After the recent Paris terror attacks, the French government is proposing to forbid and block the use of the Tor anonymity network, according to an internal document from the Ministry of Interior seen by French newspaper Le Monde.

That document lays out two proposed pieces of legislation, one around the state of emergency, and the other concerning counter-terrorism.

In the former, the French government is considering to "Forbid free and shared wi-fi connections" during a state of emergency. This comes from a police opinion included in the document: the reason being that it is apparently difficult to track individuals who use public wi-fi networks.

The latter piece of legislation, meanwhile, says the government is considering "to block or forbid communications of the Tor network." The legislation, according to Le Monde, could be presented as early as January 2016.

Tor is a network of servers maintained by volunteers, which route a user's traffic through several different points, obfuscating their original, and perhaps identifying, IP address. At first a project from the US Navy, and now attempting to diversify its funding, Tor has become more popular recently, especially after the 2013 Snowden revelations around various mass surveillance programs.

It is used by journalists, whistleblowers and people who just want to protect their privacy online, as well as terrorists, pedophiles, and cybercriminals.

The internal document reviewed by Le Monde suggests that the French government may propose legislative measures as well as technological ones against Tor.

The U.S.-Canada border is the likely path for terrorists to invade the country, according to top national security experts and Congress' most comprehensive review of America's 19,000 miles of coasts and land borders.

"The nexus between known or suspected terrorists in eastern Canada and the northern parts of the U.S. represent [sic] a significant national security threat," said a new report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a conclusion reached as Canada decided to settle 25,000 Syrian refugees by March.

"The border is not secure," Sen. Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the committee, told Secrets. He included the southern border, where he said that drug cartels are teaming with "potentially Islamic terror organizations."

He raised concerns about the rushed refugee plans of new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It is a concern with the new prime minister, Trudeau, opening up his border to refugees. They can come into America, so I would say that increases our risk," Johnson said.

His panel's new 100-page report, show in pdf form at the end of this story, is based on dozens of hearings, interviews and trips, cites terror arrests in Canada and U.S. border states of Islamic State threats and quotes several experts raising concerns about how easy it is for illegal immigrants and terrorists to cross in from Canada. "Security observers have argued that Canada represents a substantial vulnerability, because it provides immigrant visas to individuals who pose a significant threat," said the report, "The State of America's Border Security."

"Witnesses testified before the committee that if someone gets into Canada, they will most likely be able to enter the U.S." And for thousands of miles of border, for most there is only a shallow ditch and forestlands to stop them. "There is currently no fencing on the northern border. Instead, the demarcation line between the two countries is often marked by a ditch, approximately six inches deep," says the report.

One point we've been keen on driving home as the war in Syria intensifies is that while the sheer number of combatants and the overt involvement of at least seven world powers certainly means that among the many conflicts raging in the Mid-East, the war in Syria is the fight that matters most for the non-Arab world, it's important not to miss the forest for the trees.

That is, it's critical to see the bigger picture here, and that entails understanding how Syria is related to the conflicts raging in Iraq, Yemen, and to a lesser extent, Afghanistan. Iran is determined to expand its regional influence. Tehran is the power broker in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and it's no coincidence that the Houthis in Yemen are backed by the Iranians and neither is it a coincidence that Iran is rumored to be funneling weapons and money to its old enemy the Taliban in Afghanistan. This is about checking the spread of Sunni extremism and, concurrently, curtailing and diminishing Saudi influence. While Iran and the Taliban make for strange bedfellows (the militants are, after all, Sunni extremists), Tehran is determined to check the spread of Islamic State and with the IRGC, Hezbollah, and the Quds-controlled Shiite militias already fighting ISIS on two fronts (Syria and Iraq), the Ayatollah isn't particularly thrilled about the prospect of an expanded ISIS presence on its eastern border. Supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan (with whom Iran nearly went to war in 1998), should help to check ISIS gains in the country and has the added benefit of keeping the US off guard which itself speaks to how quickly alliances can change as it was just 12 years ago that Iran assisted the US in picking Taliban and al-Qaeda targets (read more here).

The Hegemon's quest for world domination is made possible by an unquestioning public

This week's selection is a text from the updated edition of Alexander Zinoviev's semi-autobiographical 'Confessions of a Renegade', published in Russian in 2008. The earliest version of this work was first published in 1990.

In the publisher's note to this 2008 edition the work is described as having the qualities of a) a novel of adventure, b) a deeply scientific tract. The text in question has features of b) rather than a).

At the time of writing I am unable to put an exact date on when the text was written, but I suspect from the contents that it was written probably before he returned to Russia in 1999. I have chosen it because it briefly outlines a twin theme that runs like a thread through his entire output, namely the nature of Soviet communism and the West's inability to understand it.

