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The big business of selling Canadian technology to Turkey
Turkey’s booming defence sector is making it a ‘priority market’ for many Canadian companies
The Canadian flag is flying in Istanbul this weekend, where Canadian technology and innovation are very much in evidence and it’s all for sale.
The Canadian presence at the annual defence industry fair (IDEF) is larger than it has ever been. This year, nearly 30 companies from cities like Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal and Vancouver are busy pitching their products.
Many are world leaders in their industries. But there are other companies at the fair that many Canadians have never heard of.
“They are surprised that this kind of technology originates in Canada,” says Ken Smart, president of EOMAX Canada, a company that makes thermal cameras and wireless video systems.
“The automatic assumption is that these kind of things come from somewhere else.”
But they develop their products in Toronto. The city’s heavy urban search-and-rescue team uses the company’s gear, as do police forces around the world.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT team is another client.
“The [technology has] this ability to understand whether people are armed,” Smart says. “Whether these are just innocent bystanders that have been caught in a position where they are in danger.”
Quebec-based Genetec Solutions’ electronic eyes are watching in a different way — particularly if you’ve ever passed through a major airport in North America, Europe, or the Middle East.
“Rome, Schiphol, Prague, Charles de Gaulle,” Genetec vice-president Ted Ghali says, listing off some of the airports the company serves. Their systems run at Toronto’s Pearson airport, too.
“Mecca is also protected by Genetec,” he adds.
So are two of Istanbul’s most important historical sites – Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sophia.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Military Contractors Behind New Pressure Group Targeting Presidential Candidates
MILITARY CONTRACTORS BEHIND NEW PRESSURE GROUP TARGETING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers has formed anew pressure group, now active in Iowa and New Hampshire, to serve as the “premiere national security and foreign policy organization during the 2016 debate” and to “help elect a president who supports American engagement and a strong foreign policy.”
Roger’s group, Americans for Peace, Prosperity, and Security, is hosting candidate events and intends to host a candidate forum later this year. The organization does not disclose its donors. But a look at the business executives helping APPS steer presidential candidates towards more hawkish positions reveals that many are defense contractors who stand to gain financially from continued militarism:
- Advisory Board Member John Coburn is chairman and CEO of VT Systems, a company that delivers communications technology for the Defense Department.
- Advisory Board Member Stephen Hadley is a principal at the consulting firm RiceHadleyGates and serves as a board member to defense contractor Raytheon, a position that pays him $228,007 in annual compensation.
- New Hampshire Board Member Rich Ashooh lists his employment as Director, Strategy at BAE Systems.
- New Hampshire Board Member James Bell is the chief executive of EPE Corporation, a manufacturing company that says it is a “premier supplier to the defense community.”
- Advisory Board Member John Engler, the president of the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group for major corporations, including defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, Northrop Grumman.
- New Hampshire Board Member Ken Solinksy is founder of Insight Technologies, a night vision and electro-optical systems firm acquired by L-3 Communications.
- New Hampshire Chairman and Advisory Board Member Walt Havenstein is the former chief executive of BAE Systems and SAIC, two of the largest defense contractors in America. Havenstein, who left SAIC in 2012, was paid partially in company stock options.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
China, Russia Unveil First-Ever Mediterranean Joint Naval Exercise
China, Russia Unveil First-Ever Mediterranean Joint Naval Exercise
Sabre-rattling much? For the first time in history, Chinese and Russian navies will begin a significant joint naval exercise in The Mediterranean Sea in mid-May. As RT reports, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng, “The aim is to deepen both countries’ friendly and practical cooperation, and increase our navies’ ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats,” but diplomatically added “these exercises are not aimed at any third party and have nothing to do with the regional situation.” Against a background of this week’s “upgraded Japan-American military relationship” following Abe’s visit to Obama, as one analyst notes, “the geopolitical significance of its exercising alongside Russia will not be lost on the U.S. and NATO.”
The Chinese and Russian Navies have exercised together since 2012 in waters off Russia’s eastern seaboard; but as RT reports,
The Russian and Chinese Navies are to hold a joint exercise in the Mediterranean Sea in mid-May, a first in that part of the world. A total of nine warships from the two countries are to participate, Beijing said.
