statism watch

As Gwynne Dyer points out, this is a public relations exercise. “Of course they’ll have the numbers,” he said. “It will be the guys who aren’t in Afghanistan, and they’re going to be out there looking pretty, on the streets … for traffic control, crowd control. Public exposure, you know? There’s no downside.” Will the conditioning take in Vancouver? Will they begin to think of troops in the streets as … normal?

Flashback: Tanks, Face-Scanning Cameras Part of ‘Discreet’ 2010 Games Security

Rod Mickleburgh, Globe and Mail
January 31, 2009

VANCOUVER – With frigates in the harbour and jets zooming overhead next month during the first active Olympic security exercise, residents here will not need a reminder that Canada’s hard-pressed military will play a major role in one of the largest peacetime security operations in the country’s history.

An estimated 4,000 members of the armed forces will be seconded to Olympic duties in 2010 — far more than the 2,500 to 2,800 military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.

There are concerns that the simultaneous needs of both military operations could strain existing resources. Earlier this month, Colonel Christopher Coates, head of the Air Division, expressed worries about having to juggle helicopter demands for Afghanistan and Olympic duties at the same time.

(more…)

Protests do not need to be ‘sanctioned’. Our leaders are not our rulers.

Reuters
January 31, 2009

MOSCOW/VLADIVOSTOK – Thousands of opposition supporters marched in Moscow and the far east port of Vladivostok on Saturday during a national day of protest over hardships caused by the global financial crisis.

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party also drew thousands to rallies in support of government anti-crisis measures.

Nearly every major city had a street rally, making it a public action of unusual scale for the vast country. Though the protesters were relatively few in number, the Kremlin is sensitive to public criticism of its policies.

In the Pacific port of Vladivostok the Communist Party led around 2,000 peaceful protesters, some carrying banners that read “Kremlin, we are against you“, on an unsanctioned march under the watchful eye of police.

(more…)

Flashback: Commission to Probe Graves at Native ‘Residential School’ Sites

CBC News
January 30, 2009

Search to begin immediately for 3 new candidates

The two remaining commissioners on the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission have stated their intentions to resign, launching a search for three new people to serve on the commission.

On Friday, commissioners Claudette Dumont-Smith and Jane Morley indicated they will step aside from their roles effective June 1.

“It was a great honour to have been chosen as commissioners,” Dumont-Smith and Morley stated in a joint press release. “However, we have become convinced that the time has come for us to step aside and let others take on this demanding but rewarding mission.”

(more…)

CBC News
January 30, 2009

Thousands of protesters flooded onto one of Toronto’s busiest downtown streets at rush hour on Friday in opposition to a Sri Lankan government offensive aimed at crushing the separatist Tamil Tigers.

The protesters formed a human chain outside Union Station, a main transit point for commuters catching trains, subways and buses out of the downtown core.

The flood of protesters and commuter traffic clogged the area as the rally began to disperse at 6 p.m.

The protesters gathered along several kilometres of slushy sidewalks in the downtown core beginning around noon, chanting slogans such as “we want peace” and “help us, Canada”. They remained in the area as commuters tried to reach Union Station at the end of the workday and police directed pedestrians and traffic through the area.

(more…)

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
January 30, 2009

Carter slammed Bush administration for exploiting attacks in 2004

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has become the latest, and perhaps most prominent, public figure to express support for a new investigation into the 9/11 attacks.

We Are Change Ohio attended a book signing by the former President in Chicago. Despite the best efforts of secret service personnel to abduct the person recording the conversation, the audio of Carter’s words were still captured.

Carter was asked, “I was just wondering if you’d support the victims’ family members that want a new investigation into 9/11.”

Carter clarifies the question before responding, “Yeah, I don’t have anything to do with it but I certainly would….it would be nice.”

Watch the clip below.

(more…)

Megan Ogilvie, Toronto Star
January 30, 2009

A scientific debate over the health risks and benefits of farm-fresh milk took over a Newmarket court today.

Dairy farmer Michael Schmidt called on two expert witnesses to testify to the inherent safety of raw milk and its myriad health benefits for consumers.

Ronald Hull, an expert in dairy microbiology from Victoria, Australia, took the stand this morning to confirm the health benefits of raw milk. Untreated milk, he told the court, contains beneficial bacteria that boost human immune systems and protect the milk itself from pathogens.

(more…)

Is this not exactly the same set-up as all the ‘private clubs’ allow their patrons to smoke indoors, once a membership has been purchased? Going to the length of signing a contract means the onus is on you to know what you’re getting into. Civil law in Canada is done if they can’t even recognize that principle any more. Marc Emery should phone this guy, at least milk plays better in the media.

Megan Ogilvie, Toronto Star
January 30, 2009

A cow-share membership program does not allow Michael Schmidt to skirt mandatory pasteurization laws and distribute milk straight from the cow, prosecutors told a Newmarket court yesterday.

“It isn’t a defence of these charges,” said Allen Ryan, a lawyer for the Ministry of Natural Resources, which laid 17 charges against the maverick dairy farmer from Durham, Ont. The cow-share program is simply “a preferred customer list” for people who want — and who pay for — raw milk, Ryan said in his closing arguments.

Schmidt, who is defending himself against 20 charges for selling and distributing unpasteurized milk, maintains he is not selling raw milk and that his cow-share program does not break the law. The prohibition against raw milk does not apply to farmers, and Schmidt says each of his some 150 cow-share members, who purchase a $300 membership and pay $3 for each litre of raw milk, simply board their animals at his farm.

(more…)

“The krona is dead. We need a new currency. The only serious option is the euro,” said a senior Icelandic official.

See also: Zimbabwe.

Ian Traynor, Valur Gunnarsson, The Guardian
January 30, 2009

Plan for cash-strapped state to become member by 2011

Iceland will be put on a fast track to joining the European Union to rescue the small Arctic state from financial collapse amid rising expectations that it will apply for membership within months, senior policy-makers in Brussels and Reykjavik have told the Guardian.

The European commission is preparing itself for a membership bid, depending on the outcome of a snap general election expected in May. An application would be viewed very favourably in Brussels and the negotiations, which normally take many years, would be fast-forwarded to make Iceland the EU’s 29th member in record time, probably in 2011.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of enlargement, said: “The EU prefers two countries joining at the same time rather than individually. If Iceland applies shortly and the negotiations are rapid, Croatia and Iceland could join the EU in parallel. On Iceland, I hope I will be busier. It is one of the oldest democracies in the world and its strategic and economic positions would be an asset to the EU.”

(more…)

That’s one less thing for Iraqi citizens to worry about, at least. Unfortunately, it also means those thrown out of work will probably find new jobs in law enforcement on the streets of the US.

Matthew Lee, Associated Press
January 30, 2009

WASHINGTON – The State Department will not renew Blackwater Worldwide’s contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

The official told The Associated Press that the contract will expire because of the Iraqi government’s decision to deny Blackwater a license to operate. The Iraqis informed the State Department last week of the cancellation, which was made amid lingering outrage over a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

The official said that renewing the contract was “basically a moot point because they were not going to be allowed to operate in Iraq anyway.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has yet to be announced.

(more…)

CBC News
January 29, 2009

Three RCMP officers slammed by a judge for deliberately losing or destroying video surveillance tape alleged to show the “torture” of a handcuffed man with a Taser will not face an internal code of conduct investigation.

Senior Mounties have reviewed the judge’s ruling, and the officer’s loss or destruction of evidence was not considered serious enough for such an investigation, RCMP spokesperson Annie Linteau says.

Instead, at least one of the officers would be given “guidance” as a form of discipline, said Linteau.

(more…)