Space Free-For-All

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"[Russia deployed a combination of satellites over the past year that] we would describe as having the characteristic of a weapon and they practised a manoeuvre that we would say could only have been done to deliberately destroy another satellite."

"[China continues to] develop anti-satellite technology and that's everything from missiles that directly target satellites, to laser dazzle weapons, to electronic jamming to physically ramming other satellites."

"[China practises against] their own redundant satellites, demonstrating the ability to do it."

"A future conflict may not start in space but I'm in no doubt that it will come very quickly to space, and it may well be won or lost in space."

"If we don't think, and prepare for that today then we won't be ready when the time comes."

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, United Kingdom

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches the AEHF-4 satellite for the U.S. Air Force from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in the early-morning hours. (United Launch Alliance)

Sounding the alarm. That in the considered opinion of Great Britain's top-echelon military elite, taking into consideration intelligence gained and gathered and shared with allies, that Russia and China are responsible through their activities, of a threat to militarize and weaponize space. Not, by any means a new concept or concern, it has long been debated, but now proof emerges that both countries are engaged in preparations to do both, obviously considering it in their best interests to engage in the unthinkable.

Now, chief of the British Royal Air Force claims that in the future conflicts would be "won or lost" above the Earth's atmosphere. Taking Earthly disagreements and their protagonists' ambitions to the heavens above. According to Air Chief Sir Wigston, both Moscow and Beijing engage in "questionable" activity like flying satellites within "close proximity" to others'. More "dangerous activity" is also on the horizon, planning to destroy other nations' satellites.

Take, for example, the Islamic Republic of Iran's deliberate stealth attacks on ships belonging to other nations such as the UAE, the U.S. and Israel in international waters that the Islamic Republic likes to consider its unrecognized own. The military-grade speedboats operated by the IRGC designed for hit-and-run and divers skilled in placing undervessel limpet mines to explode a ship owned by its 'enemies' creating a destabilizing situation of maritime uncertainty.

Now translate that to deep, dark space and the general picture has clarity. Who owns space? Is space to be considered the latest target for conquest? 

 

British military brass is unequivocal; they witness "reckless" behaviour from China and Russia acting as adversaries "several times a year". Then it was over to General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of Strategic Command, who stressed the disruptive implications implicit in a space war for civilian populations and the military alike, that not only does space provide "critical capabilities" to the military, but it also enables technology "we all recognize on our mobile phones to the technology that enables us to navigate the Carrier Strike Group around the globe".

 

The HMS Queen Elizabeth is part of the UK Carrier Strike Group sailing through the South China Sea  PA Media

 

That would be the very Carrier Strike Group en route to Japan sailing through the South China Sea which the CCP regards as its very own, giving it the authority to warn Britain that it would do well not to carry out any "improper acts". The Global Times had its own stark warning, of the People's Liberation Army Navy in a high state of combat readiness, as China monitors the eastward progress of the Carrier Strike Group. Britain, seethes Beijing, is "still living in its colonial days".

A month earlier, it was Moscow warning Britain that it had no patience for the games it was playing, sailing close to the Crimean coast. To emphasize its ire, twenty Russian warplanes and two coastguard vessels shadowed the British warship. A Russian patrol ship fired warning shots while a jet dropped bombs in front of the steaming HMS Defender sailing 12 miles off the Crimean (Ukrainian) coast, according to Moscow's defence ministry.

The two British chiefs spoke at the launch of Space Command at RAF High Wycombe, a newly-initiated joint force to be staffed by the Royal Air Force, the British Army, the Royal Navy and the civil service, which at full operating capacity will provide command and control of space capabilities, including the Space Operations Cnetre, RAF Fyligdales in North Yorkshire and SKY-NET satellites for military communications.

 

Beijing destroyed a satellite with an anti-satellite weapon, creating debris that is still circulating Earth. File pic

 

The new unit plans to focus on sharing information on developing threats to include the use of ground-based and space-based radars; information gathering "from other like-minded allies". Its aim, to build a network of satellites to "move data around seamlessly" and garner "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance from space", according to Sir Patrick. "Those are the sort of capability areas that we're looking at. The starting point is to understand what's up there and to get the basics right."   

"The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia manoeuvred near a U.S. government satellite." 

"This is further evidence of Russia's continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold U.S. and allied space assets at risk."   

Gen. John W. Raymond, commander, Space Command, head, U.S. Space Force

The Russian Defence Ministry stated the disputed event involved "a small space vehicle" that "inspected one of the national satellites from a close distance using special equipment", the inspection "provided valuable information about the object that was inspected, which was transmitted to the ground-based control facilities."

 

Collaborationists in Mutual Harmony

China government official

China hopes the Afghan #Taliban will put Afghanistan's national interests first, uphold commitment to peace talks, embrace the goal of peace, create a positive image and adopt an inclusive policy.

"The hasty withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan actually marks the failure of the U.S. policy toward Afghanistan. [Beijing stresses the need for foreign forces to stage a] responsible withdrawal [to ensure no security vacuum is created]."

"[The movement -- East Turkestan Islamic Movement; ETIM] poses a direct threat to China's national security and territorial integrity."