“The aim is to deepen both countries’ friendly and practical cooperation, and increase our navies’ ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said on Thursday in a monthly news briefing.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Cyber-Attacks Are The New Cold War
Cyber-Attacks Are The New Cold War
The Invisible Enemy
Earlier this month President Obama declared foreign cyber-threats a “national emergency”. During the State of the Union address, he said that “if the US government does not improve cyber defenses, we leave our nation and our economy vulnerable”. This past weekend the TV program 60 Minutes ran a special on cyber security, particularly pertaining to the importance of our nation’s satellite systems.
In the April issue of CIO Magazine, the President and CEO of IDG Communications wrote an article about cybersecurity, stating “significant data breaches at Anthem, Sony, Home Depot, eBay, JPMorgan Chase, Target and many more have caused headline-grabbing business upheavals that worry customers, affect profit margins, and derail corporate careers”. It seems there are now daily news articles about sinister cyber-activity.
Cyber-threats or crimes can be orchestrated in various ways. Targets can be aimed at critical infrastructure, manufacturing, power grids, or water supplies. They could be aimed at disrupting the availability of websites and networks, or at stealing trade secrets and financial information. Others could be driven by espionage, vandalism, terrorism, sabotage, or any form of criminality. Activities of the US and British governments have focused on surveillance and hacking of telecommunications.
It is difficult to fight cyber-activity, because the enemy is often invisible and their home address typically unclear. Building defenses are challenging while continuous ‘patchwork’ is a deficient solution. Threats morph and change quickly. For corporations many threats are internal and could come from rogue employees or from senior managers with weak passwords who have access to sensitive files. Some companies are now even looking into having retaliatory capabilities.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
GOP Establishment Queen Mitch McConnell Introduces Patriot Act Reauthorization with Zero NSA Reforms
GOP Establishment Queen Mitch McConnell Introduces Patriot Act Reauthorization with Zero NSA Reforms
Late last week, I published a post about Patriot Act reauthorization that turned out to be extremely popular. It was titled, Congress is Attempting to Reauthorize Key Patriot Act Provisions by Sneaking it Into “USA Freedom Act.” Here’s an excerpt:
June 1, 2015 is a very important day for American civil liberties and the Constitution. On that day, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, one of the most egregious pieces of legislation passed in U.S. history, will expire automatically without reauthorization from Congress. Naturally, this is causing a panic attack within the heart of the NSA, FBI and all the authoritarian lackey legislators in Washington D.C. With the chances of a clean reauthorization next to none, these crafty “representatives” and their puppeteers need to figure out a way to sneak it into another piece of legislation. What better way to do this than making it a part of something that ostensibly appears to be reining in surveillance powers. Enter the USA Freedom Act.
As mentioned, it is widely believed that there isn’t enough support for straight reauthorization unaccompanied by some sort of NSA reform, but that won’t stop GOP establishment queen Mitch McConnell from trying.
McConnell is amongst the most freedom hating, constitution trampling Republican members in the Senate, sharing this distinction with John McCain and Lindsey Graham. What makes McConnell far more dangerous is his position as Senate Majority Leader. Today, the Washington Post informed us how he’s wielding such power:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill Tuesday night to extend through 2020 a controversial surveillance authority under the Patriot Act.
The move comes as a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both chambers is preparing legislation to scale back the government’s spying powers under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The cyber blitzkrieg
The cyber blitzkrieg
The forces of the perfect storm of climate change, energy tsunamis and global economic bubbles in collision are complex and varied; each with their own levels of threat and urgency. In this milieu, it’s easy to over-fixate on the more visible threats and downplay the others.
Case in point: The Iranian nuclear showdown has dominated the news and polarized the geopolitical world. While frightening, it has overshadowed another “real-time” threat of growing proportions: cyber-warfare and cyber-security.
It’s not a new threat. Our personal computers are barraged with viral assaults. The cyber firewalls of such giants as J.P. Morgan, Target, Home Depot, SONY and Anthem Health are regularly penetrated – with the loss of sensitive information on tens of millions of Americans at a crack.
It’s bad enough when hackers and criminals do their dirty deeds; it’s downright dangerous when nation states organize and deploy their cyber-forces against other nations in a harmful manner.
