SECURITY STATISM
Israel admits that the Shin Bet has collected telephone information from professionals entitled to immunity

The Israeli government has admitted that its national intelligence service, the Shin Bet, has used databases of cell phone companies to monitor the activities of journalists, as well as other professionals trained to protect privileged information, such as doctors or clergy, and in operations sometimes only tangentially related to counter-terrorism.


F Israeli military man. - Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

This was announced by the government in response to a petition filed with the Supreme Court by the NGO Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), in which it asked the court to remove a clause in the law regulating Shin Bet's operations concerning its power to require operators to hand over information on calls or messages.

The law, passed in 2002, has been criticized for its semi-clandestine nature since it is not subject to public scrutiny, although the head of the Shin Bet is obliged to ask permission from the Prime Minister and the Attorney General every three months, and once a year before a committee of the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset).

The Supreme Court is now reviewing the regulation since, in ACRI's view, it commits a number of unconstitutional errors by involving an invasion of privacy and taking away from journalists, for example, their right to protection of their sources.

The government now has three months to inform the Supreme Court whether or not it decides to amend the law, reports the newspaper 'Haaretz', although the Israeli state has already asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition on the grounds that "this data collection is vital to the agency's operations" and "has already provided essential help in dismantling terrorist attacks and saving lives".

However, the Israeli state has admitted that these requests have been applied to professionals who often enjoy immunity or protection, such as lawyers, doctors or even clergymen, although it clarifies that it does not necessarily examine all the information collected.

For example, the Israeli government has admitted that it has collected information from professionals with "immunity" some five or six times a year over the past decade, which ACRI believes, particularly in the case of journalists, poses an enormous danger to the reporters' sources.

This is why ACRI argues that the Shin Bet often acts far from the anti-terrorist sphere, as also happens when it begins to gather information in criminal investigations, which are more typical of the police sphere. In this specific case, the Israeli government guarantees that the Shin Bet dissociates itself from these investigations as soon as it perceives that they do not fall within its competence.

LIKE, WHY BOTHER

It is pointless for Israel to phase out fossil fuels for green energy

By WALTER BINGHAM 
The Jerusalem Post

IDF soldiers walk in front of wind turbines close to the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights.

 (photo credit: NIR ELIAS/REUTERS)

The world is being deceived into believing that fossil fuel can be phased out, and that this would provide a greener environment. Well, I have my doubts, so let us examine the facts.

The best example is California, which has legislated to end the sale of gasoline-driven cars in 2026 so that by 2035 only electric cars will be on the roads. Sounds good, doesn’t it? On the surface, yes; but when one looks at the implications, the hoax soon becomes apparent.

The general idea is that there will be no more mining of expendable minerals that will harm our environment.

But the main constituents of electric car batteries are lithium, cobalt and nickel. They are minerals that are obtained by mining. The battery of a Tesla Model S, for example, uses around 12 kg. of lithium. Not to mention the world’s mobile electronic devices like laptops and telephones.

Today, there are more than 14 million cars registered in California. Even if this number would not increase by 2035 and they were all electric, imagine the number of batteries that would be required. What happens to them at the end of their useful life? Will the residue go back into the ground and pollute the water tables? And where does the power for the mining of the minerals come from? The countries with the major deposits of lithium are Chile, Argentina, Australia and China. Most have struggled with political dysfunction and financial crises, and their regimes are unpredictable and could withhold supplies if they considered it politically expedient.



Leviathan natural gas field. 

It is interesting that the movement for environmental protection is selective in its application. To those who shout loudest for the phasing out of fossil fuels, it does not seem to matter to that electricity production in China relies 65% on coal and is still constructing new mines, Argentina’s energy derives 60% from fossil fuels, and that Chile’s renewable energy amounts to just 11.4%. Here I quote the words of Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg: “In order to minimize the percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and prevent the continuation of global warming, we must make sure that we’re not harming nature.... A solution that is meant to solve one problem by creating other problems is not a real solution.”

“In order to minimize the percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and prevent the continuation of global warming, we must make sure that we’re not harming nature.... A solution that is meant to solve one problem by creating other problems is not a real solution.”Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg
So how can we solve this problem?

One renewable source of energy are wind turbines. You’ve seen pictures of them scattered about the landscape. Those tall towers with large propellers. Most onshore wind turbines in the US have a capacity of up to 2,75 MW (mega watt). That sounds good until you realize that according to the US Energy Information Administration, the average household in the United States uses about 9,600 kilowatt-hours per year.

Just imagine how many of these monstrosities are needed to service just one town, and their output depends only on the wind.

Without the wind, it is like a bicycle that nobody rides – it is available but not spinning. Of course, to be realistic, wind turbines are not the only source of renewable energy. There is also solar and nuclear.

A key challenge facing the wind industry is the experience that turbines adversely affect wild animals both directly, via collisions, and indirectly due to noise pollution, habitat loss, and reduced survival or reproduction. Among the most impacted wildlife are birds and bats, which by eating destructive insects provide billions of dollars of economic benefits to the country’s agriculture.

Currently, Israel has about 50 operating wind turbines, mainly in the Golan Heights and the Jezreel Valley area in the North. The National Infrastructure Council has given the green light for the erection of seven new mega wind turbines that will tower over the Golan at the height of around 200 meters, even taller than Tel Aviv’s cylindrical Azrieli Towers. The energy production of these individual solar or wind plants are localized time and weather-dependent. Is their construction in the Golan sensible when, in the current political climate, they would be an easy target for the enemy?

In Israel, the advantages of wind power are relatively negligible compared to the potential for harm to nature, which is high. And here I repeat the words of Tamar Zandberg: “A solution that is meant to solve one problem by creating other problems is not a real solution.”

As part of God’s creation, the sun is the source of all life. The amount of sunlight that strikes the Earth’s surface in an hour and a half is enough to handle the entire world’s energy consumption for a full year. There are several methods to harness this renewable source of energy.

In Israel, it is usual for most homes to install a solar-heated water system on the roof, consisting of a solar panel and a water tank. As hot water is drawn from the top of the tank, cold water flows in from the bottom. One can also cover the roof of the house with panels that will convert the sunlight into electricity to run the house. Any surplus can be fed into the national grid and produce financial credit.

Very simply explained, to use solar energy commercially, large areas covered with solar panels are needed to cover the landscape. They absorb the sun’s energy and automatically beam it to a central point of a tower, where the conversion process takes place. Here, too, the blight on the landscape to satisfy national demand would far exceed tolerable levels.