"It is the common responsibility of the international community to fight against ETIM."

"We hope the Afghan Taliban will make a clean break with all terrorist organizations, including the ETIM, and resolutely and effectively combat them to remove obstacles, play a positive role and create enabling conditions for security, stability, development and cooperation in the region." 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

 

"Politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meeting."

"Wang pointed out that the Afghan Taliban is an important military and political force in Afghanistan and is expected to play an important role in the country's peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process."

Mohammad Naeem, spokesperson, political office, Taliban

 

"With a U.S. exit from Afghanistan and the inability of [Afghan] President Ashraf Ghani to secure the country's borders, neighbors and regional powers have to hedge their bets regarding the future."

"While the Taliban give promises of security to Afghanistan's neighbors, Kabul keeps asking for help." "This perception of an embattled President Ghani doesn't make for good looks."

Torek Farhadi, former Afghan government adviser 

 

"[The Taliban] will never allow any force to use Afghan territory to engage in acts detrimental to China." 

"The Afghan Taliban has the utmost sincerity to work toward and realize peace. It stands ready to work with other parties to establish a political framework in Afghanistan that is broadly-based, inclusive and accepted by the people and protect human rights, especially rights of women and children."

Taliban deputy political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar 

Brazen lies. For consumption by the international community. China, on the other hand knows full well with whom it deals in making a pact with the devil. Afghan Taliban politics is quite familiar to Beijing; a reflection of their own, where stark reality is in conflict with the comforting language of tolerance, sweetness and light. Each, China and the aspiring, soon-to-be reconquest of Afghanistan, are devoted to the ruthless journey of subduing and commanding their respective populations by all and any means.

 

The awkwardness between reality and diplomatic assurances shielded by the exercise in public relations where each paints itself as cognizant of the well-being of those whose lives they directly impact being uppermost in mind. Not that their manner of dictatorial rule must prevail and nothing must stand in the way of complete control. For the Chinese government that means any dissenters, be they ordinary citizens rebelling against tyranny or Chinese billionaires who risk all to criticize government be rewarded with the death sentence of life imprisonment.

 

The Taliban, not the least bit squeamish over distinctions of applying capital punishment for those who defy their theocratic dictatorship, simply slaughter those who stand in their way, those who make overtures to representatives of the democratic west, those who assume their protests will be allowed impunity. The hushed world looking in at the implosion of yet another country whom violent Islamists have destroyed, deplore the fate of women and girls once again imprisoned in their homes.

 

The Taliban with its links to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, the Pakistan intelligence service, employs the empty pantomime of  'peace talks' with the legitimate government of Afghanistan, its transparent intention to imitate such talks to appease outside critics while rampaging through the country attacking the Afghan national police and armed forces, sending suicide bombers to message civilians and foreign diplomats and NGOs that they will brook no resistance, expand the territory they control.  

Humvees belonging to Afghan Special Forces destroyed during heavy clashes with Taliban, Kandahar Province, July 13, 2021.

 

They now have complete control of Afghanistan's border crossings with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, China and Pakistan; Afghan government revenues from customs now in Taliban hands, as are the routes for trade. The Chinese Communist party in Beijing congratulates the Taliban on its demonstrated journey toward 'peace and reconciliation' with the government of Afghanistan which it is slowly and inevitably destroying. 

The Taliban leadership, however, is anxious for good relations with its neighbours to support its own legitimacy to claim itself the new government of Afghanistan, returning after an unfortunate hiatus. And China is only too happy to oblige, to legitimize its treachery. For a price, for nothing is ever as simple as it may appear. China, prepared to support the Taliban's rule giving it the opportunity to append a critical addendum; the Taliban must fulfill an obligation to China for China's full blessing.

When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed a nine-person delegation of the Taliban the opportunity to negotiate support for Taliban rule in exchange for an obligation to pledge non-support for Islamic separatist elements in Xinjiang making one contingent upon the other was timely and to the point. China through Mr.Wang stating its expectation the Taliban "play an important role in the process of peace, reconciliation and reconstruction" of Afghanistan. Even while the Taliban is actively engaged in destroying 'peace, reconciliation and reconstruction'.

 

This is not cynicism. This is diplomacy, Beijing-style. Where the U.S. and NATO failed because they attempted to destroy the ambitions of the Islamist Taliban and free Afghanistan from their anti-humanitarian shackles, what transpired was a "hasty withdrawal" concluding two decades of Western effort to pull Afghanistan up by its own bootstraps with foreign aid, investment, military strength and NGO efforts to democratize and opportunize the country to the benefit of its people. 

China's sequestration of its Uyghurs and other Muslims in 're-education' camps, to neutralize Beijing's fears of Islamist uprisings in Xinjiang province not a matter for the Taliban to raise in solidarity with other Islamist groups in a country hostile to their presence in the currently far-greater interests of Chinese support for Taliban rule in Afghanistan. So for the present the Taliban surrenders its support for and assistance to the Islamist insurgents in Xinjiang. All in good time, all in good time.

