Monday, March 02, 2020

UPDATED 
‘MYSTERY OBJECT’ IN ORBIT AROUND EARTH SHOWN IN NEW IMAGES





The image was taken on 24 February, soon after 2020 CD3 was first spotted.

Astronomers hope to get more images of the object, in an attempt to learn more about it.
Scientists have released new images of a mysterious object that has joined Earth’s orbit.

The object created excitement earlier this week when it was announced that it appeared to be a new “minimoon” that had arrived in Earth’s orbit.

But scientists say it is too soon to say for sure what the mystery object is and further research is required.

Though it could be the artificial object suggested by other astronomers, it might also be an old satellite, or space debris.

“Either way this is a very compelling object and needs more data to determine what it is,” Grigori Fedorets, the lead astronomer for the observations, said in a statement.
They will look in particular to understand how bright it is shining and how much light it reflects – if it is especially dim, then it is likely to be a rocky body, but if it is shining brighter it is more likely to be a reflective piece of debris, such as a used rocket booster.
The newly discovered satellite will also leave Earth’s orbit, in the coming months, leaving astronomers scrambling to get images of the object and understand its origin.
Earlier this week, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced  the object had been given the designation 2020 CD3.

Many speculated the object was a rocky asteroid, which would make it only the second natural satellite to be spotted around the Earth, other than the Moon. The only other similar object was spotted in 2006 and has since left its orbit around the Earth.

“Obtaining the images was a scramble for the Gemini team because the object is quickly becoming fainter as it moves away from Earth. It is expected to be ejected from Earth’s orbit altogether in April,” said John Blakeslee, head of science at the international Gemini Observatory, which was responsible for the new images.

In the picture, the object can be seen glowing at the centre, with stars streaking across because the telescope was moving to track the object as it moved around the Earth.

‘This is a very compelling object and needs more data to determine what it is,’ lead astronomer says


released new images of a mysterious object that has joined Earth’s orbit.

The object created excitement earlier this week when it was announced that it appeared to be a new “minimoon” that had arrived in Earth’s orbit.

But scientists say it is too soon to say for sure what the mystery object is and further research is required.




Though it could be the artificial object suggested by other astronomers, it might also be an old satellite, or space debris.

“Either way this is a very compelling object and needs more data to determine what it is,” Grigori Fedorets, the lead astronomer for the observations, said in a statement.


Earlier this week, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the object had been given the designation 2020 CD3.

Many speculated the object was a rocky asteroid, which would make it only the second natural satellite to be spotted around the Earth, other than the Moon. The only other similar object was spotted in 2006 and has since left its orbit around the Earth.


The newly discovered satellite will also leave Earth’s orbit, in the coming months, leaving astronomers scrambling to get images of the object and understand its origin.

“Obtaining the images was a scramble for the Gemini team because the object is quickly becoming fainter as it moves away from Earth. It is expected to be ejected from Earth’s orbit altogether in April,” said John Blakeslee, head of science at the international Gemini Observatory, which was responsible for the new images.

In the picture, the object can be seen glowing at the centre, with stars streaking across because the telescope was moving to track the object as it moved around the Earth.

The image was taken on 24 February, soon after 2020 CD3 was first spotted.

Astronomers hope to get more images of the object, in an attempt to learn more about it.

They will look in particular to understand how bright it is shining and how much light it reflects – if it is especially dim, then it is likely to be a rocky body, but if it is shining brighter it is more likely to be a reflective piece of debris, such as a used rocket booster.

“Additional observations to refine its position will help us determine this mystery object’s orbit and its possible origin,” he said.

Astronomers expect to find many more such objects as new ways of observing them come online.

The Gemini Observatory is part of the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, which is currently preparing the Vera C Rubin Observatory, which will scan the sky of seeing yet more similar objects.

“We expect to find a population of these objects once the Rubin Observatory is operational,” said Mr Fedorets in a statement. “Stay tuned!”


Earth has a new ‘minimoon’, scientists announce
'BIG NEWS,' tweets astronomer involved in discovery
Andrew Griffin @_andrew_griffin
2 days ago


Earth has acquired a "minimoon", scientists have said.

The object has temporarily been captured into Earth's orbit and is now flying beside us around the solar system, just like our more famous and much bigger moon, astronomers announced.

It has been designated "2020 CD3" by the Minor Planet Center, part of the International Astronomical Union, a body that catalogues and names objects discovered in space.

The object was found by astronomers from the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, on 15 February. It was then observed repeatedly in the days that followed, allowing astronomers to learn more about the object.

That allowed the astronomers who found it to gather detailed images of the object as it moves around the Earth.

Examination of the object found that it appears to be between 6.2 and 11.5 feet in diameter. It is also shining with a particular brightness suggestive of carbon-rich asteroids, its discoverers said.

Though it was only newly found, the rock is thought to have been captured into Earth's orbit three years ago. That is according to orbital simulations carried out by astronomer Tony Dunn, using data from the astronomers who discovered 2020 CD3.

Official confirmation that the object existed and had been captured by Earth came on 25 February, when the Minor Planet Center designated it a "Temporarily Captured Object", and gave it its new name.

Observations and calculations indicated the object "is temporarily bound to the Earth", the centre wrote in a circular sent out to astronomers.

"No evidence of perturbations due to solar radiation pressure is seen, and no link to a known artificial object has been found. Further observations and dynamical studies are strongly encouraged.

Despite the vast number of asteroids spotted and tracked by astronomers, 2020 CD3 is only the second known one ever to orbit Earth. The first, known as 2006 RH120, was spotted by scientists at the same institution.

In 2016, an asteroid split in half over Australia and lit up the sky. Astronomers suggested that may also have been a mini-moon – and it is possible that others are still orbiting around Earth, too small and dim to have yet been found by scientists.


Earth captures new 'mini moon'


 

AFP/File /  ISHARA S. KODIKARAEarth has captured a 'mini moon'

 but it not likely to be in orbit for long

Earth has acquired a second "mini-moon" about the size of a car, according to astronomers who spotted the object circling our planet.

The mass -- roughly 1.9-3.5 meters (6-11 feet) in diameter -- was observed by researchers Kacper Wierzchos and Teddy Pruyne at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona on the night of February 15.

"BIG NEWS. Earth has a new temporarily captured object/Possible mini-moon called 2020 CD3," likely to be a C-type asteroid, Wierzchos tweeted on Wednesday.

The astronomer said it was a "big deal" as "this is just the second asteroid known to orbit Earth (after 2006 RH120, which was also discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey)."

Its route suggests it entered Earth's orbit three years ago, he said.

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Minor Planet Center, which collects data on minor planets and asteroids, in an announcement said "no link to a known artificial object has been found," implying it was likely an asteroid captured by Earth's gravity.

"Orbit integrations indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth."

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said the car-sized object was not the Telsa Roadster he launched into space in 2018, which is now orbiting the Sun.

"It's not mine," he tweeted.

Earth's new neighbor is not in a stable orbit around the planet and is unlikely to be around for very long.

"It is heading away from the Earth-moon system as we speak," Grigori Fedorets, research fellow at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, told New Scientist magazine, and was likely to escape in April.

The only other asteroid known to orbit Earth, 2006 RH120, rotated the planet from September 2006 to June 2007.



IT'S SATAN


IN ANCIENT TORAH TALES PRE OLD TESTAMENT THEN IN LATER GNOSTIC TEXTS THE REGION OF THE ARCHON THE RULER OF THIS WORLD, IS BETWEEN THE EARTH AND MOON AND IN ONE OF THOSE SYNCHRONCITIES, I POSTED A VIDEO
WHERE A HISTORIAN IS DISCUSSING THE OLD TESTAMENT, GNOSTIC CONCEPTS OF SATAN AND HIS ADVERSARY JESUS SEE THE INVENTION OF THE JESUS

ARCHON
(Greek) Literally, "prince" or "ruler." Esoterically, primordial planetary spirits.

