Global Trade Uncertainty
"[Businesses
should] suspend [investments in the U.S. pending talks with the Trump
administration, after a] brutal and unfounded 9decision in announcing
its raft of tariffs against other countries]."
"Because
what would be the message of having major European players investing
billions of euros in the American economy at a time when they're hitting
us?"
French President Emmanuel Macron
"If
Trump really imposes high tariffs, Europe will have to respond, but the
paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing."
"On
the other hand, Trump seems to understand only the language of force,
and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response."
"Probably
the hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to
induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack."
Matteo Villa, senior analyst, Institute for International Political Studies, Italy
 |
Atlantic Council |
Dismay
spread across the world of commerce and trade at U.S. President Donald
Trump's sweeping new tariffs, shocking governments amidst threats of
retaliation and calls for negotiations rescinding the new import taxes
on goods globally. A tense world, anticipating that the American
President would proceed with his threats of imposing stiff tariffs
widely across the world, but hoping against hope he might set aside the
clearly trade-antagonistic agenda he has been toying with, were shocked
at the magnitude of the Wednesday tariff scheme.
Not
all countries hard hit by the imposition of trade-crippling tariffs
were eager to threaten retaliation; there were also calls for
negotiations in hopes that -- the mercurial American president's
sentiments on making other countries pay for what he counselled
Americans was a 50-year rip-off of the American consuming public -- he
would vacillate and withdraw his aggressive agenda in response to
reasoned arguments.
The
shock of universally applied import taxes that ranged from 10 to 54
percent which Mr. Trump characterized as 'getting back' at the steep
tariffs other countries had imposed for decades on American products
would result in factory jobs returning to the United States. "Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years. But it is not going to happen anymore", he said, with finality. "There
are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars, and protectionism is not a
way out ... It is clear to everyone that more and more countries are
opposing the U.S.'s unilateral bullying actions", was the return message from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.
A
key exporter to the United States, of all manner of products from
clothing to kitchenware, China announced a raft of retaliatory measures
that would certainly raise prices for its merchandise to American
consumers. France is prepared to see its wines and spirits, food
industry, cosmetics, health, metals and aircraft impacted. Little can be
gained, according to analysts, from an all-ut trade war, for any
country, including the U.S. Higher tariffs have the potential to lower
growth and raise inflation.
 |
Stock market turmoil deepened on Friday, as China hit back at tariffs announced by US
President Donald Trump, raising the likelihood of an extended trade war
and damage to the global economy. Getty Images |
It
is the companies in the United States that buy goods to sell to
Americans who pay the tariffs, aka taxes. And they are then left with
the dilemma of whether they should absorb the additional costs, or to
pass them on to consumers in higher prices. "He's not going to back off", warned Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. "This is the reordering of global trade". Deals can be possible "only if these countries can change everything about themselves, which I doubt they will".
As
the European Union prepares its response, rumours of a tax imposed on
American digital giants Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft
advocated by France, have been in circulation. "Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest." The U.K. government would react with "cool and calm heads", noted British Prime Minister Kier Starmer.
The U.S. had been adjusted to an average tariff of 25 to 30 percent, the "worst end of expectations", the highest since the early 20th Century, observed Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid, of the "radical policy reordering".
Reflected by radically jolted financial markets, with oil prices
sinking more than $2 a barrel, in response to the global trade
uncertainty.
 |
Behind a television monitor showing U.S. President Donald Trump, the display
board with the Dax curve shows falling share prices, in Frankfurt,
Germany, on Thursday, after the tariff package announced by Trump has
pushed share prices sharply into negative territory. (Arne Dedert/dpa/The Associated Press) |
"This is a game chamber, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy."
"Many countries will likely end up in a recession."
Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings' head, U.S. Economic Research
Labels: Global Trade Uncertainty, Punishing Tariffs, Recession, Retaliatory Tariffs, Threats, U.S. President Donald Trump
Israel At War To Bring Peace
 |
Israelis visit the Nova Music Festival site in remembrance of the Horrors Getty Images |
"Despite the slaughter, pillaging and rapes committed by Hamas and many of its fellow Gazans, the international outbreak of antisemitism and the deaths of its soldiers in the ensuing war, Israel is stronger now than it was before October 7, 2023."
"Recall the circumstances before that terrible day. Israel was surrounded by a ring of united enemies avowedly dedicated to its destruction."
"Iran was moving toward nuclearization, referring to Israel as a one-bomb country given its size and repeatedly declaring its intention to eliminate the Jewish state."
"Israel was paralyzed from fighting back because it was in the crosshairs of Hezbollah's 150,000 missiles stationed across the border in Lebanon."
Howard Levitt, National Post
 |
Getty Images |
The attack by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists when an estimated five thousand of their operatives flooded across the border from Gaza into southern Israel, followed by any number of Palestinian civilians eager to take part in the savage bedlam that was to ensue, was as though an earthquake had shaken the foundation of the Jewish State. The tsunami that followed after the sadistic bloodletting and mass rapes, with Israel's government dispatching the Israel Defense Forces into the Gaza Strip to root out the terrorists, their enclaves, command posts, leadership while destroying their network of tunnels also served to divide Israelis.
 |
Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force
intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen.
