statism watch

Harper, believe it or not, actually knows better than this. He studied Hayek for four years, for crying out loud. Whither youthful idealism?

CBC News
November 10, 2008

The federal government and Canada’s provincial and territorial leaders agreed on Monday to speed up infrastructure investment to spur the country’s economy in the face of the global slowdown, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

“We all agreed, I think, that we should see infrastructure spending accelerated,” Harper told reporters after the three-hour working lunch in Ottawa.

“This will help support general economic activity. I am very confident that that is going to occur over the next year.”

(more…)

Polygraphs have been completely discredited. This is just so ridiculous on so many levels.

CBC News
November 10, 2008

Job seekers asked if they’ve had sex with animals or thought of killing themselves

Halifax Regional Municipality is reviewing its practice of using a polygraph test on job applicants after critics questioned why applicants were asked whether they had ever thought of killing themselves or had sex with animals.

Mayor Peter Kelly said Monday that while it’s important to screen potential employees, he felt some of the questions were inappropriate.

“We should be asking what are the valid questions that should be asked and what is important or imperative to the outcome of the job,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he called for the review after the Halifax Chronicle Herald quoted a job applicant saying she was humiliated by questions during a recent polygraph test, including one asking whether she had sex with animals.

(more…)

Nick Allen, The Telegraph
November 10, 2008

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will today set out a five-point plan to create a “stronger and more just” world order in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Mr Brown will call on fellow world leaders to use the current worldwide economic downturn as an opportunity to thoroughly reform international financial institutions and create a new “truly global society” with Britain, the US and Europe providing leadership.

His call comes ahead of an emergency summit of world leaders and finance ministers from 20 major countries, the G20, in Washington next weekend.

Mr Brown will say that the Washington meeting must establish a consensus on a new Bretton Woods-style framework for the international financial system, featuring a reformed International Monetary Fund which will act as a global early-warning system for financial problems.

(more…)

Kim Sengupta, The Independent
November 10, 2008

Britain’s security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall.

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national security.

The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that are deemed to have implications for national security. The ISC is to recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior Whitehall sources.

The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy. Kim Howells, a respected former Foreign Office minister, was recently appointed its chairman. Under the existing voluntary code of conduct, known as the DA-Notice system, the Government can request that the media does not report a story. However, the committee’s members are particularly worried about leaks, which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of which needs to be banned by legislation.

(more…)

Suddenly, ‘conservatives’ are all on board – whatever the central bankers say! We can spend our way to prosperity! (Or hyperinflation, whichever comes first.)

Les Whittington, The Toronto Star
November 10, 2008

A massive economic stimulus package announced by China yesterday offers hope that world leaders can agree on common action to combat the onrushing global recession, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says.

“Certainly, we support the move that China has taken,” Flaherty said yesterday in a telephone news conference from Sao Paulo, Brazil, after a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers.

China, the world’s largest developing economy, said it would spend an estimated $586 billion (U.S.) domestically by 2010 to stimulate demand and offset a slowdown arising from the downturn in business conditions internationally.

The announcement highlighted a commitment by the finance ministers from industrialized and developing nations to move “urgently” to boost government spending and reduce interest rates to stave off a global economic meltdown.

(more…)