"We have previously stated that the Golden Fleece, the Treasury of the Light, is found within the profundities of oneself. Unquestionably, the Archons of the Fate and the Rulers of the Aeons and those of the Sphere turn to the matter of their refuse. They subdue it, devour it, subjugate it, govern it, and do not let it go to become Souls in the world. This means that they, the Rulers, maintain the elemental Essences in their respective Kingdoms. Such elemental Essences are governed by the Archons. However, while the elemental Essences develop, they pass from one Kingdom to another, according to the Law. Every elemental Essence can convert itself into a human Soul, at its time and hour, and according to the Law. [...] The Archons of the Twelve Aeons, their Lords and their Authorities, their Angels and their Archangels, are represented within ourselves by the distinct autonomous and self-conscious parts of our own Being. The powers of the Rulers of the Aeons, and those of the Fate and those of the Sphere are found within our own Soul."
- Samael Aun Weor, The Gnostic Bible: The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

"...the Archons are the diverse, autonomous and Self-conscious parts of our own Being. [...] The violent judgements of the evil Archons fall upon those who violate the Law. The terms good and evil are very discussable. Something is good when it is suitable for us and evil when it is not suitable for us. Evil Rulers must be understood in esoteric form. No one can enjoy the violent judgements of the Lords of Karma. This is why they are symbolically denominated as evil Archons. We need to be saved from the Archons or violent Rulers of darkness and also from the violent receivers of the outermost darkness."
- Samael Aun Weor, The Gnostic Bible: The Pistis Sophia Unveiled




The Nag Hammadi Library
The Hypostasis of the Archons
(The Reality of the Rulers)

Translated by Bentley Layton

On account of the reality of the authorities, (inspired) by the spirit of the father of truth, the great apostle – referring to the "authorities of the darkness" – told us that "our contest is not against flesh and blood; rather, the authorities of the universe and the spirits of wickedness." I have sent this (to you) because you inquire about the reality of the authorities.

Their chief is blind; because of his power and his ignorance and his arrogance he said, with his power, "It is I who am God; there is none apart from me." When he said this, he sinned against the entirety. And this speech got up to incorruptibility; then there was a voice that came forth from incorruptibility, saying, "You are mistaken, Samael" – which is, "god of the blind."

His thoughts became blind. And, having expelled his power – that is, the blasphemy he had spoken – he pursued it down to chaos and the abyss, his mother, at the instigation of Pistis Sophia. And she established each of his offspring in conformity with its power - after the pattern of the realms that are above, for by starting from the invisible world the visible world was invented.

As incorruptibility looked down into the region of the waters, her image appeared in the waters; and the authorities of the darkness became enamored of her. But they could not lay hold of that image, which had appeared to them in the waters, because of their weakness – since beings that merely possess a soul cannot lay hold of those that possess a spirit – for they were from below, while it was from above. This is the reason why "incorruptibility looked down into the region (etc.)": so that, by the father's will, she might bring the entirety into union with the light.

The rulers laid plans and said, "Come, let us create a man that will be soil from the earth." They modeled their creature as one wholly of the earth. Now the rulers [...] body [...] they have [...] female [...] is [...] with the face of a beast. They had taken some soil from the earth and modeled their man after their body and after the image of God that had appeared to them in the waters. They said, "Come, let us lay hold of it by means of the form that we have modeled, so that it may see its male counterpart [...], and we may seize it with the form that we have modeled" – not understanding the force of God, because of their powerlessness. And he breathed into his face; and the man came to have a soul (and remained) upon the ground many days. But they could not make him arise because of their powerlessness. Like storm winds they persisted (in blowing), that they might try to capture that image, which had appeared to them in the waters. And they did not know the identity of its power.

Now all these things came to pass by the will of the father of the entirety. Afterwards, the spirit saw the soul-endowed man upon the ground. And the spirit came forth from the Adamantine Land; it descended and came to dwell within him, and that man became a living soul. It called his name Adam, since he was found moving upon the ground. A voice came forth from incorruptibility for the assistance of Adam; and the rulers gathered together all the animals of the earth and all the birds of heaven and brought them in to Adam to see what Adam would call them, that he might give a name to each of the birds and all the beasts.

They took Adam and put him the garden, that he might cultivate it and keep watch over it. And the rulers issued a command to him, saying, "From every tree in the garden shall you eat; yet from the tree of recognizing good and evil do not eat, nor touch it; for the day you eat from it, with death you are going to die."

They [...] this. They do not understand what they have said to him; rather, by the father's will, they said this in such a way that he might (in fact) eat, and that Adam might regard them as would a man of an exclusively material nature.

The rulers took counsel with one another and said, "Come, let us cause a deep sleep to fall upon Adam." And he slept. – Now the deep sleep that they "caused to fall upon him, and he slept" is Ignorance. – They opened his side like a living woman. And they built up his side with some flesh in place of her, and Adam came to be endowed only with soul.

And the spirit-endowed woman came to him and spoke with him, saying, "Arise, Adam." And when he saw her, he said, "It is you who have given me life; you will be called 'mother of the living'. – For it is she who is my mother. It is she who is the physician, and the woman, and she who has given birth."

Then the authorities came up to their Adam. And when they saw his female counterpart speaking with him, they became agitated with great agitation; and they became enamored of her. They said to one another, "Come, let us sow our seed in her," and they pursued her. And she laughed at them for their witlessness and their blindness; and in their clutches she became a tree, and left before them her shadowy reflection resembling herself; and they defiled it foully. – And they defiled the stamp of her voice, so that by the form they had modeled, together with their (own) image, they made themselves liable to condemnation.

Then the female spiritual principle came in the snake, the instructor; and it taught them, saying, "What did he say to you? Was it, 'From every tree in the garden shall you eat; yet – from the tree of recognizing good and evil do not eat'?"

The carnal woman said, "Not only did he say 'Do not eat', but even 'Do not touch it; for the day you eat from it, with death you are going to die.'"

And the snake, the instructor, said, "With death you shall not die; for it was out of jealousy that he said this to you. Rather your eyes shall open and you shall come to be like gods, recognizing evil and good." And the female instructing principle was taken away from the snake, and she left it behind, merely a thing of the earth.

And the carnal woman took from the tree and ate; and she gave to her husband as well as herself; and these beings that possessed only a soul, ate. And their imperfection became apparent in their lack of knowledge; and they recognized that they were naked of the spiritual element, and took fig leaves and bound them upon their loins.

Then the chief ruler came; and he said, "Adam! Where are you?" – for he did not understand what had happened. And Adam said, "I heard your voice and was afraid because I was naked; and I hid."

The ruler said, "Why did you hide, unless it is because you have eaten from the tree from which alone I commanded you not to eat? And you have eaten!"

Adam said, "The woman that you gave me, she gave to me and I ate." And the arrogant ruler cursed the woman.

The woman said, "It was the snake that led me astray and I ate." They turned to the snake and cursed its shadowy reflection, [...] powerless, not comprehending that it was a form they themselves had modeled. From that day, the snake came to be under the curse of the authorities; until the all-powerful man was to come, that curse fell upon the snake.

They turned to their Adam and took him and expelled him from the garden along with his wife; for they have no blessing, since they too are beneath the curse. Moreover, they threw mankind into great distraction and into a life of toil, so that their mankind might be occupied by worldly affairs, and might not have the opportunity of being devoted to the holy spirit.

