Chile's Atacama Desert is a graveyard for the world's junk

Story by Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com • 

Chile's Atacama Desert is a barren landscape that has become a graveyard for the world's garbage, and the mountains of clothes, cars and shoes could hinder scientific advances in space.

This is one of the Earth's driest regions, but scientists have found microorganisms adapting to the near waterless world that could provide clues on how to find life on similar planets, specifically Mars.

This research is endangered because Atacama is a hub for secondhand and unsold clothing from the United States, Europe and Asia - more than 46,000 tons of clothes were dumped in the desert last year.

Used cars also flood the country from the free trade zone only to be stacked in the desert, while piles of abandoned tires are scattered across the landscape.

'We are no longer just the local backyard, but rather the world's backyard, which is worse,' Patricio Ferreira, mayor of the desert town of Alto Hospicio, told AFP.



The Atacama Desert is drowning in the world's garbage. There are mountains of unsold or secondhand clothes piled up across the dusty landscape© Provided by Daily Mail


Used cars also flood the country from the free trade zone only to be stacked in the desert. Scientists are not only concerned about the damage to the environment, but the trash could destroy research© Provided by Daily Mail

The Atacama Desert is nestled between the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range, which blocks moisture from traveling inland from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

And although it is one of the driest places on Earth, one million people call the desolate landscape home.

But Chile's massive Atacama Desert is a unique and fragile ecosystem that experts say is being threatened by piles of trash dumped there from around the world.

The fast fashion industry is a primary culprit in the mountains of clothes sprawling over the once barren hills.

Full of chemicals and taking up to 200 years to biodegrade, activists say the clothing pollutes the soil, air and underground water.

'The material is highly flammable. The fires are toxic,' said lawyer and activist Paulin Silva, 34, who has filed a complaint at the country's environmental court over the damage caused by the mountains of trash and clothing.

'It seems to me we need to find those responsible,' she said, standing amid the discarded items which she said were 'dangerous, an environmental risk, a danger to people's health.'



There are microorganisms that have adapted to the harsh environment, and scientists believe these lifeforms could help them find life on Mars, which has a similar landscape. But the thousands of tires could suffocate any life in the desert© Provided by Daily Mail


Pictured is lawyer and activist Paulin Silva, 34, who has filed a complaint at the country's environmental court over the damage caused by the mountains of trash and clothing. Here she is, rummaging through a dusty mountain of clothes© Provided by Daily Mail


This research is endangered because Atacama is a hub for secondhand and unsold clothing and shoes from the United States, Europe and Asia - more than 46,000 tons of clothes were dumped in the desert last year© Provided by Daily Mail

Combined with the heaps of cars and tires, the environment is drowning in trash.

Ferreira lamented a 'lack of global awareness, ethical responsibility and environmental protection' from 'the unscrupulous of the world.'

'We feel abandoned. We feel that our land has been sacrificed,' she said.

The driest part is the Yungay district in the city of Antofagasta, and while plants and animals are scares, scientists have found microorganism thriving.

These tiny life forms have evolved to adapt to a lack of water, high levels of solar radiation and nearly no nutrients.

To the average person, their ability to survive may not be interesting, but to scientists, these life forms could harbor secrets to evolution and survival on Earth and other planets.

NASA considers the Yungay district Earth's most similar landscape to Mars and uses it to test its robotic vehicles.



'We are no longer just the local backyard, but rather the world's backyard, which is worse,' Patricio Ferreira, mayor of the desert town of Alto Hospicio, told AFP © Provided by Daily Mail


Chile's massive Atacama desert is a unique and fragile ecosystem that experts say is being threatened by piles of trash dumped there from around the world© Provided by Daily Mail

In 2017, the American space agency tested an early model of its Perseverance rover, which is currently searching for ancient signs of life on the Red Planet.

Because the landscape is similar to Mars, the drilling capabilities of the rover were tested in the desert to ensure they would work on the Martian planet.

And the UV exposure in the Atacama is also closely matched to what the rover is enduring.

While the desert does not receive much rain, large banks of fog roll across the desert, allowing some plants -- and some of the world's hardiest lichens, fungi, and algae --to grow.

Scores of brightly colored wildflower species bloom when it gets above-average rain in a spectacular display that happens every five to seven years, most recently in 2021.

It is an ecosystem that is 'very fragile because any change or decrease in the pattern of precipitation and fog has immediate consequences for the species that live there,' said Pablo Guerrero, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity and expert in desert cactus.

