statism watch

Fort Detrick was the source of the Anthrax spores that were directed against White House Enemies in the weeks following September 11th. Incredible. Their security lapses are an epidemic.

Flashback: ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe | Government lab both source of anthrax attacks as well as false reports linking them to Iraq, Islam | Bruce Ivins, scientist set for prosecution in US anthrax attacks, ‘commits suicide’ | Anthrax Coverup: A Government Insider Speaks Out | White House Mail Sorters Anthrax-Free

Larry Shaughness, CNN.com
April 22, 2009

WASHINGTON — Missing vials of a potentially dangerous virus have prompted an Army investigation into the disappearance from a lab in Maryland.

The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command agents have been visiting Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, to investigate the disappearance of the vials. Christopher Grey, spokesman for the command, said this latest investigation has found “no evidence of criminal activity.”

The vials contained samples of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, a virus that sickens horses and can be spread to humans by mosquitoes. In 97 percent of cases, humans with the virus suffer flu-like symptoms, but it can be deadly in about 1 out of 100 cases, according to Caree Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. There is an effective vaccine for the disease and there hasn’t been an outbreak in the United States since 1971.

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That’s a pretty important little sentence, buried at the end of this article. Imagine what it would mean for the world economy if the bulk of your purchases were made on credit, and cash were slowly phased out. That would be consistent with the headlong monetization of debt we’re witnessing at the national level as we leverage out the earnings of future generations to pay for the financial manipulations of firms deemed ‘too big to fail’. Can you guess how we’ll be making up the difference? How does the idea of paying interest by preauthorized withdrawal to a network of central banks grab you? Economists should be screaming about this prospect! But instead everything’s fine … everything’s perfectly normal … even this journal, by writing about this as though it were just another news story, is helping normalize and introduce the idea to a certain extent – as Bob Marley wrote, “None but ourselves can free our minds.” Well we’d better do it soon, as that may be the only thing we have left.

Flashback: US backing for world currency stuns markets | Coming soon to your cellphone: Your credit card via RFID chip | ‘Smart’ Credit Cards, Pilot Project set the Groundwork for Wireless Credit Wallets | New credit cards may shift unauthorized-transaction liabilities to the holder

Julian Beltrame, Canadian Press
April 22, 2009

OTTAWA — Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters Wednesday that the Canadian government is working on regulating credit card companies.

The Finance Minister noted that interest rates for credit cards remain high despite aggressive rate reductions by the Bank of Canada.

The Minister did not say what he had in mind in terms of regulation, nor was it clear whether the government plans to limit interest charges.

“There are number of issues we can address with respect to credit cards,” Mr. Flaherty said. “So we have regulatory power and we’re working on certain regulations, which I’ll be able to speak about publicly soon.”

He didn’t respond to a question about interest rates.

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Watch the buildup of US troops along the border over the next few months. This journal suspects the US will be telling Pakistan what to do a little more openly in future. The encirclement of Iran is almost complete.

Flashback: US military may escalate ‘war on terror’ by striking deeper into Pakistan | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | Don’t-ask-don’t-tell Policy: Pakistan and U.S. Have Tacit Deal On Airstrikes | US Allowed Taliban, Al-Qaeda Airlift Evacuation

CBC News
April 22, 2009

Pakistan is submitting to the Taliban by allowing the imposition of Islamic law in the embattled Swat valley, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.

President Asif Ali Zardari signed a deal into law last week that allows Taliban militants who control the Swat in the northwest to impose Islamic law in exchange for a ceasefire. The Taliban seized control of the Swat valley, once an alpine resort, in a violent uprising in 2007 that pushed tens of thousands of residents from the area. Violence has continued in the area until the Pakistani government agreed in February to sign the deal.

Several residents of the area have voiced their support for the deal, saying it heralds an end to the violence that has scarred the area.

But western governments have argued the deal paves the way for the establishment of a de facto base for Taliban militants, a stance reiterated by Clinton on Wednesday.

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Well, how much clearer do you want it? The RCMP made the decision to lie. Not as though anyone should be surprised by now. The thugs involved should absolutely be expecting a court date.

Flashback: RCMP ’sorry’ for errors in taser briefings | Police seizures of cameras prompts B.C. complaint | RCMP still uses Tasers too often, watchdog finds | Head of RCMP unit that framed Arar promoted to Assistant Commissioner | Ottawa cuts funding for RCMP watchdog in wake of TASER inquiry | Entrapment becoming standard procedure for police | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | RCMP destroyed evidence, court stays impaired-driving charges against Mountie | Canadians who trust our secret police should think again

CBC News
April 22, 2009

The head of the Lower Mainland’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team decided not to correct misinformation police had given to the media in 2007 about the use of a Taser against Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport, a public inquiry heard Wednesday.

Cpl. Dale Carr, the unit’s spokesman, testified Wednesday at the Braidwood inquiry that it was clear within two days of Dziekanski’s death on Oct. 14, 2007, that some of the information being provided to the media was inaccurate.

In the first two days after Dziekanski died, the RCMP’s public statements on the incident contained false information about how many officers were involved, how many times Dziekanski was stunned and what state Dziekanski was in (initial reports described him as violent with police when, in fact, he had been calm).

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It’s the state that shouldn’t be allowed to demand your name unless some reasonable suspicion of a crime exists. If a private establishment wants your name before allowing you entrance to their premises, then that’s their right (and your right to refuse and walk out). Naturally the admixture of state controls and freedom in Canada has so muddied these distinctions that it’s almost impossible to tease the threads apart in situations like this, but the decision must fall in favour of leaving individual liberty the margin of safety – so the bars should not be demanding state IDs like some sort of STASI cohort. The principle is inviolable, and the risk of abuse is just too great.

