Lac-Mégantic still mourning 47 people killed in train explosion 10 years later

CBC News: The National

 Jul 6, 2023  #Quebec #LacMegantic #cbcnews

 

Ten years after a deadly train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Que., the community mourns the 47 people who were killed. The rail line still passes through the middle of town and residents are concerned about the potential for another disaster.

 

Lac-Mégantic demands greater rail safety 10 years after train disaster

Global News

 Jul 5, 2023  #GlobalNews #railway #anniversary

 

It has been 10 years since a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and burst into flames in Lac-Mégantic, Que., killing 47 people. 

The town has never been the same since, and residents fear that the increasing number of railcars transporting hazardous materials through the area could lead to a future disasters. 

As Dan Spector reports, while the community has been long fighting for action on rail safety, people say little progress has been made.

Fire that killed 2 aboard a cargo ship in New Jersey is expected to burn for days

The Canadian Press
Fri, July 7, 2023 



NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A cargo ship docked at the East Coast's biggest port smoldered for a third day and will likely burn for several more after the fire claimed the lives of two New Jersey firefighters, officials said Friday, acknowledging that they'll be discussing how first responders are trained.

What caused the fire aboard the Grande Costa d'Avorio, an Italian-flagged vessel carrying cars and other goods, at port in Newark won't be known until an investigation after the fire is out, according to Coast Guard Capt. Zeita Merchant, the captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

A crew of 20 firefighters, salvage workers and a New York fire boat blasted jets of water onto the ship to contain the intense heat, which officials have said burned on the 10th through 12th levels at the rear of the ship. Flames occasionally flared from top level.

Crews described the difficulty controlling the blaze.

“Access is tough. The heat is extreme. It’s a steel box. So it’s a very complex situation,” said Gordon Lorenson of Donjon Marine, a salvage company assisting with the fire.

Fire crews have to pour enough water onto the vessel to douse the flames but too much could cause the ship to tilt, he said, so they then pump it off the ship. The vessel listed slightly to its right but was stable, according to Tom Wiker, president of Gallagher Marine Systems, which was representing the ship's owner, the Grimaldi Group.

The Port Authority relies on local fire departments, like Newark’s, to assist with fires since it doesn’t have its own firefighting agency.

Authorities declined to answer whether firefighters should have gone into harm's way to put the blaze out when no lives appeared to be at risk on the ship with 28 crew members.

Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage said the city has an agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey covering their response to fires and they continue to have conversations “today and going forward in terms of training.” He didn't offer specifics about training.

Lorenson said shipboard fires are unique from one event to the next and can change.

"You can do all the training in the world and you’re going to find something you’ve never seen before,” he said.

Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackson said Thursday that the department had trained on passenger-carrying ships before, but not the specific kind of cargo vessel they’re confronting now.

Killed in the blaze that started Wednesday night were Newark firefighters Augusto “Augie” Acabou and Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr., whom officials praised for their bravery. The Newark firefighters union had scheduled a memorial Friday. President Joe Biden called the families of the fallen firefighters to offer condolences, according to Michael Giunta, head of the firefighters union.

Marine traffic trackers show the ship, which was was built in 2011, had arrived from the Port of Baltimore several days earlier. It was carrying more than 1,200 new and used cars, vans and trucks.

The fire broke out about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. About an hour later, there was a mayday call when two firefighters became trapped inside the ship. Rescue workers rescued Acabou from the ship before midnight and he was later taken a hospital, where he died Thursday morning. Brooks died early Thursday morning after he was recovered. Five other firefighters were injured.

Grimaldi Deep Sea said in a statement that the crew immediately activated on-board fire suppression procedures and the local firefighting service was alerted, triggering a prompt response that was crucial to containing and controlling the blaze. It also said that no electric cars nor hazardous cargo is on board, no fuel spills have been detected, and the stability of the ship was not been compromised.

The Grimaldi Group statement said the cause of the fire isn’t known, but it will investigate in cooperation with authorities.

Deepti Hajela And Mike Catalini, The Associated Press

Fatal fire still burns on cargo ship in New Jersey, raising questions about response capability

The Canadian Press
Fri, July 7, 2023



NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A cargo ship burned for a third day Friday at a New Jersey port after the fire claimed the lives of two firefighters and exposed gaps in the ability of fire crews to respond to emergencies on hulking container ships.

Crews shot jets of water into the Italian-flagged Grande Costa d'Avorio docked in Newark as flames flared periodically from the section of the ship where hundreds of vehicles were loaded onto multiple decks.

The Coast Guard and other officials were set to hold a news conference later Friday to give an update on the situation.

