statism watch

‘Invented’ a bomb trigger? You can buy encrypted RF transmitters stock. Doesn’t matter where it was intended to be used? Yes it does. ‘Terrorist’ is not the same concept as ‘enemy combatant’. This pending judgement seems as though it will be about little more than justifying Canada’s version of the Patriot Act than any rational notion of legal balance. A close reading of these stories (1, 2)  reveals that it is the legal concept of mens rea that has been eliminated. In effect, this allows you to be charged with the equivalent of murder when your crime is the equivalent of manslaughter, or not even that. Your motivation or intent in regards to your associations is no longer legally relevant. Perhaps someone in the legal profession could advise of the consequences of this maneuver in the comments section below.

Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press
February 12, 2009

OTTAWA — Convicted terrorist Momin Khawaja deserves to be put away for life and it’s “highly questionable” he should ever be paroled, the Crown says.

Federal prosecutor David McKercher said Thursday in Ontario Superior Court that the Ottawa man “remains a grave and palpable threat to society” who would again turn to plotting violent acts if given the chance.

“He’s chosen a murderous way of life,” McKercher told Justice Douglas Rutherford, who will decide Khawaja’s sentence.

“There is no indication of remorse whatsoever.”

Khawaja, 29, was convicted of five charges of financing and facilitating terrorism for training at a remote camp in Pakistan and providing cash to a group of British extremists, as well as offering them lodging and other assistance.

(more…)

CBC News
February 12, 2009

Robert Dziekanski was waving a stapler and staples started coming out at police before he was stunned by an RCMP Taser, a witness told an inquiry Thursday.

Lance Rudek, a former security guard at the Vancouver airport, testified at the inquiry into Dziekanski’s death that he saw the Polish immigrant shooting staples at the RCMP officers who were approaching him.

Rudek said he was standing in front of the agitated Dziekanski and had a better view of what was happening than a bystander who recorded the incident through a glass wall.

“I remember seeing an object being waved around and directed at the constables,” Rudek told the inquiry.

“It was a stapler. He held it directly out in front of him and pressing it, and the staples started coming out.”

(more…)

Can judges (or ’special masters’, whatever that means) make this determination? Ingredients such as formaldehyde, aspartame, and aluminum compounds are routinely used in vaccine manufacture. Mercury, a known neurotoxin, has not been removed from all vaccines – GW Bush vetoed that. It is in multi-dose vials in Canada – and that includes your flu shots. But these are not the only concerns: Many vaccines are created by brewing proteins from a variety of sources up in a vat as a medium for the pathogen, and sometimes unknown viruses are introduced as a result. Plus the long term effects of using vaccines to manipulate a child’s immune system are questionable, since the child is then not exposed to many ordinary innocuous childhood diseases – organisms we evolved alongside – that allow this function to develop. Whatever history’s verdict, it’s certain they’re not as nutritious for you as is being presented. The number of childhood vaccines has more than tripled in the past three decades as autism rates have exploded, and it’s true that big pharma is very close to the FDA and the government in the US. They are the biggest lobby group in the capitol, and there is practically a revolving door between the industry and their regulators. So perhaps the best approach is to regard the received wisdom with some skepticism, be moderate in your choices, and be an informed healthcare consumer. Some countries (eg; Japan) don’t begin vaccinations until the age of two, when the child’s mind is more fully developed.

Kevin Freking, Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press
February 12, 2009

WASHINGTON – In a big blow to parents who believe vaccines caused their children’s autism, a special U.S. court ruled today that the shots are not to blame.

The judges in the cases said the evidence was overwhelmingly contrary to the parents’ claims – and supported years of science that found no risk.

“It was abundantly clear that petitioners’ theories of causation were speculative and unpersuasive,” the court concluded in one of a trio of cases ruled on today.

The ruling was anxiously awaited by health authorities and families who began presenting evidence nearly two years ago. More than 5,500 claims have been filed by families seeking compensation through the U.S. government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The claims are reviewed by special masters serving on the U.S. Court of Claims.

(more…)

This journal had no idea Tylenol was so dangerous. Do you feel reassured to know this wonderfully progressive new policy has been in place for a year? A quick scan of the archives here don’t seem to indicate it’s being adhered to.

CBC News
February 12, 2009

Commissioner says stun guns ‘far, far less lethal’ than conventional firearms

A revised RCMP policy that restricts how officers can use Tasers recognizes the stun guns can cause death, especially when fired on “acutely agitated” individuals, the head of the Mounties said Thursday.

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott told a House of Commons public safety committee in Ottawa that the force introduced the policy on conductive energy weapons, or CEWs, to officers in June 2008.

“The RCMP’s revised CEW policy underscores that there are risks associated with the deployment of the device and emphasizes that those risks include the risk of death, particularly for acutely agitated individuals,” Elliott told the committee.