Now afterwards, she bore Cain, their son; and Cain cultivated the land. Thereupon he knew his wife; again becoming pregnant, she bore Abel; and Abel was a herdsman of sheep. Now Cain brought in from the crops of his field, but Abel brought in an offering (from) among his lambs. God looked upon the votive offerings of Abel; but he did not accept the votive offerings of Cain. And carnal Cain pursued Abel, his brother.

And God said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?"

He answered saying, "Am I, then, my brother's keeper?"

God said to Cain, "Listen! The voice of your brother's blood is crying up to me! You have sinned with your mouth. It will return to you: anyone who kills Cain will let loose seven vengeances, and you will exist groaning and trembling upon the earth."

And Adam knew his female counterpart Eve, and she became pregnant, and bore Seth to Adam. And she said, "I have borne another man through God, in place of Abel." Again Eve became pregnant, and she bore Norea. And she said, "He has begotten on me a virgin as an assistance for many generations of mankind." She is the virgin whom the forces did not defile.

Then mankind began to multiply and improve. The rulers took counsel with one another and said, "Come, let us cause a deluge with our hands and obliterate all flesh, from man to beast." But when the ruler of the forces came to know of their decision, he said to Noah, "Make yourself an ark from some wood that does not rot and hide in it - you and your children and the beasts and the birds of heaven from small to large – and set it upon Mount Sir."

Then Norea came to him, wanting to board the ark. And when he would not let her, she blew upon the ark and caused it to be consumed by fire. Again he made the ark, for a second time.

The rulers went to meet her, intending to lead her astray. Their supreme chief said to her, "Your mother Eve came to us." But Norea turned to them and said to them, "It is you who are the rulers of the darkness; you are accursed. And you did not know my mother; instead it was your female counterpart that you knew. For I am not your descendant; rather it is from the world above that I am come."

The arrogant ruler turned, with all his might, and his countenance came to be like (a) black [...]; he said to her presumptuously, "You must render service to us, as did also your mother Eve; for I have been given [...]." But Norea turned, with the might of [...]; and in a loud voice, she cried out up to the holy one, the God of the entirety, "Rescue me from the rulers of unrighteousness and save me from their clutches - forthwith!"

The (great) angel came down from the heavens and said to her, "Why are you crying up to God? Why do you act so boldly towards the holy spirit?"

Norea said, "Who are you?" The rulers of unrighteousness had withdrawn from her.

He said, "It is I who am Eleleth, sagacity, the great angel who stands in the presence of the holy spirit. I have been sent to speak with you and save you from the grasp of the lawless. And I shall teach you about your root."

(Norea apparently now speaking) Now as for that angel, I cannot speak of his power: his appearance is like fine gold and his raiment is like snow. No, truly, my mouth cannot bear to speak of his power and the appearance of his face!

Eleleth, the great angel, spoke to me. "It is I," he said, "who am understanding. I am one of the four light-givers, who stand in the presence of the great invisible spirit. Do you think these rulers have any power over you? None of them can prevail against the root of truth; for on its account he appeared in the final ages; and these authorities will be restrained. And these authorities cannot defile you and that generation; for your abode is in incorruptibility, where the virgin spirit dwells, who is superior to the authorities of chaos and to their universe."

But I said, "Sir, teach me about the faculty of these authorities – how did they come into being, and by what kind of genesis, and of what material, and who created them and their force?"

And the great angel Eleleth, understanding, spoke to me: "Within limitless realms dwells incorruptibility. Sophia, who is called Pistis, wanted to create something, alone without her consort; and her product was a celestial thing. A veil exists between the world above and the realms that are below; and shadow came into being beneath the veil; and that shadow became matter; and that shadow was projected apart. And what she had created became a product in the matter, like an aborted fetus. And it assumed a plastic form molded out of shadow, and became an arrogant beast resembling a lion. It was androgynous, as I have already said, because it was from matter that it derived.

Opening his eyes, he saw a vast quantity of matter without limit; and he became arrogant, saying, "It is I who am God, and there is none other apart from me". When he said this, he sinned against the entirety. And a voice came forth from above the realm of absolute power, saying, "You are mistaken, Samael" – which is, 'god of the blind'.

And he said, "If any other thing exists before me, let it become visible to me!" And immediately Sophia stretched forth her finger and introduced light into matter; and she pursued it down to the region of chaos. And she returned up to her light; once again darkness [...] matter.

This ruler, by being androgynous, made himself a vast realm, an extent without limit. And he contemplated creating offspring for himself, and created for himself seven offspring, androgynous just like their parent. And he said to his offspring, "It is I who am god of the entirety."

And Zoe (Life), the daughter of Pistis Sophia, cried out and said to him, "You are mistaken, Sakla!" – for which the alternative name is Yaltabaoth. She breathed into his face, and her breath became a fiery angel for her; and that angel bound Yaldabaoth and cast him down into Tartaros below the abyss.

Now when his offspring Sabaoth saw the force of that angel, he repented and condemned his father and his mother, matter. He loathed her, but he sang songs of praise up to Sophia and her daughter Zoe. And Sophia and Zoe caught him up and gave him charge of the seventh heaven, below the veil between above and below. And he is called 'God of the forces, Sabaoth', since he is up above the forces of chaos, for Sophia established him.

Now when these (events) had come to pass, he made himself a huge four-faced chariot of cherubim, and infinitely many angels to act as ministers, and also harps and lyres. And Sophia took her daughter Zoe and had her sit upon his right to teach him about the things that exist in the eighth (heaven); and the angel of wrath she placed upon his left. Since that day, his right has been called 'life'; and the left has come to represent the unrighteousness of the realm of absolute power above. It was before your time that they came into being.

Now when Yaldabaoth saw him (Sabaoth) in this great splendor and at this height, he envied him; and the envy became an androgynous product, and this was the origin of envy. And envy engendered death; and death engendered his offspring and gave each of them charge of its heaven; and all the heavens of chaos became full of their multitudes. But it was by the will of the father of the entirety that they all came into being – after the pattern of all the things above – so that the sum of chaos might be attained.

"There, I have taught you about the pattern of the rulers; and the matter in which it was expressed; and their parent; and their universe."

But I said, "Sir, am I also from their matter?"

"You, together with your offspring, are from the primeval father; from above, out of the imperishable light, their souls are come. Thus the authorities cannot approach them, because of the spirit of truth present within them; and all who have become acquainted with this way exist deathless in the midst of dying mankind. Still, that sown element will not become known now. Instead, after three generations it will come to be known, and it has freed them from the bondage of the authorities' error."

Then I said, "Sir, how much longer?"

He said to me, "Until the moment when the true man, within a modeled form, reveals the existence of the spirit of truth, which the father has sent.

Then he will teach them about everything, and he will anoint them with the unction of life eternal, given him from the undominated generation.

Then they will be freed of blind thought, and they will trample underfoot death, which is of the authorities, and they will ascend into the limitless light where this sown element belongs.

Then the authorities will relinquish their ages, and their angels will weep over their destruction, and their demons will lament their death.

Then all the children of the light will be truly acquainted with the truth and their root, and the father of the entirety and the holy spirit. They will all say with a single voice, 'The father's truth is just, and the son presides over the entirety", and from everyone unto the ages of ages, "Holy – holy – holy! Amen!'"