(photo credit: REUTERS/KHALED ABDULLAH) |
Those Israelis whose loved ones had been kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival, from the farming Kibbutzim, demanded that their government focus primarily on returning the hostages to their families. Hunting down the criminal malefactors who savaged the country in a chaotic melee of bloodletting that took the lives of over 1,200 Israeli civilians, soldiers and foreign farm workers should be secondary, they insisted. From the very moment that a stunned Israel began assessing the attack and the country's losses demonstrations roiled the country.
The government leaders who focused on neutering and eliminating the existential threats that surfaced and resurfaced endlessly by Palestinian leaders nourishing their populations on hate, inciting them to become blessed martyrs in the battle against Israel's existence were damned and condemned by a large segment of the population that demanded conflict be halted and negotiations for hostage return be implemented at any cost to the future of the state. The country divided itself left and right, and no reconciliation was possible for the year and a half since the tragedy.
On the positive side, the periodic wars that Israel faced, the regular missile attacks that disrupted Israeli airspace and fell close to and occasionally on border communities from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank alongside terror attacks within Israel from Palestinian infiltration intent on wreaking as many deaths of Jews as possible was finally being extirpated with the no-holds-barred incursion of the IDF into both territories. Israel was amending the loss of its military omnipotence advantage destroyed by October 7.
 |
Many of Hezbollah's top leaders, including its long-time chief Hassan
Nasrallah, were killed in air strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs |
Moving on two fronts to respond to Hezbollah's missiles into northern Israel in solidarity with its Hamas allies, then the Houthis from Yemen, and finally Iran itself, Israel found itself competently and urgently destroying its enemies' capabilities to inflict ongoing destruction by targeting leading terrorist leaders for assassination, by bombing weapons depots, by ignoring the condemnation from the West and targeting civilian complexes where terrorist groups set up their command posts to maximize the destructive punishment it promised its enemies.
The tunnels throughout Gaza became tombs for the terrorists who sequestered themselves therein, blown up along with their weapons depots. Senior Hezbollah operatives were killed or injured when Israeli-produced pagers were detonated last September. Israeli warplanes attacked the massive Hezbollah missile caches, in a stroke of military prowess destroying much of the terrorist group's Iran-provided arsenal of missiles.
 |
Israel rigged thousands of pagers with explosives and detonated them remotely on 17 September AFP |
Iran learned to its disbelief after launching missiles into Israel, that the counterattacks by Israel were capable of destroying its missile capacity, wiping out air defences and leaving Iran in fear of the next Israeli attack on its nuclear installations. The opposition in Syria, with a weakened Hezbollah took advantage of this created opportunity to oppose and remove Bashar al Assad in Syria. And though the victorious Syrian Sunni groups have now taken Syria from the Shiite Alawites, there have been no attacks on Israel from that quarter.
Israel has been demonstrating to the world at large -- always prepared to criticize and demand of Israel forbearance that none of them would ever exercise were they to be attacked as Israel has always been -- that it is, and remains fully capable of defending itself. Interestingly, while Israel has made inroads in establishing peaceful relations with a growing number of Muslim states in the Middle East and beyond, with more expressing tentative interest in joining that number in the Abraham Accords as they disown terrorism, the West has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Islamist groups threatening disequilibrium in democratic nations.
 |
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is seen on posters in Beirut.
Iran is Hezbollah's main backer. |
Labels: 2023, Hamas Terrorists, Hezbollah, Houthies, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel Defense Forces, October 7
An Ancient, Epic Battle
"Within the context of Roman acts of war, there are no comparable finds of fighters."
"There
are huge battlefields in Germany where weapons were found. But finding
the dead, that is unique for the entire Roman history."
Michaela Binder, leader of archeological dig
"They have various different battle wounds, which rules out execution. It is truly a battlefield."
"The
most likely theory at the moment is that this is connected to the
Danube campaigns of Emperor Domitian -- that's 86 to 96 AD."
"In the Roman Empire, there were strict burial rituals and precise
rules had to be observed even for the time after death."
"Since cremations were common in the European parts of the Roman Empire
at the time around 100 AD, body burials are an absolute exception. Finds
of Roman skeletons from this period are therefore extremely rare."
Kristina Adler-Wolfl, head, Vienna City Archeological Department
"In
Vienna, you are always prepared to encounter Roman traces as soon as
you open pavement or soil: after all, Vindobona [the ancient Roman-era
name for what would later become Vienna] laid the foundation
stone of our city."
"Thanks to numerous archaeological excavations in
the area of today's Vienna, a great deal of knowledge is already
available, and yet finds always lead to new and surprising findings."