Then there is nuclear power, which opponents call an accident waiting to happen or, as its supporters claim, is the solution to clean renewable energy.

And that brings me back to the example of California and its administration’s naïve ideals.

Their last nuclear plant, which was scheduled to fully shut down by 2025, has been given renewed life for another five years after the governor warned that the state could face rolling blackouts if its twin reactors were retired too soon.

So, has California bitten off more than it can chew? How will it satisfy the increased demand for electricity?

Most electric car drivers will want to plug in their batteries at the end of the day, to be ready for the next day’s activities.

That, in addition to the usual domestic and industrial demand on the electricity grid during the evening hours. The load on the grid would be unimaginable, and so would the consequences.

For their largest part of in-state electricity generation, California relies on natural gas. They already import 95% of their requirements via interstate pipelines from the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, and Canada. The increased financial burden of their program would be incalculable. But there’s more! By implementing their carbon-free solution, they are creating a near economic disaster. Just think of the implications. All gas stations would have to close. Many thousands of their employees would be added to the unemployment figures. To compensate for the loss of gas tax revenue, electricity tax would surely have to be increased, an additional burden on the poor and the non-car owners.

Then there are the millions who rely on their older cars and cannot afford to lose them and purchase new electric vehicles, which are far more expensive than gas-fueled cars.

Think of the many owner-drivers of taxi cabs, to mention just some effects of the green revolution. I’m sure you can think of several more.

To what extent should Israel be required to take part in the effort to halt global warming and save the environment?

The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs describes Israel’s discovery of natural gas fields in Israel’s Eastern Mediterranean offshore areas as having “moderated the country’s total dependence on energy imports. Israel’s crude oil production is minuscule, and there are no known coal reserves. Oil demand in Israel, especially in the transportation sector, is met by imports, which makes it vulnerable to the vagaries of global oil supply. Crude oil constitutes about 50 percent of Israel’s total oil imports. Natural gas, however, has provided a potential solution to Israel’s energy security concerns. It has become the “fuel of choice” in electricity generation and has crowded out coal as the dominant energy source.”

The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) builds, owns, maintains, and operates power generation stations and sub-stations, as well as transmission and distribution networks. Currently, it has 15 power stations with 52 generating units:16 are steam-driven, 25 are gas turbines, and 11 are combined-cycle units.

Steam-driven turbines require the burning of a fuel such as coal, petroleum fuel oil, or combustible waste. Gas turbines heat a mixture of air and gas at very high temperatures, causing the turbine blades to spin. The spinning turbine drives a generator that converts the energy into electricity.

There are, of course, several types of gas turbines. The most efficient is the combined-cycle power system, which uses a gas turbine to drive an electrical generator and recovers waste heat from the turbine’s exhaust to generate steam. The steam is then fed into a steam turbine to provide additional electricity. Israel also has three independent power stations, all run on gas.

Apart from providing vital energy security, Israel hopes that its offshore gas resources can serve as a diplomatic tool to improve relations with its Arab neighbors, that shared economic benefits through gas trade will promote cooperation with regional countries and mitigate conflicts that have long informed the political landscape of the region.

I believe that Israel is about to prepare a master plan for 2050, which will serve as a basis for planning the economy. The purpose is to examine, from a broad and long-term perspective, the entire range of considerations and to determine Israel’s energy policy, including the mix of energy sources, in line with its international commitments, in particular the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above pre-industrial levels by the year 2100.

But in the medium term, there is no need for little Israel to commit to the large investment needed to phase out the use of fossil fuels, to convert the complete transportation sector to electric power, and put a large burden of taxation on the population. Our percentage of air pollution is minuscule compared to that of China, a country that is 437 time larger than Israel and is at this moment constructing new coal mines.

Russia is 779 times the size of Israel and is supplying its satellites with oil. Even Biden’s United States is still mining some coal.

Because Israel’s impact on a “greener” world would be extremely small, our country is justified in waiting for the superpowers to lead the way. ■

Walter Bingham, who is 98, holds two Guinness World Records as the oldest working journalist and radio broadcaster in the world.

ZIONIST FASCIST SCHMUCK

Jerusalem deputy mayor hoping to encourage non-Jews to leave Israel

AFTER ELECTION OF FASCISTS TO KNESSET 

By TZVI JOFFRE - Yesterday 

Jerusalem deputy mayor Aryeh King is helping an anonymous philanthropist build a program to "help" non-Jews emigrate from Israel, the deputy mayor announced on Facebook on Wednesday.

THE FASCISTS EMBARASS OTHER ZIONISTS

Jerusalem City Council member Aryeh King poses for a picture in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, in Jerusalem on October 22, 2014© (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

"A Jewish Zionist philanthropist contacted me, he is looking for a manager with a can-do attitude, for the benefit of a business initiative whose purpose is to encourage the emigration of non-Jews, outside the borders of the Land of Israel. The intention is to encourage non-Jews to relocate outside the borders of our country," wrote King.


"If you are suitable, contact me (in a private Facebook message, Messenger) and we will arrange a meeting with the representative of the philanthropist."

103FM's Ben Caspit and Aryeh Eldad interviewed King about the post, comparing it to a "laundered" version of a proposal by former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi to transfer Palestinians to Arab nations in the region.



Jerusalem City Council member Aryeh King walks in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, in Jerusalem on October 22, 2014, (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)© Provided by The Jerusalem PostJerusalem City Council member Aryeh King walks in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, in Jerusalem on October 22, 2014, (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Ze'evi's plan was to encourage Arabs and Palestinians to emigrate by either reaching an agreement to transfer populations with other countries or to "encourage" them to leave with incentives and by making their lives more difficult in Israel.

"It's very much not laundered. It is most clear and clean, like our Law of Return. Essentially the idea comes from the Law of Return. The Law of Return is a racist law, it doesn't allow everyone to immigrate to Israel. So we said, anyone to whom the Law of Return doesn't apply and is already in Israel, we'll encourage him - by helping him find work or studies or any other way - to leave the country. Win-win," said King to 103FM.

"During the time of Benny Elon, I was the head of the Moledet branch in Jerusalem and then we founded an organization called 'Hagar,' on the name of Hagar, the Egyptian, the mother of Ishmael, and the whole idea we took from there. Ishmael and Yitzhak didn't get along and there was no other option besides telling Hagar and her son, Ishamel, to leave."

