statism watch

The careful reader may be forgiven for wondering who the ‘mystery Al-Qaeda bomb-maker’ in Pakistan was… particularly considering it’s impossible to create devices of the nature described in an airline restroom. And yet, we’re still degraded and subject to the degrading spectacle which air travel has become, despite the fact that peanuts and deer routinely kill more people than terrorism per year. This bears some resemblance to the story last year of the ‘terrorists’ that succeeded on setting their car on fire in front of an airport. These are the men before which we’re expected to tremble in fear? How long before it emerges in this case that intelligence operatives were guiding and radicalising this pack of dupes from the beginning as well as simply surveilling them? At least one official seems to think this was the case.

The Guardian
September 8, 2008

Three British men were today convicted of conspiracy to murder following a terrorism inquiry that led to sweeping airport restrictions.

Ringleaders Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, of Walthamstow, east London and Assad Sarwar, 28, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, were found guilty alongside Tanvir Hussain, 27, from Leyton, east London.

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said after today’s convictions that, by disrupting the plans of the three men, police and security services had saved “countless lives”.

The men were among eight accused by prosecutors of plotting to kill more than 1,500 people by smuggling liquid explosives aboard transatlantic planes and detonating them in mid-air.

But the jury did not find any of the defendants guilty of conspiracy to murder on aircraft.

(more…)

Michael Geist, The Toronto Star
September 8, 2008

With a federal election now set for Oct. 14, the coming weeks will be dominated by political debate as each party seeks to make their case to voters across the country.

The election mode marks an important role reversal – after months of Canadians working to gain the attention of their elected officials, those same politicians will be knocking on doors, making phone calls, and participating in all-candidates meetings in an effort to seek them out.

The 2008 election therefore presents an exceptional opportunity to raise the profile of digital issues. Not only do these policies touch on so-called core concerns such as the economy, the environment, education, and health care, but they also resonate with younger Canadians, who could help swing the balance of power in many ridings.

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CBC News
September 8, 2008

But less than the Liberals in previous election

The Conservative government made spending announcements totalling $8.8 billion in the three months before the election was called on Sunday, the Canadian Taxpayers Foundation (CTF) says.

“This is not money being thrown around on the eve of an election,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said recently, noting Parliament had approved all the expenditures.

But the announcements — the bigger ones include Quebec infrastructure, car plants in Ontario, language programs, royalties for Nova Scotia — drew the scorn of the CTF’s B.C. director, Maureen Bader.

The money “is really being used to buy our votes and that’s something really quite despicable. And all these governments seem to do it,” she said.

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This is how it works – you lie, you get spanked by the media, and you come back a year later to try again.

Ian Sample, The Guardian
September 8, 2008

The rise of organic farming and rejection of GM crops in Britain and other developed countries is largely to blame for the impoverishment of Africa, according to the government’s former chief scientist.

Sir David King, who left the job at the end of last year, says anti-scientific attitudes towards modern agriculture are being exported to Africa and holding back a green revolution that could dramatically improve the continent’s food supply.

King, who is due to give the presidential address at the British Association’s Festival of Science in Liverpool this evening, will criticise non-governmental organisations and the UN in his speech for backing traditional farming techniques, which he says cannot provide enough food for the continent’s growing population. “The problem is that the western world’s move toward organic farming – a lifestyle choice for a community with surplus food – and against agricultural technology in general and GM in particular, has been adopted across the whole of Africa, with the exception of South Africa, with devastating consequences.”

Last week, King, who is now director of the Smith school of enterprise and the environment at Oxford University, said genetically modified crops could help Africa mirror the substantial increases in crop production seen in India and China. “What was demonstrated [there] was that modern agricultural technologies can multiply crop production per hectare by factors of seven to 10.” But traditional techniques could “not deliver the food for the burgeoning population of Africa”.

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Glenn Somerville, Reuters News
September 8, 2008

Government takes over mortgage firms in bid to support housing market and calm foreign fears

WASHINGTON–The U.S. government yesterday seized control of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in what could be the biggest federal bailout in U.S. history.

The government made the long-anticipated move in a bid to support the U.S. housing market and ward off more global financial market turbulence.

“Our economy and our markets will not recover until the bulk of this housing correction is behind us,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said at a news conference yesterday. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are critical to turning the corner on housing.”

The two companies, publicly traded but also serving a government mission to support housing, were put in a conservatorship that allows their stock to keep trading but puts common shareholders last in any claims.

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Gina Cavallaro, Army Times
September 8, 2008

3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army

The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

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Corinne Buchser, Swissinfo.ch
September 8, 2008

An organisation is calling for the introduction in Switzerland of nationwide standards for parenting courses.

The demand by the Swiss Federation for Parent Education (SBE) has raised concerns that parents will soon be legally obliged to attend further education classes.

But Andy Tschümperlin, SBE president and a member of parliament for the centre-left Social Democrats, tells swissinfo the goal is not to interfere in parents’ private lives.

swissinfo: Can one learn to become a good parent?

Andy Tschümperlin: Yes, I’m convinced you can. There are phases in which all parents reach their limits with their children: after the birth, when they start school or during puberty.

Parenting has become a greater challenge today especially when one’s child is going through puberty. Based on my experience as a teacher, I know that many parents don’t know what to do and need support.

Therefore it makes sense to be able to question your own parenting technique and exchange experiences with other parents and experts in courses. The variety of further education studies on offer shows that there is a need for coordinated, unified laws at the federal level.

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