Newark firefighters Augusto “Augie” Acabou and Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr. died fighting the blaze that broke out Wednesday night on the 10th floor of the ship. The fire quickly reached the 11th and 12th floors as firefighters were forced to retreat in the intense heat. Five other firefighters were injured.

Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackson said the department had trained on ships before, but not the specific kind of cargo vessel they're confronting now. He described the vessel as unique and unlike passenger-carrying ships the department had previously trained on.

Marine traffic trackers show the ship, which was was built in 2011, had arrived from the Port of Baltimore several days earlier.

Grimaldi Deep Sea said the fire broke out on the ship’s 10th deck as its 28 crew members and local stevedores were completing the loading of more than 1,200 new and used cars, vans and trucks bound for West Africa.

The company’s statement said the crew immediately activated on-board fire suppression procedures and the local firefighting service was alerted, triggering a prompt response that was crucial to containing and controlling the blaze. It also said that no electric cars nor hazardous cargo is on board, no fuel spills have been detected, and the stability of the ship was not been compromised.

The Grimaldi Group statement said the cause of the fire isn’t known, but it will investigate in cooperation with authorities.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate but the Coast Guard is taking the lead, said Jennifer Gabris, an NTSB spokeswoman.

The Associated Press

UK

Opinion
Canada’s secret service is fighting a hidden civil war


Brian Lee Crowley

THE TELEGRAPH
Fri, July 7, 2023 

David Vigneault, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), prepares to appear before a Parliamentary committee -

 Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

The Canada of our allies’ imagination is a peaceable land of winter, hockey and exquisite politeness. The winter and the hockey haven’t changed. But peaceable and polite? Not since the civil war broke out.

This civil war doesn’t pit Quebec nationalists against English Canada, but centres instead on China. The two sides are a political elite that yearns for the days when China was an economic opportunity, and a national security community aware of Beijing’s ambition to deindustrialize the West economically and neuter it geostrategically.

For decades Canada’s national security establishment has sounded the alarm about foreign authoritarian interference. Their dire warnings fell on the deaf ears of a political class bedazzled by China’s potential to counterbalance Canada’s dependence on American markets. Canada’s spies loyally but fruitlessly reported their disquieting findings, warning behind closed doors of Chinese infiltration of Canadian institutions, including our political parties and elections.

Then China abducted and detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Beijing’s action was in retaliation for Canada’s legal detention of Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s CFO in response to an extradition request from the United States. The drama of the “Two Michaels” was a daily preoccupation of Canadians for over 1000 days until their 2021 release in an American-brokered deal.

The government, however, failed to see how the plight of the two Michaels transformed Canadians’ attitudes toward China. The public began to share the intelligence community’s anxieties about China’s malevolence.

Disgusted with the government’s attempted return to the pre-Michaels status quo, the intelligence community concluded that if the politicians were going to ignore their urgent warnings, a change of tactics was in order. An unprecedented series of leaks appeared in the media, upending Canadian politics and setting spies and politicians at each other’s throats.

The leaks reveal a China hell-bent on suborning Canadian institutions. The allegations include: charges of Chinese interference in elections at every level (federal, provincial and municipal), the existence of Chinese police stations operating with impunity on Canadian soil, the intimidation of Canadians and permanent residents of Chinese origin, and threats to the families of prominent Canadian politicians.

The government response was to fire back at the intelligence services, finding the charges of Chinese interference without merit, racist, or claiming the intelligence never reached the politicians. The intelligence community was pilloried for illegal leaks.

But every attack by the government was met with more revelations. For example Michael Chong, a prominent Conservative parliamentarian, learned that Canada’s spooks knew China was bearing down on Chong’s family in Hong Kong to punish him for “anti-China” activities. He criticized the government for not informing him. Mr Trudeau denied cabinet was informed about this by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Later, the prime minister’s national security advisor revealed the Prime Minister’s Office had been repeatedly briefed on the matter.

A former senior CSIS official testified that the behavior of the nation’s political leadership on China borders on the treasonous and warrants jail time.

Parliament, where the government does not command a majority, voted for an independent formal inquiry into Chinese interference. Mr Trudeau instead appointed a superannuated apologist for China and friend of the Trudeau family, David Johnston, to study the matter. Predictably he found it was all misunderstandings and media hype and recommended against an inquiry, finding that further hearings under his leadership would be sufficient. He too called for “malicious” leakers be rooted out.

That caused another former CSIS official to say that Mr Johnston’s comments on Canadian intelligence services were unfair and insulting and he owed Canada’s spies an apology. Parliament, in a non-binding motion, voted for Mr. Johnston to step down. He initially refused, backed by Mr Trudeau, but later resigned after weeks of continued pressure from parliament.