Elon was a leader in the Moledet movement and proposed having Palestinians and Arabs relocated to Arab countries and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Jordan. In the early 2000's, Elon worked with right-wing leader Rabbi Shlomo Aviner to promote a program to pay Palestinian refugees $50,000 to $100,000 each to emigrate to other countries.

King rejected claims that he wanted an "Arab-free" Israel.

"There will always be Arabs here. There will always be Christians here. But do you know how many Israelis with a blue identity card live in the US? Almost a million. This is very substantial because if we have over a million Israelis living in Europe and the US."

King stressed that this was a private initiative unrelated to the government and aims to make money by offering services that non-Jewish residents can pay to help them relocate and find work abroad. The initiative does not intend to pay the residents relocating.

In an interview with Army Radio, the deputy mayor pointed out that "For several years, Jews have been encouraged to 'transfer' - there are companies that target Jews with relocation offers, there are no companies that target Arabs. Those who believe that this is our country have nothing to be ashamed of in encouraging it."

"It is more important to me that the country be Jewish than democratic."Jerusalem deputy mayor Aryeh King

"It is not written in the Declaration of Independence that Israel is a democratic state, it is a Jewish state where the minority has rights. It is more important to me that the country be Jewish than democratic," added King.

While the Israeli Declaration of Independence does not mention the word "democracy," it does state that the State of Israel will "ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex" and to provide "full and equal citizenship and due representation" to Arab citizens.

Despite King's initiatives and other similar initiatives in the past, up to 6,000 Arab and Palestinian households have actually been brought into Israel since 1948 in return for cooperating with Israeli settlers or the Israeli government, according to a 2019 report by Haaretz.

Journalists, social media users express outrage at King's initiative

The post sparked shock from many social media users and journalists.

Israeli Arab journalist Zuhair Bahalul called King's initiative "a distinctly racist, trans-religious call that is fed by messianic ideology," in an interview with 103FM.

Commenters on the post expressed outrage at the initiative, with some even comparing it to Nazi Germany.

"As a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and an olah chadasha - I am appalled by this. How on earth are we supposed to advance Israel when politicians are taking hints from German pre Holocaust policy?!? How are you not entirely embarrassed by this racism!?!" wrote one commenter.

Another commenter expressed outrage that King chose to publish such a post on the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

U.S. condemns visit by Israeli right-wing extremist Ben Gvir to Kahane memorial

The United States on Thursday condemned the visit of Israeli right-winger Ben Gvir to a memorial event for extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was assassinated in 1990.


Far-right extremist Itamar Ben Gvir at a memorial ceremony for

 extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane in Jerusalem, Israel. - Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

The State Department has spoken out in this case in the Biden Administration's first criticism of Zionist party leader Otzma Yehudit, who aspires to become Israel's next security minister.

"Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent; there is no other word for it. It is abhorrent," said Department spokesman Ned Price.

Related video: Israel's new government to be led by Benjamin Netanyahu
Duration 2:39  View on Watch

Price also said U.S. officials are concerned about the legacy of Kahane Chai, an anti-Arab group founded by Meir Kahane's son, Binyamin Kahane, which advocated the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"We have condemned incitement, we have condemned violence and racism in all its forms," the Department spokesman maintained, after expressing unease at the "continued use of rhetoric by violent right-wing extremists."

In this sense, he considered that "there is a good reason" to continue designating Kahane Chai as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' (SDGT), despite the fact that he has clarified that he is not included in the list of foreign terrorist organizations, due to the group's inactivity.

"We urge all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from actions that only serve to exacerbate tensions, and that includes Jerusalem," Price added.

Gvir has been booed at the rabbi's 32nd birthday ceremony when he indicated that he does not "agree with all of his views." However, he justified his attendance "for the love of Israel" and the "struggle of the Soviet Union and against anti-Semitism," he explained in a message on his Twitter profile.

U.S. elects second openly lesbian governor in history

Democrat Tina Kotek will be the next governor of the U.S. state of Oregon after beating her rivals in the midterm elections, making her the second openly lesbian governor in the country, after Maura Healey, who won her election on Tuesday.

THE MEDIA SAID TINA/ OREGON WAS GOING TO BE A VICTIM OF THE RED WAVE

Tina Kotek, is the new governor of Oregon. - 

@TINAKOTEK© Provided by News 360

The former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives defeated Republican Christine Drazan, a former state legislator, and Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic state legislator, who left the party and ran as an unaffiliated candidate, 'The Washington Post' reported.

Related video: US Midterm Elections 2022: America's first openly lesbian governor elected in Massachusetts   Duration 4:41   View on Watch

Kotek will replace Oregon Governor Kate Brown in a state that has been governed by Democrats for more than 40 years.

With this victory, the former state Congresswoman has become, along with Democrat Maura Healey in Massachusetts, the first openly lesbian governors in the country.

The Anarchist Nov 11

The Anarchist Nov 11

There is A different reason to commemorate Nov 11 for anarchists, it was the day that the Haymarket Anarchists were hung in 1887. And like Sacco and Vanzetti they too were subject to nativist reactionary anti-immigrant hysteria and the anti-worker/anti-socialist fears of the Chicago ruling class.

Today the same hysteria is used to justify the so called War on Terror.

The labour and socialist movements globally usually commemorate their efforts to win the right to the eight hour day and the right to organize unions, on May Day.

The date of their state sanctioned assassination often gets overlooked. And that day was November 11, 1887.

READ ON LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HAYMARKET 

Veterans Affairs Canada has been overestimating the number of veterans for decades

Peter Zimonjic, Murray Brewster, Philip Ling - CBC

Veterans Affairs Canada has been overestimating the number of Canadian veterans for decades — and newly released census numbers suggest there may be 25 per cent fewer veterans than the federal government previously thought.


Veterans Affairs Canada says that it will rethink how it counts Canada's veterans after newly released census data reveal the department may have been overestimating its numbers for decades.

© Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

Statistics Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) are scrambling to reconcile the difference between their numbers, CBC News has learned.

According to the 2021 census, there are 461,240 veterans in Canada — a huge decline from the 617,800 former military members projected by VAC.

The explanation may lie in the way that VAC and Statistics Canada count veterans.

The most recent census contained a question about military service for the first time in 50 years. It asked respondents who were 17 years of age or older on May 11, 2021 whether they had ever served in the Canadian military.