A guard stands in a watchtower in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, May 3, 2021

 

All The News That's Fit To Print About China

"China’s construction of nearly 250 new silos has serious implications for international relations and China’s role in the world. The Chinese government has for decades insisted it has a minimum deterrent and that it is not part of any nuclear arms race. Although it remains unclear how many silos will actually be filled with missiles, the massive silo construction and China’s other nuclear modernization programs are on a scale that appears to contradict these polices: the build-up is anything but “minimum” and appears to be part of a race for more nuclear arms to better compete with China’s adversaries."

"The silo construction will likely further deepen military tension, fuel fear of China’s intentions, embolden arguments that arms control and constraints are naïve, and that US and Russian nuclear arsenals cannot be reduced further but instead must be adjusted to take into account the Chinese nuclear build-up.?

"The disclosure of the second Chinese silo missile field comes only days before US and Russian negotiators meet to discuss strategic stability and potential arms control measures. Responding to the Chinese build-up with more nuclear weapons would be unlikely to produce positive results and could cause China build up even more. Moreover, even when the new silos become operational, the Chinese nuclear arsenal will still  to be significantly smaller than those of Russia and the United States."

"The clearest path to reining in China’s nuclear arsenal is through arms control, but this is challenging. The United States has been trying to engage China on nuclear issues since the late-1990s, but so far with minimal success. Rather than discuss specific limitations on weapon systems, these efforts have been limited to increasing transparency about force structure plans and strategy, and well as discussing nuclear doctrine and intentions."

"The Trump administration correctly sought to broaden nuclear arms control to include China, but fumbled the effort by turning it into a public-relations pressure stunt and insisting that China should be part of a New START treaty extension. Beijing not surprisingly rejected the effort, and Chinese officials have plainly stated that “it is unrealistic to expect China to join [the United States and Russia] in a negotiation aimed at nuclear arms reduction,” particularly while China’s arsenal remains a fraction of the size."

Matt Korda and Hans Kristensen, Federation of American Scientists 

The Hami missile silo field domes are identical to silo domes seen at the Yumen missile silo field and the Jilantai training area.

 

"[The Chinese nuclear weapons stockpile was] expected to double, if not triple or quadruple, over the next decade."

Admiral Charles Richard,commander U.S. nuclear forces

 

"The silo construction at Humen and Hami constitutes the most significant expansion of the Chinese nuclear arsenal ever."

Matt Korda and Hans M.Kristensen

China has certainly not endeared itself to the freedom-loving Western democracies of late. Its aggression over territorial rights in the Himalaya with India, in the South China Sea with its near neighbours, disputes over land, sea and air rights have all alerted its neighbours to a sovereignty agenda whose fulfillment will most certainly diminish their own disputed rights. Taiwan is in Beijing's crosshairs, and Hong Kong has suffered a blow to its hopes for the future as a bastion of democracy.

 

Life in prison is the sentence that people in Hong Kong face for daring to challenge the supremacy of China and this is just what a young activist, Tong Ying-kit, 24, is now facing for hoisting a protest flag on July 1st last year reading "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times". He was convicted of terrorism and inciting secession under the controversial national security law meant to stamp out dissent that mightily offends Beijing. 

So it is with a jaundiced eye that the United States looks in at what intelligence agencies suspect is the latest move by China to assert itself. As though to complement Chinese President Xi Jinping's assertion to "bash the heads" of any foreign intrusive powers that plan to interfere with Beijing's sovereign rights on its own territory. As, for example, global criticism of the oppression of Tibetans and of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Beijing has had a lot on its plate recently from its Belt & Road initiative with massive investments all over the world meant ultimately to benefit China's status as a trade and production colossus on the world stage where Beijing longs to be recognized as a world power at least on par with the United States of America. United China is Beijing's goal and it will brook no interference nor questioning of its right to act as it will in securing 'harmony' among its many restive parts.

 

The Hami missile silo field covers an area of about 800 square kilometers and is in the early phases of construction.

 

Now, according to satellite images, it appears that China has been busy, building a second nuclear missile base able to hold dozens of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Spread over 300 square miles in the Xinjiang region, the vast site is theorized to hold 110 silos for launching weapons. "The most significant expansion of the Chinese nuclear arsenal ever."

Civilian satellite was utilized by the Federation of American Scientists to examine the Gobi Desert close to Hami where Uyghur Muslims are believed to be kept in "re-education camps". A series of large inflatable domes typical of those generally made use of by construction teams on military bases to shield from view work they are performing within, were identified. 

Only weeks earlier another silo field had been spotted in Yumen, northeast China. There, according to the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies, are located 120 missile silos, as well. China's version of the issue of missile silos and their projectiles are that it maintains a "minimum deterrent" of nuclear weapons, estimated to number some 300, by experts. The United States and Russia both maintain strategic arsenals easily five times that size, along with stockpiles of roughly 5,000 weapons each.

At the same event when President Xi made his "bash the heads" threat, he pledged to build up China's military. He also spoke of the nation's commitment to the "reunification" of Taiwan, reiterating the importance of social stability which would be more certain in Hong Kong under Beijing's thumb, and at the same time enhancing Beijing's thrust toward security and sovereignty. It is President Xi casual scorn of security and sovereignty of other nations that is found so offensive.

"Just because you build the silo doesn't mean you have to fill them all with missiles. they can move them around."

