TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

My Pillow's Mike Lindell barred from entering Canada to support convoy protestors

Christopher Nardi - 
National Post

OTTAWA – My Pillow CEO and staunch Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell, as well as a truck full of “10,000 pillows,” were denied entry into Canada Tuesday evening while trying to join Ottawa Freedom Convoy protesters, National Post has learned.


© Provided by National Post

Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow, outside the White House, January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Erin Scott

A senior government source said that Lindell, as well an accompanying videographer, were intercepted at the Port Huron-Sarnia border crossing on Tuesday evening as they were enroute to Ottawa to distribute “pillows and Bibles” to convoy protestors.

On the same day, a My Pillow truck carrying “over 10,000 pillows,” including 1,000 “Bible pillows” destined for the truckers’ children was also intercepted trying to cross the border through the Ambassador Bridge leading to Windsor, ON.

According to the senior government source, Lindell was turned back because he was not fully vaccinated and did not have a negative PCR test in hand.

The source said that truck was also denied entry into Canada because the U.S. trucker did not have a valid pre-arrival PCR test.


A truck filled with 10,000 My Pillows progress towards Canada was documented by Right Side Broadcasting Network (RBSN), an American right-wing media company

National Post granted the source anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss this issue publicly.

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) caught wind of the prominent Trump supporter and U.S. election fraud conspiracy theorist through social media posts just before his arrival, the source noted.

Current Canadian border rules demand that foreign visitors have at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses and show a negative molecular COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours of arrival in Canada in order to enter the country.

Lindell is a staunch supporter of former Republican U.S. president Donald Trump and a prolific advocate of conspiracy theories claiming that the last U.S. election was “stolen” in favour of Democratic President Joe Biden.

He has repeated false claims that voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems rigged the election for Biden and that Trump should be reinstated as president.

In a video posted on his Facebook page Tuesday, Lindell described the Canadian trucker protests as “so important” and claimed that they were the reason provinces such as Ontario had begun lifting COVID-19 public health restrictions.

“They can’t stop because they’ve got to completely get their freedoms back,” he said.

Conspiracy theories have devastating impact on Canadian-founded Dominion Voting firm and its employees: CEO

The source says Lindell is one of “dozens” of Americans who have been turned away at the border under current COVID-19 rules while trying to join trucker convoys across the country.

My Pillow did not immediately respond to requests for comment or explain the quantity of pillows, which vastly outnumbers any estimate of the number of protesters in Ottawa.

In a video posted online Tuesday evening, Lindell is seen ranting against Canadian border officials after the truck was turned away.

“We’ve been on we’ve been trying to get my trucks into Canada… we’ve been trying to get to Ottawa,” Lindell said in a video posted to his media website Frank.

“(The trucker) has been waiting on this permit that they made up out of the blue, this new permit thing,” he said.

The truck’s progress towards Canada was documented by Right Side Broadcasting Network (RBSN) , an American right-wing media company.

But their work was abruptly interrupted when they were also stopped and detained while trying to cross the Ambassador Bridge, RBSN said in a statement on social media.

“RBSN’s film crew was temporarily detained at the Canadian border on Tuesday evening and was released shortly thereafter,” reads the statement.

“RBSN had hoped to continue coverage of My Pillow’s pillow distribution to the Freedom Convoy of truckers,” reads the statement. “However, they were denied entry to Canada due to Covid-19 protocols and returned to the United States.”

In an interview with CBC, Lindell denied he was blocked at the border. CBC also said they had government sources confirming he was there.

A spokesperson for CBSA neither confirmed nor denied that it had stopped Lindell at the border, citing privacy legislation.

“What I can tell you is that all travellers seeking entry to Canada are subject to strict screening measures by CBSA border services officers to ensure travellers are eligible to enter the country and understand their public health obligations,” senior spokesperson Patrick Mahaffy said in an email.

“All foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, must meet all entry requirements as set out in the Orders in Council related to COVID-19, before being authorized to enter Canada,” he added.

WHITE REACTIONARY PROTEST

'It could have been deadly': Truckers end blockade at Alberta border crossing

COUTTS, Alta. — A blockade that paralyzed a United States border crossing for more than two weeks ended Tuesday as trucks and other vehicles with horns blaring rolled away from a southern Alberta community.


© Provided by The Canadian Press'It could have been deadly': Truckers end blockade at Alberta border crossing

Protesters had been restricting access to the busy crossing near Coutts since Jan. 29 to rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers and broader pandemic health restrictions.

Canada Border Services Agency said operations had resumed at the crossing and RCMP confirmed later Tuesday that traffic was moving smoothly.

The exodus of vehicles came one day after RCMP arrested 13 people and seized a cache of firearms and ammunition.

Charges laid include possession of weapons and mischief to property.

Four people also face a charge of conspiracy to murder RCMP members, said Chief Supt. Trevor Daroux. He said police worked closely with the Crown to ensure they had the necessary evidence to lay those charges.

Some of the accused were granted release in a Lethbridge, Alta., courtroom on Tuesday. A judge also ordered that they can't contact one another or be within a 200-metre radius of any protest.

Mounties said an early-morning raid Monday uncovered 13 long guns, handguns, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition and body armour. Two additional weapons were seized later in the day.

RCMP also said a semi-truck and farm tractor had attempted to ram a police cruiser on Sunday.

"The dangerous criminal activity occurring away from the TV cameras and social media posts was real and organized," said Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki on Tuesday evening.