The civil war is now entrenched. Every denial and counter-attack by the political class is met with new leaks from the spooks. There is more to come as Canada’s allies, including the United States, have deepening doubts about Canada’s trustworthiness, including on intelligence sharing on China.

This conflict can only end in one of two ways. Either the government capitulates and calls a proper independent inquiry under a credible non-political figure or the prime minister succeeds in digging out the entrenched leakers, likely gutting the intelligence services in the process.

The smart money is on the leakers who, unlike the government, have public opinion on their side.

Ontario promised to fix long-term care. Now it’s letting companies with poor records expand

 

Ontario has been promising to fix long-term care, but a CBC News investigation has found many of the promised accountability measures are falling short. The province is also approving and funding expansions for the companies responsible for the highest pandemic death rates in long-term care.

Massive dust cloud heading toward US may dim the sky this weekend


Brian Lada
Thu, July 6, 2023 

Outbursts of Canadian wildfire smoke have filled the sky over the eastern United States in recent weeks, but a new airborne danger from a different source is approaching from the tropics.

AccuWeather meteorologists are tracking several large clouds of dust from Africa's Sahara Desert that are currently drifting over the Atlantic Ocean. The immense clouds have the potential to traverse the entire ocean and reduce air quality across the Caribbean and the southeastern United States in the coming days.

The Saharan dust is so dense and widespread that it could be seen from space on Thursday. NOAA's GOES-EAST weather satellite spotted the first cloud of dust over the eastern Caribbean Sea and the Lesser Antilles, with an even bigger plume of dust emerging off the coast of Africa.





A satellite image of the tropical Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, July 6, 2023. A cloud of Saharan dust could be seen over the eastern Caribbean Sea, while another dust cloud was emerging off the coast of Africa. (NOAA/GOES-EAST)


"Saharan dust is common most years across parts of the Atlantic basin and sometimes spreads as far west as the Caribbean and Florida," said AccuWeather Director of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin. "The location and magnitude of the dust changes frequently throughout the season."

Forecasters warn that while the dust is not a particularly rare occurrence, it could still impact people across the Southeast in the coming days.





The cloud of dust currently over the Caribbean Sea is predicted to reach Florida by Saturday and could extend toward coastal areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama by Sunday. This initial wave of dust may not be as extreme as the Saharan dust that spread across the Southeast in June of 2020, which was so massive it was dubbed the Godzilla dust cloud, but the upcoming event could still impact air quality and make the sky appear opaque.

A dust-filled sky over Florida may also help to block out some sunlight to knock down temperatures by a few degrees compared to the heat during the first week of July. During the extended Independence Day weekend, temperatures across the state reached the mid- to upper 90s with AccuWeather RealFeel Sun™ Temperatures nearing 120 degrees in some towns.

And the impending Saharan dust may be a preview of what's to come next week.

A larger, more robust cloud of Saharan dust is being blown off the coast of Africa and will quickly cross the Atlantic Ocean. The dust is being carried by the trade winds that blow from east to west over the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

The thicker dust cloud is predicted to reach the eastern Caribbean by the end of the weekend and may approach Florida by Tuesday. If this forecast comes to fruition, it may cause air quality to worsen across Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and Florida.

During similar events in recent history, dust has collected on car windows and reduced visibility to a few miles.

People across the Gulf Coast who plan on spending extended time outdoors over the next week are encouraged to check the air quality forecast for their area due to the possible impacts of the dust.

While Saharan dust can affect everyone, there are groups that are more vulnerable to particulate pollution health effects than others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children and babies, older adults and people with underlying lung conditions or chronic cardiopulmonary diseases are among those outlined by the CDC.





Saharan dust particles can irritate the skin and eyes in addition to worsening asthma symptoms and other respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms and events.

The widespread Saharan dust is putting a lid on tropical development across the Atlantic Ocean following a burst in activity in late June.

"Tropical waves, the origin of many tropical storms and hurricanes, thrive on a moist atmosphere," DePodwin explained. "When Saharan dust is present, development of these waves can be impeded due to the atmosphere being drier than what is typical."

With the Saharan dust forecast to become even more widespread across the Atlantic hurricane basin into next week, and with disruptive winds blowing over the ocean, it is unlikely that another tropical system will spin up in the coming days.





Saharan dust will likely be just a temporary slowdown in tropical activity before the Atlantic hurricane season shifts into a higher gear.

AccuWeather meteorologists say that 11 to 15 named tropical systems will spin up in the Atlantic basin this season, right around the historical average of 14. Of the named storms, four to eight are forecast to become hurricanes, with two to four systems predicted to have a direct impact on the United States.

