Sunday, July 18, 2021

Canadian firm enters US uranium sector with mine purchases

16 July 202

Vancouver-based International Consolidated Uranium (CUR) has agreed to buy the Tony M, Daneros and Rim conventional uranium mines in Utah, as well as the Sage Plain property and eight Department of Energy leases in Colorado from Energy Fuels Inc. In addition, the companies have agreed to enter into toll-milling and operating agreements with respect to the projects. The transaction positions CUR as a potential near-term US uranium producer.

The mines purchased by CUR from Energy Fuels (Image: CUR)

Under a definitive asset purchase agreement announced yesterday, CUR will pay Energy Fuels USD2 million at the closing of the transaction, CAD6 million (USD4.8 million) of deferred cash payable over time, up to CAD5 million of deferred cash payable on commencement of commercial production, and such number of CUR shares that results in Energy Fuels holding 19.9% of the outstanding CUR common shares immediately after closing. CUR will also pay Energy Fuels a management fee, along with a toll milling fee for ore produced at the acquired projects in the future.

The portfolio of projects being acquired by CUR includes, among other assets, three permitted, past-producing mines in Utah: Tony M, Daneros and Rim.

The Tony M mine in southeastern Utah is a large-scale, fully-developed and permitted underground mine. Located about 127 road miles west of Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill, the mine was operated by Denison from September 2007 to November 2008, when it was placed on care and maintenance. In June 2012, Energy Fuels acquired all of Denison's uranium properties in the USA.

The Daneros mine - located about 70 miles west of the White Mesa Mill - is a fully-developed and permitted underground mine. It operated from 2009 until October 2012 when the mine was placed on standby by Denison.

The Rim mine is a permitted, formerly producing mine located approximately 62 road miles from the White Mesa Mill. The mine has operated historically on a periodic basis starting in the mid-1960s. Mining last occurred in early 2008 by Denison and ceased in late 2010. Energy Fuels acquired the property in 2012 and has maintained it on care and maintenance since that time.

The transaction also includes CIR's acquisition of the Sage Plain property in Utah and eight Department of Energy (DOE) leases in Colorado. The project area - some 54 road miles from the White Mesa Mill - is at the location of the historic Calliham mine. The DOE leases are located in the historically productive Uravan Mineral Belt in Colorado. The leases are located 80-175 road miles from the White Mesa Mill. New 10-year leases for these lease tracts were executed by Energy Fuels in January 2020.

Strategic alliance

CUR and Energy Fuels have also entered a strategic alliance for the projects, which involves three key components: a toll-milling agreement, operating agreements and an investor rights agreement.

Under the toll-milling, Energy Fuels will toll-mill ore mined from the projects at the White Mesa Mill, subject to payment by CUR of a toll-milling fee and certain other terms and conditions. With this agreement, CUR will become the only current US uranium developer - other than Energy Fuels itself - with guaranteed access to the White Mesa Mill, which is the only permitted and operating conventional uranium mill in the USA.

Through the operating agreements, Energy Fuels will provide ongoing services for a fee to maintain the projects in good standing, as well as additional services as agreed to by the parties.

Under the investor rights agreement, for so long as Energy Fuels' equity ownership in CUR remains at or above 10%, it will be entitled to equity participation rights to maintain its pro rata equity ownership in CUR and to appoint one nominee to the CUR Board of Directors.

Growth strategies

"Our strategy has been to acquire uranium projects around the world, create critical mass, and target the acquisition of larger, more advanced projects," said CUR President and CEO Philip Williams. "While the recently announced acquisition of the high-grade Matoush Project in Quebec was a big step forward for CUR, today's acquisition and alliance with Energy Fuels represents a giant leap. In one transaction, we are entering the important US uranium sector by acquiring past producing mines which are permitted and well positioned for a rapid restart when market conditions are right."

CUR has acquired a 100% interest or has entered into option agreements to acquire a 100% interest in seven uranium projects, in Australia, Canada and Argentina, each with significant past expenditures and attractive characteristics for development.