"It could have been deadly for citizens, protesters and officers."

Daroux said the RCMP became aware of the heavily armed group a few days after the protest began. He said investigations are ongoing into this group and other events that took place during the blockade.

"Alberta RCMP will remain in the area until we are confident that the situation is safe and stabilized for all who travel through here," he said.

Protesters are dissociating themselves from the group of people facing serious charges. Organizer Marco Van Huigenbos said that is why the convoy decided to leave peacefully.

IT WAS PEACEFUL BUT IT WAS STILL AN ILLEGAL BLOCKADE,  HAD IT BEEN INDIGENOUS OR ENVIROMENTALISTS THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AND HAULED OFF AS HAS HAPPENED ON RAIL BLOCKADES AND OLD FOREST PROTESTS

He said he has no regrets about participating in the blockade.

"I think we've started a movement where people are going to get more involved ... at the municipal level, provincial possibly, but also more involvement in politics in general."

Two tactical vests seized by the RCMP had badges on them, which the Canadian Anti-Hate Network said have links to troubling movements.

One vest had a "Diagolon" patch on it, a white diagonal line across a black rectangle, that is linked to an often conspiratorial and antisemitic group, said Peter Smith from the network. He said the group often talks about a soon-approaching civil war.

"(Their) rhetoric is very violent," said Smith. "One of the, kind of, common phrases used within the community is 'A gun or rope?'"

The other patch said "Infidel" in both English and Arabic in yellow. Smith said the patch doesn't indicate membership to a specific network but is known among Islamophobic militias and biker-style hate groups.

He said the biggest worry is having niche extremist networks that could work to inflame supporters linked to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest.

There was celebrating when the protest started winding down late Monday. A video posted to social media showed RCMP members shaking hands with and hugging protesters. People holding hats or hands to their chests or with arms draped across each other's shoulders sang O Canada.

Cpl. Gina Slaney confirmed the scene was from Monday night in Coutts.Zablocki said RCMP is aware of the video.

"I will say, we do encourage our members to engage with the public and develop respectful, professional relationships with all Albertans," said Zablocki. "We will be looking further into this matter."

Jim Willett, mayor of the village of 250 people, said it had been a while since he had seen anything but semi-trailers on Highway 4.

"I can see all the way to Regina," he said with a laugh.

Willett said he doesn't blame the blockade leaders for the cache of weapons.

"They were a well-behaved bunch of people," he said. "I think the organizers were taken aback as much as we were by what the RCMP discovered."

The number of protesters at a police checkpoint, north of Coutts, had also dwindled and work was underway to start clearing away a first-aid trailer, a sauna and electric generators.

"Last night, emotions were high ... I think a lot of people felt that we were giving up, but we're not giving up," said John Vanreeuwyk, a feedlot operator from Coaldale, Alta., also a protest organizer. A FEEDLOT IS A HOLDING PEN FOR CATTLE FOR AUCTION,DUTCH CANADIAN PROTESTANT

"Is it a victory? No. A victory means we're done," he said.

The blockade was one of several demonstrations in Canadian cities and border points that stalled trade, stranded travellers and disrupted lives of area residents, particularly in Ottawa.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has said $48 million in trade was lost each day that the Coutts border was closed.

— With files from Alanna Smith in Calgary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

Alberta border arrests speak to larger Canadian concern: federal safety minister

OTTAWA — Canada's safety minister says a group with allegedly violent motives that was arrested at a border blockade in southern Alberta speaks to broader concerns.

Police earlier this week charged 13 people from the Coutts protest with possession of weapons and mischief to property, including four who face counts of conspiracy to murder RCMP officers.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says some people involved in the Coutts convoy have strong ties to a far-right extremist organization led out of Ottawa, but he's not naming it.

He says the group is organized, agile, knowledgeable and driven by extremist ideology contrary to Canada's democratic values.

Mendicino says the same rhetoric used by supporters in Coutts is being heard elsewhere and undermines public confidence in law enforcement and government, which could lead to unlawful demonstrations beyond public protests.


Video: Many locals support Alberta border blockade despite disruptions (cbc.ca)

The Coutts blockade, which broke up on Tuesday, was one of several demonstrations in Canadian cities and border points against vaccine mandates and broader COVID-19 restrictions that stalled trade, stranded travellers, and disrupted lives of area residents.

"The pattern that we're seeing here is in the rhetoric that is being used not only in Coutts, not only in Ottawa, but right across the country," Mendicino said Wednesday.

"That unified and focused message is one of concern and ... does shed light on the ideological motivations of those who are prepared to move beyond just demonstrations and crossing into different conduct, which would be illegal."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2022.

The Canadian Press

4 Men Are Charged With Conspiring To Murder RCMP Officers At Alberta's Coutts Border Protest

Daniel Milligan - Narcity

Four protesters have been charged with conspiring to murder RCMP officers at Alberta's Coutts border crossing.

The developments came to light on Tuesday afternoon during a live address from Alberta RCMP Deputy Commissioner Zablocki and Chief Superintendent Daroux who were providing an update to the protests at the Canada-U.S. border and the arrests made earlier this week.

On Monday, RCMP received information that a group of protesters had a "willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade" and that they had access to firearms and a "large quantity of ammunition."

Eleven people were initially arrested by officers before two others were also taken into custody later.