Vienna’s Councillor for Culture and Science,
Veronica Kaup-Hasler
 |
People work on the excavation of a Roman
mass grave from the end of the 1st century AD, in the Simmering district
of Vienna, Austria, Nov. 7, 2024.
A. Slonek/Novetus / AP
|
This
archaeological find dating back to the 1st Century, will take its place
alongside spectacular archaeological findings of ancient Troy, thanks
to the 19th Century perseverance of German
businessman-turned-archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann who succeeded in
uncovering the presence of Troy, Mycenae, and Tiryns in Turkey and
Greece, against all odds when he was determined to prove that the poet
Homer knew of what he wrote and those minutely-described sites existed.
In
Vienna, Austria, construction crews were busy renovating a soccer field
in October of 2024, when they came upon an unexpected and quite
unprecedented discovery through their excavations. There, before them,
lay a pile of intertwined skeletal remains. They had uncovered a mass
grave that dated to the 1st-century Roman Empire.
Following
archaeological analysis, experts from the Vienna Museum offered a
public presentation of the gravesite -- that they linked to "a catastrophic event in a military context", amidst evidence of the first known conflict that occurred in the region.
 |
Archaeological analysis of the remains determined the men were killed in battle |
The
site in the Vienna neighbourhood of Simmering, revealed the skeletal
remains of 129 people. Excavation teams as well, found many dislocated
bones. The total number of victims is over 150 individuals, representing
a discovery of a type never before found in central Europe.
Typically,
soldiers during the Roman Empire would be cremated. It was only during
the 3rd century that this practise deviated. Each of the skeletons
revealed under examination signs of injury. Leading the researchers to
the conclusion that the bodies lying in the pit were deposited there
hastily.
All
of the victims of deadly warfare found in the pit were male, mostly men
aged between 20 to 30 years of age. Surveys indicated robust health
prevailed by virtue of finding that signs of good dental health was
prevalent among them.
 |
Finding the buried bodies of early Roman soldiers is soldiers is extremely rare |
Analysis
by Carbon-14 was used to date the skeletal remains to between AD 80 and
130. Those dates, cross-checked against the known history of relics
also discovered in the grave, consisting of armour, helmet cheek
protectors, and studded nails that distinguished Roman military boots
known as caligae.
The
archaeological investigations revealed that injuries sustained by
swords, spears, daggers and projectile bolts were
identified as the causes of death. The expert team of investigators were
led to the conclusion that that those who died had been part of an epic
battle, an engaged military operation that
ended in catastrophe for many.
Labels: Austria, Mass Grave, Roman Empire Archaeological Site, Victims of Conflict
A Country in Dire Straits
"We're really not clear on the scale of the destruction at this stage."
"They were talking about a town near Mandalay where 80 percent of the buildings were reportedly collapsed."
"But it wasn't in the news because telecommunications have been slow."
Lauren Ellery, deputy director of programs, Myanmar, International Rescue Committee
"Water, both in quantity and in quality, is immensely lacking in the
whole country and most specifically in the regions affected by the
earthquake."
"The lack of
water is creating an issue in terms of immediate survival, but could
also create an issue in terms epidemics in the future that we definitely
want to avoid."
Field Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Mikhael De Souza
 |
People queue for relief supplies after a strong earthquake near the earthquake's epicenter, in Sagaing, Myanmar, March 31, 2025. Reuters |
"With USAID
effectively gutted and critical staff receiving their final notices in
the midst of an emergency, the US Government's ability to respond to the
humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and future crises is severely
compromised."
"Speed, collaboration, and resources are life and death
matters when disaster strikes. The illegal decision to dismantle USAID
means the U.S. will be unable to show up like it has in past
emergencies."
"The
U.S. has already missed the first urgent window to help find survivors.
The second wave of crisis is the millions of people displaced who will
soon face threats of disease, hunger, and more without access to clean
water, food, shelter and other resources."
"The Trump administration must
step up and continue the U.S. legacy of providing partnership and
leadership right now for the communities who need urgent support."
Abby Maxman, president and CEO, Oxfam America
 |
|
Last week's massive earthquake in Myanmar has seen the death toll well past 2,000, according to state media. Rescuers spoke of several hundred Muslim, praying at mosques during Ramadan, were crushed to death when the mosques collapsed. A collapsing monastery crushed 200 Buddhist monks.
"The straight nature [of the fault]
means earthquakes can rupture over large areas - and the larger the area
of the fault that slips, the larger the earthquake."
"To accommodate all of this motion, [the Indian plate moving beneath the Burma microplate], faults - cracks in the rock - form which allow tectonic plates to 'slither' sideways."
"There have been six magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes in this region in the last century."
Dr Rebecca Bell, reader in tectonics at Imperial College London
 |
Daw Khin Saw Myint, 72, and her granddaughter are among thousands sleeping outdoors after losing their homes BBC |
Bangkok is an impoverished country, a country embroiled in a civil war, where humanitarian organizations are already challenged in their efforts to respond to the needs of the civilian population. The effects of the earthquake are predicted to exacerbate the outbreak of hunger and disease.
