statism watch

Associated Press
August 08, 2008

TSKHINVALI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia launched a major military offensive Friday to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, prompting Moscow to send tanks into the region in a furious response that threatens to engulf Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, and Russia in all-out war.

Hundreds were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de-facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Witnesses said the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali was devastated.

“I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars,” said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who had fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. “It’s impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged.”

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CBC News
August 8, 2008

The United States will unveil new border surveillance measures Friday in a move that has one New Democratic MP decrying what he sees as the “weaponization” of the Canada-U.S. frontier.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is slated to open an air and marine border-monitoring outpost just north of the Detroit-Windsor border at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on Lake St. Clair in Michigan.

The $17-million Great Lakes Air and Marine Branch will help fight human and drug smuggling, U.S. officials said. The post will use 11 aircraft, including a Blackhawk helicopter, and five boats to patrol the Great Lakes waterways daily, said Eric Rembold, director of aviation operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Tim Naumetz, The Canadian Press
August 8, 2008

Use of legal action to `silence’ political opposition is undemocratic, professor says in Liberal court file

OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s legal tactics are likened to those of an authoritarian state in court documents filed recently by the Liberal party.

The comparison is made in an affidavit the Liberals filed in defence against a $3.5-million defamation suit Harper launched earlier this year.

The Liberals have also served notice to the Ontario and federal governments they intend to question the constitutionality of Harper’s lawsuit on grounds it is an attempt to muzzle the opposition.

The latest Liberal court filings include an affidavit from University of Toronto professor Peter Russell that argues no Canadian prime minister has sued political opponents for libel despite a history of dramatic accusations during stormy debates in Parliament.

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Paul Joseph Watson, prisonplanet.com
August 8, 2008

IntelCenter and SITE Intelligence Group, two “terrorism monitoring firms” who routinely obtain so-called Al-Qaeda tapes that usually turn out to be completely fraudulent, yesterday released a video purported to feature members of a Chinese Muslim terror group threatening to attack the Olympics.

“The threat, attributed to the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), is contained in a new video which shows a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over a venue to be used for the Beijing Games,” reports Sky News.

“It is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, where security experts say it has received training from al Qaeda.”

Terrorists who routinely threaten to attack global sporting events have a track record of failing to follow up on their promises.

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