The Reality [Hypostasis] of the Rulers



By Miguel Conner – Most religions offer a grand cosmic drama, a metaphysical narrative of conflict that filters down to the worldly realms—with the human soul often as the ultimate battleground. The Gnostics had their own spiritual epic, and presented perhaps the most intriguing yet menacing villains in all religious annals: The Archons.
The word “archon” sounds poetic, echoing some sci-fi antagonist perhaps, but the word simply comes from the Greek for “ruler” or “prince,” with a mostly secular connotation. Yet the Apostle Paul in his epistles uses “archon” in a transcendental context (Ephesians 2:2 and Colossians 2:15 are two examples). Through a more esoteric reading, Paul indicates that it was demonic agents, not the Jews or Romans, who were actually responsible for the death of Jesus Christ; and that these very same forces control the universe.
The Gnostics, always the radical innovators and deconstructionists, expanded Paul’s concepts into notion of the Archon (as found in such texts as the Secret Book of John, the Hypostasis of the Archons, and the Gospel of Judas). In fact, they took the notion to terrifying new vistas, proposing that the god of the Old Testament and his angels were nothing but Archons—mighty but flawed deities that managed the cosmos and suppressed the forces of good by drowning existence under waves of ignorance and bureaucracy of all sorts.
The Archons’ main task was to keep the lost sparks of the true divinity, contained in all humans, trapped in the material dimensions in order to fuel their own power (the Gnostic-themed movie The Matrix comes to mind).

The Gnostics (and Paul to an extent) wrote that the only method to defeat the Archons was through Gnosis: that knowledge of one owns God-consciousness, as well as a piercing vision through the false illusions of matter all the way to the Eternal Realm or Treasury of Light (and other names of the place where Sophia, Jesus Christ, and the Alien God dwelled).
The reason the Archons are so horrific is their very nature and purpose. Most religions assume that divine agents manage the universe, and with the Archons this is the case, but with a tragic wrinkle: they happen to be inept and greedy bureaucrats with almost unlimited power. One of the reasons the Archons are so intriguing yet menacing, as mentioned before, is the fact they are truly mundane and ordinary, nothing more than godly administrators draining all worthwhile systems of existence!
One can easily make the case that the narrative of the Archons actually hits closer to home, in ancient or modern sensibilities. After all, we can all relate to the suffocating maze that is a corporation’s customer support or the psychic-erosion of endless government red-tape, and other experiences that seem to slowly submerge consciousness into the mortal states of stupor, numbness, and defeat. On a cosmic level, the Archons are possibly the ultimate agency for oppression.
The concept of the Archons is certainly more approachable than that of traditional demons or evil gods orchestrating punishment in various underworlds. The idea of Hell has certainly lost much credence in modern Christianity. But the idea of bumbling, avaricious, and godlike creatures controlling our lives is something every person can relate to, and it continuously happens in everyday life!


Terry Pratchett kindly posed with his hat for Myrmi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In fact, in the novel Good Omens, written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, a demon appropriately named Crowley proves that the Archon-way is superior in the fight against Heaven. He demonstrates that traffic jams and phone service outages are far more efficient in damning souls than such common demonic methods as possession or temptation. Death by a thousand frustrations is the best way to dim the human spirit.
The notion of Archons, beyond literature, has recently become popular in modern Occultism and even in Conspiracy Theory circles. Two main examples are Alex Jones and David Ickes, both who have frequently spoken about the threat of Archons.
Even from a practical theological standpoint, the existence of the Archons makes more sense. Many in modern Occultism like to quote the Gnostic truism of “As above, So Below.” But they assume it only travels one way, just as they forget that in many ancient traditions the world is but a reflection of the higher realms. In other words, if human societies’ are basically mazes of well-intentioned but deficient systems, and that they ultimately smother what is heroic in individuals, then wouldn’t it be the same for the gods who made us partially in their image?
Maybe Paul or the Gnostics never met an Archon, purely speculating on the state of the cosmos, but they felt their enslaving effects. And so has every person who ever lived, whether it was by their soul-diming of filing worthless paperwork or by the grim and scientific realization that the very fabric of the universe is full of pot holes that will never be fixed.
Coastal GasLink Pipeline Construction To Resume After Agreement Reached
The project is back on track after weeks of nationwide rail protests.

The Canadian Press 
03/02/2020

ROBIN ROWLAND/THE CANADIAN PRESSConstruction equipment is seen on the route of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline on Feb. 23 near Kitimat, B.C. Work on the project is set to resume Monday.


SMITHERS, B.C. — Work is expected to resume Monday on a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia that has been at the centre of protests that have disrupted both rail and road traffic in many parts of the country.

It follows a proposed arrangement that was reached Sunday during talks in Smithers, B.C., involving Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and senior ministers with the federal and B.C. governments. The agreement still needs the approval of the Wet’suwet’en people.

Details of the draft accord, which centres on Indigenous rights and land titles, were not disclosed, however, a joint statement by representatives of Wet’suwet’en Nation, the province and the federal government acknowledged they had not come to an agreement on the pipeline.

Chief Woos, one of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders, called the draft a milestone for everyone involved, though he added the “degree of satisfaction is not what we expected.”

The Wet’suwet’en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils. A majority of its councils have approved the pipeline, but some of the hereditary chiefs, including Woos, remain staunchly opposed to it running through their traditional territory.

After the proposal was announced, Coastal GasLink issued a statement saying it would resume construction activities in the Morice River area on Monday. That work was put on pause while the talks, which began on Thursday, continued.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Deer, the secretary of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake, said Sunday that activists had decided to maintain their rail blockade on the territory south of Montreal, at least for now.

Deer said the Mohawks want more clarification on the proposed arrangement before making a final decision.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on
Pipeline Dispute: Ministers, Wet'suwet'en Chiefs Reach Proposed Agreement

The announcement comes on the fourth day of talks between the two.


The Canadian Press
3/2/2020

SMITHERS, B.C. — Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and senior government ministers reached a proposed arrangement Sunday following days of discussions over a pipeline dispute that prompted solidarity protests and transport disruptions across Canada.

Details of the draft deal, which centres on Indigenous rights and land titles, were not disclosed, however, and work on the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline at the heart of the dispute was set to resume Monday.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said they made progress during the talks.

“We, I believe, have come to a proposed arrangement that will also honour the protocols of the Wet’suwet’en people and clans,” Bennett said in a news conference in Smithers, B.C. “What we’ve worked on this weekend needs to go back to those clans and then we have agreed as ministers that we will come back to sign if it is agreed upon by the Nation.”

She said the proposal is about making sure “that this never happens again, that rights holders will always be at the table.”

#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/XvhCoeza3g— Marc Miller (@MarcMillerVM) March 2, 2020

British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser said the talks have helped address the rights and title of the Wet’suwet’en, but there’s still a “disagreement” over the natural gas pipeline going through traditional territory.

Chief Woos, one of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders, said the draft represents a milestone for everyone involved but that it hasn’t satisfied all of their concerns.

He stressed that the hereditary chiefs remain opposed to the pipeline in their traditional territory.

“We are going to be continuing to look at some more conversations with B.C. and of course with the proponent and further conversation with the RCMP out on the territory,” Woos said. “It’s not over yet. We are just looking at more work in that area.”

Shortly after the proposal was announced, Coastal GasLink issued a statement saying it would resume construction activities in the Morice River area, which is near the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre, on Monday. 


JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett 
and B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser
 in Smithers, B.C., on Feb. 29, 2020.

“Coastal GasLink appreciates that a path has been identified to address significant issues of Aboriginal Title and Rights of the Wet’suwet’en people while recognizing that Coastal GasLink is fully permitted and remains on track for a 2023 in-service date,” president David Pfeiffer said in the statement.

He added the company “remains committed to dialogue and engagement” with all Indigenous groups along its route.

“We are encouraged by Chief Woos statement that he is open to dialogue and look forward to an opportunity to meet with the hereditary chiefs,” Pfeiffer said.

The company had agreed to pause construction during the talks between the hereditary chiefs and the ministers, which began Thursday.

RCMP had also pledged to cease patrols along the Morice West Forest Service Road during the discussions. The Mounties did not respond to requests for comment Sunday.
JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS 
Wet'suwet'en hereditary leader Chief Woos, Minister of 
Crown-Indigenous Relation, Carolyn Bennett, and B.C. 
Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser in Smithers,
 B.C., on Mar. 1, 2020. 