© Provided by Narcity4 Men Are Charged With Conspiring To Murder RCMP Officers At Alberta's Coutts Border Protest

AlbertaRCMP | Twitter

Of those arrested, most face charges of mischief to property over $5,000 and possession of a weapon, including:
Jaclyne Martin, 39
Ursla Allred, 22
Joanne Person, 62
Luke Berk, 62
Evan Colenutt, 23
Johnson Law, 39
Justin Martin, 22
Eastin Oler, 22
Janx Zaremba, 18

Four men are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder:

Chris Carbert, 44
Chris Lysak, 48
Anthony Olienick, 39
Jerry Morin, 40

All remain in custody and Lysak has additionally been charged with uttering threats.

Zablocki said the weapons seizure and subsequent arrests speak to the "serious criminal activities" taking place during this protest.

He added: "The dangerous, criminal activity occurring away from the TV cameras and social media posts was real and organized, and it could have been deadly for citizens, protesters and officers."

Daroux said their main goal is to maintain public safety and facilitate a lawful protest which meant maintaining an open border.

He added: "I want to stress - at all times during this operation, our officers were investigating, gathering evidence and working towards a safe and effective plan to enforce the applicable laws and legislation. All of this was guided by the level of threat to our officers and anyone involved."

Coutts blockaders discussed blocking airport cargo terminals: private threat assessment

A covert operation conducted by an Edmonton security firm determined some protesters occupying the Coutts border had become so emboldened by the blockade’s success they discussed blocking cargo terminals at airports across the country in an ongoing attempt to force a change of government in Ottawa.

“This protest has been wildly successful, far beyond the protesters’ imaginations,” said Neil LeMay, a senior consultant with Global Enterprise Security Risk Management.

“I think we can see this group looking to repeat their successes at different locations,” LeMay said.

“We do have some intelligence that we believe is reliable, that suggests they're considering targeting international airports where cargo and shipping supplied to routes are vulnerable.”

A retired RCMP member with nearly 30 years of policing experience, LeMay most recently was the deputy chief in charge of protection services for the Alberta government, responsible for the safety of 75,000 employees in more than 300 locations. His firm conducts threat assessments and sells them to various levels of government and private corporations.

LeMay said a private investigator, working covertly, spent about 10 hours on Saturday among the Coutts organizers and their families.

“They are absolutely amazed that the police haven't taken more enforcement action against them, particularly at the border in Coutts,” LeMay said in an interview Sunday before many protesters with the blockade began leaving Monday evening and the blockade was dismantled Tuesday morning.

Video: Weapons and ammunition seized at border blockade in Coutts, Alberta

His firm’s threat assessment, obtained exclusively by Global News, found the Coutts blockade was spiritually motivated by far-right Christian ideology and was highly organized, with what appeared to be a leader — unidentified in the assessment — who delegated tasks, and directed its finances and security.

It was well supported and funded both by local people and by wealthy farmers, ranchers and by trucking and construction-company owners from across the province who were participating in a “proxy protest” by providing farm equipment, trucks and heavy equipment to block Highway 4, a key trade route between the U.S. and Alberta, the assessment stated.

Read more:
Canada’s emergency law invoked over fear of ‘serious violence’ for political, ideological gain

At a news conference Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government has invoked never-before-used emergency powers to support provinces in ending the blockades in Ottawa, Coutts, and elsewhere.

Under the Emergencies Act, he said, the government will “designate, secure, and protect” places and infrastructure that are critical to Canada’s economy, including airports and border crossings.
Goods and supplies delivered along coulee trails

LeMay said there were two distinct groups blocking the border at Coutts and further north along Highway 4 at Milk River, and very few of the protesters were truckers affected by the federal government’s cross-border vaccine mandate.

As has been reported, the protest group at Milk River was much larger, as many 1,500 people at one point. LeMay said the group, which was almost exclusively white, included many protesters in their late teens or early 20s but also people of all ages.

They weren’t involved in blockade planning.

“They are just there for support. A lot of them are there just to have a big party and thumb their nose at the police and the government,” LeMay said.

At Coutts, there was a core group of about 30 to 35 people, and their families, including small children.

The security firm’s investigation concluded some protesters, particularly within the Coutts group, viewed the presence of children as a potential “shield” from law enforcement tactics but kept the children there despite the risk of harm should police move in.


“We know that there have been discussions around the table at the headquarters of the (protest at the) Smuggler’s Saloon in Coutts where mothers have openly questioned how their children will react to the tear gas when it comes and what effect it will have on them,” LeMay said.

LeMay said goods and supplies, including water, food, fuel, even diapers, were brought to the group on foot or by all-terrain vehicles through a myriad of coulee trails.

“There is so much food there that they're running out of places to store it,” LeMay said Sunday.
Supplies suggest 'protest by proxy' element

There were also many expensive tractors, trucks and heavy construction equipment parked at the blockade by farmers, ranchers and private-company owners, many of whom were not at the site.

“There is an element of this protest by proxy where this relatively small group of Christian right-wing protesters are being used by people with maybe similar agendas to disrupt the supply chain,” LeMay said.

He said the blockade had been labelled a trucker protest about COVID-19 border restrictions but “that is just the cover.”

Read more:

Kenney says federal government’s use of Emergencies Act ‘not necessary’ in Alberta

Some of Alberta’s largest trucking and construction companies supported the blockade, both financially and morally.

“So there is a lot more going on here than just a handful of truckers who aren't able to cross the border to make a living,” LeMay said Sunday.

