statism watch

Michelle Shepherd, Toronto Star
September 4, 2008

Lawyers for Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr have lost their bid to have his charges dismissed due to unlawful political influence.

The military judge presiding over the Canadian’s case ruled Thursday that senior Pentagon official Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann did not improperly advise military prosecutors concerning Khadr’s case.

Hartmann’s conduct as a legal advisor for Guantanamo’s war crimes trials has come under intense scrutiny this year and two military judges presiding over cases of other detainees had already excluded him from the proceedings.

At a pre-trial hearing for Khadr last month, Hartmann was described as overbearing and tactless and alleged to have overstepped his role as legal advisor to become the “defacto chief prosecutor.”

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Michelle Shepherd, Toronto Star
September 4, 2008

Watchdog agency will examine actions of spy service at Guantanamo

Canada’s Supreme Court called its conduct illegal.

Video footage put its interrogations on display for the world to see.

And now the actions of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in the case of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr will be reviewed by an Ottawa watchdog agency.

The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) announced yesterday it will launch a review into how Canada’s spy service was involved in the Khadr case.

“There has been a growing sense that there’s a lot of public interest in Mr. Khadr’s situation,” the committee’s executive director Susan Pollak said.

The report is expected to be completed by early next year and will go directly to the public safety minister and CSIS director.
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John Ward, Canadian Press
September 4, 2008

OTTAWA–The practice in some government agencies of flagging potentially embarrassing access to information requests as “sensitive” can lead to unfair delays in its release, says Information Commissioner Robert Marleau.

Marleau says he has extracted a promise from government institutions that they will speed up handling of such requests.

The ruling, which followed a three-year investigation, partly upholds a complaint from the Canadian Newspaper Association.

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Noor Javed, Toronto Star
September 4, 2008

Plastic-bottle chemical may alter neurological links required for learning and memory, study finds

Prolonged exposure to bisphenol A, a controversial chemical commonly found in plastic bottles and food containers, may affect the brain’s ability to create neurological connections needed for learning and memory, researchers say.

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that low doses of bisphenol A impaired the creation of synapses in the brain, affecting neurons’ ability to communicate.

“The ability of the brain to remain plastic and to respond to things by changing its connection is a critical part of brain function, it’s important for learning and memory, it’s important for mood swings, for depression,” said Neil MacLusky, a biomedical professor at the University of Guelph. “It dramatically impairs the formation of synapses in the regions of the brain where such processes take place.”

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Brian Laghi, The Globe and Mail
September 4, 2008

In testimony in his libel suit against the Liberal Party of Canada, the PM says offer of life insurance policy preposterous

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he gave his chief party organizer the okay to meet with the late Chuck Cadman in 2005 and make an offer of electoral assistance in return for rejoining the caucus and helping to defeat the then-Liberal government.

Mr. Harper made the remarks in testimony in his $3.5-million libel suit against the Liberal Party of Canada. The controversy broke earlier this year in a biography about Mr. Cadman, in which his widow, Dona, says her husband told her he was offered a $1-million life insurance policy in return for his vote.

The Prime Minister said in documents filed Wednesday in the Ontario Superior Court that he gave his authorization to Doug Finley for the meeting after learning that Mr. Cadman, who eventually voted to save the Liberal government, was having financial difficulties and was afraid of losing his seat in the election.

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BBC News
September 4, 2008

Pakistan has condemned an alleged raid by foreign troops based in Afghanistan which officials say killed at least 15 villagers in a north-west tribal area.

The South Waziristan raid would be the first ever ground assault into Pakistan by foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Pakistan says the raid was a violation of its sovereignty. On Thursday a US missile killed at least five people in nearby North Waziristan, officials say.

US-led and Nato forces have said they have no reports of any troop incursion.

But off the record, US military sources confirm that US commandoes carried out Wednesday’s raid against a suspected al-Qaeda target – and say it could signal a tougher approach to cross-border militancy.

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CBC News
September 4, 2008

U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney pledged his country’s continued support and assistance for Georgia’s “courageous young democracy” on Thursday in his first visit to the former Soviet republic since its recent conflict with Russia.

Cheney’s visit comes just after the U.S. announced a $1-billion aid package for Georgia, which was overwhelmed in brief, yet fierce battles with Russian forces after its attempt to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia on Aug. 7.

“Americans are acutely conscious of the great trials your country has faced over the last four weeks and we stand in solidarity with the people of Georgia,” Cheney told Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at a joint press conference in the capital Tbilisi.

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