Doug Ford's Greenbelt scandal: The beginning of the end of his years in power?

Story by Mark Winfield, Professor, Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Canada

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THE CONVERSATION

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a news conference in Mississauga, Ont., on Aug. 11, 2023, two days after a scathing auditor general report into the Greenbelt.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

The findings of Ontario’s auditor general on the provincial government’s decision to remove 7,400 acres from the Greater Toronto Area Greenbelt came as no surprise to those who have been closely following Premier Doug Ford’s approach to planning and development.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk determined:

— Well-connected developers were given direct access to ministerial staff and the opportunity to rewrite planning rules to suit their own interests;

— Normal decision-making processes and planning rules were bypassed;

— Overwhelming evidence that indicated there was no need to remove land from the Greenbelt to meet the region’s housing needs was ignored;

— Decisions were made to provide billions of dollars in benefits to private interests that won’t enhance housing affordability in any way.

All of this is part of a wider pattern of behaviour for the Ford government over the past five years.


Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk speaks to the media during a news conference regarding her report on the Greenbelt on Aug. 9, 2023.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey
Par for the course

The Greenbelt controversy is the culmination of a series of troubling government decisions and legislative changes since Ford was first elected in 2018.

These have included the widespread use of ministerial zoning orders, known as MZOs, to override local plans and city council decisions in favour of development interests.

In addition, developers have been invited to rewrite the planning rules — all mandated by municipalities and communities to facilitate and manage urban growth via existing provincial policies — to suit their own interests.

There are examples throughout Toronto and its bedroom communities — including in midtown and downtown Toronto, Richmond Hill, Markham and Mississauga.

The roles of conservation authorities and local governments in decision-making have been systemically marginalized, and planning rules related to both built and natural heritage conservation sites have been shredded.

Meantime, the costs of the infrastructure needed to support private, for-profit development have been transferred to local and provincial taxpayers.

The province’s land-use planning system — including the Greenbelt and growth plans for the Greater Toronto Area — were once the subject of international acclaim for their management of intense growth while farmland, housing affordability and natural heritage areas were protected.

Now that system has been transformed into an instrument wielded by the province to overcome any objections to the wishes of developers.
Policy failure

The result has been a predictable picture of policy failure — a development boom defined by the construction of single-use high-rises, mostly condominiums, in urban areas and sprawling low-density housing in the suburbs.

That trend has been escalated by the removal of the 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt.

This model of “tall and sprawl” development has done next to nothing to improve housing affordability, particularly for those at the lower end of the income scale.

In fact, in some areas, this industry-driven model is leading to significant losses of existing affordable rental housing as they’re displaced by investor-owned condominium developments.

The same basic principles evident in the government’s handling of the Greenbelt and housing files can be seen across a range of files, from energy to health care.

The Ford government engages in a casual approach to decision-making that regards normal governance processes as delay-inducing red tape. It tends to respond uncritically to whatever its favoured economic interests tell it to do.

That tendency was highlighted in Ford’s recent Greenbelt news conference, when he seemed to define good governance as saying “yes” to whatever business lobbyists ask for.



Perhaps even more disturbing is his apparent blindness to the meaning of ministerial responsibility or accountability in a system of democratic governance. Both Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark claim they didn’t know what the minister’s chief of staff was doing on the Greenbelt file.

Those claims are either admissions of catastrophic failures in management and oversight or an attempt to mislead the legislature, the auditor general and the public.
Stonewalling

So far, the government has stonewalled on the auditor general’s key recommendation — that the removal of lands from the Greenbelt must be re-evaluated in light of what the government itself admits was a flawed decision-making process.

But the political and legal fallout from the auditor general’s report seems destined to continue for some time.

A further report into the controversy from the Ontario legislature’s Integrity Commissioner is on the horizon.

Lysyk has already committed to a followup audit. There are also calls for an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into the Greenbelt decisions. A variety of potential procedural and legal challenges are under consideration.

Whether the entire episode will prompt the government to reconsider its evidence-free, friends-with-benefits approach to governing remains an open question. So does the question of whether the political and legal fallout will be substantial enough to mark the beginning of the end for Ford’s government.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

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Mark Winfield receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He was involved in the development of the original GTA Greenbelt and Growth Plans, including serving on the Ministerial Advisory Committee on the Implementation of the Growth Plan.

Opinion: 'Doug Ford is corrupt AF, and now we have the receipts'

Wed, August 16, 2023 

This was no accident

Ford claims he needs to decimate the protected Greenbelt in Ontario to address the housing crisis, but both experts and the Auditor General says that's B.S.

On Canada Project is a social advocacy group made up of neighbourhood nerds who are here to dismantle the status quo and champion change in our lives.

—

The Greenbelt is a protected area of Ontario that serves a critical purpose in protecting our planet.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford claims he needs to decimate the Greenbelt to address the housing crisis, however both experts and the Auditor General says that's not true.

Earlier this year, Ford came under fire for having developers at his daughter's wedding festivities - and those same developers are the ones making money off of the destruction of the Greenbelt.

He made this video because during his 2018 campaign, it leaked that Ford had told developers 'he has their back' regarding Greenbelt.

$8.3 billion dollars of taxpayer money is not only going towards the destruction of something that helps us combat the climate emergency, but it's public dollars going to Ford's friends.

That's corruption – we have the receipts and explain why.

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M
Texas approves plan to mandate Tesla tech for EV chargers despite opposition

Abhirup Roy
Wed, August 16, 2023 



SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Texas on Wednesday approved its plan to require companies to include Tesla's technology in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to be eligible for federal funds, despite calls for more time to re-engineer and test the connectors.

The decision by Texas - the biggest recipient of a $5 billion program meant to electrify U.S. highways - is being closely watched by other states and is a step forward for Tesla CEO Elon Musk's plans to make its technology the U.S. charging standard.

Tesla's efforts are facing early tests as some states start rolling out the funds. The company won a slew of projects in Pennsylvania's first round of funding announced on Monday but none last month in Ohio.

Federal rules require companies to offer the rival Combined Charging System (CCS) - a U.S. standard that has been preferred by the Biden administration - as a minimum to be eligible for the funds.

But individual states can add their own requirements on top of CCS before distributing the federal funds at a local level.

Ford Motor and General Motors' announcement just over two months ago that they planned to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) sent shockwaves through the industry and prompted a number of automakers and charging companies to embrace the technology.

In June, Reuters reported that Texas - which will receive and deploy $407.8 million over five years - planned to mandate companies to include Tesla's plugs. Washington state has talked about similar plans and Kentucky has already mandated it.

Florida, another major recipient of funds, recently revised it plans, saying it would mandate NACS one year after standards body SAE International, which is reviewing the technology, formally recognizes it.

Some charging companies wrote to the Texas Transportation Commission, opposing the requirement in the first round of funds and citing concerns about the supply chain and certification of Tesla's connectors, saying it would put the successful deployment of EV chargers at risk.

That forced Texas to defer a vote on the plan twice as it sought to understand NACS and its implications, before the commission voted unanimously to approve the plan on Wednesday.

"The two-connector approach being proposed will help assure coverage of a minimum of 97% of the current, over 168,000 electric vehicles with fast charge ports in the state," Humberto Gonzalez, a director at Texas' department of transportation said while presenting the state's plan to the commissioners.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Canada mulling 'game plan' if U.S. takes far-right, authoritarian shift: Joly



OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada has been considering a "game plan" for how it would respond if the United States takes a far-right, authoritarian shift after next year's presidential elections.

Joly said in French during an interview with a Montreal radio station Wednesday that Canada must "prepare several scenarios" because of Ottawa's close ties to the U.S.

She says Canada has a game plan in mind but wouldn't get into details, other than saying she'd work with multiple levels of Canadian government, the business community and labour unions.

Joly drew an analogy to her government's experience working with the administration of former U.S. president Donald Trump, which sought to limit decades of trade in crucial sectors.

Trump is again running for the Republican nomination in next November's election, and has promised "retribution" against his opponents and civil servants.

University of Ottawa national-security professor Thomas Juneau says many Canadians might find it far-fetched to talk about Washington falling drastically out of step with Canada, but he says there has been an extreme rise in global volatility in recent years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.

WORKERS CAPITAL
Australian $100 billion pension fund targets private assets with London launch

Story by By Lewis Jackson and Praveen Menon


SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's third-largest pension fund will officially open its first overseas outpost in London in November, a senior company official said, pushing for more private market investments as the sector outgrows the confines of home.

Aware Super, with A$160 billion ($102 billion) in assets, will set up in the district of St. James, popular with hedge funds and private equity firms, and plans to have a team of 14 by year end, according to Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of International Damien Webb, who will relocate to London in October.

Forecast to hit A$250 billion in assets by 2026, the fund plans to funnel "substantial" billions through the new office, which will initially focus on private equity, property and infrastructure in the UK, Europe and North America, Webb told Reuters.

"At 250 billion dollars and beyond I think we would start to challenge our (real asset) pipeline if we thought we could only do direct investments in Australia," said Webb. Real assets include property and infrastructure.

Related video: Wall Street's Next Prize Is a $2 Trillion Australia Pension Pot (Bloomberg)

Duration 3:31  View on Watch

"To originate and govern our own investments, we will need a presence overseas at that level of scale to source and manage...those investments."

Aware plans to roughly double offshore real asset exposure to 40% over the next three to five years.

International deals and offices in London or New York are becoming rites of passage for big players in Australia's A$2.4 trillion pension sector, which is swelling rapidly thanks to laws which set aside 11% of worker pay packets.

The country's biggest fund, AustralianSuper, recently poached senior executives from J.P. Morgan and BNP Paribas for its London office. In May, UniSuper paid A$1 billion for a stake in European telecom masts business Vantage Towers (VTWRn.DE).

Aware is "more than likely" to open a second office in North America in the next three to four years, Webb said.

($1 = 1.5676 Australian dollars)

ANARCHO-CAPITALISTS ARE FASCISTS

Argentina’s Milei Says He’d Reject ‘Assassin’ China, Leave Mercosur


(Bloomberg) -- Argentina’s presidential frontrunner Javier Milei would freeze relations with China and pull South America’s second-biggest economy out of the Mercosur trade bloc with Brazil, foreign policy proposals that are as radical as his economics.

In an interview following his unexpected primary victory on Aug. 13, the outsider candidate has given international policymakers the biggest insight yet in how he would conduct Argentina’s affairs on the world stage.

“People are not free in China, they can’t do what they want and when they do it, they get killed,” he told Bloomberg News on Wednesday, referring to Beijing’s government. “Would you trade with an assassin?”

President Xi Jinping’s ruling Communist Party typically silences dissidents with lengthy prison sentences and has been accused of detaining more than 1 million mostly Uyghurs in camps in its Xinjiang region. The US has dubbed that campaign a genocide, while Beijing calls the facilities vocational training centers.

China has also been accused of kidnapping a handful of people from overseas territories including Thailand, but unlike Russia has not faced credible accusations of assassinations.

Milei shook Argentina’s political establishment last weekend after receiving more votes than a pro-business opposition bloc and the ruling Peronist coalition, putting him in the lead to be the country’s next president. His election in October would generate shock waves across a region largely ruled by leftist leaders.

In his blanket refusal to do any kind of business with “socialists,” he lumped Communist China in the same category as Argentina’s biggest trade partner, Brazil, led by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. China is the second-largest buyer of Argentine exports and provides a crucial $18 billion swap line with the central bank that’s being used to pay the International Monetary Fund.

Brazil’s foreign affairs ministry didn’t immediately comment on Milei’s remarks and calls put to China’s Embassy in Buenos Aires went unanswered. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday that if the candidate visited “he would have a completely different conclusion as to the freedom and security in China.”


A breakdown in relations with China could be damaging for Argentina — the central bank in Buenos Aires has been increasingly reliant on the currency swap to support the peso, with the government last month using yuan to repay some of the money it owes the IMF, amid a dwindling greenback supply.

Argentina could also see its existing trade deficit with China widen if Beijing decided to treat the South American nation like Australia, and stop buying its meat and other food products amid souring relations.

Milei described his foreign policy proposals as a global “fight against socialists and statists,” and revealed that he would appoint Diana Mondino, a trusted economic adviser, to be his top diplomat. She’s a former Standard & Poor’s director for Argentina and is running for Congress.

Not Involved

It’s not the first time a prominent Argentine politician has insulted China: In 2015, then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner caused a furor by mocking the Chinese accent in a tweet. Her comments came while she was on a state visit to China seeking investment.


Milei later appeared to at least partly soften his outspoken comments, clarifying he’d deem it up to the private sector to decide whether to maintain commercial ties with China, and other countries with leaders that he dislikes.

“I don’t have to get involved, but I won’t promote ties with those who don’t respect freedom,” he said, adding that he’d respect deals already signed in Argentina by Chinese companies, which include a contract to build twin dams in Patagonia and an agreement to set up a nuclear plant.

The biggest geopolitical beneficiary of Milei’s ideology would clearly be the US. He was adamant he would work with any president elected in 2024, regardless of their political stripes, though he has a preference for a conservative.

Donald Trump is now ahead in the polls to secure the Republican nomination but Milei isn’t especially keen on being oft-compared to the former American president. Asked if he would like Trump to return to the White House, he said cautiously: “That’s up for Americans to decide.”

“I may like the profile of Republicans better than that of Democrats, but that doesn’t mean I don’t consider the US as our big strategic partner,” he said.

At the same time, he’s put Lula, Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Chile’s Gabriel Boric and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, the leftists who run Latin America’s top economies, on guard. Asked about how his relations with them would be, he said: “I don’t have socialist partners.” He described his relationship with Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, as “excellent.”

Milei was disparaging of the trade alliance that Argentina founded with Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay more than three decades ago. The group, beset by internal divisions, has struggled to implement a free-trade deal with the European Union agreed four years ago.

“Mercosur is a customs union of poor quality that creates trade distortions and hurts its members,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, Milei was equally critical of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, who he called a “dictator,” as well as the governments of Nicaragua, Cuba, North Korea and Russia. Argentina would again condemn Venezuela for its violation of human rights if he is picked president, Milei said, returning to the hard-line policy the country had until 2019 with President Mauricio Macri.

--With assistance from Simone Iglesias, Patrick Gillespie, Jonathan Gilbert, Philip Glamann and Colum Murphy.

(Updates with Chinese Foreign Ministry comment.)

Milei promises to pay Argentina’s debt and close the central bank

Thursday 17th August 2023

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Argentina’s leading presidential candidate Javier Milei has vowed to shut down the nation’s central bank and said he would do everything possible to prevent a default on the country’s sovereign debt if he wins the October vote.

Milei, a radical libertarian whose upset victory in Sunday’s primaries rattled markets, told Bloomberg News that his bold fiscal adjustment will boost Argentina’s reputation and credit profile, so default will not be necessary.

His plan includes cutting spending by at least 13% of gross domestic product by mid-2025 by drastically cutting public works, reducing the number of ministries, removing subsidies and capital restrictions, thereby that would allow companies to transact in US dollars. And even more drastic, he also plans to shut down the central bank, which he believes has no reason to exist, and dollarize the $640 billion economy.

“I’m going to do everything possible to avoid a default, obviously,” Milei said in a two-hour interview in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. “If the necessary fiscal adjustment is made, the financing will be there.”

Argentine assets fell after Milei — an outsider who, until now, few investors saw as a serious contender — took the lead in the primaries, which are seen as a barometer for presidential elections in a country where polls are notoriously unreliable. . The drop forced the government to devalue its official exchange rate by 18% when markets opened on Monday.

In her first interview with foreign media after her unexpected victory, Milei detailed her plan to exchange the Argentine peso for the US dollar as a way to reduce inflation, which is running at 113%, and intensified her criticism of the central bank, calling it ” The worst garbage that exists on Earth.”

Continue reading the story

“Central banks fall into four categories: the bad guys, like the Federal Reserve; the very bad ones, like those of Latin America; the terrifyingly bad; and the central bank of Argentina,” he said.

If Milei wins the presidency, he plans to hand over the keys to the central bank to economist Emilio Ocampo, his informal adviser on the dollarization program, to shut it down. Ocampo will also help in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which has a $44 billion program with the South American nation. The candidate says that he has no plans to ask for more money from the IMF.

“A fiscal deficit is immoral,” said Milei. “If you continually live with a fiscal deficit, you’re going to be insolvent.”-

Milei said she has already developed a plan to dollarize the economy, a move she promises will be one of the first if she wins the Oct. 22 election. Argentina would follow the model of El Salvador and allow people to voluntarily choose between currencies. Once two-thirds of the monetary base is converted, the economy would be fully dollarized, she explained.

Translated by Pauline Steffens.

“If nobody wants to have pesos in Argentina, the question is how much are the pesos worth in real terms? Nobody wants them, we are not talking about water in the middle of the desert. We are talking about something that nobody wants,” Milei said.

The former congressman won more votes than the pro-business coalition led by Patricia Bullrich and the ruling Peronist bloc of Economy Minister Sergio Massa, surprising pollsters who expected him to take third place. Investors are concerned that the country is headed for its fourth debt renegotiation in the past two decades.

One of the main concerns of the markets is that Milei, a political outsider, would not be able to get support for his plans. The 52-year-old, who does not shy away from criticizing politicians he says have been robbing Argentines for decades, said he would call referendums if he cannot reach a legislative consensus to pass his measures.

“If I lower the currency risk, and I lower the credit risk, that means that the country risk will plummet. It means the bonds are going to literally fly,” he said. “The truth is that it is a fairly simple operation. And if you buy and hold these bonds, for example, the returns in one year would be over 200%.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Milei also criticized leftist leaders in China and Latin America, calling them “socialists,” saying he would seek to leave the Mercosur trading bloc and would quickly move to deregulate commodity markets.

Original Note: Milei Vows to Pay Argentina’s Debt While Shuttering Central Bank

–With contributions from Patrick Gillespie and Sydney Maki.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Chinese American physicist, WWII pilot 

Maggie Gee to be inducted into California's

Hall of Fame

Ryan General
Wed, August 16, 2023 


A trailblazing World War II veteran, renowned for her feats as both a physicist and pilot,

 is set to be inducted into California's Hall of Fame this month.

Asian American luminary: Margaret “Maggie” Gee, whose remarkable life saw her breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings, joins a distinguished roster of luminaries who have left an indelible mark on California.

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled the names of seven distinguished individuals who will be inducted into the 16th Class of the California Hall of Fame. In addition to Gee, other celebrated figures include actor and screenwriter Carrie Fisher, singer Etta James, Olympic gold medalist and educator Archie Williams, L.A. Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, actor and public servant Shirley Temple Black and LGBTQ rights activist and pioneer Jose Julio Sarria.

Born to fly: Born as Gee Mei Gue on Aug. 5, 1923, in Berkeley, Gee was a passionate aviation enthusiast, captivated by trailblazers like Amelia Earhart. Her family’s Sunday trips to Oakland Airport further solidified her aspirations.

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Path to greatness: When the U.S. joined World War II in 1941, Gee's academic pursuits were momentarily sidelined. She contributed to the war effort by working in naval ship production at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. She then used her earnings to finance her dream of becoming a pilot.

Gee earned her pilot’s license within six months after moving to Minden, Nevada, to learn how to fly. She would eventually make history as one of the select few female pilots enrolled in the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) training program and became one of only two Chinese American women who broke into the WASP ranks.

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Gee’s legacy: After the war, Gee returned to the University of California, Berkeley, to earn a bachelor's degree in science and a master's degree in physics. She later used her knowledge to contribute to pivotal research at Berkeley’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. While there, she also engaged in groundbreaking work in weapons systems, leaving an indelible mark on the scientific community.

Gee received a Congressional Gold Medal in 2010, three years before she passed away at the age of 89.

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Her extraordinary achievements and contributions will be highlighted during the grand induction ceremony for the 16th Class of the California Hall of Fame, which will be held virtually on Aug. 22 at 6:00 p.m. PDT.

Oppenheimer often used Sanskrit verses, and the Bhagavad Gita was special for him − but not in the way Christopher Nolan's film depicts it

Vasudha Narayanan, Distinguished Professor of Religion, University of Florida
Wed, August 16, 2023 

The words Robert Oppenheimer quoted from the Gita, seen written in dust on part of a deactivated nuclear missile at the Pima Air & Space Museum. 

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images


A scene in the film “Oppenheimer,” in which the physicist is quoting a Bhagavad Gita verse while making love, has upset some Hindus. The information commissioner of the Indian government, Uday Mahurkar, said in an open letter the scene was a “direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus” and alleged that it amounted to “waging a war on the Hindu community.” He also said that it almost appeared to be “part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.”

It is hard to say how many Hindus were offended by the Gita quote in a sexually charged scene, but there were those who disagreed with the views expressed in the tweet. Pavan K. Varma, a former diplomat, wrote that the controversy was a “misplaced outrage.”

Some others were not offended, just disappointed that the context of the lines quoted from the Bhagavad Gita was not brought out well. I should also add that Hindu texts composed over 1,000 years, starting around the sixth century B.C.E., have Sanskrit mantras for every occasion, including reciting some ritually before having sex. But they are context-specific, and certainly the Bhagavad Gita would not be used.

Overall, the controversy brought attention to the words quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer while looking at the erupting fireball from the atomic bomb explosion in Los Alamos, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945: “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” These words are a a paraphrase of Bhagavad Gita 11:32 where Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu – whom many Hindus think of as the supreme being – says that he is kala, or time.

Kala also means “death.” Oppenheimer’s teacher, Arthur Ryder, a professor of Sanskrit at the University of California, Berkeley, had translated the verse as “Death am I, and my present task Destruction.”

Beyond the sex squabble, the biopic can be a good starting point to understand how Oppenheimer’s deep knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita and other Sanskrit texts helped him with his assignment in New Mexico. It can also be a catalyst for the public to have some hard conversations about weapons of mass destruction.
Wisdom of the Gita and the Panchatantra

As an undergraduate at Harvard University, Oppenheimer read Hindu texts in translation, but at Berkeley, he learned Sanskrit from Ryder, meeting in his teacher’s home on long winter evenings. On Oct. 7, 1933, he wrote to his brother Frank that he had been reading the Gita with two other Sanskritists.

This text was special to Oppenheimer, more than other books. He called it “the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue,” and he gave copies to friends. When talking at a memorial service for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he quoted his own translation of Bhagavad Gita 17:3, “Man is a creature whose substance is faith. What his faith is, he is.”

Oppenheimer’s reaction, when he looked at the mighty explosion, seems to be close to what the German theologian Rudolf Otto called “numinous” – a combination of awe and fascination at this majesty. His reaction was to think of the Bhagavad Gita’s verse 11:12: “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one.”

Oppenheimer also read many other Sanskrit texts, including the fifth-century Sanskrit poet Kalidasa’s “Cloud Messenger,” or “Meghaduta,” and his letters show familiarity with “The Three Hundred Poems of Moral Values,” or the “Satakatrayam,” a work from the sixth century C.E. From his quoting the text in many contexts, he seems to have been fond of the Panchatantra,“ a text of animal fables with pragmatic morals. Ryder, Oppenheimer’s Sanskrit mentor, had also translated this book of charming stories with sometimes cynical messages.

Oppenheimer’s familiarity with the Panchatantra is also evident in the naming of his new car Garuda, after the eagle-vehicle of Lord Vishnu. He explained the name to his brother, not with the bird’s well-known connection with Vishnu, but by alluding to a lesser-known story from the Panchatantra, in which a carpenter makes a wooden flying vehicle shaped like the mythical Garuda for his friend.

J. Robert Oppenheimer testifying before the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Atomic Energy. 

Keystone/Hulton Archives via Getty Images

Oppenheimer loved a Sanskrit epigram from the Panchatantra: "Scholarship is less than sense, therefore seek intelligence.” The line is a rueful reflection at the end of a story in which four men go to seek their fortune.

Three of them were learned scholars who held the fourth in low esteem. On their path, they came across some bones. On seeing those, the first, believing the bones to be of a lion, said that he could put the skeleton together. The second said he would the graft skin and flesh on it, and the third said he would make it come to life. The fourth – believed to be the less learned person – warned them against it. However, when they insisted on going ahead, he asked them to wait until he could climb a tree for safety. The lion came to life and devoured the three scholars.

Oppenheimer used the Sanskrit verse that followed this story often. From the Gita, he learned and rationalized that it was his duty to build the bomb, and it was the leaders’ duty to use it wisely. In other words, Oppenheimer went along with government decisions not because they were government decisions but because he thought political decision-making was the duty of government leaders, not scientists.

A missing discussion

It is hard to know director Christopher Nolan’s motivation for juxtaposing the Gita verse with an intimate scene – it could be creative license or simply Orientalism, or the West’s stereotypical description of the East. Given Oppenheimer’s deep love for the Bhagavad Gita, he would not have, I believe, quoted the text with disrespect.

As for the Hindus who are offended, there could be multiple reasons: It could be the centuries of a colonial gaze that was fascinated with and horrified by the erotic in Indian spirituality.

For example, the 10th-century temples of Khajuraho – where only about 10% of the sculptures are erotic – and texts like the Kamasutra informed early missionary views on Hinduism. It could also be that some Hindus valorize the spirit of renunciation and the ascetic impulse of some Hindu texts.

An aerial view after the first atomic explosion at the Trinity test site in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. 

AP Photo, File

But beyond this controversy, this film offers an opportunity to reflect on more profound issues. The detonation of atomic bombs led to the death of possibly 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and horrific effects on survivors. Kai Bird, coauthor of the book on which the biopic Oppenheimer is based, said that he hopes the film “will initiate a national conversation not only about our existential relationship to weapons of mass destruction but also the need in our society for scientists as public intellectuals.”

While that would be valuable, an important discussion, left out from the narrative, is about the ethics of American leaders who knowingly caused harm at the time. The atomic test explosion led to devastating health consequences for abo 13,000 New Mexicans who lived within a 50-mile radius and were not warned beforehand or afterward. This exposure to radioactive material took a toll over several generations.

In the end, the lesson is that the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita have to be balanced with the pragmatic lessons of the Panchatantra. Despite Oppenheimer’s quoting the Panchatantra about common sense being more important than intellectual scholarship, his own interpretation of duty gave undue credit and power to political leaders.

With the atomic explosion in New Mexico, the lion from the Panchatantra story that Oppenheimer cautioned about did come to life, and some may say it lives in a straw cage.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. 

It was written by: Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida.

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Kansas prosecutor says police should return computers and cellphones seized in raid on newspaper

The Canadian Press
Wed, August 16, 2023 



MARION, Kansas (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor said Wednesday that he found insufficient evidence to support the police raid of a weekly newspaper and that all seized material should be returned in a dispute over press freedoms that the White House acknowledged it is watching closely.

“This administration has been vocal about the importance of the freedom of press, here and around the globe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her daily briefing on Wednesday. “That is the core value when you think about our democracy, when you think about the cornerstone of our democracy, the freedom of press is right there.”

She said the raid raises "a lot of concerns and a lot of questions for us.”

On Wednesday, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record offices found “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized."

“As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,” Ensey said in a news release.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Monday it was leading the investigation into the raid and what allegedly prompted it.

Even without the computers, personal cellphones and other office equipment taken in the raid, the small staff scrambled and were able to put out a new edition on Wednesday.

“SEIZED … but not silenced,” read the front-page headline in 2-inch-tall typeface. On Wednesday's front page, stories were focused solely on the raid and the influx of support the newspaper has received.

Police raids last week of the newspaper's offices, and the home of editor and publisher Eric Meyer put the paper and the local police at the center of a national debate about press freedom, with watchdog groups condemning the police actions. The attention continued Wednesday — with TV and print reporters joining the conversation in what is normally a quiet community of about 1,900 residents.

Meyer said all of the returned equipment will be forensically audited to make sure that nothing is missing or was tampered with.

“You cannot let bullies win,” Meyer said. “And eventually, a bully will cross a line to the point that it becomes so egregious that other people come around and support you.”

He added, “We have a staff that’s very experienced, including myself, and we’re not going to take crap."

The raids — which the publisher believes were carried out because the newspaper was investigating the police chief’s background — put Meyer and his staff in a difficult position. Because their computers were seized, they were forced to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials. Meyer also blamed stress from the raid at his home for the death Saturday of his 98-year-old mother, Joan, the paper’s co-owner.

As the newspaper staff worked late into Tuesday night on the new edition, the office was so hectic that Kansas Press Association Executive Director Emily Bradbury was at once answering phones and ordering in meals for staffers.

Bradbury said the journalists and those involved in the business of the newspaper used a couple of old computers that police didn’t confiscate, taking turns to get stories to the printer, to assemble ads and to check email. With electronics scarce, staffers made do with what they had.

“There were literally index cards going back and forth,” said Bernie Rhodes, the newspaper’s attorney, who was also in the office. “They had all the classified ads, all the legal notices that they had to recreate. All of those were on the computers.”

At one point, a couple visiting from Arizona stopped at the front desk to buy a subscription, just to show their support, Bradbury said. Many others from around the country have purchased subscriptions since the raids; An office manager told Bradbury that she’s having a hard time keeping up with demand.

The raids exposed a divide over local politics and how the Record covers Marion, which sits about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City.

A warrant signed by a magistrate Friday about two hours before the raid said that local police sought to gather evidence of potential identity theft and other computer crimes stemming from a conflict between the newspaper and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell.

Newell accused the newspaper of violating her privacy and illegally obtaining personal information about her as it checked her state driving record online. Meyer said the newspaper was looking into a tip — and ultimately decided not to write a story about Newell.

Still, Meyer said police seized a computer tower and cellphone belonging to a reporter who wasn’t part of the effort to check on the business owner’s background.

Rhodes said the newspaper was investigating the circumstances around Police Chief Gideon Cody’s departure from his previous job as an officer in Kansas City, Missouri. Cody left the Kansas City department earlier this year and began the job in Marion in June. He has not responded to interview requests.

Asked if the newspaper’s investigation of Cody may have had anything to do with the decision to raid it, Rhodes responded: “I think it is a remarkable coincidence if it didn’t."

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Salter contributed to this report from O’Fallon, Missouri. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed from Washington.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

John Hanna And Jim Salter, The Associated Press

Updates on Kansas newspaper raid: Search warrant revoked; judge has own DUI history

Natalie Wallington
Wed, August 16, 2023 

A prosecutor in Marion County, Kansas, has withdrawn the search warrant that sparked Friday’s controversial police raid of the small town’s newspaper offices.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said in a statement Wednesday that the warrant was based on “insufficient evidence” that a crime had been committed. The seized electronics and documents will be returned to the Marion County Record.

The news followed days of criticism of the police search of the newspaper, which appeared to be aimed at finding evidence about how the paper obtained information that a local restaurateur, who applied for a liquor license, lost her driver’s license over a DUI in 2008.

In addition to the Record’s newsroom, the police also executed search warrants at the home of publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer and the home of Ruth Herbel, a Marion city councilwoman.

First Amendment advocates have said the raid went too far and violated legal protections for newsrooms.

Also Wednesday, new information was reported about the judge who signed the search warrant, who has her own history of drunken-driving arrests.

Here are the latest on developments following the raid on the Marion County Record:

Eric Meyer, the editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, stands outside the newspaper’s office on Monday. The office and Meyer’s home were raided by police on Friday.

Prosecutor orders seized materials to be returned to newspaper office

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey has withdrawn the search warrant that led to Friday’s police raid. The warrant listed 15 categories of items police could seize on suspicion of “identity theft” and “unlawful acts concerning computers.”

Ensey said he concluded that “insufficient evidence” existed to establish a “legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.”

Bernie Rhodes, the Record’s lawyer who also represents The Star, said Wednesday that all the electronics police seized from the newsroom will be returned. But he argued that this is a small remedy to the harm caused by the raid.

“It does nothing about taking care of the damage that has already occurred from the violation of the First Amendment in the first place,” he told The Star.

Read more: Warrant for Kansas newspaper raid withdrawn by prosecutor for ‘insufficient evidence’

Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed a search warrant that authorized Marion police to raid the Marion County Record’s newsroom and the home of the editor.

Judge who signed the warrant has her own DUI history

Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, who signed the warrant authorizing Friday’s raid, did so because of allegations that the newspaper had improperly obtained information about a local restaurant owner’s past DUI conviction.

But Judge Viar has a DUI history of her own. She has been arrested at least twice for driving under the influence in two different Kansas counties, an investigation by the Wichita Eagle reported Wednesday.

During a 2012 incident in Morris County, she allegedly drove off-road with a suspended license and crashed into a school building while under the influence. She was running unopposed for Morris County Attorney at the time — and won.

Viar was not sanctioned by the state’s attorney discipline board.

Read the investigation: Judge who approved raid on Kansas newspaper has history of DUI arrests

Marion locals react to the newspaper’s police raid

Tensions ran high in the small town of Marion on Tuesday as residents reacted to Friday’s raid. The newspaper has received support from around the country, including over 1,000 new digital subscriptions in the days since the raid alone.

One resident classified the paper’s coverage as “negative,” while another praised the paper for its watchdog reporting on local government and business issues.

“This newspaper is very good at investigative reporting,” he said.

Read more: Raided Kansas newspaper is known for aggressively covering small town’s many disputes

Vultures roosting on the water tower in Marion, Kansas.

KBI took over the investigation Monday

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation became the “lead law enforcement agency” in the investigation of the Marion County Record on Monday, The Star’s Jonathan Shorman reported.

KBI spokesperson Melissa Underwood told The Star that the agency will “review prior steps taken and work to determine how best to proceed with the case,” which involved a now-withdrawn search warrant suggesting that the newspaper’s offices contained evidence of identity theft and improper use of computers.

It’s unclear why the KBI, a state agency based in Topeka which provides advanced law enforcement services like forensic lab testing and special operations, took over this case.

Read more: KBI takes lead in Marion investigation following police raid of local newspaper

Marion, Kansas, Police Chief Gideon Cody

The newspaper had previously investigated Marion’s new police chief

The Record had previously investigated Marion’s new police chief, Gideon Cody, at the time of the raid. Cody had recently started the job after 24 years as a captain with the KCPD.

Editor and publisher Eric Meyer declined to comment on the exact nature of the investigation, but characterized “the charges as serious.” The paper informed city officials of allegations against Cody, but had not published anything about them at the time of the raid.

“I have already been vetted. They’ve (the newspaper) actually did a background on me. And that’s why they chose not to (publish a story),” Cody said in a Sunday interview with The Star.

“However, if they can muddy the water, make my credibility look bad, I totally get it. They’re gonna try to do everything they possibly can.”

Read more: Kansas newspaper raided, shut down by police had investigated chief who came from KCPD

The Star’s Luke Nozicka, Jonathan Shorman, Katie Moore, Glenn E. Rice and Judy Thomas contributed. The Wichita Eagle’s Chance Swaim contributed.

THE COMING SPACE WAR
Space Force Forms New Intelligence Unit to Target Enemy Satellites

Passant Rabie
Wed, August 16, 2023 

The U.S. Space Force revealed a new patch as part of the 75th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron activation ceremony on August 11, 2023.


The United States Space Force has launched a unit dedicated to warding off threats from other countries in space.

During a ceremony held Friday at the Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, Space Force activated its Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron (ISRS), which came with its own spooky new logo to scare off enemies in orbit. ISRS will target satellites and ground stations that are part of adversary space forces and counter-space force threats.


“Space forces are space capabilities used by a country to facilitate their joint war fighting,” Lt. Col. Travis Anderson, who leads the squadron, is quoted as saying during the ceremony. “Counter-space forces, also called space attack forces, are space capabilities designed to deny the United States the ability to use our satellite systems during conflict.”


Illustration: U.S. Space Force

The Space Force also revealed its new squadron’s patch, which depicts the grim reaper at the center to represent “the demise of any adversary the squadron would target,” according to the military branch’s statement. The reaper’s Polaris Star glint in its eye, on the other hand, “symbolizes the guiding light of security and alludes to a constant presence and vigilance in space now and in the future.”

The U.S. has grown increasingly concerned over China’s capabilities in space, including Beijing’s own space station in Earth orbit and plans to launch a crewed mission to the Moon. In 2007, China launched an anti-satellite missile to blow up one of its defunct satellites, and Russia carried out its own anti-satellite test in 2021.

In September 2022, the U.S. announced a self-imposed ban on anti-satellite weapons and encouraged other countries to join. China was quick to condemn the call to ban anti-satellite weapons, with the Chinese military claiming that the request “conceals evil intention,” and “aims to weaken others,” according to the South China Morning Post. China’s defense ministry recently condemned the very establishment of the US Space Force, saying that it has had “a great negative impact on space security and global strategic stability.”

“In recent years, the United States has accelerated the militarization of space,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei is quoted as saying in the Associated Press. “I would like to reiterate here that China adheres to the peaceful use of space, firmly opposes the weaponization and the making of space into a battlefield, and opposes any form of arms race in space.”

As the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces, Space Force certainly wants to establish itself as one not to mess with. Therefore, the activation of the first unit dedicated to targeting the satellites of other nations sends a message across space and moves toward the militarization of earth’s orbit.

Gizmodo

Lebanon's Hezbollah rises from shadows into regional force

Reuters
Thu, August 17, 2023 

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, carry flags as they ride in a convoy in Houla

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah has risen from a shadowy group established during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war to a heavily armed force with big sway over the Lebanese state. Governments including the United States deem it a terrorist organisation.

ORIGINS

Iran's Revolutionary Guards founded Hezbollah in 1982 to export its Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon. Sharing Tehran's Shi'ite Islamist ideology, Hezbollah recruited among Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims.

Groups that Lebanese security officials and Western intelligence have said were linked to Hezbollah launched suicide attacks on Western embassies and targets and kidnapped Westerners in the 1980s. One group, Islamic Jihad, was thought to be led by Imad Moughniyah, a top Hezbollah commander who was killed in a car bomb in Syria in 2008.

The United States holds Hezbollah responsible for a suicide bombing that destroyed U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 servicemen, and a suicide bombing the same year on the U.S. embassy. A suicide bombing also hit a French barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 58 French paratroopers.

Referring to those attacks and hostage-taking, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a 2022 interview they were carried out by small groups not linked to Hezbollah.

MILITARY POWER

Hezbollah kept its weapons at the end of the civil war to fight Israeli forces that were occupying the predominantly Shi'ite south. Years of guerrilla warfare led Israel to withdraw in 2000.

Hezbollah demonstrated its military advances in 2006 during a five-week war with Israel, which erupted after it crossed into Israel, kidnapping two soldiers and killing others. The war killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel.

Its military power grew after deploying into Syria in 2012 to help President Bashar al-Assad fight mostly Sunni rebels.

Hezbollah boasts precision rockets and says it can hit all parts of Israel. In 2021, Nasrallah said the group had 100,000 fighters.

Iran gives Hezbollah weapons and money. The United States estimates Iran has allocated it hundreds of millions of dollars annually in recent years.

Hezbollah has fought and trained Iran-backed groups in Iraq. Saudi Arabia says Hezbollah has also fought in support of the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah denies this.

ROLE IN LEBANON

Hezbollah's sway in Lebanon is underpinned by its arsenal and the support of many Shi'ites who say the group defends Lebanon from Israel.

Critics say Hezbollah has undermined the state and accuse it of unilaterally leading Lebanon into conflicts.

The group has ministers in government and lawmakers in parliament. It has also flexed its muscles in the street.

In 2008, a power struggle with Lebanese adversaries backed by the West and Saudi Arabia spiralled into a brief conflict. Hezbollah fighters took over parts of Beirut after the government vowed to take action against the group's military communications network.

Hezbollah entered politics more prominently in 2005 after ally Syria withdrew following the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who symbolised Saudi influence in Lebanon.

A U.N.-backed court later convicted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the assassination. Hezbollah denies any role, describing the court as a tool of its enemies.

In 2016, the Hezbollah-allied Christian politician Michel Aoun became president. Two years later, Hezbollah and its allies won a parliamentary majority. This majority was lost in 2022, but the group continued to exercise a big sway.

It campaigned against a judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion after he sought to question its allies. The standoff prompted deadly clashes in Beirut in 2021.

TERRORIST DESIGNATIONS

Western countries including the United States designate Hezbollah a terrorist organisation. So do U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia. The European Union classifies Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist group, but not its political wing.

Argentina blames Hezbollah and Iran for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed, and for a 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people. Both deny responsibility.

(Compiled by Tom Perry; Editing by Nick Macfie)