Energy Fuels holds three of the USA's key uranium production centres: the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch ISR Project in Wyoming and the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the USA today, has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U3O8 per year and has the ability to produce vanadium when market conditions warrant.

"The assets we are selling to CUR are proven US uranium mines, and in fact production from these mines since 2006 has accounted for over 1,050,000 lbs of US uranium production, which would rank those mines as fifth among all current uranium producers in the US over those years," said Energy Fuels President and CEO Mark Chalmers.

"However, because Energy Fuels is focusing its attention on its core projects - the Nichols Ranch and Alta Mesa ISR properties and the Pinyon Plain, La Sal and other conventional properties - we do not believe markets have properly valued the projects within our expansive portfolio of exceptional assets," he added. "We believe that, in order to realise the full value of our expansive portfolio, certain assets, such as the projects, can be repositioned to the benefit of Energy Fuels and its shareholders, provided we find the right vehicle to unlock the value of these assets. In this transaction, we believe we have found that vehicle in CUR."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

‘I’m very pleased she’ll be leaving’: Australian government cancels Katie Hopkins’ visa

The federal government has cancelled the visa of far-right British commentator Katie Hopkins.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews says Ms Hopkins will be kicked out of the country as soon as possible.

Hopkins criticises Australia's response to COVID-19, saying lockdowns are the greatest hoaxes in history.

Ms Hopkins was dumped from an upcoming series of Channel Seven’s Big Brother on Sunday, a day after boasting about flouting infection controls while in hotel quarantine in Sydney.

The provocative post came as 12 million Australians were locked down in NSW and Victoria.
“It is despicable that anyone would behave in such a way that puts our health officials and community at risk,” Ms Andrews said in a statement.

“There is no place in Australia for visa holders who would deliberately endanger others. Entry to Australia brings responsibilities and the community rightly expects better. Those who don’t live up to the standards can expect to have their visas cancelled and to be removed.”

Speaking on ABC News Breakfast, Ms Andrews added that the flaunting of quarantine breaches was a “slap in the face for all those Australians who are currently in lockdown”.

“Personally, I’m very pleased she’ll be leaving,” the Home Affairs Minister said.
Advertisement

“We will be getting her out of the country as soon as we can possibly arrange that. So I’m hopeful that it will happen imminently.”

“Personally, I’m very pleased she’ll be leaving,” Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

Ms Hopkins has previously called for a “final solution” (a reference to the Nazi policy of murdering Jews) and labelled migrants “cockroaches”. Asked why she was given a visa in the first place over an Australian trying to return home, Ms Andrews said the far-right commentator was allowed in under “established processes and procedures” given she was due to film a TV show.

“So she came in here on the basis of potential benefit to the economy,” the Home Affairs Minister said. “[But] she’s clearly not someone that we want to keep in this country for a second longer than we have to.”

Ms Hopkins told her 261,000 Instagram followers she had opened her door to guards naked and not wearing a mask to “call out” Australia’s quarantine system and lockdowns.

“What I want is the sergeant in the foyer to come up and tell me off so that I can stand there naked while he tells me off,” she said.

She said it was her way of “calling out” lockdowns, which she described as being the “greatest hoax in human history”.

On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce on the ABC’s Insiders told Ms Hopkins to “pack your bongo and get out”.

Health Minister Greg Hunt described the boast as “dangerous, irresponsible and apparently deliberate”.

Amid a growing political storm, Channel Seven issued a statement saying Ms Hopkins was not part of Big Brother VIP.

“Seven and Endemol Shine strongly condemn her irresponsible and reckless comments in hotel quarantine.”

Ms Hopkins hosted a national talkback show on British radio station LBC but left in 2017 after posting on Twitter there should be a “final solution” in the aftermath of the Manchester terrorist attack.

She was permanently banned from Twitter last year for what the company described as “violations of our hateful conduct policy”, and was detained in South Africa in 2018 for allegedly spreading racial hatred.

But she has found a home on Australian television screens, having appeared on Sky News’ Outsiders program six times last year and this year.