On Monday morning, Alberta RCMP announced they had detained 11 people after seizing more than a dozen long guns, handguns, ammunition, a machete, and body armour while executing a search warrant on three trailers following an investigation at the Coutts crossing.

In a news release, police said the seizure was part of an investigation into what they allege was a small organized criminal organization within the largest protest, which was “said to have a willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade.”

RCMP later said they had arrested two more people: one whom police stopped on the highway heading back to the protest and who was allegedly found with two guns, and another who allegedly drove a semi-truck towards police near the Milk River check stop.

Video: Alberta border protest blockade clears after police seize weapons

Far-right Christian ideology

LeMay said the Coutts group has close ties to Christian libertarian factions in both Canada and the United States.

His firm’s investigator observed American protesters and supporters within the Coutts group, “suggesting they are crossing the border at will while it is blockaded,” the threat assessment stated.

Critically, the assessment concluded that the blockade, which began under the auspices of protesting COVID-19 public health measures, had become more concerned with “replacing our current democratic system of government with a government that is based upon the principles of the Christian right.

“The rule of law would be replaced with the word of God, as interpreted through right-libertarian ideologies, specifically: civil liberties, natural law, and a major reversal of the modern welfare state,” it said.

Galvanizing the Coutts group, LeMay said, was Calgary pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church. Stephens and his church have repeatedly flouted COVID-19 public health orders.

In May 2021, Calgary police arrested Stephens for allegedly violating a court injunction by holding church services that did not comply with COVID-19 public health orders, including rules related to masking, physical distancing, and attendance limits.

That charge was later dropped after AHS admitted a case of “mistaken identity” meant it had not properly served Stephens with the injunction.

Less than a month later, police arrested Stephens again for allegedly holding an illegal outdoor service that ignored physical distancing requirements and capacity limits. His trial on one charge of disobeying a court order is scheduled to take place in early May.

In a 12-minute video taken by the security firm’s investigator, and reviewed by Global News, Stephens tells the Coutts blockaders that the “Bible likens the state, when it is acting in an ungodly manner, to a beast.

“And that beast is seeking to devour everything,” Stephens said, exhorting them not to give in to the state or rely upon it for welfare, jobs, and education.

“We have all forgotten, as a country, that freedoms are founded upon the supremacy of God, and the rule of law. And not just the rule of any law, but the rule of the law — the word of God,” Stephens says.

He tells protesters they should remain peaceful but stand firm and abide by the law of God “that is higher than our government.”

There is no evidence that Stephens had any involvement in the planning or operation of the blockade.

But in an email reply to Global News on Tuesday, Stephens said he has long been opposed to COVID-19 government mandates.

“We all have differences of opinion on the method of protest or non-compliance (I have my own thoughts on what is best), but we should all recognize that the cause is just,” Stephens wrote, adding later that all of the people he met in Coutts “were people of honour, integrity, and character.”

DEBBIE DOES NOT DO DALLAS

Cowboys paid $2.4m to settle cheerleaders’ locker-room voyeurism claims

The Guardian sport - 17m ago

The Dallas Cowboys paid a multimillion dollar settlement to members of their cheerleading squad after allegations that a senior team executive filmed them in the AT&T Stadium locker rooms, according to documents obtained by ESPN.

In a report published on Wednesday, ESPN said that the team paid a total of $2.4m in the settlement, which involved four cheerleaders. One of the women alleges that she saw Richard Dalrymple, the Cowboys’ longtime senior vice president for public relations and communications, covertly filming them with his iPhone while they undressed after an event in 2015. Dalrymple used his security keycard to enter the locker room through a back door, but says he was unaware the cheerleaders were present.

Related: Stress fractures, hunger and low pay: one woman's life as an NBA cheerleader

In documents obtained by ESPN, Dalrymple is also accused of taking an “upskirt” image of Charlotte Jones Anderson, a senior executive at the team who is also the daughter of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The second incident is alleged to have occurred at the 2015 NFL draft.

Dalrymple has denied the allegations against him.

“People who know me, co-workers, the media and colleagues, know who I am and what I’m about,” Dalrymple said in his statement released on Monday. “I understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false. One was accidental and the other simply did not happen. Everything that was alleged was thoroughly investigated years ago, and I cooperated fully.”

The Cowboys said they investigated the allegations but found no wrongdoing, despite the settlement.

“The organization took these allegations extremely seriously and moved immediately to thoroughly investigate this matter,” said Jim Wilkinson, a communications consultant for the Cowboys. “The investigation was handled consistent with best legal and HR practices and the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.”

ESPN says that Dalrymple was issued a formal written warning in October 2015, although the team has not said what the warning was for. Dalrymple continued to work for the Cowboys for another six years, before he retired after 32 years as Jerry Jones’s chief spokesman. His retirement came a few weeks after ESPN started interviewing people for its investigation.

The four cheerleaders involved in the settlement either declined to comment to ESPN or did not respond to interview requests. ESPN says that the terms of the settlement included a nondisclosure agreement.

However, one former cheerleader not involved in the case said the alleged incident was known about at the time.

“It hurt my heart because I know how much it affected the people who were involved,” the former cheerleader said. “It was a very ... shut the book, don’t talk about it, this person is going to stay in his position ... They just made it go away.”

The treatment of cheerleaders has come under scrutiny several times in recent years. In 2018, the New York Times reported Washington’s NFL team required its cheerleaders to go topless during photo shoots and act as personal escorts for team sponsors. In 2020, the Washington Post made further allegations involving the team’s owner, Dan Snyder, with a former team employee saying that a video was made of cheerleaders accidentally exposing their breasts during a film shoot in 2008.

