Thursday, June 20, 2019
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
ACTUAL FRESH LAKE MONSTER
Continued from Part 1
CRYPTID #LAKEMONSTER #CRYPTOZOOLOGY #FOSSILFISH #PREHISTORICFISH #STURGEON #ENDANGEREDSPECIES
Is the Royal Canadian Navy Missing a Great Opportunity?
Hydrographic surveys are required to produce nautical charts, and updated surveys allow for safer and more efficient marine transportation in Canada’s northern waters.
At a recent Canadian Maritime Advisory Council meeting in Ottawa, I was disappointed to learn again that the Royal Canadian Navy still had no plan to install multi-beam echo sounders (MBES) on the Arctic offshore patrol ships (AOPS) which are under construction now.
I was also concerned with the fact that only approximately eight percent of the Canadian Arctic has been surveyed to modern standards and only a total of about 14 percent is done to a modern or adequate standard. Hydrographic surveys are required to produce nautical charts, and updated surveys allow for safer and more efficient marine transportation in Canada’s northern waters.
To assist the Canadian Hydrographic Service increase the percentage of Arctic oceans done to modern or adequate standards, the Canadian Coast Guard has already equipped four of its icebreakers with MBES; with two more planned and funded for the CCGS Henry Larson and CCGS Pierre Radisson to take place in the next two years.
Retrofitting AOPS with MBES will obviously be more expensive than if the systems were installed while under construction. That would naturally require minor modifications to the existing plans, but it would be more cost effective in the long-run. The funding could potentially come in part from the important and successful Ocean Protection Plan.
Traffic is rapidly increasing with the fast disappearing Arctic ice. The summer of 2018 saw a total of 167 ships entering the Arctic and completing more than 400 voyages. More traffic will naturally lead to more marine accidents in poorly surveyed areas of the Arctic. On August 17, 2018, the cruise ship Akademik Ioffe ran aground in a poorly charted area of the western Gulf of Boothia near Kugaaruk, Nunavut. Two of the five Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers in the Arctic were dispatched to provide assistance. Fortunately, there were no casualties and only minor environmental damage.
One could argue that the best way to do search and rescue is to prevent accidents in the first place. Modern marine charts will certainly contribute to reduce the possibility of more grounding. The Akademik Ioffe was the third cruise ship to run aground in the Canadian Arctic after the MV Clipper Adventurer in 2010 and Hanseatic in 1996. With increasing activity in poorly-charted areas, our luck may soon run out.
When Coast Guard vessels are dispatched for a search and rescue mission they may not be available to support the essential annual sealift to the Arctic communities. A delay in delivering the annual sealift for a lack of icebreaking support will cost the shipping companies. If the sealift cannot take place there will be significant impacts. Last summer, when a multi-year ice plug blocked some of the resupply of a few western communities, some construction projects had to be delayed by one year and the cost of airlifting the essential goods was in the millions of dollars.
The AOPS will be patrolling the Arctic. Would it not be great if they could carry out both opportunistic and targeted hydrographic surveys while patrolling in Arctic waters? When operating in poorly surveyed areas, those ships could be proceeding forward at slow speed. It seems to be one of the tailor-made tasks for those ships.
Accurate charts will bring significant benefits. More efficient routing for the resupply of communities will reduce the cost for operators and reduce the environmental impact by reducing ship emissions. It would allow those ships to circumvent ice blockages safely using alternative routes surveyed and charted. Search and rescue could be done faster by allowing ships to take more direct routes and to proceed safely at the best speed. Accurate charts would contribute to the commitments made by Canada to improve its search and rescue capacity under the Arctic Council’s Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement.
The Royal Canadian Navy has helped in the past with temporary MBES systems on the Kingston-class Marine Coastal Defence Vessels. That could be an option for the AOPS except that towed systems have limitations especially in ice-infested waters. They would similarly require modifications to the brand new vessels to mount the required hardware. Inboard systems, designed and installed during ship building, are by far the preferred solution.
The patrolling and mapping of the waters in the Arctic Archipelago will also have an important sovereignty dimension.
Pierre Leblanc is a retired colonel and former commander of the Joint Task Force North and program manager of the North Warning System. He is also with Arctic Security Consultants.