"It's not insane. They make the United States target a lot of silos that may be empty. They can fill these silos slowly if they need to build up their force. And they get leverage in arms control."

"I'm surprised they didn't do this a decade ago."

Vipin Narang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Hami and Yumen missile silo fields are located deeper inside China than any other ICBM base and beyond the reach of conventional cruise missiles.  Image: Google Earth.

Climate Change: Intense Heat Waves, Pyrocumulonimbus Firestorms

"We haven't seen anything close to the most intense heat waves possible under today's climate, let alone the ones we expect to see in the coming decades."

"Every time record temperatures or precipitation go well beyond what we've experienced during our lifetime, that's usually when we're unprepared and the damage is largest."

"We should no longer be surprised if we see records smashed by large margins."

Erich Fischer, climate scientist, ETH Zurich 

"[New research shows that] we must expect extreme event records to be broken -- not just by small margins, but quite often by very large ones."

"This highlights the huge challenge to improve preparedness, build resilience and adapt society to conditions that have never previously been experienced."

Rowan Sutton, climate scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading

B.C. Wildfire Service responded to the Brenda Creek wildfire (K51924) burning south of the Okanagan Connector, highly visible from the roadside. Photo by B.C. Wildfire Service /PNG

As scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change begin two weeks of virtual meetings for the purpose of finalizing their next global climate science assessment, a study was published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, that warned the next three decades would see "record-shattering" heat waves, two to seven times more frequently around the world, than what has occurred over the past three decades.

Canada, Cyprus, Cuba, Turkey, Northern Ireland, Antarcitica have all recorded their warmest-ever temperatures in the past two years. Should current greenhouse gas emissions trend continue record-breaking heat waves may be three to 21 times more frequent beyond 2050, according to the study.The researchers used climate modelling in the calculation of the likelihood of record-breaking heat lasting at least seven consecutive days, far surpassing earlier records.

Given such extremes, the study warns that communities need to be preparing for such extremes. The June heat wave that struck Canada was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in British Columbia, reaching 49.6C in the village of Lytton, when a heat dome straddled the sky over the area, the intense heat contributing to an explosion of wildfires, one of which completely destroyed the evacuated town.

 

Damaged buildings are seen in Lytton, B.C., on July 9, after a wildfire destroyed most of the village on June 30. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

 

The study suggests that should greenhouse gas emissions be cut aggressively the likelihood of heat waves while remaining high, would result in diminishing opportunities of exceeding heat records over time.

"It was probably the single largest pyrocumulonimbus storm of the year so far. In fact, we're still tracking the smoke plume from that storm as it's travelling around the world and it's about to kind of come full circle back over [the] U.S.A. and Canada."

"When you get all those three things together [fuel, heat and wind], you get the perfect triple that we call fire weather. So, hot, dry and windy."

"It’s just like if you have a stove and you have a small burner — you’re not going to get as much of a fast boil in your pot as if you had a really hot, intense burner."

"So, the big, large fire just makes it that much easier for the air to be completely upset. And then if you do form a cloud, then that generates even more buoyancy and that feeds back down to the fire."

Michael Fromm, meteorologist, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

"The fire creates the storm and then the storm creates lightning, which can cause more fires."

"That runaway feedback is the dangerous part."

Simon Donner, climate scientist, University of British Columbia

"It's been an exceptional year."

"Most of them [Canadian Forces firefighting teams] are actually camping along the fire lines overnight."

"During the day, they walk the fire line and check for any areas where there's flare-ups or hot spots and they suppress those."

Lt.-Col. Jesse van Eijk

A pyrocumulonimbus cloud generated by the Clear Range bushfire to the south of Canberra, Australia, February 1, 2020, Brook Mitchell/Getty  

 

Wildfires in Canada generated through a combination of intense heat and drought conditions are so extreme they generate their own weather systems. The phenomenon is known as a pyrocumulonimbus firestorm, tracked this year as they occur in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. The first one tracked in May occurred in Manitoba. B.C.'s Lytton brewed up firestorms on two successive days in late June, hitting a Canadian temperature high of 49.6C a day prior to a wildfire erupting.

Emergency Management BC announced the presence of over 250 active wildfires charring B.C. forests where 4,142 square kilometres of land has burned since April 1 from 1,215 wildfires. The situation so dire that Canadian Forces were deployed to British Columbia and Manitoba to fight the fires, assisting crews from the province in monitoring wildfires. 

Innocent? Proven Guilty!

"I felt that what we were giving him [Ben Cohen], in the end, didn't matter much to Unilever."

"We were getting the brand. We were getting the business. They would have their own board of directors, but we would control what I regard as the key factor in success or failure, which is the selection of the chief executive."

Richard Goldstein Unilever's former U.S. chief

Ben & Jerry's ice creams on sale at a shop in Jerusalem on July 19, 2021.

(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)

These are the lines and the felt sentiments that then-Unilever chief executive Richard Goldstein wrote in his history of the Vermont-based company titled Ice Cream Social. Straight from the horse's mouth, as it were. So Unilever on the one hand honoured its contract with Ben & Jerry's owners with its 2010 takeover of the brand by agreeing to its terms of sale that its social policy issues would remain in control of a Ben & Jerry's board. 