'There are cactus species which are considered extinct' due to pollution, climate change, and human settlement.

Montreal hate-speech trial hears debate on whether Nazism directly caused Holocaust

Story by Erika Morris • 

What started as a hate-speech trial of alleged Montreal neo-Nazi recruiter Gabriel Sohier-Chaput turned into a debate on whether knowledge of the Holocaust is beyond reasonable dispute Friday.

Gabriel Sohier-Chaput walks the halls of the courthouse in Montreal on Monday, Feb.28, 2022

.© Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

On July 8, defence lawyer Hélène Poussard argued people now throw around the word Nazi outside of its original meaning, and "genocide wasn't originally central to Nazism."

She doubled down on the argument today, saying the prosecution should have brought forward witnesses and experts to define Nazism.

While Sohier-Chaput, 36, scrolled on his phone in the prisoner's box, his lawyer argued the prosecution had put forward a dozen inflammatory headlines as proof, but not the articles themselves, making the proof incomplete.

Sohier-Chaput, who has admitted to writing between 800 to 1,000 articles for the far-right online publication the Daily Stormer under the pseudonym Zeiger, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of wilful promotion of hate propaganda against Jewish people.

If convicted, he could face up to two years in jail.

'Non-stop Nazism everywhere'

The case hinges on a single article entitled "Canada: Nazis Trigger Jews By Putting Up Posters On Ch--k Church," using a racial slur to refer to the Asian community.

Using antisemitic memes and editorial comments, the article celebrated neo-Nazi posters pasted on a bus stop in British Columbia and insulted a Holocaust survivor who had been interviewed about the incident.

"We need to make sure no SJW [social justice warrior] or Jew can remain safely untriggered," Sohier-Chaput wrote in the article.

"Non-stop Nazism, everywhere, until the very streets are flooded with the tears of our enemies."

Testifying in his own defence on March 1, Sohier-Chaput said he was using satire that young people familiar with online culture would understand. His goal, he said, was to use humour to end political correctness.

The Crown had argued the phrase "non-stop Nazism everywhere" was inciting violence against Jewish people since Nazism led to the Holocaust. It also argued the Daily Stormer was a neo-Nazi publication, pointing to images of Adolf Hitler and Swastikas pasted all over its homepage.

Poussard pointed to various dictionary definitions of Nazism, which she says aren't precise enough to support the argument that her client was inciting hatred. She said no clear evidence was brought forward to prove Nazis saw Jewish people as inferior.

"What we need to analyze is words and be careful of exact definitions," said Poussard. "To me saying Nazis exterminated six million Jews is not precise enough."

Quebec court Judge Manlio Del Negro responded by saying that if a reasonable and educated person knows these facts, which are easy to verify, a judge can take judicial notice — meaning no proof is needed to support it.

Poussard insisted she is not contesting that the Holocaust took place, but is opposed to the judge taking judicial notice of the facts rather than having them submitted as evidence in the context of the 2017 article.

Holocaust is a fact

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) says Poussard's arguments highlight the need for awareness of antisemitism and mandatory Holocaust education in Quebec.

"The Holocaust [has] been recognized by Canadian jurisprudence as a fact," said Emmanuelle Amar, CIJA's director of policy and research, who was at the hearing.

"The Holocaust is the most documented genocide in the world. It's been documented by its perpetrators, by their victims, by bystanders so it is a fact."

In a statement, CIJA called the discussion a "frivolous interlude."

"We really hope we can put this conversation to rest and that we can go back to the proceedings and have Sohier-Chaput be judged for the hate he was promoting online and the impact he has had on the Jewish community," said Amar.

The judgment will be rendered by Del Negro on Jan. 23, 2023.

 

UTAH
The Mysterious Dog-Killing Bacteria Plaguing a Popular National Park

Story by Daniel Modlin • 



Zion National Park is one of the country’s, if not the world’s, natural wonders. In Eastern Utah, the park is the 10th most visited national park according to the National Park Service (NPS), and throughout the pandemic continually struggled with overcrowding, with many hikers flooding in to cram themselves onto one hiking trail in particular: the Narrows.


National Park Service© Provided by The Daily Beast

The Narrows, aptly named, is the narrowest part of Zion Canyon. Hiking through it involves sloshing through the Virgin River, surrounded by huge rock faces on either side.