The right-wing commentator’s arrival came as American celebrity Caitlyn Jenner also landed in Sydney this week to appear on Big Brother, according to celebrity news website TMZ. Big Brother contestants have received a travel exemption from the NSW state government, which is accepting them above the existing quarantine cap.

To date, Australian border officials have removed seven non-citizens found to have breached COVID-19 health directions.

At least 35,000 Australians remain stranded overseas and passenger caps for those returning have been halved to about 3000 a week.

With Bianca Hall, Jennifer Duke, Zoe Samios

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.

Cardboard Beds at Olympics Designed to Be 'Anti-Sex' Put to the Test

TOKYO OLYMPICSIT'S CARDBOARD BEDS FOR ATHLETES ...Deterrent for Banging???

7/18/2021 4

4:53 PM PT -- It looks like the no-sex hypothesis has (possibly) been debunked ... by none other than an Olympian who's on the scene, and did a little in-room test to see how the cardboard holds up under pressure.

Irish gymnast, Rhys McClenaghan, posted a video in response to reports the cardboard beds are meant to dissuade athletes from doing it in the village ... and he's calling BS, because the frames can apparently withstand his own bodyweight jumping up and down.

Check out his demo ... the dude hops up and down on his own cardboard cutout, and the thing stays intact. Pretty interesting, but we're not so sure that clears it up. Fact is ... two bodies are heavier than one -- even one that's jumping. More testing is likely needed. 🤔

The sleeping arrangements for the Olympics have surfaced -- athletes will crash on boxes, limit 1 per customer ... something honchos apparently don't want tested with bedroom shenanigans.

Check out the beds that have been set up all throughout the Olympic village in Tokyo, where world-class athletes will arrive by the end of next week for the start of the games. As you can clearly see, these babies are made out of good old-fashioned cardboard ... seriously.

The beds' frames and modest mattresses are designed by a company called Airweave -- and they've cranked out upwards of 18,000 for the Olympics. Yes, they're somewhat intricate in their structure and configuring ... able to be adjusted to an individual's liking/contortion.

However, a running theory is that the beds are made this way for a reason -- namely, the International Olympic Committee and other organizers supposedly want to discourage sex among athletes ... a pastime at the games that's getting pooh-pooh'd this year due to COVID.

A handful of Olympic athletes -- some who've already touched down in Tokyo, and others who haven't -- are testing positive for the virus ... including U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff.

Still, U.S. track and field star Paul Chelimo got in on the joke, explaining that it was clear to him the Olympic powers that be don't want any banging going on ... because these beds, theoretically, only support the weight of one person. NBD for runners, though!!!

He writes, "I see no problem for distance runners,even 4 of us can do😂." The implication being ... runners are light, so a couple of them probably wouldn't break the bed.

There's also the tradition of handing out condoms, which got a 2021 asterisk. The Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee reportedly told a Japanese outlet the condoms aren't supposed to be used, but brought back to an athlete's home country for safe sex education.

In other words ... keep it in your pants this time around. That, or risk hitting the floor.

Originally Published -- 12:26 PM PT

Paul Chelimo responds to cardboard beds in the Olympic Village

The beds are designed to discourage "intimacy among athletes", but the Olympic silver medallist says that won't be a problem for the distance runners

BRITTANY HAMBLETON JULY 18, 2021

In years past, the Olympic Village has been known for offering, ahem, extracurricular activities for athletes. In fact, this has become such an acceptable feature of the Games that organizers in previous years have provided hundreds of thousands of free condoms in the Village. In light of COVID-19, this year is much different, and organizers are discouraging any close contact between athletes. Their solution? Cardboard beds. Olympic 5,000m silver-medallist Paul Chelimo decided to share his take on the living conditions, and it has past and present cross-country and track runners laughing right along with him.

Anyone who remembers traveling to a cross-country meet and having to share a hotel bed with two or three of their teammates will know exactly what Chelimo is talking about, but he didn’t stop there. He continued, noting the risks involved in sleeping on a cardboard box:

He added that now he has two fears heading into the Olympic Games: fear of getting boxed-in during his race, and fear of getting boxed-in in the Village.