The dispute over the pipeline has spurred solidarity protests across the country that have disrupted passenger and freight train service over the last three weeks. Police have recently moved to dismantle some of the blockades.

The Wet’suwet’en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils. A majority of its councils have approved the pipeline, but some of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs oppose it running through their traditional territory.

Gary Naziel, a Wet’suwet’en hereditary subchief who wants the pipeline built, said he hasn’t seen the proposed arrangement.

“What’s done behind closed doors hasn’t been shared yet,” he said. “But it will be settled in the Feast Hall — all this stuff that’s been going on has to come to Feast Hall. We will deal with it there.”

Naziel said no date has been set to discuss the proposal, but he noted it’s a good first step and he’s satisfied that the pipeline is going ahead.

“The projects are going forward so that way we can get the benefits for our education and language,” he said. “If everybody is satisfied, that’s fine by me. Internally we need to fix things in the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

“We already know we had titles and rights to this land. We know we own this land. We didn’t have to send people across the country and start riots and all this. They said it was peaceful blockades but it was far from peaceful in some places.”

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The dispute also involves other unsettled land rights and title issues, including who has the right to negotiate with governments and corporations, the fact that the land is not covered by a treaty and remains unceded, and a 1997 court case that recognized the hereditary chiefs’ authority and the exclusive right of the Wet’suwet’en peoples to the land but did not specify the boundaries.

Lawyer Peter Grant, who represented the Wet’suwet’en and neighbouring Gitxsan First Nation, said the proposal is not a treaty.

“It’s a draft arrangement, but I think it’s very powerful,” he said.
It’s a draft arrangement, but I think it’s very powerfulPeter Grant, lawyer for Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan First Nation

The secretary of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake said activists have decided to maintain their rail blockade on the territory south of Montreal, at least for now.

Kenneth Deer said the Mohawks want more clarification on the agreement between the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and the federal government before making a final decision.

“It’s a big decision to decide to take down the barricade or not, and they want to make sure they have everything before they make a decision,” he said Sunday outside the entrance to the barricade, where Mohawk flags flew from a tent and pointed wooden shelter protected by low concrete barriers.

Deer, who said he’s been in contact with hereditary chiefs, said there were good things that came out of the meeting in B.C., as well as “some things that were not so good.”

He said the agreement includes discussions on who are custodians of the land, as well as a recognition of the hereditary chiefs, which he described as “significant.”

“However, the pipeline is not resolved, and that a very big issue, not only for the Wet’suwet’en chiefs but for everybody,” he said.

— With files from Colette Derworiz in Edmonton and Morgan Lowrie in Kahnawake.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 1, 2020.
Experts Say Injunctions Aren't Effective Way Of Dealing With Rail Blockades
Indigenous resistance to resource development is too complex an issue to be addressed through injunctions.


Holly McKenzie-Sutter The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — As demonstrations continue across Canada in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing a pipeline through their territory, legal experts suggest it’s time to reconsider how injunctions are employed when responding to Indigenous-led protests.

The protests began earlier this month when the RCMP moved into Wet’suwet’en territory to enforce a court injunction against opponents of Coastal GasLink’s natural gas pipeline development in northern British Columbia. A group of hereditary chiefs rejected the court’s decision on the company’s application, saying it contradicted Wet’suwet’en law.

As solidarity protests popped up on railways and roads across the country, other companies sought their own injunctions to remove the blockades, arguing the demonstrations were causing harm to business and to the Canadian economy.

St. John’s-based lawyer Mark Gruchy, who represents clients charged with breaching an injunction while protesting at the Muskrat Falls hydro site in Labrador in 2016, said Indigenous resistance to resource development is too complex an issue to be addressed through injunctions in their current form.
RYAN REMIORZ/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Police serve an injunction to protesters at a rail blockade in St-Lambert, 
south of Montreal on Feb. 20, 2020.

“It’s frustrating for me as a lawyer to watch, but I think there’s a relatively straightforward way to really take the edge off and to change the future,” Gruchy said from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, where five of his clients had just been cleared of criminal charges related to the Muskrat Falls protest. Several other people still face trials or sentencing after being charged for the same incident.

Gruchy said the concerns raised in his clients’ case will continue to surface across Canada unless politicians work to “modify the tool” being used to resolve such resource and land disputes.

As an example, he proposed that in cases related to an Indigenous-led protest, injunctions could be structured to allow for mediated consultation instead of a heavy-handed order for the protest to stop.

“This issue, really, is a very sharp collision of a major political, social issue with the legal system, and I think that politicians should do their best to ... blunt the impact of that,” he said. The current situation is “not good for ... the long term health of our legal system,” he added. 

DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
A Port Authority security guard hands out copies of an injunction to
 protesters in Vancouver, on Feb. 25, 2020.

John Borrows, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria, said there is a precedent of a legislative solution being employed when injunctions were causing disruption.

In the mid-20th century, the widespread use of injunctions by employers against striking workers was leading to increasingly volatile disputes in British Columbia. The provincial government eventually adjusted labour legislation to outline required negotiation practices in disputes.

“It seems to have created some safety valves or more productive ways of talking through what the dispute is, and so I always wonder whether or not what we learned in other contexts could be applied in this context,” Borrows said.

He said injunctions preserve the status quo, because aboriginal title issues do not need to be considered. That causes complications when complex title and governance issues are at stake, as in the Wet’suwet’en case.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church acknowledged the difficulty of addressing underlying Indigenous law issues in her decision on Coastal GasLink’s injunction application, writing “this is not the venue for that analysis, and those are issues that must be determined at trial.” 

DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS
A Port Authority security guard is flanked by police officers
 as he reads out an injunction against protesters in Vancouver, 
on Feb. 25, 2020.

Others have said the legal tests applied when considering an injunction request favour corporations, because financial losses are more easily demonstrated than environmental or cultural ones.

A study of over 100 injunctions published last year by the Yellowhead Institute, a First Nations-led think tank based at Ryerson University, found 76 per cent of injunctions filed by corporations against First Nations were granted, compared with 19 per cent of injunctions filed by First Nations against corporations.

Irina Ceric, a lawyer and criminology instructor at British Columbia’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University who worked on the study, said the use of injunctions to dispel protests has been on the rise in Canada. But the last three weeks have been “off the charts,” she said, with 12 granted since protests began — more than half of them to the CP and CN railways.

She said the recently granted injunctions raise questions, because in some cases the evidence used in the applications has not been made public, and in other cases it’s unclear why mischief laws would not have sufficed.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
A woman holds a sign as people watch from the sidewalk as police
 officers prepare to enforce an injunction in Vancouver, on Feb. 25, 2020.


“I don’t know if this is the intent, but what it does is that it gives the corporations that are impacted by these blockades the power to call the shots in terms of protest policing, which I think is really problematic,” she said.

Ceric said that rather than waiting for the provinces to introduce legislation, it may take a Supreme Court of Canada challenge to change how injunctions are applied in response to Indigenous protests.

Shiri Pasternak, a criminology professor at Ryerson University and research director of the Yellowhead Institute, said legislators appear to be responding to recent events with more extreme measures rather than reconsidering how injunctions are used.

She pointed to a law introduced in Alberta this week that would heavily fine people who block roads and rail lines and said the recent proliferation of injunctions speaks to their function as a last resort for companies when negotiations with Indigenous leaders break down.

“It’s just proving how instrumental this tool is for removing people from their land,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2020.
Canada's Nevsun Resources To Face Mass Slavery Lawsuit After Supreme Court Ruling
Companies operating in foreign countries can be held liable under international law back home, Canada's top court has ruled.