In 2016, the Guardian reported on the poor conditions some NBA cheerleaders work under.

Another side of fries? Our robot will be right out with that


Debbie Shank and her husband have owned the Dinner Bell Motel and Restaurant in Bonfield for 15 years, but “never in a million years” did she think she would be working with a robot.

But never say never because Shank has recently added Bella to her staff. The new addition arrived last Tuesday, and after some time spent to set it up and familiarize it with its new surrounds, the new help was put to work.

Bella, manufactured by the Pudu company, stands just under one and a half meters—about four feet—and resembles more of a high end, futuristic cart tray than a person. Pudu calls it a “premium delivery robot,” on their website, and delivery is what it does best, bringing plates and drinks to tables and helping to bus dirty dishes back to the kitchen. It’s been a great help to Shank and her staff, cutting out a lot of back-and-forth trips.

Upon hearing that a robot server was in town, some folks raised concerns about lost jobs within the community, and Shank admits she’s been receiving some flak on the issue from online commentators.

She understands the concerns but mentioned that she “has just hired two more people” at the restaurant, and her intention wasn’t to create an autonomous robot service brigade. Instead, Bella is meant to bolster the existing team.

Plus, after all the Covid openings and closings, finding staff has been difficult as many workers do not want to risk the mercurial work environments many restaurants have become during the pandemic. “We’ve had a hard time finding people,” Shank said.

“We needed extra help,” and Bella is there to work, and if there are more closures due to future outbreaks, she’ll fit nicely into a closet until reopening.

“It doesn’t take away jobs,” Shank said, as the robot is more of an aide to human workers allowing servers to bring all the plates out at once, for example. Given Bella’s ample cart space bussing tables is made easier, too. Load Bella’s four trays and save a few trips to the kitchen.

Bella doesn’t take orders, but it can deliver your order to a table. If Shank is occupied preparing some food, she can send another soda to table three by placing it on Bella’s tray and telling it what table to go to. When Bella arrives table-side, the tray lights up to let the customer know which order is theirs.

Shank first saw Bella at a Toronto food and restaurant convention in 2020. At that time, “I really thought it was crazy” she admitted, the idea of a four-foot cart tray helping around the restaurant. At that time, before Covid, “I had a lot of staff” and things were running well, and there was no need for robotic help. “Now it’s a different story.”

Despite some negative comments towards Shank’s new hire, most people react positively toward Bella. “The people that are coming in are loving it,” Shank said. “They see the benefit of it” as well, “it’s an extra hand.”

David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca

Robots to be part of North Bay social isolation research project

'The robots are a tool that will help us increase engagement with seniors and as many of the speakers here have addressed the issue of social isolation for seniors'

• 
  

Chris Dawson/BayToday.

NORTH BAY - “I am happy to be here today,” Mindy said prior to a media conference at the Village in North Bay. 

Mindy was joined by her small partner Mork at the event. 

The three-foot tall couple was the centre of attention as Canadore College introduced the unique Apple Robot which are part of a new research initiative launched Monday afternoon. 

"The robots are a tool that will help us increase engagement with seniors and as many of the speakers here have addressed the issue of social isolation for seniors," said George Burton, President at Canadore College.  

"It is a very active tool we hope to employ through the research project and how best that interaction should occur, what type of programs should these robots be loaded with, how those interactions should be scheduled because robots have a range of activities that are possible. We are going to find out which ones work best with our population here and again try to prove that seniors have with technology and humans together as a combined effort to address the issue of isolation with our seniors."

In particular, the Village will investigate through a new research project entitled “The Use of Companion Social Robots with Older Adults: A Pilot Study Examining Impacts on Social Isolation, Social Inclusion, and Perceived Loneliness."

“Older adults living in retirement residences or affordable housing will work with students from the Canadore’s Health, Human Care and Wellness programs on this project,” said Dr. Anna-Liisa Mottonen, Social Sciences faculty and Primary Investigator. 

“With the physical distancing required during the pandemic, these problems are likely to be exacerbated.”

The Village Collective Impact Project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s New Horizon’s for Seniors Program.  The Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTOERO) Districts 43 and 44 are collaborating with The Village on this project.

“District 43 of the Retired Teachers of Ontario is pleased to be partners with District 44 and Canadore in this project,” said Doug Bolger, District 43 President. 

“RTOERO has identified social isolation as an important concern for our senior population. We feel this project has the potential to provide significant research on the use of robots to help create meaningful interaction for seniors in long-term care settings and other areas. The RTOERO Foundation has also focused its research and funding on geriatric training in the medical field and the issue of social isolation.”

The project is expected to begin in early March in two retirement homes in the North Bay area.  

North Sea green hydrogen project to harness offshore wind and use existing pipeline



RWE and Neptune Energy say the H2opZee project would be developed in two phases.

Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.

The vast majority of hydrogen generation is currently based on fossil fuels.


© Provided by CNBCNorth Sea green hydrogen project to harness offshore wind and use existing pipeline

Anmar Frangoul - 

German power firm RWE has signed an agreement with Neptune Energy to develop a green hydrogen demonstration project in the Dutch North Sea, targeting an electrolyzer capacity of 300 to 500 megawatts.

In a statement Tuesday, the firms said the H2opZee project would be developed in two phases. The first will center on a feasibility study while the second will focus on implementation. The goal is for the project to be developed before 2030.