The 7.7 magnitude quake's epicentre on Friday hit close to Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, damaging the city's airport. The tremor buckled roads while hundreds of buildings along the country's central area collapsed. Power outages have hampered relief efforts, as have shortages of fuel and problematic communications.
Search-and-rescue operations have been hampered by a lack of heavy machinery. The result of which has been rescuers without tools using their bare hands to remove rubble in their search for survivors. Daily temperatures in the region register 40 degrees celsius. At Mandalay's collapsed U Hla Thein monastery rescuers were still searching for some 150 of the dead monks.
 |
Rescuers face tough conditions to retrieve the bodies of victims, with temperatures reaching nearly 40C BBC |
Approximately 700 Muslim worshippers at Friday prayers were trapped and killed when mosques collapsed. According to a member of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network, 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed. Several mosques were seen toppling, on videos posted on the Irrawaddy online news site.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the military government, informed the prime minister of Pakistan that 2,065 people had died in the earthquake, and over 3,900 were injured, while some 270 people remain missing. Numbers that relief agencies expect to rise sharply in reflection of slow access to remote areas where communications are non-operational.
According to the World Health Organization, three hospitals were destroyed, with 22 others partly damaged in the region. A number of countries have sent rescue teams to the scene; Israel, Russia, China, India and a few southeast Asian countries. Millions of dollars in aid have been promised by the European Union, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and others.
 |
Five men are still stuck under this building. BBC |
Labels: Civil War, Humanitarian Aid, Massive Shallow Earthquake, Myanmar, Rescue Efforts, Slithering Tectonic Plates
All for One -- and One For All
"We stand in grief with the families and loved ones of these extraordinary 'Dogface Soldiers' during this unimaginable time."
"But
the search isn't finished until everyone is home. Words cannot express
our gratitude to those still working around the clock during these
extensive search and recovery efforts and your unwavering commitment
not to rest until all are found."
"This past week has been devastating. Though we
have received some closure, the world is darker without them."
“This loss is simply devastating. We are wrapping our arms around the families and
loved ones of our Soldiers [during this difficult time]."
Commander Maj.-Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division
"It has been truly amazing and very humbling to watch the incredible
recovery team from different commands, countries and continents come
together and give everything to recover our Soldiers."
"Thank you, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, the U.S. Navy and the Army Corps
of Engineers."
"We are forever grateful."
Lt. Gen. Charles
Costanza, commanding general, V Corps
 |
|
"Lithuania mourns together with the American nation."
"Please accept my
heartfelt condolences, as well as those of the Lithuanian people, to
you, the loved ones of those who lost their lives, and all the people of
the United States of America. "
"During this difficult time, our thoughts
and prayers are with you."
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda
Under
NATO, to give reassurance to Eastern Europe, member-countries of the
military alliance were assigned to establish a Rapid Reaction Force as a
deterrent and a defence against Russian designs on its neighbours. With
a very real and demonstrated willingness to invade the borders of
neighbouring nations, the Russian Federation's ambitions of territorial
aggression and expansion gave birth to a renewed move by NATO to offer
protection to its members under duress of potential invasion.
Among
other member-nations the United States established a unit in Lithuania.
On March 25, an American armoured vehicle with four U.S. soldiers
aboard went astray in a marshy peat bog located at the huge General
Silvestras Zukauskas training ground nearby the town of Pabrade. A
search was undertaken and the location of the missing vehicle was found,
though no vehicle was in sight. The almost-70-ton behemoth had sunk
straight down, along with its personnel.
 |
The U.S. Army search for four soldiers who went missing during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania. U.S. Army |
It
took six days in a massive effort by American, Polish and Lithuanian
armed forces to locate and dig the M88 Hercules vehicle out of the peat
bog. The search was widened when three of the missing men of the 1st
Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division were found dead, and
a fourth body of the missing soldiers evaded the search teams. On a
tactical training exercise, the soldiers were reported, along with their
vehicle to be missing early on Tuesday.
The
thick forests and swampy terrain around Pabrade, some ten kilometres
west of the border with Belarus saw hundreds of Lithuanian and American
soldiers and other rescuers searching, engaged in a rescue mission. On
Wednesday the armoured vehicle's whereabouts was finally discovered,
submerged in 4-1/2 metres of swamp water.
Military
helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and search
and rescue personnel were provided by the Lithuanian armed forces.
Excavators, sluice and slurry pumps were brought to the site, along with
other heavy construction equipment along with technical experts and
several hundred tons of gravel and earth, all to help with the recovery
mission.
American navy divers manoeuvred through thick layers of mud, clay and sediment "with zero visibility" to
finally reach the 63-ton vehicle on Sunday evening. There they
established several points where steel cables could be attached to
enable the work involved in lifting the vehicle. During the effort of
dragging the vehicle out of its submerged position, they began to lose
traction, requiring more heavy dozers to provide additional grip. Two
hours later the vehicle was pulled free of its ghastly grave.
 |
Sgt.
Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California, Sgt. Jose Duenez, Jr.,
25, of Joliet, Illinois and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam. U.S. Army |
The
navy dive team's work was not over. They then turned to searching the
area with the use of radar for the presence of the still-missing fourth
soldier. And his body was ultimately found, to join that of his other
three comrades, to be returned to the United States and to their
families, for burial.
 |
An
undated photo of Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle
Creek, Michigan, who died in a training mission in Lithuania. U.S. Army |
"I can’t say enough about the support our Lithuanian Allies have
provided us. We have leaned on them, and they, alongside our Polish and
Estonian Allies — and our own Sailors, Airmen and experts from the Corps
of Engineers — have enabled us to find and bring home our Soldiers."
"This is a tragic event, but it
reinforces what it means to have Allies and friends."
Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa
Labels: Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Misadventure, NATO, Rapid Response Teams, Russian Federation Threat of Invasion, U.S. Unit
Charming Beijing Captivates Liberal Loyalty
"[These
comments] deeply offended, [demonstrating a] terrible lapse in
judgement [however, the episode could serve as a] teachable moment."
"This
is a person of integrity who served his community as a senior police
officer for ... more than a quarter of [a] century. He's made a terrible
lapse in judgement."
"He's
made his apology. He's made it to the public, he's made it to the
individual concerned, he's made it directly to me, and he's going to
continue with his candidacy."
"He has my confidence."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
"[The response by Mr. Carney is indeed a] teachable moment."
"It teaches us that Mark Carney will never stand up for Canada."
"If
Mark Carney won't stand up for a Canadian against this foreign hostile
regime now, how could we ever expect him to stand up for Canada after
the election?"
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre
"He
is a police officer, and he ought to know that when the CCP [Chinese
Communist Party] went out and put a bounty on anybody, including
Canadians, that cannot be acceptable."
"That is intimidation at its worst."
NDP MP Jenny Kwan
"What
we saw was the news of the bounty was sort of re-upped, but we're just
watching the open space for anything related to that."
"That alone, I think, is a form of coercion."
"Spreading, again, the information about the bounty is precisely how malign foreign states seek to silence, harass and coerce."
Rapid Response Mechanism head Larisa Galadza, Global Affairs Canada
 |
Paul Chiang is seeking
re-election in Markham-Unionville, a riding he took from the
Conservatives in 2021 by a margin of fewer than 2,500 votes. Justin Tang The Canadian Press file photo
|
"If you can take him to the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, you can get the million-dollar reward",
advised Liberal electoral candidate Paul Chiang to an news conference
comprised of Chinese-language media, in reference to Conservative
candidate Joe Tay who had been charged under the Hong Kong national
security law as a threat to Beijing for his Canada-based YouTube channel
critical of the Beijing-dominated CCP government.
When
the comment hit headlines in the legacy media in Canada, calls for the
Liberal party to disown Mr. Chiang and remove him as a Liberal candidate
for the April 28 federal election expressed the disgust of most
Canadians. Derisory statements by opposing political party candidates
are not uncommon during election campaigns, but seldom do they cross the
line into currying to foreign interference in Canada's affairs and
certainly never to the extent that one candidate incites to violence
against another.
Pressure
came fast and furious even within the Liberal party for Mr. Chaing to
be removed as a candidate in view of his comments last week. The bounty
in question, in Hong Kong dollars $1 million, transcribes to $183,000
in Canadian currency. Any taker could be assured of earning themselves a
reward for luring the Conservative candidate to appear at the Chinese
Consulate General in Toronto where he would be spirited to China and
imprisoned as a traitor to Beijing -- but certainly not to China.
Mr.
Chaing informed the Chinese-language media that given Mr. Tay's
position on China and Beijing's response, should Mr. Tay be elected to
Parliament, the Hong King criminal charge would be a cause of "great controversy", according to the Ming Pao newspaper.
And no doubt it would, since the Liberal Party goes out of its way to
pacify Beijing, and continues to build on its relationship through
trade, despite the assaults on Canadian sovereignty where Canadians have
been falsely imprisoned, Canadians have received the death penalty in
China, and Chinese interference in Canadian affairs is deeply troubling.
 |
Liberal Leader Mark Carney says Paul Chiang will remain a candidate
under his banner, despite calls to drop the Markham-Unionville incumbent
for suggesting people turn in a Conservative candidate to the Chinese
consulate and collect a bounty. CBC News |
Even
so, even when Canadian Intelligence has warned government on many
occasions through updated reports that China is among those countries --
foremost among those countries -- that have used their expatriate
Chinese-Canadian community originally from Mainland China to act as
agents for Beijing, as well as instructing all expats that it is their
ancestral patriotic duty to infiltrate and capture whatever advances in
technology, science, medicine, and military news helpful to be conveyed
to China's possession.
Mr. Chiang himself saw fit to apologize soon after his comments were publicized:
"The
comments I made were deplorable and a complete lapse of judgement on
the seriousness of the matter. I sincerely apologize and deeply regret
my comments."