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.

Greta Thunberg ‘could face six months in prison’

THE TELEGRAPH
Our Foreign Staff
Thu, July 6, 2023

Ms Thunberg had to be carried away by police after blocking oil tankers in Malmo harbour - Johan Nilsson/Reuters

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with disobeying police in Sweden last month during a port blockade.

Ms Thunberg, 20, joined a group of young protesters as they stopped oil tankers from entering and exiting the port in Malmö.

On Wednesday, the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan reported that she was detained on June 19, along with an unspecified number of other activists, for refusing to leave the scene when asked to do so by officers.

She could face up to six months in prison or a fine if convicted.

Ms Thunberg had joined the demonstration organised by environmental activist group Ta Tillbaka Framtiden (Reclaim the Future) to protest against the use of fossil fuels.

“We choose to not be bystanders, and instead physically stop the fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future,” she said in an Instagram post at the time.

Swedish prosecutors say the activist 'refused to comply' - Johan Nilsson/AP

A short statement issued by Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday said a “young woman” was being charged with disobedience because she “refused to comply with police orders to leave the scene” during the protest.

The statement did not identify the woman, but Annika Collin, a Swedish Prosecution Authority spokesman, confirmed that it was Ms Thunberg.

Sydsvenskan reported that she will be called to trial at the end of July.

Prosecutor Charlotte Ottosen told the paper that the crime of disobedience is typically punishable with fines.

School Strike activism

Ms Thunberg rose to prominence after founding the School Strike for Climate movement, also known as Fridays for Future, which quickly became a global phenomenon, drawing children from across the world out of classrooms and into protests calling for action on climate change.

She regularly lambasts governments and politicians for not properly addressing climate issues.

At the end of March, Ms Thunberg condemned what she called an “unprecedented betrayal” from leaders after the publication of the latest report by the IPCC, the UN’s climate advisory panel.

By the end of the century, without aggressive climate action, global warming is estimated to reach 2.8C.

But even at the current level of warming, experts warn that we could pass several climate tipping points.

The complicated life and career of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the 'father of the atomic bomb,' who refused to develop a more dangerous weapon

James Pasley
Sat, July 1, 2023

The physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Princeton, New Jersey.AP

In the 1940s, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer led a team to develop the world's first atomic bomb.


His work garnered him the title "father of the atomic bomb," but he wasn't an obvious choice for its leader.


He was a complicated, intelligent man known for being condescending, volatile, and impractical.

J. Robert Oppenheimer was the architect behind the atomic bomb.

He spent decades working as a physics lecturer and made several notable scientific discoveries, including forecasting black holes thirty years before it became a common theory.

He was called "Oppie" by colleagues and friends. He was a 6-foot-tall skinny man with a stoop. He could be condescending, volatile, and impractical.

During the paranoia of the Cold War in the 1950s, his political enemies used his colorful past to remove his security clearance and he ended up retreating back into academia.

Director Christopher Nolan's upcoming film about his life, called "Oppenheimer," will be released in July, with actor Cillian Murphy portraying the titular character.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born on April 22, 1904, in New York City.

J. Robert Oppenheimer with his father.Corbis/Getty Images

The Oppenheimers were a rich German Jewish family; his father made his money manufacturing clothes, and they lived in a high-rise apartment in the Upper West Side.

Sources: New York Times, New Atlantis, Guardian

Oppenheimer went to the Ethical Culture School, which was focused on creating students who were devoted to service.

J. Robert Oppenheimer playing with blocks with his brother Frank.Corbis/Getty Images

For hobbies, he collected minerals and read poetry. He graduated at the top of his class.

Source: New Atlantis

In 1922, he went to Harvard College. His plan was to be a chemist, but he quickly swapped to physics.

J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1945.AP

He studied intensely and widely — taking classes in philosophy, literature, and Eastern religion alongside his major — and finished the four-year degree in three years, graduating summa cum laude.

Oppenheimer then went to Cambridge University to study atomics under the physicist Lord Rutherford. While there, he took issue with working in a laboratory.

He later transferred to the University of Gottingen in Germany to study under Dr. Max Born, a famous atomic scientist.

He graduated in 1927. After he left his Ph. D. exam, the administering professor reportedly sighed in relief.

"Phew," he said. "I'm glad that's over. He was on the point of questioning me."

Sources: New York Times, New York Times, IAS

Dr. Born later said Oppenheimer was obviously intelligent but could be snide in class and interrupt speakers to explain to them what they had been trying to say.

J. Robert Oppenheimer with the Nobel Prize-winners Paul Dirac and Robert Millikan in 1935.AP

Around this period, Oppenheimer had also been struggling with depression.