Sometimes the 'principled' socially progressive stances the ice cream maker made reflected well on the company that owned the product and sometimes they failed to. Unilever could take credit for those issues like Ben & Jerry's support of Black Lives Matter, and its becoming a boycott member of Facebook advertisers when it suited their purpose, and at other times, could stand back and metaphorically wash their hands of any responsibility for choices that failed to resonate.

None had ever experienced the backlash that the current imbroglio brought to bear as a result of Jews feeling utterly betrayed by a brand they had celebrated as one of their own success stories. Ben & Jerry's ice cream was Jewish ice cream. A tradition, a culture of applauding Jewish success stories in entrepreneurial business acumen.

A celebrated Jewish ice cream maker that suddenly turned on its most enthusiastic client base when its social messaging-with-a-conscience contingent embraced the social justice flavour of the times known as the "Palestinian cause", to join the Jew-hating rabble that loves to describe Israel as an 'Apartheid' state, a killer of Palestinian babies, an occupying force of Palestinian-designated land reflecting not Judaic but 'Arab historical heritage'.

The government of Israel and diaspora Jews, particularly in consumer-conscious and powerful U.S. markets reacted rather negatively to the announcement that Ben & Jerry's principles forbade them from selling their product in the 'occupied Palestinian territories' as "inconsistent with our values". Suddenly Jews found Ben & Jerry's ice cream inconsistent with their gustatory values. 

 

No manufacturer rejoices at the sudden erosion of their consumer base.

"Liz Gordon, executive director of corporate governance for the $254.8 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, said in a July 23 letter to Unilever CEO Alan Jope that the fund's trustee, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli "is troubled and concerned" about reports that Ben & Jerry's is involved in Israel boycott activities, and that if they are true, the pension fund will include Unilever on a list of companies with investment restrictions."

Pensions & Investments

Unilever was swift to assure Israel that it had no intention of removing itself from its Israeli market. Leading the Ben & Jerry's chair of its board Anuradha Mittal, an unreconstructed anti-Semite, to charge Unilever with "trying to destroy the soul of the company". The merger agreement between Unilever and Ben & Jerry's suited both, until the present time. The independent board was entrusted with "preserving and enhancing the objectives of the historical social mission of the company".

But suddenly Unilever chief executive Alan Jope didn't feel quite so happy with the event threatening a central client base with the explanation that the withdrawal was a decision "by Ben & Jerry's and its independent board, in line with the acquisition agreement that we signed 20 years ago". But not quite so, since Ben & Jerry's proposals for CEO nominations had been ignored and Unilever  has appointed CEOs who have vetoed social activism proposals by the staff at Ben & Jerry's in the past.

They were somewhat different in that sense than the current chief executive Matthew McCarthy of Ben & Jerry's who said in May: "One of the questions I get most often is, aren't you afraid of alienating consumers by the stands that you take at Ben & Jerry's? It's the exact opposite." 

 

Hello, Unilever: over to you, now!

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images

Getting Away With Murder

"The Othram genealogy team used the profile to develop investigative leads that were returned to LVMPD [Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department]." 

"This was a huge milestone."  

"When you can access information from such a small amount of DNA, it really opens up the opportunity to so many other cases that have been historically considered cold and unsolvable." 

"One of the advantages of having your own lab and doing everything in-house is that you can really refine the methods. I’m hoping that this case will inspire other agencies to dig through their backlogs and find cases that may look hopeless or unsolvable, but really are tractable with some of this new technology."

David Mittelman, chief executive, Othram, genome-sequencing laboratory

 

"I'm glad they found who murdered my daughter. I never believed the case would be solved."

"It's good to have some closure, but there is no justice for Stephanie at all."

"We will never have complete closure because nothing will ever bring my daughter back to us."

Mother of Stephanie Isaacson 

 

"Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a genealogical profile from the remaining DNA evidence — only 120 picograms (or 0.12 nanograms) of DNA. This sets a new lower limit on the quantity of DNA required to build a genealogical profile for a suspect of a crime."

"The Othram genealogy team used the profile to develop investigative leads that were returned to LVMPD. LVMPD detectives were able to confirm the identity of the suspect in Stephanie's sexual assault and murder as Darren Roy Marchand. The suspect died in 1995 by suicide but has been tied to other crimes." 

DNASolves.com

Fourteen-year-old Stephanie Isaacson's case had been cold for 32 years  Police handout

It was Stephanie Isaacson's daily routine, to walk to her Las Vegas high school from her home, through an empty sandlot as a shortcut, setting out at 6:30 a.m. On June 1, 1989 her father called the school, and then some of her school friends, when his daughter failed to return home from school as usual. No one had seen the 14-year-old that day; she hadn't appeared at school, her friends hadn't seen her at all. Next call was to the Las Vegas Police.

An air and ground search by law enforcement agencies followed. The search ended at 8:40 p.m. when investigators came across a few of the school books belonging to the girl in a "desert area" close to her home. Which then led to search parties scouring the area, eventually finding Stephanie's body roughly 25 metres off the trail she took walking to school on a daily basis.

