statism watch

Presumably, this farce is to be continued at a later date when civil rights are less of an issue in the British press. In the meantime, why not catch up on the story and disqualify yourself from the potential jury pool?

BBC News
February 18, 2009

The jury in the trial of eight men accused of conspiring to murder by blowing up transatlantic airliners has been discharged for “legal reasons”.

It is not yet known why the judge, Mr Justice Henriques, took his decision to discharge the jury.

The prosecution at Woolwich Crown Court had alleged that the men had planned to blow up at least seven aircraft.

All the men denied the alleged plot, which anti-terrorism police say they foiled in August 2006.

A new jury will be sworn in and the case re-started at a time to be fixed.

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Should read: “Greenspan backs criminal takeover by offshore banks”, because that’s who is going to own the US’s assets once the ’stimulus’ dust settles. You think Greenspan’s a free market advocate, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. The last time Greenspan was a free market advocate was probably when he wrote ‘Gold and Economic Freedom‘ in 1967. Retire, already.

Krishna Guha and Edward Luce, Financial Times of London
February 18, 2009

The US government may have to nationalise some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times.

In an interview, Mr Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laissez-faire capitalism, said nationalisation could be the least bad option left for policymakers.

”It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.” [Ed. Note: Interesting...]

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Isn’t that what the Americans just did? That honeymoon’s going to be over really quick once people figure out they’ve been had.

Terence Corcoran, Financial Post
February 18, 2009

Ottawa’s massive budget bill, loaded with new laws, is being rammed through Parliament

Once Ottawa gets over the cheap thrills provided by the Barack Obama visit, maybe somebody in town could get back to some real work, such as raising a little hell over the Harper government’s 547-page budget gorilla. Bill C-10, a sweeping omnibus package, represents one of the greatest legislative railroad jobs in recent history.

Budget bills are usually limited to tax code changes and legislation authorizing spending. But the giant wad of paper Finance Minister Jim Flaherty dropped on Parliament during a recent Friday afternoon media dead zone came packed with major changes to competition law and financial regulations, including the fine print on parts of Ottawa’s various bank and auto company bailouts.

New powers and billions in cash have been assigned to agencies and programs. The Export Development Corp. and Business Development Corp. — two Crowns whose role as subsidizers of business activity have long been questioned — get fat new mandates under the Tories. The Minister of Finance is set to receive a book of blank cheques to “promote the stability or maintain the efficiency of the financial system, including financial markets, in Canada.”

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Brought to you courtesy of funding for the War of Terror. Now, where’s John Connor when you need him.

CBC News
February 18, 2009

Manitobans on the southeastern border between Canada and the United States aren’t happy with the idea of being watched by American spy planes.

Emerson MLA Cliff Graydon said constituents are expressing concern about their privacy. He believes the U.S. government should have consulted Manitobans when the plan for the remote-controlled planes was first being considered.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched the unmanned drone aircraft on Monday. Based at a military facility in Grand Forks, N.D., the $10-million Predator drones are equipped with sensors capable of detecting a moving person from 10 kilometres away.

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That’s a big surprise.

PressTV.ir
February 18,2009

The CIA has been secretly using airbases inside Pakistan to launch strikes on targets on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was covertly using the Shamsi airfield in Pakistan’s restive south-western province of Balochistan, The Times Online reported.

The base is located about 50 km (30 miles) from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and allows the US forces to launch a drone ‘within minutes’ of receiving actionable intelligence.

The Predator drone has a range of more than 2,000 miles and can fly for 29 hours reaching militants in Balochistan, southern Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas, the paper says.

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So the prosecutors got their retrial. There’s a few things you need to know about this trial. First, this stems from the incident as a result of which you may no longer bring any liquids on a plane. Secondly, in the first trial, the jury did not find any of the defendants guilty of the charges of conspiracy to commit murder on an aircraft, though the three pled guilty to the intent to set off a small non-fatal bomb to ‘bring attention to a video they were making’. The defendents didn’t even have plane tickets or passports, and as naive patsies were passed all the information needed to convict them in this plot by a shadowy handler in Pakistan. Any guesses as to whom the ‘terrorist mastermind’ that cooked up the plot was working for? It is of interest to note that Ali was met by police as soon as he stepped off the plane after meeting this ominous Pakistani contact. Besides, the entire idea of a liquid bomb, cooked up in an airline washroom, has been debunked as so ridiculous it’s embarrassing to write about. Yet the torrent of propaganda continues. A challenge: Compare this case to the following cases: Toronto 18, Australian 12, Fort Dix 5. In the end, the desired effect is achieved by the media: a blurred, half-remembered procession of brown guys with beards.

Rachel Williams, The Guardian

February 18, 2009

Eight Islamic extremists plotted to cause civilian deaths from a terrorist attack on an “unprecedented scale” by using bombs disguised as soft drinks to blow up transatlantic planes, a court heard yesterday.

The men were “almost ready” to carry out the co-ordinated suicide attacks by smuggling the devices on to seven jets when they were arrested in August 2006, Woolwich crown court was told.

Peter Wright, prosecuting, said two ringleaders, Abdulla Ahmed Ali and Assad Sarwar, acted on directions from masterminds in Pakistan. The plan involved transforming 500ml Lucozade and Oasis bottles into bombs and detonate them in an attack which would “reverberate across the globe”, the jury heard.

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The headline here is written in a way that makes it appear as though crime were only dropping at the schools with the officers. Reading the article makes it clear this is not the case.

Kristin Rushowy, Toronto Star
February 18, 2009

The 22 Toronto public high schools assigned a police officer are reporting a drop in suspensions and criminal charges against students, and the success of the program has other schools lining up for officers.

In the first semester of the 2007-08 school year, the schools – which are scattered throughout the city – had a total of 1,353 suspensions. Last fall, that fell to 1,122, a 17 per cent drop.

Criminal charges were down 16 per cent. Violent incidents, however, were up 15 per cent because of two major incidents at one unidentified school, where about 15 students were suspended.

If that school is removed from the statistics, the remaining 21 schools saw a 52 per cent decrease in reported violence.

At secondary schools across the entire board during the same time, suspensions were down 12 per cent, violent incidents were down 24 per cent, police involvement was up 5 per cent, and police charges were down 6 per cent.

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Flashback: Donations of money, property and services continue to corrupt Canadian politics

CBC News
February 18, 2009

The unregulated flow of money into the political process remains the biggest corruption threat facing a majority of countries, regardless of income levels, according to a new report released Wednesday.

The annual report, the fourth since 2004 prepared by Global Integrity, a Washington D.C.-based independent think-tank, tracked corruption trends around the world.

It rated 57 countries, including Canada, on anti-corruption mechanisms and government accountability.

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