He saw several psychoanalysts but credited a Corsica biking tour and reading Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" for making him better again.

Sources: New York Times, New Atlantis, PBS

Oppenheimer was a complex character. He was known as "Oppie" by colleagues and friends.

J. Robert Oppenheimer photographed upon arrival at Orly Airport in Paris.Bettmann/Getty Images

He was 6 feet tall, skinny, and had a stoop. He could be condescending, volatile, and impractical.

He drank liquor, smoked constantly, and was recognizable by a porkpie hat that he always wore.

Source: Guardian

He could be reckless. For instance, while he was a student he raced against a train and ended up crashing his car.

J. Robert Oppenheimer sits in a chair holding a cigarette.Corbis/Getty Images

While he walked away from the accident unscathed, his girlfriend at the time was knocked unconscious.

Source: New York Times

He was also criticized for spreading himself too thin intellectually.

J. Robert Oppenheimer working with Albert Einstein.Corbis/Getty Images

But there was never any doubt of his intelligence. He knew Latin, French, German, and Greek, and later studied Sanskrit so he could read important Hindu texts.

Sources: Guardian, PBS

In 1929, Oppenheimer returned to the US and began to lecture. He taught at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the University of California, Berkeley.

J. Robert Oppenheimer in front of a blackboard in 1947.AP

While his work in the field was often noted for being good but not quite as good as some of his peers, in the classroom he excelled.

Unlike other lecturers who could be bogged down in unimportant details, Oppenheimer had a sense for real-world implications stemming from theories and kept his students' interest piqued.

According to physicist Hans Bethe, he was one of the most sophisticated physics lecturers in the US.

"Here was a man who obviously understood all the deep secrets of quantum mechanics, and yet made it clear that the most important questions were unanswered," Bethe said.

"His earnestness and deep involvement gave his research students the same sense of challenge," he continued. "He never gave his students the easy and superficial answers but trained them to appreciate and work on the deep problems."

For a while, Oppenheimer lived an entirely academic life.

He later said during the early years of teaching he did not read anything to do with politics or economics and he never listened to the radio or even had a telephone.

Sources: New York Times, New Atlantis, IAS

During the 1930s, he made several notable scientific discoveries including forecasting black holes 30 years before it became a common theory.

J. Robert Oppenheimer with the physicist Gregory Breit.Corbis/Getty Images

Sources: New York Times, New Atlantis

It was also during the 1930s that Oppenheimer began to spend time with communists.

J. Robert Oppenheimer writes on a blackboard.Corbis/Getty Images

In 1936, he had an affair with a female communist named Jean Tatlock. She introduced him to left-wing politics.

Sources: Guardian, New Atlantis, New York Times, NPS

Tatlock and Oppenheimer's relationship didn't last, and in 1940, he married Katherine "Kitty" Puening, a biologist and former communist, whose first husband had been a communist who died in the Spanish Civil War.

Katherine Puening smiles in a photograph.Corbis/Getty Images

Sources: New Atlantis, New York Times, IAS

They had two children, Peter and Katherine.

J. Robert Oppenheimer’s wife Katherine and children Katherine and Peter, circa 1940.Corbis/Getty Images

Sources: New Atlantis, New York Times

Oppenheimer, who had previously considered himself apolitical, began to see the impacts of the depression and fascism in Germany. He later said he was furious at how Jews were treated in Germany.

J.Robert Oppenheimer sits at a desk holding a pair of glasses.Bettmann/Getty Images

"I saw what the Depression was doing to my students," he said. "Often they could get no jobs, or jobs which were wholly inadequate. And through them, I began to understand how deeply political and economic events could affect men's lives."

"I began to feel the need to participate more fully in the life of the community," he added.

Sources: PBS, New York Times

In 1941, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Manhattan Project in response to news that Germany had managed to split the atom, meaning they could potentially create atomic weapons.

Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer.Corbis/Getty Images

He appointed Gen. Leslie Groves to run it and allocated the project $2 billion in funding.

He needed someone to lead his bomb laboratory and chose Oppenheimer.

Sources: New York Times, History, PBS, New Atlantis

There were concerns about Oppenheimer's loyalty.

J. Robert Oppenheimer and Gen. Leslie Groves examine the remains of one the bases of the steel test tower at the atomic bomb test site in September 1945.Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Groves managed to address the concerns by noting they could count on his loyalty due to the intensity of his desire to make history.

Oppenheimer previously had concerns about working on the war effort. But he accepted Groves' offer and tracked down the best people for the job. They would spend the next two years working with him in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

He enlisted experts who had worked in different areas relating to atomic energy, including some of the world's brightest people, like Dr. Niels Bohr and Dr. Enrico Fermi.