"I
will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of
Hong Kong in their fight to safeguard their human rights and freedoms."
And
while unelected PM-incumbent Mark Carney is satisfied to let the matter
lie there and continue to approve Mr. Chiang as a Liberal candidate,
the man himself took the initiative to resign from the Liberal
candidacy. Whether his apology is sincere is debatable. He still took
the right course in apologizing and taking himself out of the election.
There is no debate that Mr. Carney, on the other hand, has often engaged
in dishonourable conduct. He has bent the truth to suit his fabricated
explanations.
And
on this occasion he has spectacularly failed to act with conscience and
integrity. Canadians should hold him to account for this, yet another
lapse in judgement on his part. On the other hand, government officials
tasked with identifying and responding to foreign threats during the
election period acknowledge they are monitoring the situation closely.
Moreover, the RCMP has opened an investigation in the matter. While the
man aspiring to be elected Prime Minister of Canada succumbed to his own
lack of moral integrity.
Mr.
Tay has been left uneasy and concerned over his safety, given the
obvious nature of the threats against him posed by a foreign government
whose record on human rights is abysmal. He has stated that the
situation left him fearing for his safety. Spurring him to get in touch
with the RCMP for his personal protection, and demanding that Carney
fire Chiang. A demand that thirteen pro-democracy groups in Canada
linked to Hong Kong produced a statement urging the Liberal Party to "send a clear message" in removing Chiang's candidacy, making it clear they cannot accept his "insincere apology".
"I want to be clear: no apology is sufficient."
"Threats like these are the tradecraft of the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in Canada."
"And
they are not just aimed at me. They are intended to send a chilling
signal to the entire community in order to force compliance to Beijing's
political goals."
Conservative federal election candidate Joe Tay
"[Foreign interference, including instances of transnational repression,
continue to be a] pervasive threat in Canada [and the federal police
takes all reports and allegations seriously]."
"The RCMP is looking into the matter, however no specific details can be
provided at this time.""To ensure the integrity of
our investigations, the RCMP typically does not disclose information
relating to investigations unless criminal charges are laid, rendering
it a matter of public record."
RCMP spokesperson Kristine Kelly
 |
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in New Brunswick, says
Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s decision to stand by candidate Paul Chiang,
who called for people to turn in Conservative candidate Joe Tay for a
Chinese bounty, ‘teaches us that Mark Carney will never stand up for
Canada.’ Poilievre added that he spoke to Tay and he is ‘very, very
rattled.’ CBC |
"It is a teachable moment. It teaches us that Mark Carney will never
stand up for Canada."
"The
Chinese government literally wants to kill Joe Tay because he’s a
political dissident. And this candidate said that that should happen."
"I have never in my life seen a prime minister
unwilling to protect a Canadian citizen against a foreign government
that wants to take his life through a bounty."
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre
Labels: Canadian General Election, Chinese Communist Party, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Foreign Interference, Liberal Leader Mark Carney
One of Those Who Considers Himself the Most Intelligent Mind in the Room
"I believe you are mischaracterizing this work. As an academic of nearly 40 years, I see no evidence of plagiarism in the thesis you cited nor any unusual academic practices."
"Mark's thesis was evaluated and approved by a faculty committee that saw his work for what it is; an impressive and thoroughly researched analysis that set him apart from his peers."
Margaret Meyer, Official Fellow of Economics, Nuffield College, Oxford University
"Oxford's guidelines are not atypical from other universities."
"When you have something lifted verbatim from a source, in there without quotation marks or citation ... that constitutes plagiarism."
Oxford graduate professor
"He's just directly repeating without quotations. That's what we call plagiarism."
"[Some of Liberal Leader Mark Carney's thesis questions might be considered by some as more of a] grey area, [but it would still constitute plagiarism according to Oxford standards."
"It seems like it's [examples of plagiarism] all over the dissertation."
Geoffrey Sigalet, assistant professor, member UBC president's advisory committee on student discipline
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that elite economist and now leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Mark Carney, who has taken on the as-yet-unelected mantle of Canadian Prime Minister's 1995 doctoral thesis in economics from Oxford University, titled 'The Dynamic Advantage of Competition' is fairly well shot through with examples of plagiarism, an absolute sin in academic circles, as it is in journalism and other recorded-word disciplines. A total corruption of what is felt to be authentic, original observations based on study and analysis.
According to the learned judgement of three university academics there are ten distinct instances of apparent plagiarism in that doctoral thesis. Full quotes, paraphrases, or slightly modified quotes from four different writers previously published were used by this aspiring economist completely lacking acknowledgement or proper attribution. In the investigation leading to an expose published just recently, Oxford University administrators failed to respond to a request for comment.
His election adversary, Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, did respond by commenting on X:
Mark Carney loves to brag about his experience. Here it is:
- - Plagiarism
- - Tax evasion
- - Creative accounting
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- Abusing tenants
- - Union busting
- - Moving his headquarters out of Canada to the U.S.
