statism watch

CBC News
January 28, 2009

Cpl. Darren Baker still faces an RCMP internal hearing in February

B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal says he is not happy impaired-driving charges against an RCMP officer have been stayed, and the criminal justice branch is considering appealing the court decision.

A provincial court judge last week ordered a stay of two counts against North Vancouver RCMP Cpl. Darren Baker, saying the Crown failed to disclose evidence.

“It’s serious, we know that, and we are not particularly happy with the results,” Oppal told CBC News.

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Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
January 28, 2009

New laws set to be passed in England and Canada would make it illegal to use bad language or take photographs of police officers, moving us further away from the idea of police as public servants and more towards the notion of cops assuming God-like status.

According to the British Journal of Photography, the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, which is set to become law on February 16, “allows for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who takes pictures of officers ‘likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’.” The punishment for this offense is imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine.

However, even before the passage of the legislation, police in Britain have already been harassing and arresting fully accredited press photographers merely for taking pictures of them at rallies and protests.

Besides the 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain, one for every fourteen people, police are now equipped with mobile surveillance vans and head mounted cameras and they routinely videotape everyone at a protest, yet anyone attempting to record them has been met with increasing hostility.

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Additionally, processed food products may also contain genetically modified corn that’s been given DNA from soil bacteria that produce a form of pesticide known as BT Toxin.

The Washington Post
January 28, 2009

MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) — Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.

“Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.

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Flashback: Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Flaherty appoints business leaders to economic advisory council

Joanne Chianello, Canwest News Service
January 28, 2009

OTTAWA — One of the most popular spending initiatives in this week’s federal budget could benefit the company run by one of the members of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s advisory panel.

The Home Renovation Tax Credit will provide a 15% tax credit to homeowners who undertake home improvement projects by Feb. 1, 2010. The government expects the program to cost $3-billion over the next two years and for 4.6 million families to take advantage of the measure.

But one of the members of Mr. Flaherty’s 11-member advisory panel is Annette Verschuren, the president of Home Depot Canada and Asia.

Under the HRTC, costs associated with a renovation are eligible for up to $1,350 in tax credits, including new carpeting or hardwood floors, paint, kitchen cabinets, cedar decking — even new sod for the lawn.

The plan is expected to accelerate spending on home renovation goods and services.

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That’s how it’s done – for the clearest view, have a close look at the bolded links in the link block at the end of this article.

Colin Perkel, Canadian Press
January 28, 2009

Lawyers for a youth found guilty of terrorism-related offences planned to argue Thursday that a government agent who infiltrated a home-grown terrorist group crossed the line and instead became an instigator who broke the law. [Ed. Note: Spin alert. What's the evidence it was a 'terrorist group' before Shaikh's influence?]

What is even more egregious about the role played by paid RCMP informant Mubin Shaikh was that he entrapped a vulnerable teen, the lawyers say.

“There was an intolerable degree of governmental participation in the criminal enterprise,” lawyers Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza argue in documents filed with Ontario Superior Court.

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CBC News
January 28, 2009

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has approved President Barack Obama’s $819-billion stimulus package.

The 244-188 vote on Wednesday night will now send the legislation to the Senate for consideration.

“We don’t have a moment to spare,” Obama declared at the White House as congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Businesses and workers are counting on Washington for “bold and swift” action to steady the country’s struggling economy, Obama said.

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Another elite conclave to push the hoary Fabian agenda. The most telling call in the article must be that of Klaus Schwab, head of the host World Economic Forum (a private institution) and, yes, also a Bilderberg member: for ‘unity’ among companies and governments, given the importance of a ‘well-functioning’ financial community. That is a recipe for fascism. Mussolini, too, was concerned with making the ‘trains run on time’. Does any of this sound familiar? It’s pretty rich to blame the remaining rags and bones of the free market in the US, which has been a planned economy to a large degree for decades, for the failings of the very interventionist system being proposed. State control not working? Why, there mustn’t be enough state control yet! See how that works?

CBC News
January 28, 2009

‘Blind pursuit of profit’ and ‘a lack of self-discipline’ cited as reasons for turmoil

The relentless pursuit of profit has been a key factor leading to the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told attendees at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday.

Putin, who called the ongoing crisis a “perfect storm” that was wreaking destruction on all corners of the global economy, refrained from blaming the United States directly but pointedly noted that just a year ago in Davos, U.S. delegates emphasized the country’s fundamental economic stability.

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It seems that not only credit, but carbon dioxide will be monetized. Both are equally ephemeral.

CBC News
January 28, 2009

Suggestions outlined in EU blueprint for Copenhagen deal

The European Union is calling on developed countries – particularly the United States – to sign on to a global system for trading carbon credits to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Commission, which creates legislation for the EU, said in a report released Wednesday it wants the United States and other industrialized countries to develop a joint carbon-trading scheme by 2015.

The EU hopes the report will be a benchmark for minting a climate change deal at international talks in Copenhagen later this year. The deal would replace 1997′s Kyoto protocol, a climate change pact that the United States has not ratified.

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CBC News
January 28, 2009

The Liberal party will only support the minority Conservative government’s federal budget if Prime Minister Stephen Harper agrees to an amendment calling for a “clear marker” of regular updates to Parliament on the impact of economic stimulus projects, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday.

The move by Ignatieff appears to have staved off the immediate defeat of the Tories. Hours after Ignatieff’s news conference, Tory House Leader Jay Hill said the government has no problem with the amendment.

“The government will be supporting the Liberal amendment to the budget,” Hill told reporters. “We’re very pleased as well the Liberals have decided to support our budget. We look forward to working co-operatively with them.”

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