Sources: New York Times, History, PBS, New Atlantis

During this period, Oppenheimer was under constant surveillance.

J. Robert Oppenheimer’s security badge for the Manhattan Project, circa 1940.Corbis/Getty Images

His calls and letters were monitored. In June 1943, he was seen spending a night with Tatlock, his former communist lover. By then she had left the communist party.

He also unexpectedly admitted to a government agent that Russians had been trying to learn more about their work in the Manhattan Project.

In response, he was interrogated three times. On one occasion, he provided a list of communists and sympathizers.

Source: New York Times

But he wasn't removed from his job. He carried on and directed about 4,000 people to build the atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It took a little over two years.

J. Robert Oppenheimer poses for a photograph in front of a map.Corbis/Getty Images

Despite being known for his impracticality, he was praised for the way he ran the project, notably for his efficiency and his charismatic leadership. But at times, some of his staff raised concerns about whether they were doing the right thing.

Oppenheimer managed to convince them that it was. He told them though an atomic bomb would create its own problems, it was also a way to end the war.

Sources: Mercury News, History, Atlantic, Guardian

At 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, the first man-made atomic bomb was detonated. The mushroom cloud reached 40,000 feet into the sky. It was a success.

This photo shows the explosion eight seconds after detonation in 1945.Corbis/Getty Images

Sources: New York Times, New Atlantis, History

Oppenheimer watched from afar and as he saw the mushroom cloud form he famously thought, "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1950.Corbis/Getty Images

It was a line from the 700-verse Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita.

The quote is from when the Hindu god Vishnu orders a prince to execute his duty and achieve militant success.

He later said, "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent."

Source: Wired

In a matter of weeks, the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, ending World War II, killing 80,000 people in Hiroshima and 40,000 people in Nagasaki.

The atomic bomb explosion on Hiroshima in 1945.Roger Viollet/Getty Images

Thousands more later died of radiation poisoning.

At the time the bombs dropped Oppenheimer celebrated and even said he wished the bomb had been made earlier so that it could have been dropped on Germany.

But he also spoke of his sadness on behalf of the Japanese victims.

Later, he addressed the American Philosophical Society and told them: "We have made a thing, a most terrible weapon, that has altered abruptly and profoundly the nature of the world… a thing that by all the standards of the world we grew up in is an evil thing. And by so doing… we have raised again the question of whether science is good for man."

Sources: New Atlantis, History

In October, Oppenheimer met with President Harry Truman and told the president he felt he had blood on his hands.

J. Robert Oppenheimer looking at a photo of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki with two officials in 1946.Bettmann/Getty Images

Truman was reportedly disgusted and rebuffed him.

Sources: New Atlantis, History

Despite his guilt, over the next few years Oppenheimer became a well-known public figure.

J. Robert Oppenheimer poses for a photo in April 1946.Clarence Hamm/AP

He appeared on the covers of magazines and became chair of the US Atomic Energy Commission, which was formed to replace the Manhattan Project.

He was given awards for his work, like the Army-Navy Award of excellence in the 1940s.

Sources: PBS, New Atlantis, IAS

But he was also openly reluctant to develop a hydrogen bomb, which would be 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb.

J. Robert Oppenheimer testifying before the Senate in October 1945.AP

His stance was controversial since it was the beginning of the Cold War, and Russia and the US were grappling for dominance.

Truman approached the commission in 1949 to create a hydrogen bomb and Hungarian scientist Edward Teller, the future "father of the H-Bomb" publicly called for it too.

But Oppenheimer reportedly said, "I neither can nor will do so."

He also publicly backed an international group having control of atomic weapons, rather than the US.

Sources: New Atlantis, New Atlantis, History, Guardian, IAS

But his reluctance didn't matter. The H-bomb was developed and tested in 1952.

A mushroom cloud forms after the first H-Bomb explosion in 1952.Three Lions/Getty Images

Source: History

Oppenheimer's time at the top came to an end in December 1953.

J. Robert Oppenheimer smokes at a hearing in 1949.Bettmann/Getty Images

President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered a ban on all secret data going to him. On December 23, 1953, he received a letter informing him his security clearance had been suspended.

Oppenheimer was accused of being a communist sympathizer. A secret trial was held. In June 1954, after 19 days of hearings, Oppenheimer's security clearance was permanently revoked.

The committee found no evidence of him having mishandled any classified information or any sign of disloyalty.

All it noted was that he had "fundamental defects in his character."

Bethe said, "Oppenheimer took the outcome of the security hearing very quietly but he was a changed person; much of his previous spirit and liveliness had left him."