- - Denying insurance claims to coal miners dying of black lung
- - Taking massive loans from Chinese state-owned banks
- - Advisor to Justin Trudeau on the economy
Examples abound of Mr. Carney's laissez-faire attitude toward straightforward truth where he has been caught out on a number of occasions dissembling and playing with verifiable facts in an effort to shield himself from the responsibility incumbent on one who expects to be believed by a wide segment of the population when he declares himself fit and prepared to lead a nation. So perhaps it isn't quite surprising that his lax demeanor reflecting a propensity to lift other peoples' ideas and present them as his own has become habitual with the man.
There is the direct example of his lifting and adopting ideas and promises made by the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament during the current federal election campaign. Barely changing the wording of campaign pledges originating with Pierre Poilievre, to present them as his very own inspirations to better the lives of Canadians. Making other statements to appeal to the electorate that clearly belie his oft-stated beliefs and priorities which clash directly with those statements geared to impress voters in a positive manner.
In Mr. Carney's thesis he refers extensively to a 1990 book by Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, where he duplicated parts of Porter's work, presenting sentences with minor tweaks, as his very own brainchilds. Writing in his thesis virtually exactly what he had taken out of Porter's book, adding "an" to a sentence and "even", without quotation marks to alert the reader, without the addition of a footnote to reference someone else's work being quoted.
All perfectly acceptable, according to his thesis supervisor at Oxford who stated that "it is typical that overlapping language appears" when sources are "frequently referenced in an academic text. For example, over the course of this more than 300-page thesis, the Michael Porter book ... is cited dozens of times. Within his thesis, Mark acknowledged, cited, scrutinized and expanded on this piece", she elaborated, noting that his PHD thesis is "twice as long" as her own. Statements that should raise some eyebrows.
In some instances Mr. Carney duplicates another author's sentences using minor alterations, replacing "for example", with "e.g.", or changing one or a few words, for "be" to "become", or "likelihood" to "probability". Proper citation was not added to indicate he had lifted an author's words, nor were quotation marks added. Shifty practices which anyone who considers themselves as highly intelligent as Carney does, would acknowledge them to be.
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Canada is due to go to the polls on April 28 GETTY |
"[Plagiarism is regarded by Oxford University] as a serious matter."
"Cases will be investigated and penalties may range from deduction of marks to expulsion from the University, depending on the seriousness of the occurrence."
"[Oxford University defines plagiarism as [p]resenting work or ideas from another source as your own ... by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement."
Oxford University Website
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On its website, Oxford University says it regards plagiarism “as a serious matter.” Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images |
Labels: 1995 Oxford Doctorate, Canadian Federal Election, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Plagiarism
Transparently Disingenuous Russia
"Under
the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with
European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we
could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in
Ukraine."
"[It
would allow the country to] hold democratic elections, to bring to
power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then
begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty."
Russian President Vladimir Putin
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Putin said Russian troops had the "strategic initiative" in Ukraine Reuters |
"He is afraid of negotiating with Ukraine."
"He
is afraid of negotiating with me personally, and by excluding Ukraine's
[government] he is suggesting that Ukraine is not an independent actor
for him."
"Europe
definitely knows how to defend itself, and we are working together to
ensure greater security for our country and all European nations."
"Russia continues looking for excuses to drag this war out even further."
"Putin is playing the same game he has since 2014 [unilateral annexation of the Crimean peninsula]."
"This
is dangerous for everyone -- and there should be an appropriate response
from the United States, Europe, and all our global partners who seek
peace."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
"You could say that I was very angry,
pissed off, when... Putin started getting into Zelensky's credibility,
because that's not going in the right location."
"New leadership means you're not gonna have a deal for a long time."
"If Russia and I are unable to make a
deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was
Russia's fault - which it might not be... I am going to put secondary
tariffs... on all oil coming out of Russia."
"There
will be a 25% tariff on oil and other products sold in the United
States, secondary tariffs."
U.S. President Donald J. Trump
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(Volodymyr Zelenskyy / X) |
As
a brilliant solution to vexing problems, Russian President Putin's
Friday proposal for Ukraine to be placed temporarily under external
governance throughout the efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in the
conflict that Russia imposed upon Ukraine through its military invasion
and subsequent claims of legitimacy in annexing Ukrainian provinces as
Russian territory, this one registered as just another form of naked
aggression on the part of Russia in its territorial grabs.
Further,
calling into dispute Ukrainian democracy and President Zelenskyy's
legitimacy reminds one of Vladimir Putin's musical chairs performance
when he brought in Dmitry Medvedev as president while he took on
Medvedev's prime ministerial role, to enable them to once again reverse
the situation ensuring that Russia's two-term presidency limit would not
interfere with Putin's designs to remain Russian president in
perpetuity to which end he changed the constitution and now sits secure
as Russia's legal long-term president. Any challengers have been
summarily either murdered or imprisoned.
