is why lives are wasted. That is why civilizations fall. When people only experience the now they lose context of where they have come from and where they are going. When the links of communication through time have been broken, knowledge and purpose are lost. Do not fall to distraction. Imagine where you will be when you are old and what you have accomplished. Realize that all those short term meaningless distractions did not contribute one bit to you getting to where you want to be. Stop making excuses and do it. Stop complaining about things and change them. Figure out what you want and then get the skills and knowledge required for you to be in a position to contribute to the vision you have.

We need to create of society of no excuses and no judgement, one where we are all focused on solving problems. A society that has a government that cares for the people and a people that cares for the government. A seamless, symbiotic culture of achievement.

Failure is a result of the actions of both the citizen and the administrator, but so is success.

Yes government has failed us in many ways, but don't fall for the anti-government propaganda preached by big business and foreign powers. We need a cultural new deal.              

Bill Gertz On Obama's US Nuclear Force Cuts



China’s nuclear program still shrouded in secrecy

Old School Chinese Espionage Behind Alleged NYU Theft

Ai Weiwei rages against state abuses in song

Syrians reported attacking the Israelis on daily basis along Golan Heights

Israeli air force chief says military needs to be ready for 'surprise war' from Syria

Moscow warns Jerusalem about attacking Syria

Hezbollah forces mass on Israel’s northern border

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister: Iran is Positioning Itself to Become a Nuclear Superpower

The World is Entering a Pre-Collapse State

Immigrants riot in Stockholm

Man dead in suspected London terror attack

Major anti-worker trade legislation appears increasingly likely to clear Congress

Loblaws Only Canadian Firm to Endorse Worker Safety Accord in Bangladesh

Difficult Truths about 'Difficult Oil', Must transition to Nuclear Power