statism watch

This is of particular interest: In the context of a question on the proposed national regulator, Harper verifies that the rationale is greater oversight by some unnamed global bodies. “I attended a G20 meeting in November, and will be attending another in April, where the focus of the world, is how we have better international coordination and peer review of national regulatory systems.” Nations are sovereign, Steve, whatever globalist fads you’ve subscribed to. And real money – as opposed to the manipulable fiat shadow of a currency we’ve been conned into using – needs no ‘co-ordination’.

John Ivison, National Post
January 15, 2009

National Post columnist John Ivison spoke with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his Parliament Hill office Thursday afternoon. Here is the transcript of their conversation:

John Ivison: There was a poll out today that suggests only one in four thinks your government is doing a good job and that the majority of people have little confidence in this government — or I guess any government — making things better. We’re in the teeth of the storm and millions of Canadians are worried about their jobs. Is it your opinion that the government can make things better?

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CBC News
January 15, 2009

The RCMP’s civilian watchdog will investigate every case in which a person died after being struck by a Mountie Taser, the group’s chair said Thursday.

Paul Kennedy, head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, said he wants to discover whether officers followed their own rules for the weapons, and whether those rules are stringent enough.

The commission previously investigated the stun guns in 2007 by examining more than 4,000 RCMP reports, each one filed every time one of the force’s officers used the weapon.

That investigation led Kennedy to conclude the RCMP was increasingly relying on the device in cases where a less drastic response was appropriate, including in situations involving the stunning of children, the elderly and people in handcuffs.

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It’s payback time for resisting the EU. The new plan will ‘enable’ travellers to be checked against watch lists wherever they go. The lords can’t have the proles moving about freely – for their security, you must understand. But that’s neither ‘enabling’ nor ennobling.

Alan Travis, The Guardian
January 15, 2009

Tighter border controls on air and sea routes to end 80 years’ free movement

Fifteen million a people a year who travel by air or sea between Britain and the Irish Republic will face formal passport checks for the first time in more than 80 years, under immigration legislation published today .

But no compulsory passport checks are to be imposed on the 224-mile land border between the republic and Northern Ireland, although ad hoc “intelligence-led” immigration checks will be carried out by mobile teams of Border Agency staff.

Ministers say the proposal in the citizenship and immigration bill will “plug a critical gap” in Britain’s border security as they introduce the multibillion pound “electronic border” over the next five years. The programme will enable travellers to be checked against watch lists before they get on the plane or ferry.

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Ibrahim Barzak, Amy Teibel, Associated Press
January 15, 2009

AZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip today, engulfing the compound and a warehouse in fire and destroying a large stockpile of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees.

UN workers and Palestinian firefighters, some wearing bulletproof jackets, struggled to douse the flames and pull bags of food aid from the debris.

Israeli officials said their forces were fired on from the compound by Hamas guerrillas.

UN officials at the scene dismissed the Israeli claim as “nonsense.”

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“We want to get those shovels in the ground sooner rather than later,” Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said. “We don’t want the recession to be over by the time we get infrastructure dollars spent.” Indeed, that would be disastrous. But, hey, money grows on trees, right? Spend away.

CBC News
January 15, 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper can expect a lengthy wish list from provincial, territorial and aboriginal leaders seeking new infrastructure projects to stimulate their economies when they meet for a pre-budget consultation on Thursday.

The first ministers, who will meet with Harper in Ottawa, will also be looking for ways to streamline the approval process to get going on some of the measures.

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Bulgarian News Network
January 15, 2009

The provokers at yesterday’s anti-government protest turned into riots were hired and paid 300 leva (EUR150) to start fights with the police and ruin the peaceful march, DeltaNews reports on Thursday, quoting rumors.

People with black masks were roaming through the crowds giving the sum to people under the influence of alcohol. Some of the provokers claim to have been paid days in advance.

“I met a guy from the suburb of Lulin came and gave us 300 leva each in order to organize a mass fight with the police at the protest”, two members of a FC Levski’s ultras group told the Bulgarian National Radio.

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