"Hydrogen is a gamechanger in the decarbonisation of energy-intensive sectors, and H2opZee is among the world's first projects of this kind and scale," Sven Utermöhlen, RWE Renewables' CEO for offshore wind, said.

Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries. It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.

If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it green or renewable hydrogen.

The companies said H2opZee would produce green hydrogen using offshore wind, with an existing pipeline used to funnel the hydrogen to shore. The pipeline's capacity ranges between 10 to 12 gigawatts, the companies said

"The energy transition can be faster, cheaper and cleaner if we integrate existing gas infrastructure into new systems," Lex de Groot, who is managing director of Neptune Energy in the Netherlands, said.

"This infrastructure is technically suitable. As a result ... no new pipeline at sea is needed and no new landfall needs to be made through the coastal area."

The notion of using existing infrastructure to transport hydrogen is not new. Last July, the CEO of energy infrastructure firm Snam outlined a vision for the future of hydrogen, saying the "beauty" of it was that it could be easily stored and transported.

Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe," Snam CEO Marco Alverà spoke about how current systems would be used to facilitate the delivery of hydrogen produced using renewable sources as well as biofuels.

"Right now, if you turn on your heater in Italy the gas is flowing from Russia, all the way from Siberia, in pipelines," he said.

"Tomorrow, we will have hydrogen produced in North Africa, in the North Sea, with solar and wind resources," Alverà said. "And that hydrogen can travel through the existing pipeline."

While there is excitement in some quarters about green hydrogen's potential, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is currently based on fossil fuels.

Recently, some business leaders have spoken of the issues they felt were facing the emerging green hydrogen sector. In Oct. 2021, for example, the CEO of Siemens Energy told CNBC there was "no commercial case" for it at this moment in time.

The European Commission has laid out plans to install 40 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolyzer capacity in the European Union by the year 2030.

 

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Childhood adversity is a 'cause of causes' of adult illnesses and mental health problems



Robert Maunder, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto 

Jon Hunter, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto 

- The Conversation

Every day we are exposed to things like pollution and ultraviolet light which increase our risk of illness. Many people take on additional risks — due to tobacco smoke, fast food or alcohol, for example.

But there is a less-recogized exposure that is even more common than smoking and increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases, sexually transmitted infections, chronic pain, mental illness and reduces one’s life by as much as 20 years.

This public health hazard that hides in plain sight is childhood adversity: experiences like physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.
Childhood adversity is common

In Canada, one child in three is physically or sexually abused or witnesses violence between adults in their home. Other adversities such as emotional neglect, living in an unsafe neighbourhood or experiencing prejudice and bullying are even more common. Studies in the United States show about 60 per cent of children and teenagers have these adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The more severe the exposure, the greater the health risk.

The reason that ACEs contribute to so many diseases is that they are associated with many things that trigger other causes of disease. Think of ACEs as a “cause of causes.”
Health risk behaviours and physiological changes

As kids who have had adverse experiences grow up, they are more likely to smoke, to drink excessively and to use nonprescription drugs. They are more likely to engage in risky sexual activities and to become obese. Not all kids with ACEs take on risky activities, of course, but enough to contribute to ACEs’ health consequences.

Growing up in conditions that are consistently frightening or stressful affects the biology of developing bodies, especially the development of the systems that regulate our reactions to threats, from predators to viruses. ACEs are even associated with changes in our chromosomes that are linked to early mortality.
Interpersonal and psychological effects

As psychiatrists for adults who experience physical and mental illness in combination, our patients often tell us about the personal impact of ACEs. One man said he did not “have even the slightest shadow of a doubt that a loss of human connection is the most substantial negative impact” of these experiences. The health costs of human disconnection are profound. Indeed, lacking interpersonal support may hasten mortality as much or more than smoking, excessive drinking, inactivity, obesity or untreated high blood pressure.

The psychological effects of ACEs may be more obvious and can include fearful expectations, a conviction that one is unworthy of love or protection, unregulated anger or shame and discombobulating memories of bad events.


© (Shutterstock

)ACEs greatly increase the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and addictions.

It greatly increases the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and addictions. The one in three adults who experienced childhood sexual or physical abuse or witnessed interpersonal violence at home have at least twice the incidence of these disorders compared to others.

And then the dominoes fall: mental illness greatly increases the likelihood, burden and consequences of physical illness. To give just one example, in the months after experiencing a heart attack, those who are depressed are several times more likely to die. So, we see that ACEs don’t only lead to one kind of trouble, but to many.
Social determinants of health

Finally, the burden of illness is not distributed fairly. Maintaining health is more challenging for those who are disadvantaged by poverty, lack of education, language barriers, discrimination and living with the continuing systemic harms of colonization and multi-generational trauma.

Childhood trauma has a complex relationship with these social determinants of health. On one hand, ACEs are not unique to marginalized groups and can occur across all strata of society. On the other hand, the risk of experiencing ACEs may be greater in some groups and the consequences of ACEs may multiply as social forces interact.

For example, childhood trauma is strongly associated with behaviours that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections. About half of the people living with HIV have experienced childhood abuse. HIV is also more common in groups that face discrimination, including men who have sex with men, people who use injectable drugs, Indigenous people and immigrants from countries in which HIV is endemic.