She was found through the autopsy that followed to have had "significant blunt force trauma injuries and that she had been sexually assaulted". And, according to the notes left by the Clark County Coroner's Office, her death was caused by strangulation. Several suspects were identified over the following years, leading investigators to travel to Washington State, Ohio and Texas, following up on promising leads.

 

The Coroner's Office forensic laboratory attempted to test evidence for DNA with the use of technology that is now obsolete, back in 1998. Another attempt was made in 2007, succeeding in obtaining a DNA profile from semen found on the girl's shirt, according to Kim Murga, the director of the lab. The DNA profile was subsequently uploaded to an FBI database, but no match was ever received. 

 

Everything in the cold case changed when a genome-sequencing lab specializing in assisting with cold cases contacted lab director Murga's forensic team with an offer of services with the use of new technology. There would be no cost associated, since an unnamed individual donated funding for the lab to aid in the solving of a cold case with the LVMPD. The laboratory worked for seven months to gather the data they required to build a genetic profile with the minuscule amount of DNA they had to work with.

"Stephanie's case was chosen specifically because of the minimal amount of DNA evidence that was available."

"It appears to [have been] a random attack while she was walking to school."

LVMPD Lt. Ray Spencer

It took thirty-two years for the cold case to be solved, when the Texas laboratory -- Othram -- with the use of new technology, used the equivalent of 15 human cells to find the link that had so long eluded Las Vegas investigators, identifying the young girl's killer as Darren Marchand. The man had a criminal history, explained Lt.Spencer, arrested in 1985, age 20, charged with fatally strangling 24-year-old Nanette Vanderburg in her home.

 

There was no conviction for lack of evidence. At that time DNA testing was not available but police were able to compare the DNA from her case with the DNA found in the young girl's case which proved to be a match. Frustratingly, Darren Marchand murdered two women and the legal system still will not be able to extract some form of justice for his unspeakable crimes. By his own action he removed himself from the reach of the criminal justice system by committing suicide at age 29 in 1995. 

 

 

Wuhan Institute of Virology Hypothesis 'Politicized'

"Peter Daszak is in many ways typical of the international world of disease prevention. As the president of EcoHealth Alliance, Daszak has spent millions of dollars of grant money from the National Institutes of Health in recent years. His organization's special focus is on preventing the outbreak of emerging diseases, such as coronaviruses. He was deeply involved with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) because his organization had funded bat coronavirus research that lab was doing when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred in late 2019."

"Daszak has been a good friend to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Communist government that runs it for years. His role in trying to discredit the lab leak theory has come under scrutiny amid a pronounced shift in media attention towards the theory and amid revelations about Daszak's own ties to the Institute."

"Early in the pandemic, Daszak was behind the creation of an open letter, signed by several scientists, which squarely rejected the suggestion that a lab accident at the WIV may have released the virus into the city of Wuhan. Daszak did not disclose his conflict of interest when signing the letter, which would receive significant coverage in news reports purporting to debunk the lab leak theory."

Peter Schweizer, President, Governmental Accountability Institute, U.S.

Shi Zhengli ('Batwoman' center) and Peter Daszak (far right). (Emerging Viruses Group)

"We will not accept such an origins-tracing plan as it in some aspects, disregards common sense and defies science."

"We hope the WHO would seriously review the considerations and suggestions made by Chinese experts and truly treat the origin tracing of the COVID-19 virus as a scientific matter, and get rid of political interference." 

"[China has always supported] scientific virus tracing [and wants to see the study extended to other countries and regions]. However, we are opposed to politicizing the tracing work."

Zeng Yixin, vice minister, National Health Commission, China

Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the National Health Commission, speaks at a news conference at the State Council Information Office, in Beijing, on July 22   Mark Schiefelbein, The Associated Press

"Without Chinese cooperation, WHO's hands are tied, international hands are tied, and our ability to identify the origins of the virus will be much reduced."

Mara Pillinger, senior associate, global health policy and governance, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown

"We believe a lab leak is extremely unlikely and it is not necessary to invest more energy and efforts in this regard."

"[More animal studies should be conducted particularly in countries with bat populations]."

"In the next step, I think animal tracing should still be the priority direction. It is the most valuable field for our efforts."

Liang Wannian, Chinese team leader, WHO joint expert team

The World Health Organization's first investigative team arriving in China in February of this year was significantly hampered by the guidance and continual presence of Chinese authorities vetting their every move, informing them what they could and could not do, offering them limited opportunity to visit areas of concern in their investigation of the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the global pandemic. Vital data that would have afforded the investigative team important information in their study was held back, so the conclusion reached was fairly predictable; no idea really how, where and why COVID emerged.

Unlikely, however, that it was the result of a laboratory accident where a pathogen under study at the Wuhan Institute of Virology somehow escaped to wreak havoc first in Wuhan then across the great wide world. On the team was a virology expert with direct ties to the Wuhan laboratory, and his influence certainly went far in convincing the other members of the WHO team that a laboratory 'escape' could not possibly have occurred.

Among the world's leading virology scientists much criticism of the report erupted, and by extension criticism of of the World Health Organization itself, leading its head, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to speculate that there might be something to the lab escape theory after all, and that another, more extensive, in-depth scrutiny might be in order. He did, in fact, order such a second investigation, expressing the hope that Beijing would be fully co-operative and open to the venture.