Chelimo has now added another element to his training regime: he will now have to start practicing sleeping on the floor in case his bed collapses the night before his race.

Now the real question is, how many bed-related injuries will be sustained during this year’s Games? We will have to wait to find out.

Tesla's Cheap 94-Mile Model 3 Has Cost Canadian Taxpayers $115 Million

Never really intended for sale, it was produced to pull the Model 3's base price below a key tax credit threshold.
BY ROB STUMPF JULY 17, 2021

ROB STUMPF View Rob Stumpf's Articles
RobDrivesCars allthingslow

Earlier this year, we told you about Tesla's ultra-low range Model 3 sold exclusively in Canada. The no-frills EV has only 94 miles (151 kilometers) of range and no Autopilot to boot. Thanks to these limitations, Tesla was able to price this particular example low enough to qualify for Canada's Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program—and as an added bonus, qualify the higher-up Standard Range Plus model as well due to the program's unusual price cap system.

Unsurprisingly, it appears that the 94-mile range Model 3 isn't a big seller. New data obtained from Transport Canada by The Drive shows that just over one-half of a percent of drivers who purchased a Model 3 and received Canada's $5,000 iZEV credit actually sprung for the low-range variant. The workaround has cost the government of Canada—and its taxpayers—millions of dollars to subsidize the purchase price of the more expensive trim that would have otherwise not qualified for the incentive. About $115 million CAD, to be exact.

VIA TESLA

What Is the iZEV Credit, Anyway?

Canada's system is quite different than the United States' approach to a $7,500 post-sale federal tax credit. Essentially, the arrangement is a $5,000 credit used towards the purchase of a qualifying electric vehicle which is applied at the time of purchase—or a lesser amount if the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid or leased instead of purchased. Automakers submit an application to Canada's department of motor vehicles, called Transport Canada, for specific models to be considered for the iZEV program. Once the model is approved, buyers can begin utilizing the incentive at the time of purchase to reduce their out-of-pocket expenses.

The meat and potatoes: The car's base trim must be priced under $45,000 ($37,211 USD), but subsequent trims of the same vehicle must not exceed $55,000 ($45,481). This threshold means any trim of the same vehicle model can be considered for the credit as long as it's under that price cap.

VIA TRANSPORT CANADA

Tesla charges $52,990 for the Model 3 Standard Range Plus, however, buyers can opt to limit the vehicles to 94 miles (151 km) of range which drops the price down to $46,389. If you remove the $1,280 destination fee, the $100 air conditioning fee, and a $10 fee to the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, it brings the purchase price of the Model 3 SR+ to just $44,999—one dollar below the cut-off to qualify for the iZEV credit.

In this configuration, Tesla drops the "Plus" designation and just calls the vehicle Model 3 Standard Range—the same name as the previously-killed trim sold in the United States. However, the $35,000 (in U.S. dollars) Model 3 SR sold stateside was equipped with 220 miles of range. The Model 3 SR sold in Canada is priced at $44,999 CAD ($37,299 USD) and has just 94 miles of range.

VIA TESLA

This workaround means that buyers of the 263-mile Standard Range Plus variant can make use of the iZEV credit. Even more coincidental is that buyers can equip both Teslas with the 19-inch sport wheels and premium white interior to pay just $54,900 (before destination and other fees)—$100 less than the $55,000 cut-off.

Keep in mind that Tesla had previously canceled the Model Y Standard Range in the U.S. over concerns that its 250-mile range would be "unacceptably low."

By the Numbers

Last year, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation obtained data showing that the Model 3 Standard Range sold a very limited number of cars—126 between from the time that the iZEV program launched in May 2019 until March 2020. The Drive reached out to Transport Canada to check in on these figures and learned that in more than a year's time, only 25 additional units were sold.

From May 2019 until April 2021, Tesla sold just 151 units of the Standard Range Model 3, meaning that buyers received $755,000 in subsidies to use towards the lower-range EV. Meanwhile, it amassed a sale of 22,938 units of the Standard Range Plus. This makes a total of 23,089 sales eligible for the iZEV credit, or up to $115.5 Million paid out for a model that would have otherwise not qualified for the incentive.