But a few weeks ago, the park was forced to warn visitors against the Narrows along with another popular hike, due to a toxic bacteria spreading through the park's waterways.

In a statement, the NPS wrote, “Toxin producing cyanobacteria has been detected in the North Fork of the Virgin River which will remain at a Warning Advisory.” It added: “During Warning and Health Watch advisories, recreators should avoid primary contact recreation such as swimming or submerging the head. During Danger advisories, recreators should consider avoiding all direct contact with the water.”

This isn’t the first national park or national recreation area to deal with a water problem. Earlier this year at the Grand Canyon 202 visitors got sick with norovirus, which lived in the river’s tepid water, and the Everglades have consistently struggled with algal blooms, otherwise known as red tides.

And even more surprising is that this isn’t the first time bacteria forced the Narrows to close. Two years ago, a dog died within one hour of swimming in the river and “snapping” at algae growing on the rocks. It couldn’t walk and was having seizures before its death, McClatchy News previously reported.



National Park Service© Provided by The Daily Beast

Dr. Kate Fickas, an aquatic biologist who worked with the U.S. Geological Service in Zion two years ago when this first sprung up but is now focused on South Dakota, said that at first they were baffled at what had caused the death of the dog.

“Oftentimes, dogs just drink water too fast, and so we thought it was just that,” she said.

However, after testing they found the water to contain cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, the very same results the park discovered only a couple of weeks ago.

It’s not entirely uncommon. Dangerous blue-green algal blooms sprout up all over the country during higher temperatures. Take the Great Lakes for example, where harmful algal blooms are a common occurrence. Earlier this year, The New Scientist reported that harmful algal blooms are becoming increasingly common, worldwide.

Environmentalists are concerned, arguing that the sheer number of national parks with damaged water sources leaves a lot of questions to be answered. “More than half of the national parks have waters considered impaired” under the Clean Water Act, Sarah Gaines Barmeyer, deputy vice president for conservation programs at the National Parks Conservation Association, told The National Park Traveler, citing pollution coming from outside the parks as a main cause of impaired water quality.

However, there are a few things that make the algae in Zion a stranger case than most. The first is that algal blooms most commonly occur in lakes, large standing bodies of water; but in this case, an algal bloom occurred in a river.

“Algal blooms don’t often happen in rivers,” says Fickas, adding that “they especially don’t happen in pristine rivers.”

One of the biggest causes of algal blooms is runoff from fertilizers in nearby towns. When a large body of water isn’t dispersing these organisms via movement, they accumulate and that’s when you end up with blooms. In Zion, this isn’t a possibility, so scientists knew this algae was slightly out of the norm.

“So we began to hypothesize that the algae was benthic,” Fickas said. Benthic cyanobacteria differ from typical algae insofar as they live closer to the floor of the water body, instead of floating atop the surface. It also implies that the algae has always been a part of the river, they just haven’t bloomed, or been detected and become a source of heath concern, historically.

As for what is causing them to bloom two years ago and just a few weeks ago, scientists have some theories, although not much research has been done on the topic.

“An increase in water temperature would be problematic in theory,” says Dr. Don Bryant, a professor emeritus of biotechnology at Pennsylvania State University. “This problem would be greatest in the summer and in any drought seasons, which of course is continual now in the West.”

Another theory, according to the park, suggests high-flow events might trigger rapid regrowth. A spokesperson for Zion said, “National Park Service scientists have observed that high flow events (e.g., spring snowmelt or flash floods) scour away cyanobacteria. Following high flow events, park scientists have observed cyanobacteria regrowth happen in the following weeks and months.”

But determining the cause of the bacteria is only half the battle, of course. And while the bacteria is likely difficult to get rid of, according to Bryant due to it being part of the natural flora of the river, the National Park Service is instead turning its attention to continual sampling and testing, as well as alerting the public through various means.

In a statement to The Daily Beast, a spokesperson for Zion National Park outlined their efforts.

“In partnership with Utah Department of Environmental Quality (Utah DEQ) and the Utah Department of Health & Human Services (Utah DHHS), we issue health advisories so that visitors can make informed decisions about recreating in the park. We share updates about cyanobacteria on our park website, in social media posts, and in-person at park visitor centers, on trails, and in ranger talks. In all of these updates, we remind visitors not to drink or filter water from the North Fork of the Virgin River, La Verkin Creek, or North Creek.”