Cyber-warfare has escalated into a new global battlefield with ill-defined “rules of the road.” The barriers to entry are low, and serious cyber-attacks can now be conducted by tiny nations and terrorist groups against any nation or company. It’s a perfect example of using asymmetric warfare to attack a far greater force using unconventional means. Though cyber forensics are improving, identifying the source of an attack is almost as difficult as deciding on a response.
James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, recently reported to congress that “Cyber threats to U.S. national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication, and severity of impact.” He went on to identify Russia as one of the most sophisticated cyber adversaries and that cyber threats, in general, would be more of an “ongoing series of low-to-moderate level of cyberattacks from a variety of sources over time…” One can only imagine what he might say about this in a classified briefing.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Let’s Not Sacrifice Freedom Out Of Fear
Let’s Not Sacrifice Freedom Out Of Fear
A scientist, or any knowledgeable person, will tell you climate change is a serious threat for Canada and the world. But theRCMP has a different take. A secret report by the national police force, obtained by Greenpeace, both minimizes the threat of global warming and conjures a spectre of threats posed by people who rightly call for sanity in dealing with problems caused by burning fossil fuels.
The RCMP report has come to light as federal politicians debate the “anti-terrorism” Bill C-51. Although the act wouldn’t apply to “lawful advocacy, protest, dissent and artistic expression,” its language echoes the tone of the RCMPreport. It would give massive new powers to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to prevent any person or group from “undermining the security of Canada,” including “interference with critical infrastructure” and the “economic or financial stability of Canada.” And it would seriously infringe on freedom of speech and expression. The new CSIS powers would lack necessary public oversight.
The RCMP report specifically names Greenpeace, Tides Canada and the Sierra Club as part of “a growing, highly organized and well-financed anti-Canada petroleum movement that consists of peaceful activists, militants and violent extremists who are opposed to society’s reliance on fossil fuels.” The report downplays climate change, calling it a “perceived environmental threat” and saying members of the “international anti-Canadian petroleum movement … claim that climate change is now the most serious global environmental threat and that climate change is a direct consequence of elevated anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which, reportedly, are directly linked to the continued use of fossil fuels.” It also makes numerous references to anti-petroleum and indigenous “extremists”.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Crude Conspiracies? Data Suggest Nations Do Go to War Over Oil
Crude Conspiracies? Data Suggest Nations Do Go to War Over Oil
The “thirst for oil” is often put forward as a near self-evident explanation behind military interventions in Libya, for instance, or Sudan. Oil, or the lack of oil, is also said to be behind the absence of intervention in Syria now and in Rwanda in 1994.
This of course clashes with the rhetoric around intervention, or its stated goal. No world leader stands before the UN and says they’re sending in the tanks because their country needs more oil. Such interventions are usually portrayed as serving directly non-economic goals such as preserving security
, supporting democratic values, or more generally promoting human rights.
But this is often met with scepticism and media claims that economicincentives played a key role. Was Iraq really “all about oil”? It’s worth asking whether this viewpoint has some mileage, or if it is instead purely conspiracy theory.
It’s a question we’ve addressed in our research on the importance of oil production in attracting third party military interventions. In a new paper co-authored with Kristian Gleditsch in the Journal of Conflict Resolution we model the decision-making process of third-party countries in interfering in civil wars and examine their economic motives.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How the Powerful Try to Rule Through Cybersecurity
How the Powerful Try to Rule Through Cybersecurity
Michael Daugherty is President & CEO of LabMD, an Atlanta-based clinical and anatomic medical laboratory with a national client base. Daugherty exposes how business was cyber bullied by federal contractors in his book The Devil Inside the Beltway, He summarizes his incredible story below:
…click on the above link to view the video…
Failing Stimulus And The IMF’s New ‘Multilateral’ World Order
Failing Stimulus And The IMF’s New ‘Multilateral’ World Order
My theme for 2015 has been the assertion that this will be a year of shattered illusions; social, political, as well as economic. As I have noted in recent articles, 2014 set the stage for multiple engineered conflicts, including the false conflict between Eastern and Western financial and political powers, as well as the growing conflict between OPEC nations, shale producers, as well as conflicting notions on the security of the dollar’s petro-status and the security and stability of the European Union.