In total, the iZEV program has paid out 87,919 total incentives, 26 percent of which have gone towards Tesla Model 3s—more than Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Smart, Subaru, and Volkswagen combined. The automaker which had the vehicles with the second-highest number of incentives is Hyundai at 14,413, however, that number is split between six different models, three of which are plug-in hybrid which only receive half of the $5,000 BEV incentive.

DATA VIA TRANSPORT CANADA

Smart or Scam?

Not everyone is thrilled with Tesla's gaming of the iZEV incentive. When we reported on the 94-mile Model 3 earlier this year, some called it "a great tactic" while others said that Tesla's workaround was "a stupid dodge to get around a stupid policy."

“It certainly looks like Tesla gamed the system by listing a no-frills model just under the maximum price in order to get access to millions in taxpayer subsidies for higher-priced models,” said Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation during the outlet's previous exposé on the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range. “Everyday taxpayers are subsidizing fancy cars for wealthier people.”

As for the DMV's viewpoint, Transport Canada had previously refuted that it does not evaluate how an automaker markets its vehicles to consumers, only that it ensures eligibility criteria is met for the iZEV program. Its goal is simply to increase the affordability of battery-electric cars and the overall take-rate compared to gasoline-powered equivalents. And judging by the numbers, it did exactly that. The introduction of the Model 3 SR qualified the otherwise ineligible SR+ for the iZEV credit, something which certainly helped foster the adoption of EVs in Canada.

Whether or not Tesla's move will be remembered as bold or below the belt is something yet to be seen. But one thing is certain: it worked.

Protesters in Montreal pressure Ottawa to regularize migrant workers' status

Solidarity Across Borders is seeking regularization for all undocumented migrants

Frédéric Lacroix-Couture · The Canadian Press ·

Posted: Jul 18, 2021

People take part in a 'Status for All' demonstration in Montreal, Sunday, July 18, 2021. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

At least 100 people protested in downtown Montreal Sunday morning, calling on the federal government to put a comprehensive and continuous regularization program in place for refugees and migrants, who are the subject of "neglect" by the immigration system.

The event marked the launch of a week of demonstrations in Montreal and Ottawa, led by Solidarity Across Borders, to obtain better treatment for thousands of undocumented migrants.

Last year, Ottawa announced a regularization program for asylum seekers who worked in health care during the pandemic. Solidarity Across Borders maintains that this program, which is already full in terms of demands, excludes the majority of migrants, even those considered essential workers.

"We want full regularization for everyone, without exception because everyone is essential, whether it's people who have worked in the health sector or people in grocery stores, butcher shops or recycling pickup. They worked three times as hard, but they aren't paid as well," Mohamed Barry, a representative of Guinéens unis pour un statut, who obtained his permanent residence last year, after eight years "of fighting."

The event marked the launch of a week of demonstrations in Montreal and Ottawa, led by Solidarity Across Borders, to obtain better treatment for thousands of undocumented migrants. (The Canadian Press)

Solidarity Across Borders says many find it difficult to pay rent and food, and others are forced to take "dangerous and poorly paid jobs." During the pandemic, "the undocumented migrants endured enormous difficulties."

"Because of our situation, we don't have access to health care, social assistance, or legal work. It's still the most important thing for a human being here, right?" said Samira Jasmin, a spokesperson for Solidarity Across Borders, who has been trying to regularize her status since arriving from Algeria eight years ago.
Symbolic humanitarian request

Next Sunday, activists and undocumented migrants from Quebec plan to meet in front of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office in Ottawa to present a symbolic humanitarian request for all people with precarious status in the country.

The Migrant Rights Network, a Canadian anti-racist, migrant justice alliance, recently revealed that the rate of rejection of permanent residence applications in Canada on humanitarian grounds has doubled since 2019.

"For those without status, the only way out is humanitarian demand," Jasmin said.

"It also expresses a little the despair of these people because they seek by all legal means to be able to have a normal life", added Adboul Kan of Solidarity Across Borders.