Sources: New York Times, SFGate

Without his security clearance, Oppenheimer couldn't continue his work. He moved back to academia, running the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, while also delivering public lectures and publishing scientific essays.

J. Robert Oppenheimer with the mathematician Oswald Veblen at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1947.AP

Sources: Guardian, Smithsonian, IAS

The atomic bomb and its repercussions never left him. Years later, in 1961, when he was asked about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, he said it wasn't on his conscience.

J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1958 in Athens, Greece.AP

"Scientists are not delinquents," he said. "Our work has changed the conditions in which men live, but the use made of these changes is the problem of governments, not of scientists."

Source: New York Times

In 1962, Oppenheimer was invited to a Nobel Prize dinner at the White House by President John F. Kennedy, and the following year, he received the Fermi Award, the AEC's highest honor.

President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes hands with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer at a ceremony presenting him with the Enrico Fermi Award in 1963.Corbis/Getty Images

Source: IAS

On February 18, 1967, just one year after retiring, Oppenheimer died of lung cancer. He was 62 years old.

J. Robert Oppenheimer smoking from a pipe in 1963.Eddie Adams/AP

"Such a wrong can never be righted; such a blot on our history never erased," physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth said at his memorial service. "… We regret that his great work for his country was repaid so shabbily."

Sources: New York Times, Princeton Magazine, Smithsonian

The role the government played in his fall from grace was raised occasionally and in December 2022, the US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm nullified the decision to revoke his security clearance.

J. Robert Oppenheimer in the classroom.Bettmann/Getty Images

The process was described as flawed and stemmed more from disagreements over his stance on nuclear weapons rather than any real security concerns.

In a statement, she said, "As time has passed, more evidence has come to light of the bias and unfairness of the process that Dr. Oppenheimer was subjected to, while the evidence of his loyalty and love of country have only been further affirmed."

Sources: New York Times, Princeton Magazine, Smithsonian

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

PEI

Victims frustrated Crapaud funeral fraud case adjourned

CBC
Thu, July 6, 2023 

Kim Stewart (left) and Susan MacKay were at court on Thursday, hoping there would be a plea in the Lowell Oakes prepaid funeral case. (Steve Bruce/CBC - image credit)

Families who say they lost thousands of dollars for prepaid funerals are frustrated the case against former funeral director Lowell Oakes, has been adjourned.

Oakes, who ran the now-closed Dawson Funeral Home in Crapaud, P.E.I., was charged with 66 counts of fraud last July.

That includes 36 counts of fraud over $5,000, and 30 counts of fraud under $5,000.

In P.E.I. Supreme Court Thursday, the Crown and defence attorneys said they need more time to work on the agreed statement of facts.

The case was adjourned until Aug. 10.

Lowell Oakes was funeral director at Dawson Funeral Home, which has since closed. (CBC)

That court appearance will likely be to set a date for Oakes to enter a plea, the Crown prosecutor said Thursday.

Kim Stewart's father, Milton, died in 2022. Stewart said the family lost over $7,300 to fund his funeral.

Can't move on

"Every time I speak, I cry. I can't think about it. Just when you think you're starting to move on, it's another court date. So you're starting all over," Stewart said.

"We just don't seem to ever get to move on. We haven't been able to grieve my dad properly because this is hanging over our head. So it's very frustrating, and I'm sure a lot of our victims feel the same way."

Susan MacKay was in the courtroom because her mother-in-law, Roma, was one of the people whose prepaid funeral money seemingly vanished.

MacKay said her mother died last year, and the $10,000 she paid for her own funeral disappeared.

"I'm just emotionally and mentally exhausted. It's just this has been a year now and it just never seems to go away," she said. "It's just it's time to move on. We just want closure."

'Delay, delay, delay'

Susan MacKay holds the order of service for her mother, Roma MacKay, who died on July 1, 2022.

Susan MacKay holds the order of service for her mother, Roma MacKay, who died last year. (Laura Meader/CBC)

The families say it's been difficult getting information about the case and what's happening.

"I don't understand this process at all other than it's just delay, delay, delay," MacKay said. "We're all worn-down and tired from the constant delays."

The families say they will continue to come to court.

He needs to see the faces of the people that he's victimized through all of this.

- Kim Stewart

"I feel we have to be a face," Stewart said. "We're victims. We have to show that, you know, we're not going away.

"When [Oakes] does come to court, he needs to see the faces of the people that he's victimized through all of this. A lot of us have known him all our lives and he needs to see these faces associated with the actions he's taken."

The fraud charges against Oakes have not been proven in court.