VAC, on the other hand, arrives at its annual projection of the veteran population by using a mathematical model based on 1971 census data, the 1988 labour force survey and annual survival rates from Statistics Canada.

"This has caused VAC and Statistics Canada to re-evaluate the estimates we have been using for the past decades for the estimated veteran population," VAC spokesperson Josh Bueckert said in an email.

Other factors could be interfering with efforts to come up with an accurate picture of the veterans population.

Related video: Veterans dismayed over Canada’s refusal to award Victoria Cross

Duration 3:27   View on Watch

One of those factors is the incomplete picture provided by the 1951, 1961 and 1971 censuses upon which VAC partially bases its estimates. Previously, said Statistics Canada, the census only asked men aged 35 and older whether they served in the Canadian military or in other allied forces.

The 2021 census short form survey, which was sent out to all households, broadened its question to include anyone 17 and older regardless of gender. It asked them whether they served or are currently serving in the military.

Statistics Canada said a person could define themselves as someone who served in the Canadian military if they served with "the Regular Force or Primary Reserve Force as an Officer or Non‑Commissioned Member."

VAC rethinking the way it counts veterans

VAC's estimates were based on their definition of a veteran, which is anyone who completed basic training and was honourably discharged from the forces.

The census is also based on self-reporting. A VAC spokesperson said that approach also could provide an incomplete picture because some people who technically qualify as veterans may not have self-identified as veterans.

The discrepancy does not affect funding for Veterans Affairs Canada because its funding model is not based on the number of veterans in the country, said an official in Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay's office. The revised numbers could, however, affect how the department plans policy going forward.

In a media statement, VAC told CBC News that it would not provide any further updates on the number of veterans until it re-evaluates the way it counts former military members.

"Our department is working with Statistics Canada on continued verification of data collected through Census 2021, with the aim of producing the most accurate and comprehensive view of the Canadian veteran population that we possibly can," the statement said.

It's not the first time Veterans Affairs has had trouble with its calculations.

An accounting error decades ago led the department to shortchange former soldiers on disability benefits over a number of years — a mistake that eventually cost the federal government more than $165 million to correct.


Veterans affairs minister stands firm on record in face of anger, call to resign

Yesterday 

OTTAWA — Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay is standing firm in the face of anger and frustration at the Liberal government over ongoing delays, backlogs and staff shortages and a call for his resignation.


Veterans affairs minister stands firm on record in face of anger, call to resign© Provided by The Canadian Press

In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press, MacAulay said Ottawa is making progress on a number of fronts when it comes to providing better and faster support to veterans after years of complaints and criticism.

That includes hiring hundreds of temporary staff in recent years and awarding a new $570-million contract to an outside organization for the provision of rehabilitations services to ill and injured veterans across the country.

"We have Veterans Affairs up to where it should be," MacAulay said. "And we want to continue to make sure it stays where it should be and to serve veterans in an appropriate manner."

Yet many veterans remain deeply frustrated at ongoing delays, backlogs and staff shortages at Veterans Affairs Canada, which advocates say are adding pain and stress for thousands of former service members already struggling with injuries and illness.

The rehabilitation services contract has also angered the union representing Veterans Affairs employees, which is calling for MacAulay's resignation.

MacAulay, who will represent the government during Friday's Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flies to an international summit in Cambodia, said he has no intention of resigning.

"My job is to do my job," he said. "And that's what I'm going to do and continue to do it."

The Liberal government has been criticized for years for not living up to its promises to ill and injured veterans. That includes its failure to bring back a lifelong disability pension awarded to those in the Second World War and Korea, but not Afghanistan.

More recently, veterans and others have complained about ongoing delays in the processing of disability claims, a longstanding shortage of case managers for those needing extra assistance and insufficient support for families and caregivers.

MacAulay has previously acknowledged that the government needs to do more to ensure veterans receive proper and timely support for illnesses and injuries sustained while in uniform, which he repeated this week.

Yet in the same breath, he cited several figures as evidence that the situation is improving. Those included a reduction in wait times for some types of disability claims and the hiring of hundreds of additional ⁠— mostly temporary ⁠— staff at Veterans Affairs.

"I hope they don't question the progress," he said. "You're fully aware that there has been some substantial progress."

MacAulay also blamed external factors for some of the department's ongoing problems, including a surge in applications for disability benefits and deep staffing cuts under Stephen Harper's Conservative government about a decade ago.

Meanwhile, he defended the contract with Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services, which came into effect this month despite fierce opposition and cries of alarm from the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.

The government says the contract will help overworked case managers while ensuring veterans have access to a national network of 9,000 psychologists, physiotherapists, social workers and other help across the country.

The Liberals promised in 2015 that the average case manager would have no more than 25 veterans in their caseloads, as many struggled with 40 or more following the Conservative cuts.

The average today still sits closer to 35 when accounting for the dozens of case managers currently off on sick and stress leave, with some still having upwards of 40 or 50, according to the UVAE.

"On the contract itself, (the company) serves 14,000 veterans," MacAulay said. "They have approximately 9,000 medical experts in place across the country to provide the service they need. I don't think it would be very responsible to cancel that contract."

Yet the UVAE alleges the contract will have the opposite effect by adding another layer of bureaucracy with which veterans will have to contend while dramatically changing the role of case managers.

The union has also blasted the department's continued reliance on temporary staff to fix its problems. That issue has also been raised by auditor general Karen Hogan, who is calling for a long-term staffing and funding plan at Veterans Affairs.

The battle between the UVAE and MacAulay came to a head last month when the union wrote to Trudeau asking him to replace MacAulay because its members had lost faith in the minister.

Meanwhile, others are questioning MacAulay's clout at the cabinet table and the Liberal government's interest in veterans given their failure to fix many of the department's longstanding problems.

"Whenever MacAulay speaks, it's always the same thing: 'We think this is the highest priority, we're going to do everything we can,'" said Brian Forbes, executive director of the War Amps and head of the National Council of Veterans Associations, which represents 60 organizations.

"In our humble opinion, all of that is not enough. You've got to make systemic changes."

Asked about the resignation call and his own record, MacAulay cited several more figures about the billions of dollars spent on veterans since the Liberals came to power as well as the recent purchase of land in France to save Juno Beach from development.

