Snippet 8 -- Huawei and Nortel

Did Huawei bring down Nortel?  Corporate espionage, theft, and the parallel rise and fall of two telecom giants.

As Canada decides on whether to allow Huawei a role in the coming 5G wireless networks, one part of the story is vexing Nortel's many fans.

https://nationalpost.com/news/exclusive-did-huawei-bring-down-nortel-corporate-espionage-theft-and-the-parallel-rise-and-fall-of-two-telecom-giants

This is a very long, nevertheless amazing, narrative.      (National Post)

Snippet 7 -- Canadian Railway

"I don’t know how we are going to get through this winter and get the trains running again, but I believe our politicians and police should err on the side of caution, and we should keep in mind that our country only exists because of the lawful crimes our government committed to get the railway built."

Maclean's

Snippet 6 -- U.N. Names Complicit Companies

The U.N. human rights office on Wednesday released a list of more than 100 companies it said are complicit in violating Palestinian human rights by operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank -- a first-ever international attempt to name and shame businesses that has drawn fierce Israeli condemnation

The list’s publication after repeated delays escalated a looming showdown between Israel and the international community over its more than half-century policy of building settlements in the West Bank.  Emboldened by a new U.S. Mideast initiative, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex Israel’s more than 100 settlements, while the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague has indicated she will soon launch a war-crimes investigation into settlement policies.

The list included well known global companies, among them consumer food maker General Mills and supermarkets, tech and communications giants Motorola Solutions and Altice Europe, and infrastructure companies like France’s Egis and Alstom, and British company JC Bamford Excavators.  112 firms involved in practices that raised human rights concerns, such as settlement construction, security services, banking and equipment that was used to demolish Palestinian property.

In a statement, Netanyahu called the rights council “unimportant.”

But there are other international companies, including travel firms like Airbnb, Expedia, TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Opodo. Many offer vacation rentals in the settlements.

Associated Press

Painting -- Irish Writers

With the feeling of fresh Irish air stirring my heart, it occurs to me that I forgot to insert this painting (From my Dublin visit) into a Blog.  I wonder if you could list the famous writers shown.

The Audience: Irish Writers - By Mia Funk (Oil on canvas 2009)

Dublin Writers Museum

Musaem na Scribhneoiri, Baile Atha Cliath

Snippet 5 -- United Ireland

LONDON – Sinn Féin’s success in Ireland’s February 8 general election, where it headed the poll, has come as a shock, owing to the party’s historic ties to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and that organization’s association with violence. The cause of its success was domestic discontent, not nationalist fervor. Nevertheless, Sinn Féin’s victory will put Irish unity – and thus the future of Northern Ireland’s inclusion in the United Kingdom – firmly on the agenda.

Project Syndicate

Snippet 4 -- Improper Political Activity

Seems like the tantalizing Year of the Snippet.

An activist public service? Sure, public servants are apolitical actors, hermetically sealed in their non-partisan chambers of bureaucracy. But how impartial are they really? The answer, according to a new report from the Public Service Commission, is the 287,978 folks on the federal payroll produced a total of 18 complaints about improper political activity. Only seven led to "corrective actions"—a whopping 0.002 per cent of all employees.

Maclean's

Snippet 3 -- Illegal Wildlife

" In Beijing the politburo admitted “shortcomings” in its handling of the crisis and said it would be “necessary to strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade”."

The Guardian

Surely, such a ban should get tough on both illegal and legal wildlife trade ?  There are rare occasions when wildlife needs to be culled but, such instances, should not introduce "trade".