Flashback: Alberta privacy commission to rule on bar scans

CBC News
April 22, 2009

Legislation would also give police power to kick gangsters out of bars

The Alberta government is moving toward letting bars collect personal information from patrons in a bid to identify troublemakers and prevent gang activity.

An amendment to the provincial Gaming and Liquor Act, introduced in the legislature Tuesday, proposes that bars and nightclubs be given authority to collect, use, and share with each other information about problem patrons.

“The nightclub owners in all cities in Alberta really want that, and I believe it is a major deterrent to keep out organized crime and problems like this,” said Paul Vickers, who runs several bars and lounges in Calgary under the Penny Lane Entertainment Group.

In 2008, Alberta’s privacy commissioner ordered Tantra, a Calgary nightclub owned by Penny Lane, to stop scanning patrons’ driver’s licences, disputing the company’s view that the practice curbed violent behaviour.

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Flashback: Pentagon exploring robot killers that can fire on their own | Military Tech on the Home Front: Predator drones to begin surveillance of Canada-US border | Pentagon hires British scientist to help build robot soldiers that ‘won’t commit war crimes’ | Hoverdrone to be deployed to Iraq | Pentagon Wants Packs Of Robots To Detect “Non-cooperative Humans” | Unmanned spy planes to police Britain

Bernd Debusmann, Reuters
April 22, 2009

The aerial Hundred Killer from The Terminator – now closer to fact than fiction

WASHINGTON – They have no fear, they never tire, they are not upset when the soldier next to them gets blown to pieces. Their morale doesn’t suffer by having to do, again and again, the jobs known in the military as the Three Ds – dull, dirty and dangerous.

They are military robots and their rapidly increasing numbers and growing sophistication may herald the end of thousands of years of human monopoly on fighting war. “Science fiction is moving to the battlefield. The future is upon us,” as Brookings scholar Peter Singer put it to a conference of experts at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania this month.

Singer just published Wired For War – the Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, a book that traces the rise of the machines and predicts that in future wars they will not only play greater roles in executing missions but also in planning them.

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This level of accountability would never have happened unless the public held the RCMP’s feet to the fire, and it’s all thanks to that one brave man and his cellular video. Now we all know how important ‘eternal vigilance’ really is. And the story continues… who watches the watchmen? It’s everyday Canadians that will determine its outcome.

Flashback: Police seizures of cameras prompts B.C. complaint | RCMP still uses Tasers too often, watchdog finds | Head of RCMP unit that framed Arar promoted to Assistant Commissioner | Ottawa cuts funding for RCMP watchdog in wake of TASER inquiry | Entrapment becoming standard procedure for police | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | RCMP destroyed evidence, court stays impaired-driving charges against Mountie | Canadians who trust our secret police should think again

Jane Armstrong, The Globe and Mail
April 22, 2009

Force denies it lied or suppressed information in wake of Polish immigrant’s 2007 death at Vancouver airport

VANCOUVER — The RCMP has admitted that it gave wrong information to the public about the circumstances of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski’s death. But the force has denied that it lied or suppressed information about the disturbing circumstances of Mr. Dziekanski’s death.

“We found that there was some information that was provided and made public that was not accurate,” RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields told reporters during an impromptu briefing outside the Braidwood inquiry, which is probing Mr. Dziekanski’s death.

“For those inaccuracies, we apologize and we are sorry,” Sgt. Shields said.

No sooner was the apology uttered when the Mounties’ media spokesman was besieged with questions about why the erroneous information was ever put out.

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So why are they trying to deport these kids? With massive military-style raids, complete with helicopters, carried out in broad daylight in contravention of the usual practice, this action has the effect of a psychological operation, further tying Pakistani nationals, ‘Al-Qaeda’, and terror together in the minds of the British people. And the evidence they moved on? The Pakistanis took group pictures the first day they were in the country, plus ’secret evidence’ from MI6.

Flashback: UK: Terror bomb plot ‘intelligence’ came from MI6’s Pakistan operation | Police feared ‘Al-Qaida terror attack’ on UK was planned for Easter | Police arrest 12 in anti-terror raids in Britain | FBI Informant in British terror trial given immunity, proceedings raise question of what MI5 knew about 2005 London bombings | Terror accused refuses to discuss links to Pakistan secret service, family threatened | London terror plotter was ‘hardened’ in ISI camp | Terror informant names plotters | Former British Ambassador Says Liquid Bomb Terror Alert Is “Propaganda” | British ‘Terror Suspects’ Were in Contact With MI5 | Eight held in British anti-terror raids

Sandra Laville, Richard Norton-Taylor, Stephen Bates, The Guardian
April 22, 2009

Police deny that bringing arrests forward disrupted investigation

Greater Manchester Police have released without charge all 11 men arrested a fortnight ago in the north-west of England over an alleged terror plot. The last two men to be released have joined nine others given their freedom last night.

Gordon Brown had claimed the operation uncovered a “very big plot” against the UK.

In a statement, Greater Manchester police said: “The 11 men were questioned and the evidence gathered presented to the CPS who advised there was insufficient evidence gathered within the permitted timescales which would have allowed a warrant of further detention to be gathered or charges to be pursued.

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CBC News
April 22, 2009

A mother of three young children reported to be the first U.S. female war deserter seeking asylum in Canada has been granted leave to appeal her deportation order.

The Federal Court decided on Tuesday to hear Kimberly Rivera’s appeal on July 8, meaning the former soldier will be able to stay in Canada for at least another three months.

Rivera moved to Toronto from Texas in early 2007 with her husband and two children after refusing redeployment to Iraq. In late November, she gave birth to a third child in Canada.

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