Intersecting components of personal experience and identity attract stigma and discrimination, which in turn influences mental health, self-care and one’s ability to navigate a healthcare system that has multiple barriers and gaps. It is a complex web and ACEs contribute to this complexity.
A cause of causes

Events that occur in childhood may contribute to cascading health risks over one’s lifetime. There are so many paths to illness interacting with one another over decades and compromising health in so many ways, that it should be no surprise that childhood adversity is a profound public health problem.

It is time that we, as a society, recognized ACEs as the malignant force that they are. Those affected need to be treated with compassion and also with awareness of the long-lasting effects of early adversity on health. Research that helps us understand the lifelong impact of ACEs could help guide prevention of chronic illnesses and mental health issues in the many people who experience adversity during childhood.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

Read more:

Recruiting more mental health workers won’t stop suicides. Preventing child abuse and neglect will

How a difficult childhood makes it more likely you’ll have mental and physical health problems as an adult

Robert Maunder receives funding from Sinai Health and the University of Toronto as Chair of Health and Behaviour at Sinai Health and receives royalties from the University of Toronto Press for Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.

Jon Hunter receives funding from Sinai Health and is The Pencer Family Chair in Applied General Psychiatry at Sinai Health. He receives royalties from the University of Toronto Press for Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.

WAR IS RAPE

Tigray fighters killed civilians, gang raped women: Amnesty report

A report by the rights group shines light on the extent of brutality perpetrated by Tigray fighters last year, with details about how women were gang raped inside their homes, including girls as young as 14 years old.


Horrific instances of rape have repeatedly come up in numerous rights reports

The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) deliberately killed dozens of people and gang raped women and girls in two towns in northern Ethiopia's Amhara region, Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday.

The rights group interviewed several people in two towns — Kobo and Chenna — who spoke of the brutal violence civilians faced in late August and September, shortly after Tigray fighters took control of the areas in July last year.

Summary executions in Kobo

Tigray fighters deliberately killed unarmed civilians, seemingly in revenge for losses among their ranks at the hand of Amhara militias.

Amnesty interviewed 27 people in the Kobo region, some of whom said Tigray fighters killed relatives and family members outside their homes. Others said they found bodies of local residents who had been killed execution-style — shot in the head or back.

One resident even described how people who had been shot in the head could not be recognized because their heads were so badly dismembered.
Horrific sexual abuse in Chenna

TPLF fighters around Chenna, a village in the Amhara region, raped dozens of women, often in their own homes. Fighters forced women to provide food and cook for them, according to the report.

Amnesty interviewed around 30 rape survivors in Chenna, some of whom said they were gang raped in front of their children. Amnesty also detailed horrific instances of fighters raping underage girls, some as young as 14 years old.

The report provided details of conversations with the survivors, with a 14-year old girl telling the rights group that she was raped in the courtyard, while her mother was raped inside the house.

She said her mother has been depressed since, and they don't talk about what happened.

"It is impossible," the young girl told Amnesty International.
Ethiopia's current state of affairs

The report is the latest example to account the extent of brutality that occurred during the war that broke out between Ethiopian government soldiers and militants in the Tigray region in 2020.

In December 2021, TPLF fighters said they were withdrawing from a number of areas in Ethiopia and returning to Tigray, after the Ethiopian military made a number of territorial gains.

Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Peace remains elusive

Just yesterday, the Ethiopian government said it was lifting the wartime state of emergency that was first imposed last November, after Tigray fighters seized a number of major towns.

The lifting of the state of emergency signals that the bloody conflict may be easing.
Atrocities committed may amount to 'war crimes'

A joint investigation by the United Nations and Ethiopia released last November said all parties, including Ethiopian soldiers, committed violations that may amount to war crimes.

The conflict has killed thousands of civilians, forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes, and left nearly 400,000 vulnerable to famine.

rm/jsi (Reuters, AFP)

Climate crisis: Mourning disappearing snow and winters

People living in snowy regions that are being transformed by global heating are experiencing ecological grief and anxiety. But could these feelings spur climate action?

Winter wonderland scenes like this could be a thing of the past in many places as the world warms

When people trek to glaciers today, it may not be to stand in wonder but to mourn their passing.

Glaciers across the globe from the US state of Oregon to the Swiss Alps have been sites for funerals as people eulogize once-mighty bodies of ice that have been pronounced dead.

In 2019, such a ceremony was held at Iceland's Okjökull glacier, said to be the first lost to climate change. Mourners unveiled a plaque announcing that all the country's main glaciers are expected to follow in the next 200 years.

The psychological strain caused by the observable loss of iconic winter landscapes has been called "climate grief" by Panu Pihkala, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland specializing in eco-anxiety.

Though for decades communities have experienced "uneasiness and discomfort at the changes in seasons" due to climate change, this anxiety has shifted to a grieving as snow and ice visibly recede, Pihkala explained.

Grief over the loss of winter will spread more widely as global heating increases. The North Pole, that mythical winter wonderland in the Arctic, is warming three times faster than the global average. In the not-too-distant future, cultural representations of European and Northern American Christmases, with people bundled up in hats and scarves skating on frozen lakes or sledging down snow-covered hills, could be a thing of the past.

Eco-anxiety and climate grief

Climate grief is difficult to overcome because it anticipates a loss that often hasn't quite occurred, said Pihkalu. He notes that this year there was a lot of snow in Finland, but last year there was very little. This adds to an existing anxiety about wanting snow but not knowing whether it will ever come, a feeling that Pihkala noted has a specific word in Finnish, "lumiahdistus."