(more…)

Got an ISP that won’t cooperate with a legal warrant? Charge them, or enter their premises with digital experts. Those are the reasonable tools you have. A constant electronic dragnet is an abomination against liberty. But – it’s for the children? Come on. Never mind that this kind of wiretapping has now gone in, or is being implemented in: The USA, Sweden, Australia, The United Kingdom, China, and god knows how many other jurisdictions. This is an international push, or perhaps, putsch. People need to see the big picture here to be able to see past the various national excuses to implement this international control grid.

Bill Curry, The Globe and Mail
February 12, 2009

Canadians will be under surveillance, critics charge

OTTAWA — The Conservative government is preparing sweeping new eavesdropping legislation that will force Internet service providers to let police tap exchanges on their systems – but will likely reignite fear that Big Brother will be monitoring the private conversations of Canadians.

The goal of the move, which would require police to obtain court approval, is to close what has been described as digital “safe havens” for criminals, pedophiles and terrorists because current eavesdropping laws were written in a time before text messages, Facebook and voice-over-Internet phone lines.

The change is certain to please the RCMP and other police forces, who have sought it for some time. But it is expected to face resistance from industry players concerned about the cost and civil libertarians who warn the powers will effectively place Canadians under constant surveillance.

(more…)

Not a global regulator, but an international body to approve national regulators…?

That’s some slick doublethink there Paul. Maybe you mean well with this globalist leaning of yours. But centralizing the world’s economy under international regulators is an assault on Canada’s sovereignty. If we transform the IMF into some sort of global Federal Reserve setup, then the tools of tyranny are simply expanded, and the levers of power are made larger and are put closer to the hands of the most cunning and ambitious. Decentralization of economic power is the answer, the equivalent of firewalls on a network. And the furthest decentralization is to get away from the fiat currency economy entirely – a ponzi scheme in its own right that demands inflation and ‘consumerism’ – and to return to sound money where the market sets its prices and not Goldman Sachs and their ilk.

Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail
February 12, 2009

G20 countries must persuade Asian consumers to pick up spending from ‘tapped out’ Americans, former PM says

OTTAWA — Former prime minister Paul Martin gives Stephen Harper’s stimulus package a qualified passing grade, but warns the global recession will last if the world’s 20 big economies don’t work together to revamp the global financial system.

The so-called G20 countries must hammer out a deal that will get Asian consumers spending when “tapped out” Americans can’t, and create credible – and mandatory – regulation of all major financial players around the world, the former prime minister and finance minister says.

Mr. Martin said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s budget moved in the right direction with a stimulus package including infrastructure spending, but should have further expanded employment insurance and devoted more to science and technology to spur new-economy jobs. The economy based on American consumer spending is “over,” he said.

(more…)

A bit of good news for a change.

Elizabeth Church, The Globe and Mail
February 12, 2009

Queen’s University has pulled the plug on a controversial program aimed at correcting students who are using language that might be deemed offensive.

The experimental program, which employed six students to step in when they heard undergraduates using racial slurs or making homophobic comments, set off a fierce debate over freedom of expression on campus. News of the language police spread through the school’s extensive alumni network and made national headlines.

Yesterday a three-person panel charged with examining the program recommended that it be terminated and the university took immediate action.

(more…)

Drugs, money, and hookers in the investment industry. So gangsta… or is it bankster? Seems it’s time to revive that term. At least the guy was honest enough in his blog to admit that it’s predatory criminal activity that’s taken down the financial system rather than the myth of naïveté and honest mistakes we’re being sold elsewhere. This is an excellent illustration of how far economic elites have actually strayed from Capitalism. What does that mean? Not what you think. See here and here to begin shaking off your indoctrination. Too bad no one’s listening though, and we’ll likely end up with a fascist/socialist planned state (essentially the same thing, for anyone who’s been paying attention) run by these guys after the little fish have been eaten.

Associated Press
February 12, 2009

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — An American fugitive accused in a $100-million (U.S.) mortgage fraud was caught at the Canadian border after taking a taxi from Toronto with $1-million in Swiss bank certificates and $70,000 stuffed in his shoes, authorities said Wednesay.

Authorities said Christopher Warren also was carrying four ounces of platinum valued at more than $1,000 an ounce when he was arrested entering the United States at Buffalo, N.Y., before midnight Tuesday.

Mr. Warren is the second of three fugitives to be caught in the investigation of Loomis Wealth Solutions, an investment company based in Roseville, Calif., and several related companies. Court documents say they had defrauded investors and mortgage companies of $100-million since 2006. The deals involved 500 homes and condominiums in California, Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Colorado and Arizona, Internal Revenue Service affidavits said.

Mr. Warren admits his guilt in an essay appearing online, and blames himself and his colleagues for helping to cause the U.S. financial meltdown by creating hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent mortgages that went bad.

“As a 19 then 20 year old boy my managers and handlers taught me the ins and outs of mortgage fraud, drugs, sex and money, money and more money,” Mr. Warren writes.

(more…)