statism watch

Massive centralization of power in the name of government control of the economy to result in stimulus – but not of the desired sort. As Mr. Dylan wrote, it’s “Sundown on the Union”.

Terence Corcoran, Financial Post
December 8, 2008

When it comes to governments sinking their teeth into the economy, the words ‘blood infusion’ don’t naturally come to mind

U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, in comments over the weekend, signalled his priorities: Never mind deficits, we need more government spending. “We’ve got to provide a blood infusion” to the U.S. economy, he said. “And that means we can’t worry short-term about the deficit.” He promised public works projects on a scale not seen since the U.S. interstate highway spending in the 1950s. Washington may also soon end up owning major chunks of Detroit’s auto industry, on top of its current banking stakes and controls. With politicians everywhere, Mr. Obama aims to promote economic activity and growth by increasing government control and by providing vast injections of what is now familiar to every citizen of the world as “stimulus.” Even stock market analysts appear to be caught up in the effectiveness of government stimulus, quickly concluding yesterday that Mr. Obama’s comments prompted a sharp rise in the Dow Jones and other market indicators. Lord help us.

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Of course, the TASER had nothing to do with this man’s heart failure whilst being TASERed. It was, of course, his own fault for being so unhealthy. Who are we to suggest otherwise? TASER International cannot be held accountable for pre-existing manufactured health conditions. (StatismWatch values the derisive power of sarcasm.)

No causal connection? Are we to trust the testimony of the government doctor? Dr. Sam Andrews is Assistant Chief Medical Officer for Alberta… that would not be my first candidate to head an independent medical inquiry. Excited delerium? Are people still falling for made-up syndromes? Did this police officer have excited delerium as well? In Columbia, the militarized police just say that all blunt force trauma injuries are self-inflicted. Wouldn’t that be more believable?

CBC News
December 8, 2008

A Red Deer, Alta., man who died after police zapped him three times with a stun gun had a pre-existing heart condition, a fatality inquiry heard Monday.

Jason Doan, a 28-year-old pipeline worker, was also in a state of “excited delirium,” which can cause someone to become combative, as well as experience higher pain tolerance and increased strength, testified Dr. Sam Andrews, who performed the autopsy.

Andrews was the first witness called in the inquiry being held in a Red Deer courtroom.

Doan didn’t die as a result of the Taser — his heart condition and his state of “excited delirium” were the two main factors that contributed to his death, said the doctor.

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Let’s have a look at Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford, and Munk Centre alumnus Mr. Ignatieff’s background: “Ignatieff has written extensively on international development, peacekeeping and the international responsibilities of Western nations. Critical of the limited-risk approach practiced by NATO in conflicts like the Kosovo War and the Rwandan Genocide, he says that there should be more active involvement and larger scale deployment of land forces by Western nations in future conflicts in the developing world. His position has come to define modern liberal humanitarian interventionism; Ignatieff distinguishes his approach from Neo-conservativism because the motives of the foreign engagement he advocates are essentially altruistic rather than selfserving… Ignatieff has argued that Western democracies may have to resort to “lesser evils” like indefinite detention of suspects, coercive interrogations, targeted assassinations, and pre-emptive wars in order to combat the greater evil of terrorism… Since his election to Parliament, Ignatieff has been one of the few opposition members supporting the minority Conservative government’s commitment to Canadian military activity in Afghanistan.” Ah, good intentions. Where do those get us again? Order through chaos, Iggy – global order through chaos.

Bruce Campion-Smith, Joanna Smith, Toronto Star
December 8, 2008

Party fast-tracks bid to install him at helm as Dion’s replacement

OTTAWA–Michael Ignatieff could be crowned Liberal leader in a matter of days.

The Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP is expected to emerge the victor from a stripped-down leadership contest designed to get a new leader in place by the end of January for Parliament’s return.

It now appears current leader Stéphane Dion will step aside and Ignatieff will be appointed “interim” leader of the Liberal party at Wednesday’s caucus meeting. That’s when MPs and senators, meeting behind closed doors, are expected to give their stamp of approval to the former academic.

“It’s certainly looking that way,” one Ignatieff supporter said last night.

There is also expectation that one of Ignatieff’s rivals, New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, will drop out of the race, perhaps as early as today.

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Re-education, the police state way.

Tania Branigan, Toronto Star
December 8, 2008

Claims that at least 18 people who complained about issues such as police brutality are being held against their will in psychiatric hospitals

Local officials in China appear to be increasingly using forcible psychiatric treatment to silence critics, a leading expert said today amid claims that at least 18 complainants were held in a mental hospital in Shandong province against their will.

Authorities in Xintai district committed people who had pursued grievances ranging from police brutality to property disputes, according to the Beijing News, well known for its investigative journalism. Some were force-fed drugs.

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A confession? After years in CIA captivity, and right before the trial is about to begin. Right. Dead men – and those who’ve become vegetables from years of torture and isolation – tell no tales.

Michelle Shephard, Toronto Star
December 8, 2008

GUANTANAMO BAY — The five captives accused of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and jointly charged with 2,973 counts of murder have said they want to quickly confess to the crime and stop the “drama” of the war crimes trials here.

In a letter a military judge read aloud in court Monday, the five men wrote that they wanted to plead guilty, stunning spectators and the nine family members of 9/11 victims who were brought here for what was expected to be a pre-trial hearing on legal motions.

“It seemed like a real bombshell to me,” said Alice Hoagland, whose son Mark Bingham died aboard United Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field.

Hoagland said she cherished this opportunity to see the alleged senior Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four co-accused because it was a “historic” moment, but that it doesn’t help in her healing.

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Just to be clear – this man ran one of the largest intelligence outfits in the Middle East, for a country that is essentially a client state of the US. He probably knows a little about staged events and their use in manipulating public opinion. Naturally, having just had the closest thing to a democratic election they’ve seen in years, and in the midst of having their tribal areas bombed by the US, they want out. It’s unlikely, however, that the ISI – an extension of the CIA in the Middle East – is an innocent party. They’ve been implicated in just this sort of attack in recent memory, although Gul disavows the connection in the story below.

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
December 8, 2008

Hamid Gul tells CNN that neo-cons, zionists were behind terror attacks

General Hamid Gul, the former head of the Pakistani ISI, told CNN yesterday that both the Mumbai attacks and 9/11 were “inside jobs,” much to the chagrin of host and CFR luminary Fareed Zakaria, who told viewers that Gul’s opinions were “absolutely wrong and thoroughly discredited”.

“When you look at the full spectrum of possibilities, who could have done it, then one knows that Samjhauta Express was a similar case, in which Pakistan ISI was accused. But it turned out that it was the militant Hindus themselves who had killed 68 passengers in that train, and that it was an inside job,” said Gul.

“Now Colonel Srikant Purohit, who is a serving army officer, he has been caught in this particular case. And the whole thing has turned around.”

“So, obviously, there is an inside job.”

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