But it was not to be. Mr.Zeng, China's vice minister of its National Health Commission together with Chinese experts urged the WHO, even as they poured cold water on any cooperation on China's part with a second investgation as to the origins of COVID, recommended an expansion of origin-tracing beyond China to encompass other countries. It has always been China's contention that the original infection was sourced elsewhere than China. 

Other countries, suggested Liang Wannian, the Chinese team leader on the joint expert team of the WHO, had another brilliant idea, that further animal studies be undertaken in countries with their own bat populations so that if evidence was unearthed incriminating other countries they needed to explore in depth whether any of them could have experienced a laboratory leak leading to the global pandemic. Back to square zero with Beijing.

Because Beijing claims that the issue has been 'politicized', the WHO's intention to study the origins of the coronavirus where it began, investigating audits of laboratories and markets in Wuhan, with the express aid of Chinese authorities simply isn't going to occur. The WHO's plan of action having listed the hypothesis of a violation of laboratory protocols in China was a direct assault on the scientific integrity of Chinese science, and therefore 'political'.

 

Strange that, since in 2010, Shi Zhengli director of the Centre of Emerging Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and a bat expert, published a paper describing a scenario where infected rodents led to a deadly virus leaked from a Chinese lab. The paper's title was: "Hantavirus outbreak associated with laboratory rats in Yunnan, China," of an outbreak of hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome at a college in Kunming as the result of a lab leak in 2003.

 

And Peter Daszak, renowned zoologist and molecular biologist in 2015 co-authored an article in the journal Nature titled, "Spillover and pandemic properties of zoonotic viruses with high host plasticity," where he wrote that zoonotic virus spillover from wildlife was "most frequent" in a number of settings and occupations, including "laboratory workers." He also warned that laboratories are one of the most dangerous settings for major spillover events. 

Peter Daszak (R), Thea Fischer (L) and other members of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the Covid-19 coronavirus, arrive at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan  on February 3, 2021.  HECTOR RETAMAL | AFP | Getty Images

Motivated By An Outraged Sense of Justice?

"It is my belief that Ben & Jerry’s brazen refusal to do business in Israel will result in your placement on the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List."

"[The state would then] be prohibited from investing in Ben & Jerry’s or its parent company, Unilever."

Florida state CFO Jimmy Patroni

 

"I’ve directed my staff to determine whether any specific action has been taken by Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever would trigger a listing under Chapter 808 of the Texas Government Code [the law passed in 2017]."

Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar

 

"This is an action that has severe consequences, including legal, and it [Israel] will take strong action against any boycott directed against its citizens."

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett

 

"We remain fully committed to our presence in Israel, where we have invested in our people, brands and business for several decades."

Unilever 

"I can’t stop thinking that this is what happens when you have a board with all women and people of color who have been pushing to do the right thing."

Ben & Jerry’s Independent Board Chair Anuradha Mittal  

A view of the entrance of the ice-cream shop inside the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Be’er Tuvia in southern Israel, on July 21, 2021.   Emmanuel Dunand | AFP | Getty Images

Quite the unique arrangement that is; a large corporation buys out an exclusive brand whose founders are dedicated to 'social justice' so part of the sales agreement is that the original owner/founder's board of directors will engineer social policy with respect to the brand, while the buyer, a huge international conglomerate under whose name a wide spectrum of products reach the consumer market is to focus solely on production and corporate sales. Or ... something in that order.

In this instance, it is the product known as "Ben & Jerry's" ice cream, which Unilever bought out in 2000. With a condition of sale that an independent board would manage social-justice branding for the product. A product known for its 'social conscience', thus attracting the attention of BDS activists who lobby and apply the pressure of social conscience to persuade the board to issue a declaration that it will no longer sell the product in the West Bank 'illegal settlements' of 'Apartheid' Israel occupiers.

Shock and horror, what presumption! An enterprise founded by two Jews of hippie-era consciousness launch a product in a typical capitalistic style, cynical to the core. Advertising a superior product with pure whole ingredients in small containers at outrageously high prices that some would call pretentious. Citing the product to be 'packed by hand'; which is to say, what? Those small containers not automatically on a production line mechanically filled; instead humans scoop the product into the boxes.

And this equates with quality for which a premium price is demanded. But the name and its Jewish precedents and presumptions resonate with Jewish consumers; and the public relations and advertising persuades other consumers as well that premium quality can be had and the product is popularized. In Israel a franchisee has a contract to produce the ice cream and employs scads of Palestinian workers. The Ben & Jerry's board decides it can no longer abide the insult to their sensibilities and declare a principled sanction of Israel.

The fallout of indignant disbelief is immediate and damaging to the brand whose 'progressive' values are tainted by the obvious fact that it is not the 'Palestinian cause' that has motivated it to act against the supposedly express interests of Unilever which in true capitalist style wants to be all things to all people through ongoing, undisturbed sales, but plain old ugly anti-Semitism. The BDS movement itself is spurred by that same rancid motivation.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanction is expressively and venomously engineered to discredit, disadvantage, economically destabilize, slander and delegitimize Israel and with it Jews themselves collectively, individually. A psycho-social war of diminishing returns as it happens, since though its purpose is to cripple Israel financially, the movement has succeeded in bringing together the legions of Jew-haters while doing little to impact Israel's reputational integrity and allure in the global economy.