"People can assess whether I'm the proper minister or not," he said. "I'm going to continue to do the job that I'm doing the best way I know how in order to make sure we serve veterans."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2022.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

REMEMBERANCE DAY  11/11/2022

Organization continues search to identify Indigenous veterans in unmarked graves

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte have a long history of military service ranging from the First and Second World War to Afghanistan, but Chief Donald Maracle had always known many of the First Nation's veterans lay in unmarked graves in the community's cemeteries.

THEY ALSO FOUGHT WITH THE BRITISH

AGAINST THE FRENCH AND YANKEES

Maracle said that's because many Indigenous veterans who returned from war were not afforded the same benefits provided to other veterans, and their families often couldn't afford proper headstones commemorating their service to the Crown.

"What's important for Canadians to remember is that native people could not be conscripted into the military because they didn't have the right to vote during the First World War and Second World War, they were not seen to be British subjects," he said. "Native people volunteered in numbers disproportionate to our population."

But with some assistance from a Canada-wide organization working to identify Indigenous veterans lying in unmarked graves, eight Mohawk veterans from the Great Wars now have proper headstones marking their military service.

Maracle says the grave markers and respect are long overdue.

"Even though it is some decades later, it's better late than never," he said.

The grave markers are the product of a project led by the Last Post Fund, which launched its Indigenous Veterans' Initiative in 2019 as an effort to advance reconciliation by identifying and providing proper headstones for those lying in unmarked graves. Its other function is to provide traditional Indigenous names and cultural symbols to existing military grave markers.

Through the initiative, the organization has researched thousands of Indigenous veterans in Canada, found hundreds of their unmarked graves and provided more than 165 grave markers. But Last Post Fund's executive director Edouard Pahud said they've only scratched the surface of the issue and need First Nations to provide research, oral history and expertise on their own communities to ensure more are recognized.

"It means a lot to the families and to the communities where there is that strong relationship [with military service]. They are thrilled to see the proper recognition and commemoration," said Pahud, adding some Indigenous communities are not fully aware of their own history of members who have served.

"Indigenous veterans are as deserving as our regular veterans in terms of having a proper commemoration and proper military markers."

The Indigenous Veterans' Initiative is based on a list provided by Yann Castelnot, an amateur historian from France living in Quebec, who compiled one of the largest databases of Indigenous soldiers, including nearly 15,000 who were born in Canada.

Pahud said he never would have known many of the people on the list were Indigenous, noting several had French or religious names imposed on them during their time at residential schools or adopted new names in order to enlist in the Armed Forces.

Since many traditional military markers have specific regiments on them, the initiative's researchers went to Cree artist Jason Carter to design culturally relevant symbols, based on the Seven Sacred Teachings, that families can opt to have etched into the stones.

In order to confirm that an Indigenous veteran is in an unmarked grave, the initiative will typically reach out to an Indigenous community to gauge interest in helping conduct research. Maria Trujillo, the Last Post Fund's Indigenous program coordinator, said identifying veterans is highly dependent on research from and oral histories within First Nations communities.

"It's amazing when I mention the name of a veteran and people immediately connect them to the community," said Trujillo, adding oral histories become key when researchers can't confirm an Indigenous veteran's service records. "They know their people really well and it's helped with the research."

As a result of this collaboration with First Nations, the Last Post Fund's list of Indigenous veterans has grown through word-of-mouth, as communities help add names to veterans not on Castelnot's original list.

The initiative also tries to stir up interest by writing articles, taking out advertisements in newspapers and magazines — many of them Indigenous-focused — and attending Pow Wows. A documentary on the initiative in collaboration with Indigenous filmmakers is also in the works.

To date, the Last Post Fund has researched less than 25 per cent of the total names on their list of Indigenous veterans. Much of the research so far has focused on western provinces since the initiative's creation, and Pahud and Trujillo have opted to make Ontario a larger focus in the coming years, since Castelnot's list shows there are more than 5,000 Indigenous veterans in that province alone. So far, the initiative has researched less than 20 per cent of those veterans.

"A lot of people are surprised when I call into the community and they're like, 'I didn't even know this existed, I didn't know we had access to this,'" said Trujillo.

She said interest in the initiative has grown naturally over time, adding feedback from veterans' families and First Nations communities leave her optimistic that more will hop on board by supporting its research.

"I really think if more people know about us, we're going to get more families contacting us directly."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2022.

———

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press

Veteran graves of Alberta ghost town cemetery never left alone

Dan Grummett -  Global News

From her couch in a downtown Edmonton seniors home, Mary Lee squints through her magnifying glass at the binder on her lap.

The Mountain Park Cemetery is home to dozens of veteran's graves. Some are known and marked, others have never been identified.© Dayne Winter / Global News

It's mainly a photo album and it's as thick as a bed pillow. Lee turns through the pages, trying to read the captions underneath each picture that she wrote years ago.

"I can see there's colour, etcetera," said Lee. "But I can't tell the details."

The binder she's leafing through is actually less than half of what she's collected about Mountain Park Cemetery, the only remnants of a community abandoned 72 years ago.

More than 300 kilometres west of Lee and her binders, in the Alberta foothills, 31 small flags flap and flicker in what used to be called the "Valley of the Winds."
'It's gone back to nature'

Established in 1911, Mountain Park was a tight-knit coal mining community built on a hillside. Mainly accessible by train, it had a school, hospital, library, butcher shop, hockey rink and a cemetery.

Lee was born there in 1937.

"Everybody got along. We never locked our doors," she recalled.

Population peaked around 1,500 residents, some of whom fought in both the First and Second World Wars.

"We sent care packages over(seas) like you wouldn't believe," said Lee. "My mother made fruit cakes and everything and sent them over to the boys."

Read more:
Mom of last Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan chosen as Silver Cross Mother

Eventually, the oil and gas industry began to emerge in Alberta.

Alberta Coal Branch mining operations in Mountain Park wound down.

Flooding on the McLeod River cut off the integral railway.

In 1950, Mountain Park was abandoned. Lee recalled residents moving their entire homes from their foundation to other communities. Other structures were flattened.

Today, it's considered a ghost town.

"There's nothing there anymore. It's gone back to nature," said Lee.

To this day, the only visible evidence Mountain Park ever existed is its cemetery.

"We kind of forgot it was there."

Mary's reclamation project

Lee moved to Edson, west of Edmonton, after her Mountain Park days. But in the 1990s, the cemetery was suddenly back on her radar.

Another ex-resident was informed the cemetery was in jeopardy of being demolished by a mining company. A group, including Lee, began an initiative to save it.