But Bryant’s view is that recreators shouldn’t be too worried. At least not yet. “One of the more interesting things to think about,” said Bryant, “is that many of the bacterias we’re finding have always been there. We’ve just gotten more diligent about testing them and telling people where it’s safe to swim.”

“I’ll put it this way,” Bryant continued. “I grew up swimming in lakes and ponds, and I don’t think much has changed about them. But would I swim in them today knowing what I know now? Absolutely not.”

Greta Thunberg sues her native Sweden over climate crisis

Story by Via AP news wire •

Hundreds of activists including Greta Thunberg marched through the Swedish capital to a court Friday to file a lawsuit against the Swedish state for what they say is insufficient climate action.


Sweden Climate Protest© Christine Olsson

More than 600 young people under the age of 26 signed the 87-page document that is the basis for the lawsuit which was filed in the Stockholm District Court. They want the court to determine that the country has violated its citizen's human rights with its climate policies.

“Sweden has never treated the climate crisis like a crisis,” said Anton Foley, spokesman of the youth-led initiative Aurora, which prepared and filed the lawsuit. “Sweden is failing in its responsibility and breaking the law.”

The action comes as scientists warn that chances are slipping away to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

At a recent U.N. climate conference in Egypt earlier this month, leaders tried to keep that goal alive but did not ratchet up calls for reducing carbon emissions.

Another activist, Ida Edling, said that Sweden "is pursuing a climate policy the research is very clear will contribute to a climate disaster in the future.”

Sweden's parliament decided in 2017 said that by 2045, the Scandinavian country is to have zero net emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and is to have 100% renewable energy.

Swedish broadcaster TV4 said the government declined to comment on-going legal actions.

Climate campaigners have launched numerous lawsuits against governments and companies in recent years, with mixed success.

In one of the most high-profile cases, Germany’s top court ruled last year that the government had to adjust its climate targets to avoid unduly burdening the young. The German government reacted by bringing forward its target for ‘net zero’ emissions by five years to 2045 and laying more ambitious near-and-medium term steps to achieve that goal.

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here.

Latin America and the Caribbean recorded more than 4,400 femicides in 2021, ECLAC warns

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has warned in the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that more than 4,400 women have been victims of femicide in 2021 in 29 countries in the region.


A demonstration against women's violence in Argentina - 

ALEJO MANUEL AVILA / ZUMA PRESS 

Specifically, 4,445 women have been murdered in 18 countries and territories in Latin America, while 28 would have done so in Caribbean territories, representing at least 12 violent deaths per day.

The data place Honduras in the ranking with the highest rate of femicides (4.6 cases per 100,000 women), followed by the Dominican Republic (2.7 cases), El Salvador (2.4), Bolivia (1.8 cases) and Brazil (1.7). Belize and Guyana were the countries with the highest rates of femicide in the Caribbean.

The report of the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG) published by ECLAC also warns that the highest rates of femicide are among adolescents and young women between 15 and 29 years of age.

Thus, of the data collected, more than 4 percent correspond to girls under 14 years of age. The text also shows that at least 781 minors lost their parents to violent death, although only 10 countries have records of this data.

"Faced with the statistical silence in most countries, it was feminist organizations and activists who began the process of compiling data and building information on femicides in several countries in the region," reads the report.

The statistics, which reveal "the persistence of patriarchal, discriminatory and violent cultural patterns", give an idea of the situation in the region, but the data, the organization warned, must be used for the "design of comprehensive public policies on violence against women and girls".

"The figures we present today on femicides in Latin America and the Caribbean are unacceptable. Our obligation is to redouble our efforts so that women and girls in our region can truly exercise their right to live a life free of violence and discrimination," concluded the ECLAC Executive Secretariat.

Hiding in plain sight: artefacts seized from display in Italian bank

Story by Federico Maccioni • 

Trafficked archeological artefacts found in Italian bank's headquarters© Thomson Reuters

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian authorities have seized a valuable archaeological collection that had been on display in a meeting hall in the headquarters of an Italian regional bank, police said in a statement on Friday.

The Carabinieri police confiscated pottery artefacts that were kept inside the main branch of Banca Popolare di Bari, in the south-eastern region of Puglia, with the current management blissfully unaware of the items' illicit origins.


Trafficked archeological artefacts found in Italian bank's headquarters© Thomson Reuters

The 103 ceramic artefacts, including vases, plates and jugs, date back to between the 5th century B.C. and the first century A.D., and are of "inestimable cultural-historical worth and an extremely important economic value," police said.