Ever since the Russians began dropping real bombs on real ISIS targets in Syria, the United States and NATO have been forced to engage in a two-sided propaganda campaign that swears opposition to ISIS while simultaneously doing everything it can to facilitate and protect ISIS forces on the ground. It has also found itself in the bizarre position of trying to facilitate the death squad army while, at the same time, attempting to play catch-up to the Russians in at least the appearance of bombing ISIS.

Thus, when Russian forces truly hit at one of the sources of ISIS funding - the captured oil being shipped from Syria and Iraq to Turkey where it is purchased by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's son, Bilal - the United States must then engage in its own faux bombing campaign against ISIS oil trucks.

Canada's Governor General David Johnston has promised to legalize recreational marijuana, reiterating the pledge made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his election campaign.

Johnston said in a Friday throne speech released by local media that "the government will introduce legislation that will provide greater support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault; that will get handguns and assault weapons off our streets; and that will legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana."

Trudeau's promise to launch a process that would lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana contributed to the Liberal Party's victory in the October 19 general election. Unlike Johnston, the new prime minister, who is the leader of the Liberal Party, never mentioned restricting access to marijuana.

Marijuana procession is illegal in most countries, with China, France and Norway having some of the strictest cannabis laws.

Canada is among the countries with the least restrictive laws on marijuana. Although the possession, sale and cultivation of cannabis is illegal in the country, it is tolerated in some cities. Marijuana use for medical or industrial purposes is legal in Canada with government issued license.

The wannabe Sultan Erdogan did not get his will in Syria where he had planned to capture and annex Aleppo. The Russians prevented that. He now goes for his secondary target, Mosul in Iraq, which many Turks see as a historic part of their country:

At the end of World War I in October 1918, after the signature of the Armistice of Mudros, British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and the surrounding area became part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (1918-1920), and shortly Mandatory Iraq (1920-1932). This mandate was contested by Turkey which continued to claim the area based on the fact that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice. In the Treaty of Lausanne, the dispute over Mosul was left for future resolution by the League of Nations. Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain in 1926. Former Ottoman Mosul Vilayet eventually became Nineveh Province of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital.

Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city with about a million inhabitants, is currently occupied by the Islamic State.

A touching look at the human side of the headlines as the historic French town of Calais becomes the reluctant host to thousands of refugees fleeing war and terror in Africa and the Middle East. People had set out for the UK; instead languish here in tents and make-shift huts where their journey reaches a dead end. Unable to cross the British border legally, many take extreme risks for a chance to make the crossing as stowaways. Local police wage a constant battle to prevent the refugees from getting into the tunnel while the local population is becoming increasingly polarised on the issue.

The squalid camp that the refugees call home has been dubbed, "the jungle" and the French government leaves it to its own devices. What little help they get comes from various independent charities. The refugees try to make the most of their circumstances, with some setting up shops and other amenities in the tent town. Many utilise existing skills to provide a service for the community such as cooking or hairdressing. Every one though is desperate for a real job, many have professional qualifications or are university educated but with high levels of unemployment among the local population, the migrants' opportunities are few and far between.

Goldman Sachs has closed its loss making BRIC fund, but the celebrations in New York and London are premature because the BRICS countries are doing just fine.
The western media loves penning obituaries of the BRICS group. The problem is these notices are being published far too often to be convincing. Clearly, if an obit appears not just once, not twice but multiple times, then you are entitled to question the judgement and agenda of these writers.

Below is a small sample of headlines from well-known media outlets on November 11, 2015. Even by the generally unbalanced standards of these publications, it was an overdose of slanted reporting:

*Why the Mighty BRIC Nations Have Finally Broken - TIME.

*The rise and fall of the BRICS - Washington Post.

*The Rapid Rise And Fall Of The BRICS - Forbes.

*BRICs was doomed from the start - The Australian Financial Review.

*Is It Time to Put Away the BRICS? - The Diplomat.

If a global war breaks out, here are the key factors that could decide the outcome in Russia's favour.
In June 2014, the Pentagon conducted a "table top" exercise - a sort of war game between Russia and NATO. The scenario was Russian pressure on NATO member Estonia and Latvia. Would NATO be able to defend those countries?

"The results were dispiriting," Julia Ioffe writes in Foreign Policy. Even if all US and NATO troops stationed in Europe were dispatched to the Baltics - including the 82nd Airborne, which is supposed to be ready to go on 24 hours' notice - the US would lose.

"We just don't have those forces in Europe," explains a senior US general. "Then there's the fact that the Russians have the world's best surface-to-air missiles and are not afraid to use heavy artillery."

The Russian 'victory' was not a one-off. The Americans conducted the exercise as many as 16 times, under various scenarios, all favourable to NATO, always with the same conclusion. The Russians were simply invincible.