After receiving a government grant, work began on the reclamation and Lee revisited the site for the first time in years.

"The buckbrush was up to my shoulders, probably. And as we cleaned it out, we were surprised what was there," recalled Lee.

The surprise came at the number of graves belonging to war veterans.

Lee sought out to determine exactly who the graves belonged to.

Some were unmarked or damaged. Wooden fences built to protect the plots needed to be rebuilt and repainted.

In the early 2000s, a cenotaph was erected in honour of Mountain Park's residents who served and sacrificed.

In the years following, Lee would return a few times per year to visit her parents and ensure the cemetery didn't become enveloped by nature.

But in time, time caught up with her. Lee hasn't been back since 2017.

A new form of recognition

Arleen Wambolt doesn't claim to know much about the history of Mountain Park. Wambolt was aware the cemetery had a military contingent and of Lee's efforts to preserve it all.

"It's amazing she took this on," said Wambolt of Lee.

Wambolt volunteers with No Stone Left Alone Foundation in Hinton. The initiative organizes youth to place poppies on the headstones of Canadian veterans each November.

Read more:

2021 No Stone Left Alone ceremony: ‘We will remember’

This year, she was tasked with bringing a commemoration ceremony to Mountain Park cemetery.

"It doesn't matter if the cemetery has one veteran or 1,000. It's honouring every veteran that served our country," said Wambolt.

At more than 6,000 feet above sea level, Mountain Park has the highest elevated cemetery in Canada. That can make weather and road conditions unpredictable, especially in the winter.

Wambolt knew the ceremony couldn't wait for November.

In August, she and some friends drove the winding gravel road to the cemetery. Instead of poppies, which would easily blow away, they planted poppy flags next to headstones. Wambolt counted 31 in total.

"It's just moving. You almost reflect at each one that you do it. You kind of thank them silently for their service," she said. "I kind of get chills when I do it."

The reason this is here is because of Mountain Park

The buzz of a whippersnapper fills the air with sound, as Paula (Resek) McKay chops down some overgrown grass. The Resek family had a home in Mountain Park pre-1950.

"My dad's house was up on one of those hills over there," said McKay, pointing to the hillside and former townsite west of the cemetery.

Read more:

Unmarked graves for veterans in southern Alberta to receive military headstones

She was careful not to damage the white cross of Sgt. Tony Resek, her cousin, who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Resek is one of the 31 markers Wambolt counted. No one seems to believe any of the veterans physically buried at Mountain Park actually died in combat. Many served and died in the First World War but others also served and returned to Canada to live out their lives.

Some returned to Mountain Park and they or their families requested to be buried at the cemetery upon their death.

"I think about all the young men from Mountain Park that answered the call to go to war," said McKay, who helped with the No Stone commemoration ceremony in August.

The August ceremony was missing a youth component.

Most of the broader area's school-aged children live in or close to Hinton and Edson on the Yellowhead Highway, according to Wambolt. Her hope is to work with county school divisions to organize a youth contingent to travel to Mountain Park to plant the poppy flags as soon as next year.

"I'd like to see more youth coming out here. Maybe through a field trip?" suggested McKay.

Longing to return

Lee would happily host a youth expedition to Mountain Park.

But while flipping through her photo album, she's reminded of why she cannot.

"I'm sitting here and I'm realizing how much of the vision is gone," said Lee, who is visually impaired.

But her memories are not fuzzy and the motivation behind her cemetery custodianship is as clear now as it was 25 years ago.

"That's part of the history from up there that should not die," she said, vowing to return one way or another.

"I'll tell you right now, that's where I'm heading back to. So you better look after it good," Lee said with a chuckle.

One of last living Black Canadian WWII veterans is from Sask.

Dayne Patterson - CBC - 11/11/2022

Alvie Burden is one of the last surviving Black Canadian veterans who served in the Second World War. A historian says stories like Burden's need to be told.

Alvie's youngest son Kelly sat beside his father in Armstrong, B.C., where Alvie now lives, prompting some of Alvie's stories and filling in some blanks. The conversation was occasionally punctuated by Alvie's hearty laughs.

"Don't ever go back to war, isn't that what you said before?" Kelly said.

Alvie chuckled. "Yeah. People [have] to learn to get along."

Alvie was living in B.C. when he joined the Canadian military at 19 years old, but since he was born in Tisdale, Sask., in 1922, he was sent off to the Prairies to join the Saskatoon Light Infantry division as a dispatch rider.
Reuniting with best friend from the military

Alvie was reunited this June with one of his closest friends from the war, Art McKim.

"I met him in Montreal, where we went on the boat to England and then to Sicily," Alvie said.

The two were in Quebec to train on machine guns. Alvie said they'd go downtown and meet French girls on their off time. He spent a lot of time in England with McKim on guard duty, according to Kelly.

Both friends ended up meeting girlfriends in Paisley, Scotland.

"We met them on the street," Alvie said.

"You were going to marry one weren't you?" Kelly asked him.

"Yup."

Kelly recounted how Alvie gave the woman a ring, but then later changed his mind. She gave the ring back, and it later ended up on the finger of Kelly's mother.

Alvie and McKim were waiting for a ferry in Sicily when they started "messing around" with gunpowder that had been left on the beach.

"The damn stuff went up in smoke," Alvie said. "Art, he had his eyes all full of sand."

McKim was temporarily blinded. Alvie had to lead him out of the area and help him to the hospital. It was the last time the men saw each other for decades.

Related video: 100-year-old veteran reflects on service in Second World War

Duration 4:53   View on Watch

Alvie spent years looking for McKim, even driving to where he thought Art was from.

They were finally able to track him down.

"It was a pretty big deal," Alvie said.

They didn't find out until they reunited that McKim's half-brother lived within an hour drive of Alvie, and his relatives played hockey with Kelly's son.

Injured in war

Alvie was driving over a ridge when an enemy tank shell landed behind him and sent him flying into the air.

According to Kelly, an allied tank straddled him to protect him as soldiers pulled him to safety.

He ended up with shrapnel in his head and wrists, and the embedded lead continued to fester.

Despite that, Alvie returned and started carrying machine guns on a half-track as the driver of a Bren gun carrier.

Black Canadian stories important to remember

Kathy Grant founded the website and Facebook page Black Canadian Veterans Stories as part of a promise to her father, a Second World War veteran, to honour the contributions of Canada's Black soldiers.