By Daniel Tencer 
03/01/2020

THOMAS MUKOYA / REUTERSTrucks ferry excavated gold, copper and zinc ore from the main mining pit at the Bisha Mining Share Company in Eritrea, operated by Canadian company Nevsun Resources, on Feb. 17, 2016.


A Vancouver-based mining firm can be sued for slavery, forced labour and crimes against humanity over its operations in Eritrea, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday.

Experts say the ruling could change the way Canadian companies do business abroad.


The ruling marks the end of efforts by Nevsun Resources to stop a lawsuit that began in 2014, when three Eritrean refugees took the company to court in British Columbia. They alleged the local government forced them to work at a facility jointly owned by Nevsun and the Eritrean government, and sought damages for violations of international law, including slavery.

As involuntary conscripts in the military, they claimed that they were forced to work at the Bisha gold, copper and zinc mine under intimidation and threats of torture, sometimes in exposed sunlight at temperatures approaching 50 C.

The three plaintiffs told the courts they had respectively spent 17, 14 and 11 years in forced military labour before escaping in 2011, and were forced to work 12-hour days, six or seven days a week, while at the Bisha mine.

Since its inception, Eritrea has been a dictatorship run by Isaias Afwerki, a former Marxist guerrilla who fought a war for independence from Ethiopia. He was supported first by the U.S. and later the Soviet Union.

Afwerki instituted compulsory military service for all citizens when they turn 18. The service runs for 18 months but can be extended indefinitely. For this and other reasons, the UN and Amnesty International have accused Eritrea of crimes against humanity ― accusations the government rejects.

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Nevsun has denied the claims against it, stating in court filings that the Eritrean military has never provided workers to the Bisha mine.

“There are contractual commitments in place that strictly prohibit the use of national service employees by Eritrean subsidiary Bisha Mining Share Company’s contractors and subcontractors,” the company said Friday, as quoted at Mining.com.

The plaintiffs’ law firms said in a statement that the Supreme Court ruling means “Canada’s first mass tort claim for modern slavery will now proceed to trial.” Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman LLP and Siskinds LLP said, “The Court recognized for the first time that a Canadian corporation may be held legally responsible for violations of international law that protect human rights.”
Charting a different legal path

Legal experts say that sets Canada apart from countries such as the U.S. and Great Britain, where courts have recognized the “act of state doctrine” ― the legal principle that a court in one country shouldn’t pass judgment on the actions of another, sovereign state. That principle has never existed in Canada.
“[I]t is not ‘plain and obvious’ that corporations today enjoy a blanket exclusion under customary international law from direct liability for violations of ‘obligatory, definable, and universal norms of international law’, or indirect liability for … ‘complicity offenses’,” Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella wrote in the decision reflecting the majority view on the bench.
... the ruling is “a landmark, watershed moment in Canadian law.”Hassan Ahmad, University of Toronto doctoral candidate

Some Supreme Court justices dissented, arguing that even if the act of state doctrine doesn’t apply to Canada, it doesn’t follow that international law automatically applies in a Canadian courtroom.

“The decision of the Supreme Court today makes Canada a bit of an outlier in the common law world,” Cory Wanless, a lawyer who specializes in human rights cases at Waddell Phillips PC, told Canadian Lawyer magazine.

“The Court decided that Canada has gone a different route … than the approach in Australia, the U.K. and in the U.S.”

Hassan Ahmad, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, told the magazine the ruling is “a landmark, watershed moment in Canadian law” which “signifies the increasing globalization of our world, and how trade and commerce cross national frontiers. I think the law is finally catching up to that.”
Horrifying cartoon of Greta Thunberg being sexually assaulted linked to Canadian oil company in Alberta


HEY KENNEY DID THIS COME FROM THE WAR ROOM?

THE INDEPENDENT 


An explicit cartoon of 17-year-old Greta Thunberg being raped has been spotted with the branding of a Canadian oil company on it.

According to HuffPost Canada, ARTICLE POSTED BELOW the sticker was found by Alberta citizen Michelle Narang, who despite being a supporter of the oil and gas industry, felt compelled to post an image of the sticker on Facebook criticising its existence.

The sticker was allegedly being handed out at job sites to be worn on hard hats, and was circulating among X-Site Energy Services employees last week with the knowledge of one of the managers.

Said manager reportedly responded to the complaint by saying that Thunberg "wasn't a child"... which seems somewhat irrelevant.

Thunberg responded in her characteristically measured way, tweeting that this shows she and her cause are winning.

This isn't necessarily wrong. Thunberg has a history of making men irrationally angry, despite the fact that her only goal in life is really to minimise the planet's destruction due to climate change.

Somehow, the likes of Donald Trump, Piers Morgan, Jeremy Clarkson and so on seem incapable of just leaving her alone, and feel the need to constantly hurl insults and minimise her impact.

This has now escalated to the point of images of sexual violence, which is clearly worrying.

It's also heavily gendered – one can only wonder whether a male activist would be subject to such horrifying treatment and conclude that likely not.

Disgusting Sticker Of 'Greta Thunberg' Linked To Alberta Oil Company Shocks Canadians
“It blows my mind anyone would think it’s funny.”

By Samantha Beattie 
HUFFINGTON POST CANADA

Michelle Narang cried when she first saw a sticker of what appears to be a drawing of teen activist Greta Thunberg being sexually assaulted and the name of an oilfield company printed boldly across the bottom of the decal.

Narang, who lives in Rocky Mountain House in west-central Alberta, is a proud supporter of Canadian energy. Her relatives earn a living in the oil industry, which also supports the non-profit she works for. She calls the investment that oil and gas companies make in communities, like her town, “beautiful.”

“This is an industry Alberta is fighting for so desperately. This sticker is not something Alberta or Albertans need,” Narang told HuffPost Canada in an interview Thursday.

Narang decided she couldn’t stay silent. As someone who knows survivors of sexual assault, she never wants her 13-year-old son to see the sticker, or be OK with violence against women. So, she posted the image to Facebook as a way to call it out: “This company represents everything that the [oil and gas] industry needs to fight against.”


The sticker shows a drawing of the back of a nude female and two hands pulling from behind on her braided hair. The word “Greta” is written across her lower back. This image has been censored



“Silence never creates change,” Narang said. “It’s sad to me (the sticker) went through a supply chain of people, who thought about it, printed it and distributed it. It blows my mind anyone would think it’s funny.”

A friend who works in the oil industry sent an image of the sticker to Narang. They spoke to HuffPost Canada on a condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions at their job. The sticker, reading “X-Site Energy Services,” was handed out recently as promotional material at job sites to be worn on hard hats, the worker said.

Although the actual stickers weren’t distributed at their workplace, they said the graphic image was circulating among their colleagues on Wednesday. The worker said the company was asked if it would be interested in a similar sticker.

“It was completely disgusting and wrong,” the worker said.

Narang said she called the general manager of X-Site, Doug Sparrow, asking him if he knew about the sticker that appears to depict the rape of a minor. He said he was aware of it, according to Narang, and his response was, “She’s not a child, she’s 17.”

Under the Criminal Code, child pornography is any visual representation of a person under the age of 18 engaged or depicted to be engaged in a sexual activity.


Alberta oil and gas industry apparently needs to be reminded of the definition of child pornography in Canadian law. Making and disseminating child pornography is an indictable offence. #ablegpic.twitter.com/v55HfopK3a— Lise Gotell (@LiseGot) February 27, 2020


UPDATE - Feb. 28, 2020: RCMP have investigated the image, and determined it is not considered child pornography. “According to our experts, the image does not meet the criteria for it to constitute a criminal offence,” an officer from the Red Deer detachment told HuffPost.