This article was originally published in The Hill Times.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Will there be a counter-revolution this time?
by Gilbert Achcar
The seasons after the Arab Spring
Revolt if not revolution in Sudan and Algeria: is this the next phase of a profound change in the Arab world? The uprisings haven’t repeated the mistakes of 2011.
LONG READ FEATURE ARTICLE
BACKGROUNDER AND UPDATER
THIS IS AN EXCERPT
Images of popular protests that recall the revolutionary movement of 2011 have dominated news fromI the Arabic-speaking world for months. Uprisings began in Sudan on 19 December and in Algeria with the marches of Friday 22 February. They revived memories of the huge, peaceful demonstrations early in the Arab Spring that shook Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Syria.
Commentators have been more cautious this time, asking questions rather than commenting directly, mindful of the bitter disappointment that followed their initial euphoria over the Arab Spring. The repression of the 2011 uprising in Bahrain, crushed after only a few weeks with the help of the other oil monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), could have been the exception, given the unique characteristics of that club of states. But two years later the region entered a counter-revolutionary phase, with a new chain reaction going the other way. Bashar al-Assad launched a new offensive in Syria in spring 2013 with the help of Iran and its regional allies. Then came the army-backed establishment of a repressive regime in Egypt, and the return to power of members of Tunisia’s ousted government; in Cairo and Tunis, forces linked to the Muslim Brotherhood hijacked the initial revolutionary impetus. Emboldened by 2013’s developments, remnants of the former regimes in Libya and Yemen formed opportunistic alliances with groups that had jumped on the bandwagon of the revolution and shared their hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood. Their attempts to take power by force ended in civil war. Enthusiasm gave way to melancholy in the ‘Arab Winter’ as the totalitarian terrorist enterprise ISIS gained a foothold. Though this latest avatar of Al-Qaida was eventually crushed in Iraq and Syria (groups operating under the same franchise remain active in Libya, the Sinai peninsula and outside the Arab-speaking world), other counter-revolutionary forces remain on the offensive. The Assad clan continues its reconquest of most of Syria’s territory with the help of Russia and Iran. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi’s despotic regime, careless of the potential impact of rebellions in Sudan and Algeria, has adopted a constitutional amendment that allows him to remain in power until 2030 (1). READ ON https://mondediplo.com/2019/06/05sudan ALSO SEE SUDAN CRISIS Gilbert Achcar is professor of development studies and international relations at SOAS, University of London. His publications include Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, Stanford University Press/Saqi Books, 2016
BOOK LAUNCH: Morbid Symptoms by Gilbert Achcar | Saqi Books www.saqibooks.com/2016/09/book-launch-morbid-symptoms-gilbert-achcar/ 4 October 2016. Event to mark the publication of Gilbert Achcar's Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising. Since the first wave of uprisings in 2011, the euphoria of the “Arab Spring” has given way to ... Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London.
Professor Gilbert Achcar | Staff | SOAS University of London https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff30529.php Professor of Development Studies and International Relations ... of the Arab Uprising (2013); and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
By Gilbert Achcar جلبير الأشقر - Jadaliyya www.jadaliyya.com/Author/4707 Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International ... His recent books include The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World ... New Texts Out Now: Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising ... the Arab Uprising (Stanford: Stanford University Press and London: Saqi, 2016).
Gilbert Achcar | The Nation https://www.thenation.com/authors/gilbert-achcar/ Gilbert Achcar is a professor at SOAS, University of London. His many books include The Clash of Barbarisms (2002, 2006); Perilous Power: The Middle East. ... and US Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky (2007); The Arabs ... recently, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
The seasons after the Arab Spring
Revolt if not revolution in Sudan and Algeria: is this the next phase of a profound change in the Arab world? The uprisings haven’t repeated the mistakes of 2011.
