Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury rematch February 22

CBS is reporting that "The heavyweight division has become one of the most compelling in boxing over recent years and one of the biggest fights in the modern era of big men is set to go down Feb. 22 from Las Vegas when Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury rematch. The first fight between the two ended in a controversial draw that left both men undefeated and fans unsatisfied. Now, they clash again with Wilder's WBC heavyweight title and Fury's claim to the mythical lineal championship on the line."

Venezuela's American Oil Coup

Rachel Blevins is reporting that "While the US has allowed Chevron to continue business in Venezuela, the Trump Administration could find itself in an entirely new conflict, as reports claim it is considering sanctions against Russia’s top oil producer for also doing business in Venezuela." Ah so its OK if American oil companies take over Venezuela's oil or sell to countries under US sanctions it's just not OK if companies from other countries do it. Now I understand.

Regime Change for Profit: Chevron, Halliburton Cheer On US Venezuela Coup

Ottawa's new light rail is a mess. Could the same happen in Montreal? Yes it could. Je me souviens.

The Montreal Gazette asks "Ottawa's new light rail is a mess. Could the same happen in Montreal?" The answer is yes it could. Montreal has a magnificent Metro system. Why on earth would you want to screw that up with LRT? Running trains through intersections is not smart.

Ottawa's LRT has been plagued with problems. All I can say is we told you so. That is why Surrey chose Skytrain over LRT thanks to Doug McCallum. That is why Vancouver chose Skytrain over LRT for the UBC extension. Thanks for nothing Surrey First and Post Media Trash. They are the ones that kept trying to cram the LRT down our throat against out will just like they are trying to cram the RCMP's bundle of lawsuits down our throat. Surrey RCMP take note: F*ck off.

Mount Seymour - Surf's up

Saw a break in the clouds so I headed up Seymour today. The snow was nice but there was zero visibility at the first peak so I didn't go any further. The conditions on the local mountains are nice right now. Lots of snow, some fresh. Spring skiing will be awesome. It'll be busy this weekend.

Lights to Hollyburn Lodge

Cypress has a new thing going on in the cross country area called Lights to the Lodge. They have lined two of the snowshoe trails to Hollyburn lodge with Christmas lights so you can snowshoe in at night without a headlamp. I took my kids there last night. It's awesome.

It's a great introduction to snowshoeing since snowshoe rentals are included in the ticket. There's a cafe in the lodge where you can buy hot chocolate and homemade soup. It's a positive event.

Toronto police admit using secretive facial recognition technology Clearview AI

Facebook updates its controversial facial recognition settings

CBC is reporting that "Toronto police have admitted some of their officers have used Clearview AI — a powerful and controversial facial recognition tool that works by scraping billions of images from the internet — one month after denying using it. Spokesperson Meaghan Gray said in an email that some members of the force began using the technology in October 2019. She did not say what for or how many times it had been used." Just like they admitted to using Stingrays.

"Chief Mark Saunders directed those officers to stop using the technology when he became aware of its use on Feb. 5, she said. Gray did not say who originally approved the use of the app. Clearview AI can turn up search results, including a person's name and other information such as their phone number, address or occupation, based on nothing more than a photo. The program is not available for public use. Gray said officers were "informally testing this new and evolving technology." She did not say how the chief found out."

"Concerns began mounting about the software earlier this year after a New York Times investigation revealed the software had extracted more than three billion photos from public websites like Facebook and Instagram and used them to create a database used by more than 600 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere."

"In January, Toronto police told CBC News they used facial recognition, but denied using Clearview AI. It's unclear if police purchased the technology — if so, it was never disclosed publicly — or were allowed to test it. At the time, Ontario Provincial Police also said they used facial recognition technology, but wouldn't specific which tools they used. The RCMP would not say what tools it uses. Vancouver's police department said it had never used the software and had no intention of doing so." But that's what Toronto said until they were caught. What's that stingray antenna doing on the back of the East Vancouver Courthouse?

Global is reporting that "This was weeks after the New York Times first reported that hundreds of law enforcement agencies were using Clearview AI’s app, which cross-references uploaded images of people against three billion photos it says it has in a database of images scraped from social media and millions of other websites." This is the facial recognition that Facebook uses.



New Jersey Bars Police From Using Clearview Facial Recognition App

Clearview AI’s Database Has Amassed 3 Billion Photos.

China uses SenseTime which is Orwellian.