The MRN found that 70 per cent of applications were rejected from January to March 2021 compared to 35 per cent in 2019.

Downtown Montreal rally seeks 'status for all' undocumented migrants

“We’re facing a steamroller that has no feelings for migrants, or for human beings in general."

Author of the article: Frédéric Tomesco
Publishing date: Jul 18, 2021 •

Montrealers took to the streets in Montreal on Sunday July 18, 2021 in support of "Status for All", a call for permanent residency for temporary migrant workers and their families who live in Canada. PHOTO BY DAVE SIDAWAY /Montreal Gazette
Article content

A group representing undocumented migrants is stepping up the pressure on Ottawa to legalize their status ahead of a possible federal election this fall.

About 100 people gathered in downtown Montreal on Sunday morning to listen to speeches, march through the streets and demand “status for all” from the federal government as part of a rally organized by Solidarity Across Borders. Along the way, the demonstrators walked by a Dollarama store and the building that houses Premier François Legault’s Montreal office.

Canada’s federal government recently ended a limited-time permanent residency program for migrants after 10 weeks, leaving thousands of people in limbo. Many of those interviewed Sunday called on Ottawa to reinstate the program and to broaden it beyond its focus on essential workers.

“We’re facing a steamroller that has no feelings for migrants, or for human beings in general,” Hady Anne Kodoye, who immigrated from Mauritania three years ago and is still waiting for his status to be legalized, said in an interview. “The pandemic has put a lot of migrants like me deep into precariousness.”

Sunday’s gathering is part of a “week of action” that will include demonstrations, leaflet distribution, a community supper and a friendly soccer game. A march to Ottawa next weekend will cap the proceedings.

Montrealers in support of “Status for All” say all migrant workers who put their lives at risk working during the pandemic — not just those deemed essential by the government — should get permanent residency. PHOTO BY DAVE SIDAWAY /Montreal Gazette

New figures released last week by the Migrant Rights Network, a Canadian anti-racism alliance, suggest rejection rates of applications for permanent residence on humanitarian grounds have doubled since the start of the pandemic after Canada closed its borders. About 70 per cent of undocumented migrants had their application for permanent residence turned down in the first quarter of 2021, up from 35 per cent in 2019.

“We want an inclusive program for all migrants,” said Abdoul Kane, a Senegal native who is in the process of applying for permanent residence. “We don’t want a program that calls some people essential and others no. We’re all essential.”

Prominent Canadians such as former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour have called on the federal government to legalize undocumented migrants, who play a key role in powering the black-market economy and aren’t included in official statistics.

“I just want Ottawa to show proof of humanity,” said Mohamed Barry, who moved here from Guinea eight years ago and became a permanent resident last year. Undocumented migrants “are here, they are contributing to the well-being of this society. They should be regularized. They shouldn’t be left behind.”

Health care, food distribution, meatpacking and recycling are all industries that employ undocumented workers, according to Barry. Many of those migrants — who have no access to free health care — had to put themselves in danger by working in close proximity to other employees during the initial waves of the pandemic.

“There was a high risk of getting the virus,” said Barry, who worked in a warehouse last year and experienced firsthand the conditions he’s now denouncing. “The measures were not really respected well. There were no masks. We had to work below freezing, sometimes outside, which was really hard.”

Also attending Sunday’s march was Quebec writer Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, who drove in from Val-David to show her support.

“I’m a ‘pure laine’ Quebecer, and it’s not true that we are going to let people who helped us get kicked out of the country,” she said in an interview. “We’re not like that. Over the years we’ve welcomed Haitians, Vietnamese, and we’re going to do the same thing now. Many of these recent migrants are the ones who washed our parents and our grandparents. We cannot forget that.”

Leonard Cohen Lives on Forever on Greek Island of Hydra

ByPhilip Chrysopoulos

July 18, 2021

Influential singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, who passed away nearly five years ago, was continuously inspired by the Greek island Hydra throughout his long career.

An official music video reminds his fans and music lovers worldwide what a truly great artist Cohen was and how lucky we were to have him here for as long as we did.