LONG READ FEATURE ARTICLE
BACKGROUNDER AND UPDATER
THIS IS AN EXCERPT
Commentators have been more cautious this time, asking questions rather than commenting directly, mindful of the bitter disappointment that followed their initial euphoria over the Arab Spring. The repression of the 2011 uprising in Bahrain, crushed after only a few weeks with the help of the other oil monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), could have been the exception, given the unique characteristics of that club of states. But two years later the region entered a counter-revolutionary phase, with a new chain reaction going the other way. Bashar al-Assad launched a new offensive in Syria in spring 2013 with the help of Iran and its regional allies. Then came the army-backed establishment of a repressive regime in Egypt, and the return to power of members of Tunisia’s ousted government; in Cairo and Tunis, forces linked to the Muslim Brotherhood hijacked the initial revolutionary impetus. Emboldened by 2013’s developments, remnants of the former regimes in Libya and Yemen formed opportunistic alliances with groups that had jumped on the bandwagon of the revolution and shared their hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood. Their attempts to take power by force ended in civil war. Enthusiasm gave way to melancholy in the ‘Arab Winter’ as the totalitarian terrorist enterprise ISIS gained a foothold. Though this latest avatar of Al-Qaida was eventually crushed in Iraq and Syria (groups operating under the same franchise remain active in Libya, the Sinai peninsula and outside the Arab-speaking world), other counter-revolutionary forces remain on the offensive. The Assad clan continues its reconquest of most of Syria’s territory with the help of Russia and Iran. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi’s despotic regime, careless of the potential impact of rebellions in Sudan and Algeria, has adopted a constitutional amendment that allows him to remain in power until 2030 (1). READ ON https://mondediplo.com/2019/06/05sudan ALSO SEE SUDAN CRISIS Gilbert Achcar is professor of development studies and international relations at SOAS, University of London. His publications include Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, Stanford University Press/Saqi Books, 2016
BOOK LAUNCH: Morbid Symptoms by Gilbert Achcar | Saqi Books www.saqibooks.com/2016/09/book-launch-morbid-symptoms-gilbert-achcar/ 4 October 2016. Event to mark the publication of Gilbert Achcar's Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising. Since the first wave of uprisings in 2011, the euphoria of the “Arab Spring” has given way to ... Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London.
Professor Gilbert Achcar | Staff | SOAS University of London https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff30529.php Professor of Development Studies and International Relations ... of the Arab Uprising (2013); and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
By Gilbert Achcar جلبير الأشقر - Jadaliyya www.jadaliyya.com/Author/4707 Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International ... His recent books include The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World ... New Texts Out Now: Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising ... the Arab Uprising (Stanford: Stanford University Press and London: Saqi, 2016).
Gilbert Achcar | The Nation https://www.thenation.com/authors/gilbert-achcar/ Gilbert Achcar is a professor at SOAS, University of London. His many books include The Clash of Barbarisms (2002, 2006); Perilous Power: The Middle East. ... and US Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky (2007); The Arabs ... recently, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (2016).
SUDAN CRISIS
Wed, Jun 5, 1:44 AM (13 days ago)
Dear Friends of the Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists:
On June 3, the Sudanese military and militia forces attacked the peaceful sit-in outside the Army Command in Khartoum, where thousands of protesters have gathered since 6 April to demand a peaceful transition to civilian rule after mass protests brought down the 30-year despotic rule of Omar al-Bashir.
Over 35 have been killed, hundreds injured, and the encampment set on fire. Counter-revolution has reared its bloody head in Sudan carried out by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Transitional Military Council. This past weekend al-Burhan coordinated with US-ally Saudi Arabia and other regional powers who undoubtedly green-lit this escalation of violence. It comes after a successful two day general strike last week where over 80% of the country shut down demanding civilian rule.
The Sudanese people have responded by calling for an indefinite political general strike and mass civil disobedience around the country to bring down the regime and bring about democracy and immediate civilian rule. We stand with the Sudanese people fighting for freedom and democracy and call for an end to massacre, repression, and counter-revolution in Sudan.
Below is the link to an online panel on the state of the Sudanese and Algerian uprisings which will help you learn more about the critical importance of these struggles and the need for immediate solidarity with them.
The Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists is reaching out to all our friends and subscribers and inviting you to share ideas for solidarity work.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Frieda Afary and Joseph Daher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71U70vPNHCE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3kh_4ZOY-DSqwMBi_vedijwGsoZOGERtMVP0IG6Ag84vp6EMA36VLXcWE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71U70vPNHCE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3kh_4ZOY-DSqwMBi_vedijwGsoZOGERtMVP0IG6Ag84vp6EMA36VLXcWE
Monday, June 17, 2019
Sunday, June 16, 2019
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