Sparrow did not respond to HuffPost’s repeated requests for comment, but he told City News Edmonton Thursday that neither X-Site, nor any X-Site employee, was involved in making the sticker.

“Someone has done this. That’s all I know,” Sparrow said.

He told Global News that he was shutting down his company’s social media pages because of online “attacks.”

Velocity, a printing company in Red Deer, has been accused of printing the stickers. A representative told HuffPost that while X-Site was a previous client, its work history shows Velocity did not print this order.

Thunberg, a Swedish activist, has become a symbol for climate change action, as the world faces significant global warming and only 10 years to curb catastrophe, according to the United Nations and other experts.


At the same time, the Alberta oil industry is facing increasing pressure from other provinces and environmentalists to cut carbon emissions and transition to green energy.

Just this week, Teck Resources backed out of a $20-billion Alberta oilsands mining project, blaming Canada’s unclear climate change policy. Across the country, Indigenous protesters have blocked major railways in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline in B.C.

Highlighting the national discord, four Alberta Conservative MPs released a document called the “Buffalo Declaration,” calling for “equality” and a louder voice for Alberta at the federal table. 


‘This is not what our province stands for’

Alberta’s Minister of Culture Leela Aheer denounced the image on Twitter, calling it, “completely deplorable, unacceptable and degrading. This is not what our province stands for. Whoever is responsible should be ashamed and apologize immediately. I stand with Albertans against this horrendous image.”

Premier Jason Kenney, in a comment, thanked Aheer for denouncing “this odious image and the message it sends.”

Narang emphasized the sticker is not representative of her community and does not want it to be used as fodder by the “anti-oil, anti-Alberta side.”

“I really want Eastern Canada to understand this (sticker) is the craziest thing possible,” Narang said. “There’s way more good news stories and we love our environment.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include politicians’ responses and an additional comment from Doug Sparrow.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story included an unedited image of the sticker. It has been updated to blur the image as it is an implied depiction of a minor.


The company X-site energy Services is not on social media, but they are still on LinkedIn, including company profile and contact information.

'Greta Thunberg' Sticker Is Offensive But Not Child Pornography: RCMP
The House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion condemning the sticker.


By Emilie Clavel


ASSOCIATED PRESS

Climate activist Greta Thunberg marches in a school strike
 climate protest in Bristol in southwest England on Feb. 28, 2020.

A sticker linked to an Alberta oilfield company that appears to depict teen climate activist Greta Thunberg being sexually assaulted “does not meet the threshold of a criminal matter,” according to the RCMP.

The drawing shows a naked female and two hands pulling her braids back, with the word “Greta” written across her lower back. Below that is the logo of Edson-based company X-Site Energy Services Ltd. It has drawn staunch criticism, and serious concerns that the imagery constitutes child pornography.

Swedish activist Thunberg, 17, has galvanized young people around the world to call on global leaders to act on climate change. She made several stops in Canada last year, including a climate rally at the Alberta legislature. Supporters of the oil and gas industry from United We Roll countered the event with a convoy meant to show their pride for the sector.

Previously on HuffPost: Greta Thunberg joins rally in Edmonton. Story continues after video.


Michelle Narang, who lives in Rocky Mountain House and called out the image on Facebook, told the Canadian Press that she reported the image as child pornography to to the RCMP Thursday.

On Friday, RCMP Supt. Gerald Grobmeier told HuffPost that while his detachment in Red Deer had not been assigned to the complaint, officers there “took it upon themselves” to review the image after seeing it on Facebook.

“We had the image analyzed by our experts in child exploitation matters. They determined that it does not meet the threshold of a criminal matter, so there isn’t an investigation underway,” he said.

Under the Criminal Code, child pornography is any visual representation of a person under the age of 18 engaged or depicted to be engaged in a sexual activity.

“There’s a lot of assumptions on who that person is when they write the word ‘Greta.’ Unfortunately, with criminal cases you can’t make assumptions, you need facts,” Grobmeier said.

“We also don’t feel it’s appropriate, of course, but it isn’t a criminal matter,” he added.
‘Room for interpretation’

Francis Fortin, an associate professor of criminology at University of Montreal whose research has focused on child pornography, said the RCMP’s decision is a sound one.

While the image leaves “room for interpretation,” the explicit character or sexual purpose of the image is questionable, from a legal standpoint. For example, it would be hard to prove to a judge that the image depicts someone under 18 years old.

“With a 16- or 17-year-old girl, it’s hard to establish their age. Some are more developed than others,” said Fortin, pointing out this is part of the reason why most arrests for child pornography deal with images showing prepubescent children.


Illustrations or drawings can prove even trickier to prosecute, since “the spirit of the law is to stop the proliferation of those images to protect children from being victimized.”

Fortin said, “You need to put the context aside and look at the image on its own, staying very true to the law. I don’t think someone could make the interpretation [that the image shows Greta Thunberg]. Greta is a fairly common name.”

That is not to say the sticker should ever have been distributed.

“It’s definitely in bad taste,” said Fortin. “But it couldn’t be considered child pornography in Canada.”

On Friday afternoon, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion condemning the sticker. NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, who tabled the motion, described it as “encouraging a violent sexual assault on a young environmental activist.”

---30---
Three Barclays bankers cleared of fraud over £4bn financial crisis deal with Qatar

Serious Fraud Office alleged £322m in fees were hidden from the market and other investors through bogus agreements


Reuters

Three former Barclays bosses have been cleared of fraud over a £4bn investment deal with Qatar at the height of the banking crisis.

Scotsman Roger Jenkins, 64, was said to be Barclays’ “gatekeeper” to the wealthy Middle Eastern state, and in 2008 helped the bank with two large capital raisings to avoid a government bailout.

In June, Barclays secured £4.4bn, with £1.9bn invested by Qatar, followed by a second tranche in the autumn of £6.8bn, of which £2bn was from Qatar.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) alleged the lucrative terms given to Qatar, including an extra £322m in fees, were hidden from the market and other investors through bogus advisory service agreements (ASAs).

But multi-millionaire Jenkins, who was linked to a string of glamorous women including supermodel Elle MacPherson, was on Friday acquitted of fraud, alongside former colleagues Thomas Kalaris, 64, and Richard Boath, 61 at the Old Bailey.

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for around five and a half hours following a five-month trial.


At the time of the alleged fraud, each of the defendants held very senior positions at Barclays, jurors heard.

Jenkins was Barclays Capital (“BarCap”) executive chair of investment banking and investment management in the Middle East and North Africa; Kalaris was Barclays’ wealth management CEO and Boath was Barclays Capital head of financial institutions group for Europe, Middle East and Africa.


Prosecutor Ed Brown QC told jurors: “They acted dishonestly in order to preserve the future of the bank and to preserve their own positions.”

The defendants denied wrongdoing, with Bill Boyce QC, for Boath, describing the allegation as “preposterous”.

Mr Boyce told jurors: “The SFO have to prove that Roger Jenkins and Sheikh Hamad agreed a sham contract ... this despite the fact that it was obvious to both sides that a long-term strategic relationship was in both their interests.”

Jenkins, of Malibu, California; Kalaris, of Thurloe Square, west London; and Boath, of Henley-on-Thames, were acquitted of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and fraud by false representation between 1 May 2008 and 31 August 2008.

Jenkins was also acquitted of two similar offences dated between September 2008 and November 2008.

Jurors were told that a fourth man, Christopher Lucas, had been found unfit to face trial due to illness.

The three bankers had originally been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud alongside former Barclays chief executive John Varley.

However in April last year a judge dismissed the charges against Mr Varley, saying the SFO did not have enough evidence against the former boss to proceed.

The SFO appealed against the decision, but it was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The SFO is yet to disclose the cost of the investigation, which began in August 2012.