The great Canadian musician’s many Greek fans especially will rejoice, since the beautifully-shot video is entirely shot on Hydra island, Cohen’s literal second home.

“Moving On,” released after his death, is Cohen’s song about loss and the feeling of deep, unbearable heartache it creates.

Music video highlights Leonard Cohen’s home on Hydra

The song, which begins with the tolling of a mournful church bell, is carried along by a melancholy mandolin and continues with the characteristic, spoken-word, singing of the troubadour.

Adding a touch of sarcasm in the line, “Who’s moving on, who’s kidding who?” seems the only way the singer can make it through the pain of his loss.

The video shows the house that Cohen bought on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960 which served as his second home for the rest of his life.

The complete absence of any other humans in the sun-drenched house adds even more poignancy to the lyrics.

For the Canadian songwriter, the house on Hydra was not just his summer home, but a place where he felt free to spend months at a time and where he composed many of his lyrics.

This was also the place where Cohen’s great love, the Norwegian woman Marianne Ihlen, who was his muse in the 1960s, lived. She was the subject of one of his first masterpieces, “So Long, Marianne.”

The “stars” of the video are a cat, a donkey, a tangerine, flowers and, of course, the interior of the house where Cohen actually wrote some of his masterpieces, at least in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its serene, stunningly beautiful landscapes, the ancient streets of Hydra, and the breathtaking sunset at the end make the video as moving as the song itself.

Cohen’s life and career

The Canadian songwriter enjoyed a successful career in music which lasted for fifty years.

He was among a handful of revered songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s, along with Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, marking the two most important decades in modern music history.

Cohen, who began his adult life as a writer, traveled a great deal, which seemed to him mandatory for anyone who wanted to write from experience. In Hydra, he found the serenity and solitude he needed in order to pen his works.

This is where he wrote his two books, The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966). It was also there where Cohen met Marianne Ihlen, his partner and muse for most of the 1960s.

The Canadian writer found the native people of Hydra mysterious and intriguing, and he came to love living there.

Cohen later said that buying his island house was the smartest decision he had ever made.

The island of Hydra is also where his first two albums were conceived. “Songs of Leonard Cohen” (1967) and “Songs from a Room” (1969), featuring spare arrangements and stark delivery of his poetic lyrics, established the young Canadian as a great name in the music world.

Leonard Cohen viewed as a local on Hydra

Cohen spent so much of his time on the island that by the 1980s, people viewed him as just another local resident. He remained very popular in Greece even though he had only performed in Athens one time.

The 1980s were a time which saw a sea change in the music world, with young audiences uninterested in Cohen’s deep, personal lyrics and spare, acoustic arrangements.

In 1988, however, the troubadour almost completely reinvented himself with “I’m Your Man,” a critically and commercially successful album with catchier arrangements which introduced him to a new generation while luring back his older fans.

After that time Cohen continued being active in the studio, releasing one more album, “The Future,” along the same vein, firmly re-establishing himself in the music business by gaining an all-new audience.

However, in 1995 he put a pause in his music production by entering the Mt. Baldy Zen Center outside of Los Angeles and living there for some time. For many, that seemed to signal the end of Cohen’s music career.

Yet he returned to music in 2001 with his “Ten New Songs,” and continued creating for another fifteen years.

Cohen again toured the world and recorded four more albums between 2004 and 2016, the last being the acclaimed “You Want it Darker,” released only days before his death on November 7, 2016 at the age of 82.

Keeping his dark humor until the end, Cohen had once stated, “I intend to live forever.”

Still, in a way, this is absolutely true because his legacy is so powerful that, for many, the songwriter is indeed still around, whispering his bittersweet lyrics in countless ears.

On November 22, 2019 Cohen’s record company released an album of nine songs left over from the “You Want it Darker” recording sessions, with Cohen’s lyrics set to music by his son, Adam Cohen, along with various collaborators.

Entitled “Thanks for the Dance,” the album received as great reviews as if it had been a release from a living artist.

The song “Moving On” is from this album

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment