Osedax Writer

  The editors at the CBC do not seem to know what white phosporous is. In the featured article in the ‘Top Stories’ section of the CBC website, this photograph appears: As you can see, this “Israeli artillery” is setting fire to the entire village it is directed against. According to Human Rights Watch : White phosphorus, which can be used either for marking, signaling, and obscuring, or as a weapon to set fires that burn people and objects, has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. The use of white phosphorus […] magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk. If the CBC is attempting to manufacture consent for the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, and avoid implicating Israel in crimes against humanity, it is doing a poor job. The inclusion of this photographic evidence confirms th...

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a brief press conference before boarding a flight from Maryland to Israel today. It featured the following exchange: QUESTION: [I]n conversations between the U.S. and Israel, has the U.S. advocated any degree of restraint in terms of possible ground operations in Gaza, either for the sake of the civilians there or for the sake of hostages in there? SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, again, I’m not getting into any of the operational details of what Israel may or may not do. I think you heard the President speak to this yesterday in his very, very strong and forceful comments. And of course, what separates Israel and the United States and other democracies when it comes to incredibly difficult situations like this is our respect for international law – and as appropriate, the laws of war. We do everything we can to make sure that in these situations we avoid civilian casualties. That is in direct contrast with Hamas, which uses people as hu...

  Watching the political and media machine in this country whipped into an absolute blood rage following the Hamas attacks in the occupied lands known as Israel has left me with one unquestionable conclusion: Canada will have no positive impact on the course of world events for the foreseeable future. The speed and intensity at which politicians across the spectrum have rushed to slavishly defend Israel as it carries out some of the worst atrocities in modern memory by engaging in collective punishment against the Palestinian people, indiscriminately bombing whole sections of the heavily populated urban settlement of Gaza, is disturbing in and of itself. What is more, to Canada’s politicians, the mass destruction of human life is clearly an opportunity to solidify domestic voter support. These Pavlovian statements of support for - and pledges of allegiance to - Israel come as MPs have been facing intense criticism for mindlessly celebrating a Waffen SS volunteer in Parliament. The ...

  On September 8 of last year, I wrote the following in a piece examining the ongoing conflict in Ukraine : NATO and its partners continue to train and equip Ukrainian citizens only to put them at the receiving end of a hellish barrage of Russian artillery, missile fire and air support in a largely asymmetrical combat situation they are unlikely to win. Already the estimates of casualties in the Ukraine conflict printed in Canadian media have been disturbingly out of touch with the situation on the ground. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command recently suggested that only 9000 of its’ soldiers had been killed and “US military officials” put Russian losses at 80,000. These numbers make no sense when examining how the war is actually being fought, with Russia deploying overwhelming fire superiority and focusing primarily on the consistent destruction of Ukraine’s military capacity rather than advances to control more territory . Every Ukrainian soldier trained by Canada and other NATO...

  The Financial Times published an article yesterday which provides some very interesting insights into the current turbulence in Canada-India relations. The Modi government has decided to call Canada’s bluff regarding the allegation that Indian officials sanctioned the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Ottawa has been told by New Delhi that it must repatriate roughly 40 diplomats by October 10, according to people familiar with the demand. One person said India had threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of diplomats who remain after that date. Canadian officials have expressed their disagreement with the move (bold and italics mine): “Declaring more Canadian diplomats personae non gratae wouldn’t help the situation and would make reducing the emotions associated with this disagreement more difficult,” said Peter Boehm, chair of the Canadian Senate committee on foreign affairs and international trade. The “situation” Boehm is talking about was created by the ...

  “I’m sure you will all be very happy with the address by President Zelensky.” This was how Chris D’Entremont, the Deputy Speaker of the House, opened the proceedings at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Canada’s Parliament today. It was a rather weird statement that belied the real power dynamic of the spectacle. An oratory performance from the man elevated to near godlike status, to stroke the egos of the Members of Parliament who have so uncritically supported Ukraine despite serious questions about the nature of the current conflict with Russia and the ongoing suffering of the Ukrainian people. The speeches by both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Zelensky were predictably filled with the usual allegations of horrific war crimes and Russia’s “weaponization” of food and energy. The PM cynically repeated the claim that Russia’s Special Military Operation is to blame for putting vulnerable nations at risk of food insecurity, despite easily obtained ev...

  Bill C-56, affectionately dubbed the ‘ Affordable Housing and Groceries Act ,’ passed its first reading in Canada’s House of Commons yesterday. The text of the Bill is laughably short and contains almost nothing that will improve the situation in either of the policy areas it seeks to address. I won’t comment on the housing portion as that has been covered in fine critical form by the Sandy & Nora podcast . This is the relevant section of text from the proposed Bill that deals with grocery prices: 3 The Competition Act is amended by adding the following after section 10: Market or industry inquiry 10.‍1 (1)  The Minister, if he or she is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so, may direct the Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the state of competition in a market or industry. Consultation (2)  Before making the direction, the Minister must consult the Commissioner to determine whether the inquiry would be feasible, including with regard to its cost. Pr...