Since the derivatives and credit crisis of 2008, central banks have claimed their efforts revolve around intervention against the snowball effect of classical deflationary market trends. The REAL purpose of central bank stimulus actions, however, has been to create an illusory global financial environment in which traditional economic fundamentals are either ignored, or no longer reflect the concrete truths they are meant to convey. That is to say, the international banking cult has NO INTEREST whatsoever in saving the current system, despite the assumptions of many market analysts. They know full well that fiat printing, bond buying, and even manipulation of stocks will not change the nature of the underlying crisis.
Their only goal has been to stave off the visible effects of the crisis until a new system is ready (psychologically justified in the public consciousness) to be put into place. I wrote extensively about the admitted plan for a disastrous “economic reset” benefiting only the global elites in my article ‘The Economic End Game Explained’.
We are beginning to see the holes in the veil placed over the eyes of the general populace, most notably in the EU, where the elites are now implementing what I believe to be the final stages of the disruption of European markets.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Inner City Turmoil and Other Crises: My Predictions for 2015
Inner City Turmoil and Other Crises: My Predictions for 2015
If Americans were honest with themselves they would acknowledge that the Republic is no more. We now live in a police state. If we do not recognize and resist this development, freedom and prosperity for all Americans will continue to deteriorate. All liberties in America today are under siege.
It didn’t happen overnight. It took many years of neglect for our liberties to be given away so casually for a promise of security from the politicians. The tragic part is that the more security was promised — physical and economic — the less liberty was protected.
With cradle-to-grave welfare protecting all citizens from any mistakes and a perpetual global war on terrorism, which a majority of Americans were convinced was absolutely necessary for our survival, our security and prosperity has been sacrificed.
It was all based on lies and ignorance. Many came to believe that their best interests were served by giving up a little freedom now and then to gain a better life.
The trap was set. At the beginning of a cycle that systematically undermines liberty with delusions of easy prosperity, the change may actually seem to be beneficial to a few. But to me that’s like excusing embezzlement as a road to leisure and wealth — eventually payment and punishment always come due. One cannot escape the fact that a society’s wealth cannot be sustained or increased without work and productive effort. Yes, some criminal elements can benefit for a while, but reality always sets in.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Ron Paul 2015 Predictions: Inner City Turmoil and Other Crises
Ron Paul 2015 Predictions: Inner City Turmoil and Other Crises
If Americans were honest with themselves they would acknowledge that the Republic is no more. We now live in a police state. If we do not recognize and resist this development, freedom and prosperity for all Americans will continue to deteriorate. All liberties in America today are under siege.
It didn’t happen overnight. It took many years of
neglect for our liberties to be given away so casually for a promise of security from the politicians. The tragic part is that the more security was promised — physical and economic — the less liberty was protected.
With cradle-to-grave welfare protecting all citizens from any mistakes and a perpetual global war on terrorism, which a majority of Americans were convinced was absolutely necessary for our survival, our security and prosperity has been sacrificed.
It was all based on lies and ignorance. Many came to believe that their best interests were served by giving up a little freedom now and then to gain a better life.
The trap was set. At the beginning of a cycle that systematically undermines liberty with delusions of easy prosperity, the change may actually seem to be beneficial to a few. But to me that’s like excusing embezzlement as a road to leisure and wealth — eventually payment and punishment always come due. One cannot escape the fact that a society’s wealth cannot be sustained or increased without work and productive effort. Yes, some criminal elements can benefit for a while, but reality always sets in.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Canadian Embassy in Cairo closed due to security concerns | Reuters
Canadian Embassy in Cairo closed due to security concerns | Reuters.
(Reuters) – Canada’s embassy in Cairo was closed on Monday until further notice because of security concerns, an official answering its emergency telephone line said, the second diplomatic mission to shut its doors this week.
A message on the embassy’s website read: “The ability to provide consular services may occasionally be limited for short periods due to unsettled security conditions.” It gave no more details.
The British Embassy in Cairo closed to the public on Sunday, also citing security concerns. A notice on its website on Monday said its services remained suspended.
Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency largely centered around the Sinai Peninsula, a strategic area near the border with Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal.
Insurgent attacks have mostly targeted Egyptian police and soldiers, killing hundreds in the past year, but Egypt’s most dangerous militant group, Sinai Province, said last week it was behind the killing of an American oil engineer in the western desert in August.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