Since then, dozens of stories from Black veterans of various wars have been posted online.

Grant said she's been in situations where Black Canadians have been conflicted on Remembrance Day, asking what they had to celebrate. She would show them stories and pictures.

"We served," Grant said. "By putting these examples and showing we served … [even] after the war, it humanizes the soldiers by showing examples of us and not only showing examples of victims of racism."

Grant said there were about 1,300 Black Canadians who either enlisted or were conscripted to the military in the First World War, but in the early stages many were turned away by the commanding officer, who had the final say.

"There were hundreds that were turned away because of the commanding officer, but not because of policy," she said.

Things changed in the Second World War, and while some commanders still turned away applicants, Black Canadians joined the military much more easily.

"The majority of Black World War II veterans that I've interviewed indicated the racism … wasn't rampant, it was the odd occasion," she said.

"The racism that they would experience would be when they returned home from overseas, or also when they were stationed in certain towns during training, when they would go into bars or dancing or whatever."

She said her father was kicked out of a bar in Edmonton because of his skin colour, even though he was in uniform.

Grant believes Alvie is among fewer than five living Black Canadian Second World War veterans in the country.

While Alvie's uncle, Roy Burden, was in a segregated unit in the United States, Alvie said that during his time in the military, from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945, he didn't face race-related issues despite being the only Black Canadian in his company.

It was "all right, no problems," he said.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

Bernie M. Farber: The Jewish-Canadian hero of the battle of 'Sterlin Castle'

Opinion by Special to National Post - 

During the Second World War, Canadian heroes came from every walk of life, a multitude of ethnicities, cultures and faiths. Perhaps though, the group that had most to lose if captured by the Nazis in battle were the Jewish men who signed up to fight in record numbers. European Jews were being slaughtered by Hitler’s madness as part of a modern genocide that saw the slaughter of over six million Jews between 1939 and 1945. Jewish allied soldiers captured by the Nazis were not treated as POWs. Instead, they were sent to concentration and death camps reserved for Jews, Roma and others caught in the Nazi ideology of genocide.


Details from© Provided by National Post

Such thoughts weighed heavily on those Canadian Jews who voluntarily chose to fight for Canada. Indeed, amongst the tiny population that made up Canadian Jewry at the time, 17,000 young Canadian Jews of fighting age — fully 20 per cent of the Canadian Jewish male population — enlisted in the Armed Forces. That was by far the highest percentage per capita of any minority ethnic/faith group in the country. Close to 700 lost their lives in battle and almost 200 were decorated for their courage. Amongst them was Lt. Mitchell Sterlin.

Mitchell Sterlin was born in Montreal in 1922. He was the son of Eastern European Jews who came to Canada in order to begin a new life. He was smart and outgoing, one of the few Canadian Jews of his time to secure a spot at the McGill medical school during a time of strict quotas against Jews. Sterlin could have avoided the war altogether as a result of his medical school position but chose to fight for his country and with the full knowledge of what was happening to his fellow Jews in Europe.

Following two years of part-time military training with the Canadian Officers’ Training Corps while at McGill, he enlisted for service in the spring of 1942. Receiving his commission in February 1943, now Lt. Mitch Sterlin was attached to the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) and set out to battle in June of that same year. Author and journalist Ellin Bessner noted in her remarkable biography of Sterlin ( Why a Canadian Army building is named after Lt. Mitchell Sterlin ) how he faced antisemitism even from within his own ranks.



Mitchell Sterlin could have avoided the war due to his medical school position but chose to fight for his country and with the full knowledge of what was happening to his fellow Jews in Europe.© McGill University Archives

“While en route to Sicily some of the other RCR lieutenants urged Capt. Ian Hodson of “D” Company to get rid of Sterlin because he was a Jew. Hodson reprimanded them in graphic terms about what would happen to them and how they would be returned to England if they said another negative word about Sterlin.”

Sterlin would live up to his captain’s faith in him. In December 1943 the RCR found themselves on Italy’s Adriatic coast where their eventual mission was to capture Ortona, a small seaport town. It was a brutal battle between German paratroopers and Canadian troops that became known as “Bloody December” for the violent hand-to-hand combat, mines and chaos of the surrounding area. It was here that Sterlin’s courage and tenacity became legendary.

Drenched by driving sleet and cold rain, and having to traverse landscape in which the Nazi forces had destroyed bridges, Sterlin’s “D” Company 16th Platoon were being bombarded. Sterlin and 10 of his men did not get the message that they were to retreat. Instead, they took refuge in a farmhouse where, with much smaller numbers than the German combatants, they engaged in fierce fighting. Two Canadians were killed during the battle. Nonetheless, with grit and valour, the Canadians won the day and the Germans surrendered. Following the battle, the area was nicknamed “Slaughterhouse Hill.”

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Sterlin was mentioned for his bravery in military dispatches and his commanding officers nominated him for the Military Cross, the Canadian medal awarded for “gallant and distinguished services in action.” However the papers were delayed as a result of the fighting. Sadly, only a few days after the battle of Slaughterhouse Hill, a German sniper shot Sterlin and he died on Dec. 19, 1943.

Regrettably, Lt. Sterlin never received his Military Cross, which to this day many feel he more than rightly deserved. As an ongoing tribute, the old farmhouse that was the centre of the battle became known as “Sterlin Castle.” And in the early 1990s the RCR marked the 50th anniversary of the Italian Campaign by donating an oil painting to regimental headquarters in Petawawa known as “The Defence of Sterlin Castle.” They also named the regimental HQ Victoria Barracks after Sterlin.

May the memory of Lt. Mitch Sterlin and all those who fought for freedom be a blessing this day.

Special to National Post
Bernie M. Farber is a human rights advocate, writer and speaker, and the former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress.

GAIA WOKE
Pacific tsunami warning declared for magnitude 7.3 earthquake east of Tonga

U.S. authorities declared a tsunami warning Friday for multiple Pacific Ocean territories for a 7.3 magnitude earthquake 211 kilometers northeast of Tonga, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.


Seism of 7.3 in Northeast Tonga - USGS© Provided by News 360

The earthquake was recorded at 11:48 a.m. (Spanish peninsular time) with a hypocenter about 25 kilometers deep, according to the report of the Earthquake Emergency Program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), for its acronym in English.

Shortly afterwards, the US Tsunami Warning Center confirmed that the earthquake has unleashed high waves that pose a threat to American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.

