statism watch

Edmund Conway, The Telegraph
January 12, 2009

The Bank of England will be able to print extra money without having legally to declare it under new plans which will heighten fears that the Government will secretly pump extra cash into the economy.

The Government is set to throw out the 165-year old law that obliges the Bank to publish a weekly account of its balance sheet – a move that will allow it theoretically to embark covertly on so-called quantitative easing. The Banking Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, abolishes a key section of the law laid down by Robert Peel’s Government in 1844 which originally granted the Bank the sole right to print UK money.

The ostensible reason for the reform, which means the Bank will not have to print details of its own accounts and the amount of notes and coins flowing through the UK economy, is to allow the Bank more power to overhaul troubled financial institutions in the future, under its Special Resolution Authority.

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They can’t have it. If the Panama Canal and Suez canal have been repatriated, what’s the difficulty with the concept that a natural canal that runs through Canada’s landmass is in fact a part of Canada? If we need the assistance of your gunboats in the Passage, we’ll give you a call.

Canadian Press
January 12, 2009

A new United States policy on the Arctic is a powerful challenge for Canadians to establish their control over the area before the Americans do it for them, says a leading academic.

“This is a very clear message to the world that the Americans are saying to the world, `We’re back,’ when it comes to Arctic security,” said Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary.

American President George W. Bush signed the new Arctic policy – the first such document in the U.S. since 1994 – on Friday and released it late Monday afternoon.

The 10-page paper, which comes only weeks after the European Union released a similar report, is forthright about U.S. intentions to protect its security and remain a major player in the Arctic without regard to Canadian or other international sensitivities.

“Freedom of the seas is a top national priority. The Northwest Passage is a strait used for international navigation,” it says.

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A single source of information should make it easier for Flaherty to report back to the IMF. He has made it quite clear that he supports handing oversight of Canada’s financial affairs over to that unelected international body. One should hope we won’t be subjected to the mercies of the IMF and World Bank. We don’t need that kind of help. Here’s a simple solution to the problem that avoids any further centralization of the economy: enforce the fraud laws. Surely, elected legislators are capable of having a debate on the issue.

CBC News
January 12, 2009

The global financial crisis heightens the need for a single national securities regulator, the head of a panel appointed by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday.

“With the clouds of a global financial crisis gathering we must get our act together — not ’some day’ but right now,” Tom Hockin said in the prepared text of his speech to members of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

“That is why, unlike previous studies of this subject, we propose that if after a reasonable time, a province or territory still choose to not join in this new regime, market participants in those non-participating regions should have the opportunity to opt in directly and reap the benefits of a single, national regulator,” he said.

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Jaspreet Tambar, Toronto Star
January 12, 2009

Despite flurry of criticism over 1999 decision to use military during storm, former mayor stands by call

As Environment Canada predicts more snow this week along with temperatures plunging to nearly –20C, Mel Lastman is warmly recalling his decision 10 years ago to call in the military to fight a snowstorm.

It was January 1999, with the city buried under a metre of snow, when the then-mayor delighted the rest of the country by drafting Canadian soldiers to battle drifts and liberate buried bus shelters.

“We arranged it so that senior citizens could go around the corner to get milk, so that people could get on the TTC,” he said recently.

David Gunn, the former head of the city’s transit commission, knew that Toronto would be mocked.

“People made fun of it, but on the other hand we used them,” Gunn said.

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The plan, which requires submitting health and mental health information as well, will archive these records for seventy-five years. This new requirement excludes Canada, but extends to many European, Asian, and Scandinavian countries among others. The full list is available here.

Stephanie Condon, CNet News
January 12, 2009

Starting Monday, travelers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, and a host of other countries will have to register online with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security before they can travel into the United States.

As part of its efforts to use technology to improve border security, the DHS is mandating that travelers from any of the 35 countries in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program apply online for an Electronic System of Travel Authorization before boarding a plane to the U.S. Previously, visitors from those countries were only required to fill out the I-94W form on flights to the U.S. for trips shorter than 90 days.

The ESTA applications collect the same information as the I-94W form and check it against DHS databases to determine whether a traveler poses a law enforcement or security risk. That information includes biographical data like birth date and passport information, as well as information regarding communicable diseases, arrests, convictions for certain crimes, and mental disorders that spur behavior that may pose a threat to others.

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Yes – make sure you and your child are comfortable and well-conditioned to the idea of being constantly tracked by GPS. That’s the kind of freedom we can expect from now on as this is further marketed and normalized – an electronic dog tag. Thanks, early adopters.

Bobbie Johnson, The Guardian
January 12, 2009

For years, parents have been limited to traditional methods of keeping track of their children’s movements: standing in the playground, watching from the window, or asking them to phone home when they visit a friend’s house. But now anxious mothers and fathers are being offered a distinctly hi-tech method of monitoring their child’s every movement - tracking them by satellite.

Launched this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the Num8 watch from British company Lok8u is said to be the first tracking device specifically designed to help parents keep tabs on wayward offspring.

The £149 Num8 looks much like any ordinary digital wristwatch, but it houses a GPS chip similar to that contained inside a satnav unit. This constantly keeps tabs on the location of the child - it is accurate to within 3 metres – and beams it back to Num8’s website for monitoring.

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Sara Lepro, The Associated Press
January 12, 2009

NEW YORK — Citigroup and Morgan Stanley may announce as early as Monday a deal to combine their brokerages, a move analysts say could trigger a fresh wave of consolidation in the troubled and thinning banking industry.

The potential deal between Citi and Morgan Stanley underscores the problems still facing the industry after a year in which several well-known financial firms toppled under the weight of rising losses tied to bad mortgages.

The move would create the largest retail brokerage and mark the boldest step in dismantling what was the world’s biggest financial services conglomerate. For Citi, securing a joint venture deal with Morgan Stanley would be an easier move than selling assets at a bad time. Few buyers have the cash available to buy Smith Barney outright.

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