Trafficked archeological artefacts found in Italian bank's headquarters© Thomson Reuters

The collection came into the bank's possession in 2009 after a transaction worth 100,000 euros ($103,640) was sponsored by the then chief executive and backed by the board.

However, the previous owners had never obtained an official property certificate for the collection in spite of declaring part of it to the relevant authorities.



Trafficked archeological artefacts found in Italian bank's headquarters© Thomson Reuters

Four unnamed people are under preliminary investigation for allegedly receiving stolen goods and concealing cultural heritage items, police said.

Popolare di Bari, the biggest bank in Italy's disadvantaged south, was bailed out by peers in a government-backed rescue in 2019.($1 = 0.9649 euros)

(Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Alvise Armellini, editing by Keith Weir)

NDP calls out Alberta premier on campaign comments about K-Country pass



Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been leader of the UCP for about six weeks, long enough to act on past comments she made about the Kananaskis Conservation Pass, according to the NDP.

In a Nov. 20 press release, NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt called Smith out on comments she made in an “Ask Me Anything” video shot during the UCP leadership campaign, where Smith called the K-Country fee “ridiculous” and said she agreed with the opposition’s stance to scrap it.

In response to a question asking what Smith would do about the K-Country pass if elected, she said: “Kananaskis was always supposed to be that open access place for Albertans. The idea that somehow we’re going to improve things and improve the access by charging, what is it, $90 [for a] park pass? That impacts families at a time when everything is going up for families.”

“See, there are areas we can work together with the opposition,” Smith said in the video shot in June 2022.

Schmidt recently sent a joint letter to the Minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism Todd Loewen and Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Sonya Savage, in response to the video, demanding Smith follow up on her comments to enact legislation removing the pass.

“This is something that could have easily been enacted by now since she was elected,” said Schmidt. “[Smith] hasn’t taken any action and there’s been no response to our letter.”

Schmidt’s letter is the latest in resounding calls from the NDP to scrap the pass – first introduced in 2021 – and make the park more accessible to visitors.

“Albertans are going through the worst affordability crisis in the time that I’ve been alive, and now is the time to help people make ends meet and scrapping the Kananaskis fee is one way to reduce the cost the UCP has piled on Alberta families over the last three years,” said Schmidt.

“The other things that I continue to hear from people is frustration that they don’t see where the money is going. There’s continued frustration in the lack of high quality infrastructure and there doesn’t seem to be any trail maintenance or additional simple things – like repairing picnic tables and making sure garbage is taken care of.”

Overall revenue collected from conservation pass sales last year was around $12 million.

According to the province, $3.5 million from the K-Country pass' 2021-2022 fiscal year was spent on staffing, including more than 30 new seasonal positions; $1.5 million was spent on hiring and supporting conservation officers in K-Country; $1.75 million was spent on operating subsidized facilities including the Canmore Nordic Centre and William Watson Lodge; another $1 million went into planning infrastructure upgrades at the Nordic Centre, and $994,000 was spent on a Town of Canmore regional transit initiative, adding a connection to the Grassi Lakes area.

Another $1.75 million went toward investing in local volunteer organizations, supporting visitor services and information centres, contracting traffic management services, grooming winter trails, and increasing support for search and rescue operations.       

According to the province, prior to the conservation pass, about 65 to 70 per cent of K-Country was subsidized by taxes. Now, K-Country is more in line with other parts of the province that charge a user fee, with 60 per cent financed by user fees and 40 per cent by taxes.

If elected in the next election, the NDP has sworn to abolish the conservation pass and has suggested supporting K-Country and other Alberta provincial parks by way of existing taxes, voluntary contributions and personalized licence plate programs that have seen success in British Columbia.

According to the UCP, all revenue collected from the the pass is being reinvested into K-Country, in some form or another. But the government “ducking and dodging” questions around where exactly revenue is spent does little to reassure Albertans of where their $90 annual or $15 per day spend is going, said Schmidt.

In September, an invoice obtained through a Freedom of Information and Privacy (FOIP) request, revealed the province to be paying Global Traffic Group in St. Alberta $166,666 per month to enforce and monitor compliance with the conservation pass.

The three-year contract with Global Traffic Group is worth $2 million per year, according to the province. Compliance, which is determined through licence plate scans, has been about 74 per cent this year.