The center has warned that all of these territories could experience rising coastal waters over the next few hours and is advising people to stay away from the coast and harbors.

No fatalities or injuries have been reported so far.

Hurricane Nicole unearths suspected Native American burial site in Florida

Antonio Planas and Marlene Lenthang and Graham Lee Brewer - Yesterday 

 NBC News

Hurricane Nicole may have unearthed a Native American burial site dating back hundreds of years on a Florida beach, authorities said.

Six skulls and other smaller bones turned up on Chastain Beach on South Hutchinson Island, said Martin County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy John Budensiek.

Beachgoers found the remains, Budensiek said.

"Our medical examiner’s office is saying that they believe the bones are in excess of 200 years of age," he said, adding that investigators believe they may be the remains of Indigenous people.

Related video: Human remains appear on ancient Native American burial ground following Nicole

Duration 2:06   View on Watch

The bones of Native Americans were discovered in the area after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

“We do believe based on other findings over the years along that area that it’s likely to be an old Indiana burial site,” he said. “When we are dealing with remains like this, we try to preserve history. We are not exploring and digging any further into the area where the remains were found. We only recovered what’s been exposed by the water.”

Budensiek said he’s been in touch with the Seminole Nation of Florida about the discovery. If the site is a Native American burial site, it is federally protected, and criminal charges will be pursued against anyone who tries to disturb the area, Budensiek said.

No one with the county’s medical examiner’s office could be immediately reached Thursday afternoon.

Hurricane Nicole made landfall on Florida’s Atlantic Coast early Thursday near where the remains were found.

The storm landed just south of Vero Beach around 3 a.m. ET on the east coast of the Florida Peninsula on North Hutchinson Island with sustained winds estimated to be around 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

One of nature's great mysteries may now have an answer, according to new 'fairy circle' study

Taylor Nicioli - Yesterday - CNN

For over 50 years, ecologists have studied and debated the mystery of the Namib Desert’s “fairy circles,” circular patches, mostly barren of grass, that have spread across 1,100 miles in the arid grasslands of Southern Africa.

Despite their whimsical name, akin to the term “fairy rings” for circular patterns of fungi found in forested areas, there are no fairies at play here. Many theories have been put forth, but two have held the most merit. One theory has looked to blame termites for these dry patches, while the other considers the grasses’ evolution. Scientists have gone back and forth for decades, but a new study offers what may finally be evidence for a clear explanation.


An April 2022 drone image shows the NamibRand Nature Reserve, one of the regions in Namibia where researchers undertook grass excavations, soil-moisture and infiltration measurements. - Courtesy Dr. Stephan Getzin

Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany and lead author of the study, began his research on the fairy circles in 2000. In the years since, he has published more papers on the circles, and their origins, than any other expert.

What makes the fairy circles distinctive are the barren patches within them, but the growth of grasses around them is notable as well — they have found a way to thrive in what is considered one of the driest places in the world. In previous research, Getzin and his team hypothesized that plants in the circles’ outer rings had evolved to maximize their limited water in the desert.

And for the past three years, he has spent time in Namibia tracking the growth of the grasses to find more evidence for this theory. During the drought season of 2020, Getzin and his team of researchers installed sensors that could record the moisture of the soil at around 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) deep — and monitor the grasses’ water uptake.

“We were really lucky, because in 2020 there was not much vegetation, or actually, almost any grass vegetation in the fairy circle area,” Getzin said. “But in 2021, and this year, in 2022, there was a very good rainfall season, so we could actually really follow how the growth of the new grasses was redistributing the soil water.”


Getzin's coauthor, Sönke Holch of University of Göttingen, downloads data from a sensor in the Namib Desert in February 2021, when the grasses reached their peak biomass. - Courtesy Dr. Stephan Getzin

Analyzing the data from these rainfall seasons, Getzin’s team found water from within the circles was depleting fast, despite not having any grass to use it, while the grasses on the outside were as robust as ever. Under the strong heat in the desert, these well-established grasses had evolved to create a vacuum system around their roots that drew any water toward them, according to Getzin. The grasses from within the circles, which attempt to grow right after rainfall, meanwhile, were unable to receive enough water to live.

“A circle is the most logical geometric formation which you would create as a plant suffering from lack of water,” Getzin said. “If these circles were squares, or low, complex structures, then you would have a lot more individual grasses along the circumference. … The proportional area is smaller than if you grow in a circle. These grasses end up in a circle because that’s the most logical structure to maximize the water available to each individual plant.”

The study called this an example of “ecohydrological feedback,” in which the barren circles become reservoirs that help sustain grasses at the edges — though at the expense of grasses in the middle. This self-organization is used to buffer against the negative effects of increasing aridity, Getzin said, and is also seen in other harsh drylands in the world.

In response to the ‘termite theory’

The termite hypothesis, meanwhile, suggested that fairy circles are generated by sand termites that damage grass roots, and was well received among other scientists. However, a 2016 study of similar fairy circles in Australia found no clear links to the pests. Getzin’s latest research came to similar conclusions.

“We have an example where it rained only once, the grasses came up, and then after eight or nine days, the grasses only within the fairy circles had started dying,” Getzin said. “When we (excavated) these grasses carefully and looked at the roots, none of these grasses had any root damage by termites — but still, they died. Our results clearly state, no, these grasses die without termites.”



Twelve continuously recording soil-moisture sensors, installed at regular intervals at a 20-centimeter depth, track a section of the desert connecting two fairy circles. 

- Courtesy Dr. Stephan Getzin

Getzin and his team also found the roots from young plants within the circles to be longer than those on the outside. This suggests, according to Getzin, that the grasses had created longer routes in an attempt to find water — further evidence of their competition with the outside ring’s grasses in the water-scarce desert.

While the evidence brought forth from the study is a step forward, scientists — Getzin included — believe there is still more research that could be done. That said, Getzin told CNN that it’s time for him to move on to a new challenge.

“With the fairy circles in Namibia, as well as those seen in Australia, the plants are modifying the soil moisture distribution and thereby increasing their survival chances, and we can call this sort of ‘swarm intelligence,’” Getzin said. “Plants do make intelligent patterns and geometric formations, and I will continue to work in this direction.”

Near the fairy circle area in Namibia, for example, researchers have also found a different species of grass forming in large, circular rings after rainfall. “It’s a completely different grass genus, but it forms identical circular formations,” Getzin said. He is looking to research this process during Namibia’s next rainy season of 2023.