Climate grief relates to "solastalgia" — a combination of the word solace and the Greek word for pain, algos — a term coined by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the psychic pain caused by the loss of environments in which we find solace.

"As opposed to nostalgia — the melancholia or homesickness experienced by individuals when separated from a loved home — solastalgia is the distress that is produced by environmental change," wrote Albrecht and his co-researchers in a 2007 paper in Australasian Psychiatry.

Solastalgia refers to the grief experienced at the disappearance of the world we once knew

But with the observable loss of glaciers and snowscapes, this solastalgia has transformed into what some researchers are also calling "ecological grief."

These eco-emotions are also driven by deeper material and cultural loss. Indigenous people in Alaska, for example, are experiencing real fear as melting sea ices threatens communities both with displacement and the loss of what polar researcher Victoria Herrmann called "a way of life passed down from time immemorial."
Climate change and cultural loss

For the Sami community, who live close to the Arctic Circle, snow is their lifeblood — especially in terms of their traditional reindeer-herding culture.

"If reindeer are not herded in hard snowfall or hard frost, the foundation of the whole livelihood fades away," said Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi, a Sami cultural anthropologist at the University of Oulu in Finland, in a lecture on climate change and the Sami people.

"Climate change equals cultural change for many Indigenous people," he said ahead of the UN climate conference in 2021. Having lived the Sami way of life, Näkkäläjärvi said he sees "changes every day," including the loss of language due to climate-related displacement.

The disappearance of mountain glaciers from Kilimanjaro to the European Alps also has a peculiar psychological impact.

Indigenous communities like the Saami are hard-hit by losses due to a warming world

While there is a cultural attachment to mountains and their "multitude of different ecosystems," glaciers make these landscapes "unique in people's imagination," noted Giovanni Baccolo, a postdoctoral researcher in glaciology at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy.

"Glaciers are literally another world," he added, "icons of mountains." But as they retreat it has "impoverished" our identification with mountain landscapes, Baccolo said. Once these ice caps melt, future generations will not draw alpine mountains "with a white hat."

Baccolo posts photos in social media comparing glaciers of today to a century ago.

"The retreat of glaciers is an extremely powerful symbol of the environmental consequences of climate change," he said. "It is undeniable that when we look at comparisons showing the drastic retreat of glaciers, we are overwhelmed."

THE FATE OF GLACIERS AROUND THE WORLD

Death of a glacier

Iceland paid tribute to its Okjokull ice sheet on Sunday, holding a funeral for the first glacier lost to climate change. Known as 'Ok' for short, Okjokull lost its status as a glacier in 2014. At Sunday's ceremony, mourners unveiled a plaque announcing that all the country's main glaciers are expected to follow the same path in the next 200 years.

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Can activism help to process climate grief?

Losing winter landmarks such as glaciers has alerted people to the immediacy of climate change.

As the memorial plaque at Iceland's Okjökull glacier reads: "We know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it."

Sören Ronge, coordinator of Protect Our Winters Europe, a climate advocacy group based in Innsbruck, Austria, acknowledges "climate anxiety" but seeks to "engage people in speaking up for the climate and pushing governments for solutions."

Glaciers around the world are receding, as here in Indian Kashmir

For Pihkala, climate grief can lead to resistance, but this depends on the psychological resilience of the activists.

"If they feel anxiety and sadness, it often leads also to guilt," he said, describing the process of acknowledging that we all are participating in the climate emergency.

Baccolo believes witnessing the shocking pace of glacier melt has, at least, radically increased our awareness of the climate crisis and our contribution to it.

"We are sad," he said, referring to funerals for disappeared glaciers. "We see an incredible element of nature disappearing and we know that we have a role in this."

Edited by: Jennifer Collins

West Bank: Settlers destroy 50 Palestinian olive trees near Salfit
Residents say Kafr al-Dik town is facing an ‘unprecedented attack’ by the Israeli occupation

A farmer passes in front of Israeli soldiers in lands seized by settlers near Salfit in the occupied West Bank (File/Reuters)

By MEE staff
Published date: 16 February 2022 

Israeli settlers on Wednesday uprooted and destroyed 50 olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

A greenhouse and water-draining facilities were also razed on land owned by the al-Dik family in the town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit.

Rising settler violence against Palestinians in Burqa reignites struggle over land

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"Most of our 160 dunams of land is planted with olive trees, which are around four to six years old," Kanaan al-Dik, co-owner of the land, told local news outlet Maan.

"Despite that, we will replant it again, and we will not leave our land to them at any cost."

Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers demolished water-draining facilities and blocked roads leading to Kafr al-Dik, the town's mayor, Mohammad Naji, told Maan.

Naji said the northern part of the town is facing an "unprecedented attack" by the Israeli occupation, which he believes is planning to expand nearby settlements. Salfit is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements and its residents regularly endure settler assaults.

Palestinians across the occupied West Bank have faced an "alarming" rise in settler violence in 2021, UN human rights experts said in a statement last year.

"We are witnessing the highest recorded levels of violence in recent years and more severe incidents," the statement said.

According to UN figures, 370 settler attacks led to damages to properties in 2021, up from 274 the previous year. A further 126 assaults caused casualties, compared to 84 in 2020. At the same time, settlement building has tripled from the previous year, with the approval of the construction of 4,000 new units, according to Khalil al-Tafkaji, a Palestinian expert on settlement and director of the map unit at the Centre for Arab Studies in Jerusalem.

Both authorised and unauthorised Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.