Two Canadian women and three children on way home from detention camps in Syria

The Canadian Press
Thu, July 6, 2023 




OTTAWA — Two Edmonton women and three children who were temporarily missing in Syria after failing to board a repatriation flight to Canada in April are finally on their way home.

They were among a group of 19 people Canada agreed to bring home from Kurdish-operated prison camps in northeastern Syria in January.

The Canadian citizens had been held for years at displaced persons camps in a region now controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The other 14 arrived in April. The five who are now en route had failed to show up for the flight, with neither their lawyers nor the Canadian government seemingly aware of what had happened to them for several days.

One of their lawyers later said that the women and children had been detained by Kurdish guards who would not allow them to travel and board the plane at that time.

Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who advocated for the repatriation of the 19 Canadians in Federal Court, said the return of the final five is very good news.

"I have spoken to their families here in Canada and they are over the moon, delighted and just overjoyed," he said.

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada extended its gratitude to authorities in the region for co-operating under difficult security circumstances, and thanked the United States for its assistance in repatriating the Canadians.

"Due to privacy considerations, we cannot provide information about the repatriated individuals, and for operational security reasons, we cannot share details of the repatriation," the statement said.

The federal government arrested and sought peace bonds against three of the four women who returned in April.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if they sought peace bonds against either one or both of these two women," said Greenspon.

In its statement, Global Affairs Canada said it is a serious offence for anyone who leaves Canada to knowingly support a terrorist group.

"Those who engage in these activities will face the full force of Canadian law."

The federal government is currently in talks with lawyers representing the three women arrested in April over peace bond conditions.

In May, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a ruling from the Federal Court that held four Canadian men held in Syrian camps were also entitled to Ottawa's help to return home.

Greenspon said the matter will be pursued at the Supreme Court of Canada.

A small group of civil society members that includes Sen. Kim Pate is expected to travel to northeastern Syria in late August to visit the four men in the hopes of helping to repatriate them.

Greenspon said the fact that five Canadians are on their way home this week will bolster the delegation's efforts.

The group is also set to include Alex Neve, former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, and Scott Heatherington, a retired Canadian diplomat.

Another Canadian mother of six who is struggling to leave Syria and was dealt a setback when her tent was damaged by fire is not in the group returning home.

Greenspon said the federal government will not help the Quebec woman return to Canada because officials believe she poses a security risk, and that position has not changed since the fire was reported in late June.

He said he expects to take legal action in response to the federal government's decision to grant repatriation to her six children, but not to her.

She was physically and mentally distraught when they spoke a few days ago, he said.

"She is in very, very poor condition."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2023.

— With files from Jim Bronskill.

David Fraser, The Canadian Press

THE NEW FASCIST INTERNATIONALE

Ex-PM Stephen Harper seeks closer ties with Hungary's Viktor Orbán

The Canadian Press
Thu, July 6, 2023 



OTTAWA — Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he wants closer ties between right-leaning political parties including the Conservative Party of Canada and the Hungarian government, which has been accused of democratic backsliding.

Harper chairs the International Democrat Union, a global alliance of right-leaning political parties that includes Canada's Conservatives as well as the Fidesz Party led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The two met Thursday in Budapest, and Harper said on Twitter that they discussed "the importance of centre-right parties strengthening their collaboration."

Human Rights Watch says Orbán's government has delivered sustained "attacks on rule of law and public institutions" such as undermining judicial independence and surveilling journalists.

The European Court of Justice repeatedly ruled that Orbán is violating EU migration laws with policies hostile to asylum claimants, whom he has referred to at various points as "a poison" and "Muslim invaders."

The Canadian Press has asked the Conservative Party of Canada and the office of current leader Pierre Poilievre whether Ottawa ought to have stronger ties with Orbán's government.

Harper also met this week with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, as she leads a bloc of conservative European parties.

Trudeau chided Meloni at a May meeting for "some of the positions Italy is taking on in terms of LGBT rights" which Meloni later dismissed as inaccurate information.

Meloni's government has required same-sex couples to register for shared parental rights, forbidding cities from automatically recognizing them.

Also Thursday, Harper tweeted that he discussed "the IDU's strong support for Ukraine" with Orbán, who has opposed multiple moves by the European Union to punish Russia for its invasion.

Orbán has called on Ukraine to concede to Russia, saying Kyiv cannot win against Moscow. He recently said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's handling of a mutiny last month shows his strength as a leader.

Harper faced criticism from international-relations experts and the Liberal government in 2018 when he congratulated Orbán for his re-election.

This spring in Washington, a bipartisan group in the United States Congress started working on a bill to implement U.S. sanctions on those close to Orbán accused of corruption, on top of existing sanctions in place since 2014.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2023.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press