“They’re spending $2 million per year enforcing the pass – they never mentioned that,” said Schmidt. “They didn’t tell people when they introduced the fee that a good chunk of it would be going toward paying a private company to enforce the fee.

“If Danielle Smith is intent on going back on her word, then at the very least the UCP can publish a comprehensive budget of how much the government’s collected, how much they spent of the revenue and itemize where every dollar has gone.”

Jessica Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook

New 48-Volt Quant supercar can go 600 miles on a tank of ‘salt water’

By Joshua Hawkins
November 24th, 2022 


Electric vehicles are just one of the many solutions that engineers have been pushing as a way to cut down on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are a ton of issues holding back the EV market, most of all the time that it takes to charge a new battery. Now, the Quantino electric supercar could help change all of that, though.

The supercar, which is currently being developed and worked on by nanoFlowcell, utilizes a special kind of saltwater mixture that the company calls bi-ION electrolyte. The Quant48, which has been available for over five years at this point, has proven time and time again that the nanoFlowcell technology powering this electric supercar has a lot to offer.

And now, the company is looking to push things a step further, by working on a new 2+2 roadster that will offer even better mileage and performance. Part of what makes the current electric supercar so enticing, though, is that it offers up to 600 miles on one tank. This means you won’t need to worry about tracking EV charging stations on Google Maps for each trip you take.

But, you won’t have to worry about charging this electric vehicle up after every trip. Instead, it just needs to be filled with the company’s bi-ION electrolyte mixture, similar to how you would fill a normal car’s gas tank at the gas station. Because it offers such rapid refueling options, the Quant electric supercar is helping to offer better ways to approach the EV problem.

Of course, even with the good things we’re seeing from nanoFlowcell, companies like Tesla continue to lead the market with electric vehicles that rely on batteries you need to wait to recharge completely.

With a solution like this bi-ION electrolyte technology, as well as flow batteries, which use two electrolyte liquids to store a charge, better mileage and performance are things that are more in reach than ever when it comes to EVs.

ST

anley Meyer's water fuel cell - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Stanley_Meyer's_water...

The water fuel cell is a technical design of a "perpetual motion machine" created by American Stanley Allen Meyer (August 24, 1940 – March 20, 1998). ... Free energy suppression conspiracy theory · History of perpetual motion ...

• 
  

  Gasoline pill - Wikipedia

  https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Gasoline_pill

  

  Usually these urban legends allege a conspiracy theory that the oil industry seeks to suppress the technology that turns water to gasoline.

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Mar 3, 2018 — We're fully delving into all things everything and all things about Conspiracy Theories and PseudoScience! The water fuel cell is a ...

Federal government ends partnership with Bell Let’s Talk

Story by MobileSyrup • Nov 18

Bell’s Let’s Talk charity is losing support from the federal government.


 MobileSyrup

The annual mental health awareness initiative included talks and messages from various federal leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, since 2018.

According to CityNews, the collaboration is no more.

“Since the beginning of this collaboration, approaches to mental health and employee well-being have evolved within the federal public service, and there are now well-established government-wide and department-specific structures, forums, events, and activities supporting important conversations on mental health,” Monica Granados, Press Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, told the news outlet.

Related video: 'The federal government will be stepping up with more money for health care' — Trudeau

Duration 1:10 View on Watch

Granados says the government will focus on “public service-driven activities,” and the collaboration didn’t cost either party anything.

The mental health awareness campaign saw Bell donate five cents to a mental health initiative every time social media users shared the #BellLetsTalk hashtag.

Bell celebrated a “successful” campaign in 2022, recording 47 million interactions online.

But the irony of the campaign is hard to ignore, given the way Bell treats its employees. In perhaps the most widely reported example, Bell didn’t renew Lisa LaFlamme’s contract for her former role as CTV National News anchor. Reports indicate LaFlamme had various disagreements with the executive who made the decision.

It’s unclear if the federal government’s stance to end support has anything to do with LaFlamme’s dismissal or the general treatment of Bell’s employees.

Source: CityNews

With attacks on Kurds, Erdogan aims to weaken opposition ahead of election

Story by By MAYA MARGIT/THE MEDIA LINE • Yesterday 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey October 16, 2021© (photo credit: REUTERS/MURAD SEZER)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signaled that a ground incursion in northern Syria and Iraq may be on the table after Ankara launched a series of airstrikes on Kurdish bases in the two countries.