Yet
this is the man who insists that Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy has no legitimacy to sign a peace agreement since his term
expired. A pathetic piece of demagoguery since he would be very well
aware that it is illegal in Ukraine for national elections to be held
during times of conflict and the nation is under martial law. Still,
Putin pressed ahead with the claim that any such agreement to a
permanent ceasefire signed by the sitting Ukrainian government could be
challenged by a successor government so that new elections should be
called for, through external vigilance under temporary guardianship.
A
summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron considered plans for
troop deployment to Ukraine in view of an eventual peace deal where
Macron announced that 'several' other nations would volunteer to
participate in the force along with France and Britain. Mr. Putin,
however, made it clear that he would not accept troop involvement from
NATO members in a prospective peacekeepng force. So, for Mr. Putin it
would be far more appropriate if Belarus, Iran and North Korean troops
comprised such a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
"They are playing games and they're playing for time",
stated U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while Macron and other Paris
summit participants accused Russia of insincerity in its offering to
participate in negotiations that could lead to a peace agreement to end
the bloodshed.
Both
Russia and Ukraine agreed in principle to a tentative US.-brokered
agreement to pause strikes on energy infrastructure even as both sides
hold varying views on when the deal to halt strikes should become
effective, accusing one another of violations, making it more than
obvious just how fraught any semblance of an agreement would be in the
challenge to negotiate a broad peace.
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Germany has voted to hugely boost investment in its military BBC |
Russia's
claims of wanting peace and an end to the conflict -- as long as it is
able to hold on to the one-fifth of eastern Ukraine that the Kremlin now
considers part of Greater Russia, are viewed with skepticism by its
neighbours. Leading Norway, as an example to refurbish its old Cold War
Military Bunkers, and leaving Germany convinced it must now begin to
rebuild a viable military, the better to confront any future
expansionary moves by Moscow.
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Bunkers like the ones at Bardufoss can keep expensive fighter planes
safe from attacks by drones (Credit: Norwegian Armed Forces) |
Labels: European Neighbours, Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Trickery, Territorial Expansion, U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ramping Up North Korea's Military Technology
"Keeping with the trend of modern warfare in which the competition for using intelligent drones as a major means of military power is being accelerated and the range of their use is steadily expanding in military activities [stressed by North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un]."
Korean Central News Agency report
"North Korea is realizing the need for not only nuclear weapons but also modernized capabilities in large-scale warfare, like AI and unmanned systems."
"There is a risk that these could become actual combat capabilities in a relatively short period of time."
Cha Du-hyeogn, former South Korean intelligence adviser
"North Korea is completely transforming itself by upgrading its weapons systems for modern warfare based on its experiences in the war in Ukraine, and by copying military technologies from countries like China and Russia."
Yoo Yong-won, National Defence Committee, North Korea
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South Korean TV shows footage of what appears to be an airborne early warning and control aircraft. Getty Images |
"Suicide attack drones" powered by artificial intelligence, is now the latest military technology championed by North Korea. Inspired no doubt by the success realized by the Ukrainian military in its existential struggle against North Korea's much-admired Vladimir Putin toward whose bloodthirsty territorial expansion he has dispatched tens of thousands of North Korean soldiers as disposable fodder in the conflict, ostensibly to gain experience in battle-hardened situations.
Pyongyang is determined to update weapons capabilities in lock-step with the front-line experience its soldiers are gaining with modern warfare technologies in Ukraine. Core reconnaissance and attack drones are for the moment Kim Jong Un's preoccupation, believing that development of unmanned control and AI capability to be priorities for North Korea's military.
International observers such as North Korea analyst Cha Du-hyeogn at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul states that the hermit kingdom's ambitions should be taken seriously. North Korea has revealed its development of a "new-type strategic reconnaissance drone" capable of tracking and monitoring various targets and troop activity on land and at sea. Photos of Kim inspecting a large reconnaissance drone on a runway and of drones crashing into ground targets were released by State media.
According to experts who have viewed the photos, the large drone in the photograph is similar to the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, a type of drone that North Korea introduced in 2023 at a weapons exhibition in Pyongyang. Additionally, North Korea showcased for the first time an airborne early-warning and control aircraft. One which would enable North Korea to manage air and ground operations in real time, simultaneously.
Left unannounced was what AI technology is used in its new suicide attack drones, much less when North Korea plans to ramp up production. However, according to Cha Du-hyeogn, it is questionable whether these suggested new capabilities could be mass-produced any time soon, in his opinion. Suicide attack drones are typically small and easy to manoeuvre, so they can be undetected and produced in large quantities.
Further, there is no evidence as yet that North Korea has mastered such technologies, much less incorporated AI technologies which can detect air defence systems, he said dismissively. Despite which in recent months North Korea has been emphasizing its reconnaissance drone technology, a key component of Kim's military modernization strategy, where he has been pushing the mass-production of suicide drones.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been pictured inspecting new suicide
drones, which state media say have been equipped with artificial
intelligence (AI). KCNA |
Labels: Military Technology, North Korea, Suicide Drones