It is but another assault and insult to the sensibilities of Jews both in Israel and the diaspora, but for those Jews of the liberal-left who group themselves as critics aligned with those disparaging Jewishness in a rage of hate. The epitome of which is expressed by Ben & Jerry's current chair of their independent board, Anuradha Mittal, a dyed-in-the-wool anti-Semite purple with rage that Unilever's chief executive sputters the company's unwillingness to support the board's position.

If this is all about a brand of ice cream who cares? It goes a little deeper; it's a knife-wound from within, and Jews are truly sick and tired of constant harassment because they are Jews and because there are so many enraged Jew-haters who feel free to ventilate the depth of their anti-Semitism, feeling it a legitimate outlet to attack a nation of Jews as representative of all that is wrong in the world.

And so, 35 letters were sent off, signed by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Gilad Erdan, addressed to state governors where anti-BDS legislation has been formally passed. Leading Unilever to fully comprehend that it, by default, has pulled a tiger's tail quite careless to the offence taken by the tiger. Should only several of the 35 states see fit to disengage from Unilever in reflection of their legislation it would be a few too many for the corporation's reputation, sales and stock market standing.

An Israeli franchisee manufactures Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Israel and distributes it    Reuters

Wildfire Evacuations, Emergency Alert in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewn

"In a briefing last night, I received word that we'll be facing a few days of very difficult weather in the interior."

"We have reached a critical point."

"Based on the advice of emergency management and wildfire officials, in my briefing last night on the worsening weather, I am declaring a provincial state of emergency."

"It will address the potential for a mass evacuation scenario and provide our government with the means to secure the accommodation spaces necessary to support the evacuees."

"What is forecast may lead to more severe fire behaviour, and the potential for more evacuations."

"Contact friends and family to ensure you have somewhere to go, should the worst happen."

"While the province will continue to support anyone in need of emergency support services, having a plan ... (shows) that I care for those who have no other option."

"[Clean up properties...] Whether that's trimming trees, clearing grass and gutters and helping your neighbours, you're not only helping to protect your property and those of your community, but also the firefighters who may be called on to protect it." 

Mike Farnworth, Public Safety Minister, British Columbia 

"We are expecting what we call a ‘subtropical feed’ coming up from the United States which is going to bring significant wind into the South Coast Fire Centre and to the Interior of the province."

"What this means is that we are going to see our efforts on the fires that are on the landscape challenged, our control lines will be challenged and we have the potential to see significant fire behaviour across the province and particularly in the southern half of the province where the conditions remain extremely dry, and extremely volatile."

Clint Chapman, British Columbia Wildfire Service

A BC Wildfire Service crew loads gear into a truck before heading out just before 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday to battle Kamloops-area wildfires. The Kamloops-Thompson school district and BC Wildfire Service worked out the logistics for the wildfire camp to occupy the land where Parkcrest elementary once stood, until it was razed by a fire in September 2019. The school will be rebuilt, with completion pegged for 2024. Photograph By Dave Eagles/KTW

 British Columbia has declared a state of emergency reflecting the unusual heat record just smashed in Lytton, B.C. when the temperature reached a startling 49.4C, followed by a wildfire that wiped out the town and hundreds of other wildfires erupting over the next few days. The growing wildfires send warning signals of threats to human habitation making it clear that evacuations are in order. What may be different this time around is the possibility of mass evacuations and the challenge of securing sufficient accommodation for evacuees.

The warning that weather conditions would continue sparking fires that will turn into severe wildfire hazards threatening the interior of the province has mobilized government resources to act preemptively. Declaring a state of emergency means government agencies such as the fire commissioner and the RCMP have the authority to take action they consider to be required to fight the wildfires while protecting local communities and their inhabitants.

 

Looking high above the small town of Osoyoos B.C. in the southern Okanagan the glow of smoke and fire illuminates the night sky on Thursday July 19, 2018. At least 160 properties have been ordered to evacuate as an aggressive wildfire burns in the south Okanagan. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff Bassett

An estimated 300 fires were blazing across the province, several encroaching on nearby communities for which evacuation orders or alerts have been issued, consequently. Of the evacuation orders, 40 affected roughly 5,700 people equating to close to 2,900 properties in the province. In addition to which 69 evacuation alerts which inform people they must be prepared to flee immediately on short notice, affecting just under 33,000 people and their 16,000 properties were also issued.

Hot and dry conditions continue to be forecasted, and heightened wind activity in the Interior and affecting south-eastern British Columbia are driving the wildfires. Four First Nations in Manitoba have been evacuated as a result of wildfires in the east of that province, with over 1,300 people from Pauingassi, Little Grand Rapids, Bloodvein and Berens River First Nations being sent to Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba.

A night view of the massive Sparks Lake fire. The fire started about 40 kilometres northwest of Kamloops and has grown to almost 48,000 hectares as of July 20, 2021 - Contributed