Erdogan has blamed Kurdish groups for a deadly bombing in Istanbul that took the lives of six people and wounded dozens more. For their part, Kurdish groups have denied any involvement in the blast. The female assailant who carried out the bombing is said to be of Syrian extraction and had entered Turkey through Afrin in northern Syria, according to Turkish media reports.

On Sunday, Turkey announced the launch of Operation Claw-Sword aimed against the positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq as well as at the Kurdish People’s Protection Group (YPG) along the Syrian border.

Dozens were reported to have been killed in the ensuing Turkish air strikes on Syrian and Iraqi targets that took place over the weekend.

Erdogan warned that the military campaign could well involve ground forces.


People react after an explosion on busy pedestrian Istiklal street in Istanbul, Turkey, November 13, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/KEMAL ASLAN)© Provided by The Jerusalem PostPeople react after an explosion on busy pedestrian Istiklal street in Istanbul, Turkey, November 13, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/KEMAL ASLAN)

However, regional experts believe that the uptick in Turkey-Kurdish tension is mainly a pretext aimed at boosting Erdogan’s chances of reelection.

Is the timing of the military campaign, politically charged?

Guney Yildiz, a London-based researcher, journalist and former think tank expert on Turkey, told The Media Line that the timing of the military campaign appears to be politically motivated.

“If the [Kurds in Turkey] vote for the opposition candidate then Erdogan is at a huge risk of not being elected.”Guney Yildiz, a London-based researcher, journalist and former think tank expert on Turkey

“There’s an upcoming election for Erdogan [in June] and the Kurdish voters in Turkey are among the key constituents who will determine who will not be the next president,” Yildiz explained. “If the [Kurds in Turkey] vote for the opposition candidate then Erdogan is at a huge risk of not being elected.”

Related video: Turkiye President Erdogan threatens ground operation into Syria

Duration 2:01

View on Watch

Ahead of the pivotal vote, Erdogan has been pushing a very strong anti-Kurd policy aimed at sowing division in the Turkish opposition bloc and thereby strengthening his position, Yildiz said.

“When the Kurds in Turkey react to Turkish attacks in Syria, the opposition will most probably side with the government or support the incursion, and that may create divisions within the Turkish opposition or among Kurdish voters,” he explained, adding that the move also holds strategic significance for Turkey, which fears Kurdish independence.

The female assailant behind the Istanbul bombing was named by Turkish media as 23-year-old Ahlam Albashir. Although Ankara was quick to accuse her of being backed by Kurdish groups, other reports indicate instead that Albashir has links to the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.

“Other suspects linked to this woman turned out to be part of the Islamist Syrian opposition rather than Kurdish groups,” Yildiz affirmed. “From the first moment, the Turkish government was blaming the Kurds for being behind the attack but evidence circulating [shows] that it is difficult to deduce that.”

“Even though the terrorist was a Syrian Arab – and not a Kurd – the Turkish government is still blaming the Kurds. This is why I believe that the blame is mostly political. As soon as he attacks the Kurds that greatly weakens his opposition,”Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak

Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, an expert on Turkey at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, also believes that Erdogan is scapegoating the Kurds for political reasons.

“As soon as the state is fighting the Kurds, how can the opposition unite with the Kurdish party,” he said. “Even though the terrorist was a Syrian Arab – and not a Kurd – the Turkish government is still blaming the Kurds. This is why I believe that the blame is mostly political. As soon as he attacks the Kurds that greatly weakens his opposition,” he told The Media Line.

According to Yanarocak, Ankara currently is focused on attacking the Kobane area, which holds great symbolic value since this is where the Kurds fought against the Islamic State group.

To further complicate matters, Iran also has recently begun attacking positions in Iraq that are held by Kurdish groups. The Islamic Republic reportedly is seeking to divert attention away from the internal unrest brought about by months of widespread anti-government protests.

Whether or not Ankara decides to move forward with a ground incursion is dependent on the Russian and American response to the move, Yanarocak said, recalling that the United States relied heavily on Kurdish forces to defeat Islamic State jihadists in 2014.

Washington has so far urged de-escalation, while Moscow has called on Turkey to refrain from using excessive military force.

“If there will indeed be an incursion then it will happen similarly to previous ones and be limited in scope,” Yanarocak predicted. “It can’t last for a long time and therefore I do not believe that it will destabilize the region.”