Telus plans rollout of 5G network using Huawei technology

CBC is reporting that "Telecommunications company Telus Corp. says it is planning to roll out its 5G network in the near future using some technology from Chinese component maker Huawei."

"CFO Doug French told The Financial Post newspaper that the telecommunications provider is moving ahead with plans to build its next-generation 5G network by the end of the year, and will do so using some components supplied by Huawei, the Chinese company that has been criticized by numerous countries in recent years over allegations that its components make networks vulnerable to spying by Beijing or others."

If you use a Chinese network you're being spied on by China. If you use an American network you're being spied on by the CIA, NSA, Google, Facebook and every other two bit corporation out there. Take your pick. Six of one half a dozen of the other.

Meanwhile back on the ranch, CBC is also reporting that "The U.S. Department of Justice hit telecommunications giant Huawei with new charges of stealing trade secrets and breaking sanctions by doing business with North Korea." GMAFB. China did business with North Korea. Big Surprise. What about organ harvesting of political prisoners in China? You don't care about the things that matter. You only care about a trade competitor. You are pathetic.

Fatal Shooting in Langley

Global is reporting that the man wounded in the Langley shooting February 7th outside Chuck E Cheese has died of his injuries. "A person who contacted Global News claiming to be close to the victim says the man was inside the truck when he was shot - and that his two young children were in the backseat at the time." That is messed up.

Police incident in Surrey

There was a police incident in Surrey last night around 10 PM at 104th Avenue and 156th. 104th was completely closed off to traffic but since they got rid of Scan BC, the public has no idea what that police incident was about. The Surrey RCMP needs greater public accountability.

Bombardier exits commercial aerospace

The Montreal Gazette is reporting that "Bombardier Inc. is transferring its 33.6-per-cent stake in the partnership that builds the plane formerly known as the C Series to Airbus SE and the government of Quebec, the companies said in a statement issued early Thursday. Airbus paid Bombardier $591 million to boost its stake to 75 per cent, while Quebec now holds the remaining 25 per cent." This appears to be good news. Bombardier is a bad company like Lockheed Martin.

"Bombardier now has pro-forma cash-on-hand of more than $4 billion and liquidity to $5.5 billion, it said Thursday in a separate statement on fourth-quarter results. Bombardier added it’s actively pursuing options that would allow it to accelerate deleveraging and pay down debt." Wonderful. How about paying back some of the billions of tax dollars it has squandered over the years.

This brings us back to the Super Hornet. Boeing is good, Bombardier is bad and Lockheed Martin is even worse. Boeing's Super hornet is a superior aircraft compared with the Lockheed Martin F35 money trap. Boeing's Super Hornet works in the Canadian arctic. Lockheed Martin's F35 does not. Contracting out the mid air refueling for the F 35 makes it an impracticable Canadian investment. The Boeing's Super Hornet is rock solid.



Since Bombardier is exiting commercial aerospace, that would appear to resolve Boeing's court case against them and open the door for Canada to restore it's plan to purchase Super Hornets from Boeing. In support of that quest, I totally support giving Boeing tax incentives to build a manufacturing plant in Quebec. That would be fiscally advantageous for Canadian Taxpayers.

Many years ago Ireland offered low corporate tax for new companies that moved to Ireland. As a result, the Shannon Industrial Center was born and large high tech companies started moving to Ireland in the middle of nowhere right beside Paddy and Mick's sheep farm. The theory was 50% of nothing is nothing but 10% of something is something. The theory clearly worked. Google has now moved to Dublin. Everyone who works for Google in Dublin pays taxes on their wages. It was a win win situation for tax revenue. Giving Boeing an incentive to open a plant in Quebec would be in Canadian's best interest. Boeing is a good business model. They don't waste money.

Update: "The Wall Street Journal reports that Bombardier Inc. has reached a preliminary deal to sell its train division to French rail giant Alstom SA for more than US$7 billion. The reported deal with Alstom would come as little surprise since Bombardier, which is carrying long-term debt of US$9.3 billion, announced last month it was studying its options to accelerate its deleveraging, or reducing debt by selling assets."

"It would add to the list of assets the plane and train maker has sold in the last five years, which includes Q400 turboprop planes, the CRJ regional jet program and the former C Series aircraft. The sale would mean the Quebec company is focusing its business on private jets. Bombardier Transportation is based in Berlin and employs some 1,000 workers at factories in Quebec's Bas-St-Laurent region and in St-Bruno-de-Montarville, on Montreal's South Shore."