It is understood that a core team of eight people worked on the case at any one time, consisting of investigators and lawyers.

Barclays is now facing a civil suit from a private equity firm for allegedly deceiving it over emergency fundraisings in 2008 that were designed to avoid a UK government bailout.

Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners is seeking damages of up to £1.6bn from the bank.

The case is expected to be heard later this year after it was postponed several times to allow the criminal trial to proceed.

A spokesperson for PCP said: “The criminal case brought by the SFO against Jenkins, Kalaris and Boath involved different issues, tried before different tribunals, with different parties and different standards of proof. PCP’s claim is not brought against individuals at the bank. It is brought against the bank itself for civil liability. PCP’s claim is not impacted by the outcome of the criminal trial.”

The case is expected to start in June.

'Big Dog' and the 'omnipotent sheikh' - how Qatar saved Barclays

Kirstin Ridley, Lawrence White

LONDON (Reuters) - When Roger Jenkins was asked to help Barclays avoid a state bailout at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, he was expecting a bonus not a prosecution for his efforts.

More than a decade later, Jenkins and former Barclays colleagues Richard Boath and Tom Kalaris, were unanimously acquitted by a jury on Friday in a case that revealed how the British banking giant secured a 4 billion pound ($5.2 billion) investment from Qatar.

With its survival at risk, Barclays was relying on Jenkins’ persuasiveness and personal relationship with Qatar’s then prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani.

But the tiny emirate, which has punched above its weight for years after the discovery of oil and gas, was playing hardball. Barclays’ response was to pursue a deal which Jenkins conceded during his trial was optically “close to the line”.

The four month trial at London’s Old Bailey criminal court shone a light on the punishing globe-trotting schedules, meetings in luxury hotels and often surreal negotiations which pulled Barclays back from the brink.

Jenkins, known as “Big Dog” to colleagues, sat in the witness box for weeks, shedding some light on how one of the world’s biggest banks pulled out the stops to court a man referred to during proceedings as “the omnipotent sheikh”.

TOUGH NEGOTIATOR

The Gulf state had a reputation as a tough negotiator and in June 2008, Qatar Holding, part of the $300 billion Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) sovereign wealth fund, demanded more than twice the fees Barclays had promised other investors.

The Qatari investment was key. It helped pave the way for other financial backers, such as Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, Singapore’s state investor Temasek and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, allowing Barclays to raise around 11 billion pounds that year across two capital raisings.

But the deals struck by the bank — an extra 322 million pounds paid to Qatar under two Advisory Services Agreements (ASAs) — landed the former bankers in court with fraud charges.

Prosecutors had alleged the side deals were shams, designed only to pay Qatar extra fees.

Jenkins, Boath and Kalaris maintained they were intended as genuine, commercial agreements and had been approved by directors and lawyers as mechanisms to secure lucrative advisory and banking business generated by Qatar.

Sheikh Hamad and Qatar, still a leading investor in Barclays and Britain after a 35-billion-pound acquisition spree of trophy assets, were not accused of wrongdoing.

A statement released on behalf of Sheikh Hamad said the ASAs proposed by Barclays had been genuine.

“Out of respect for the due processes of English law, Sheikh Hamad and the other Qatari parties did not seek to intervene during the course of the trial to correct those errors of fact and misleading interpretations that appeared to be given currency in some quarters,” Friday’s statement said.

BRIDGING THE GULF

In the Gulf, personal relationships and trust are paramount and banks pay millions to those who can gain and sustain it.

Jenkins had forged a relationship with billionaire Sheikh Hamad, who caused a stir in early 2008 when he told world leaders in Davos that he wanted to pump $15 billion into banks.

The pair were first introduced in 2007 through a friend of Jenkins’ former wife Diana while on holiday on the Italian island of Sardinia, he told the court.

Bonding over dinner and discussions about supermarket investments on the sheikh’s yacht, Jenkins and his wife were later invited to Sheikh Hamad’s French house in Cannes.

As the relationship blossomed, Jenkins flew to Doha and helped arrange meetings with Barclays directors and the sheikh and his officials at luxury London hotels as well as at Jenkins’ mansion in London’s Mayfair district, in Doha and New York.

Without such introductions, things were bleak.

Bob Diamond, the charismatic American executive who would become Barclays chief executive in 2010, was left sitting in a lobby in Abu Dhabi “for days on end” when he first tried to forge a relationship with UAE sheikhs, the court was told.

Diamond was not accused of any wrongdoing. His spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

GAME OF BLUFF

With Barclays under pressure in roiling markets, Jenkins knew he had a poor negotiating hand in June 2008.

In a culture in which meetings were unscheduled, could be at any time within a two-day period and might be over in 15 minutes, he was asked to wait overnight for a meeting with Sheikh Hamad. But he did not want to betray weakness.

His tactic, he told the jury, was to fly to Dubai, fabricating a meeting there to give the impression he was in high demand in the Middle East, before returning to Doha.

“I did not want to sit in Doha and wait for His Excellency for 48 hours ... That would be a sign of weakness in the negotiation,” he said during cross-examination.

Four months later, Barclays extended the ASA with Qatar for another 280 million pounds as the Gulf state again invested in the British bank alongside Abu Dhabi investors.

Factbox: Barclays bosses cleared of credit crisis-era fraud

LONDON (Reuters) - Three former Barclays executives were cleared of credit-crisis era fraud charges by a jury on Friday after a landmark London trial over undisclosed payments to Qatar in 2008.

Below are some details about the three defendants.

ROGER JENKINS
Once dubbed Britain’s best-paid banker, Jenkins held the golden key to the Qatari deal — a personal relationship with former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani.

Jenkins owned 60 million pounds of Barclays stock and was recommended for a 25 million pound bonus for his work on the 2008 fundraisings.

The Scottish-born former sprinter, who earned millions at Barclays devising complex tax structures, helped secure a second deal with Qatar in October 2008 despite suffering a heart attack two months earlier.

On June 26, 2008, Barclays’ then CEO John Varley emailed Jenkins saying: “We could not have done what we have done without the pivotal role you played. Thank you for the extraordinary skill and tenacity.”

By the time he left Barclays in 2009 to become an independent consultant, he had amassed a 120 million pound fortune, according to the 2009 Sunday Times Rich list.

'It looks unreal': Homes encased in ice as extreme weather transforms neighbourhood into real-life Frozen

Gale-force winds across Lake Erie behind remarkable spectacle in town of Hamburg



One fairytale home in Hamburg, which has been layered in a thick coating of ice after two days of storms ( AP )

A ferocious storm left a neighbourhood in a lakeside town in New York state entirely encased in ice.

The population of Hamburg, which lies on the edge of Lake Erie on the border between America and Canada, woke up over the weekend to discover their homes had been covered by a thick layer of ice.

Driven gale force winds from the nearby lake, huge waves of spray were forced up on to the houses next to the water.

And because the temperature was below zero, the water froze tight to the houses, creating an extraordinary visual effect.

Pictures from Hamburg show the town now resembling a scene from Disney movie Frozen, with all the detail around doors, windows and roofs perfectly reproduced in sheets of ice.

"It looks fake, it looks unreal," resident Ed Mis told CNN.  "It's dark on the inside of my house. It can be a little eerie, a little frightening."

As well as about half a metre of ice plastered to his house, Mr Mis said his backyard was even worse, covered more than three metres thick of frozen water.

Although the ice coverings are remarkable to look at, some inhabitants of the winter wonderland are concerned about possible damage to their homes.

(Reuters)
"We're worried about the integrity, of structure failure when it starts to melt, because of the weight on the roof," Mr Mis said.

"It's a beautiful sight, but I don't want to live through it again.