statism watch

Allan Woods, Toronto Star
May 12, 2009

Canadian military propagandists plan to bombard Afghans’ cellphones with texts and contest offers

OTTAWA – Canada plans to boost its propaganda reach by tapping into mobile phones in Afghanistan to send text messages, run contests and drive listeners to its military-run, Pashto-language radio station.

It’s a fairly crude, transparent tactic in the high science of counter-insurgency, but the military sees it as a way to better connect with local Afghans in a war-torn land where the cellphone is one of the fastest growing, and only reliable, means of communication.

The capability, to be set up this summer, will encourage Afghans to sign up for text-message alerts from defence officials and to enter military-run contests awarding prizes to lucky locals, according to public tendering documents.

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Romina Maurino, Canadian Press
May 12, 2009

An aid package for General Motors will likely involve bigger-than-expected sacrifices from taxpayers, unions and the company if the recent concessions required to bailout Chrysler are any indication, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.

The federal and provincial governments had to provide more funds than anticipated in a $3.8-billion (Canadian) deal in April to help Chrysler survive – an amount that was almost as high as the $4 billion initially promised to cover both automakers.

“We came to the table with more money than we originally anticipated,” McGuinty said of Chrysler.

“The CAW clearly gave more than they anticipated giving. Some of the concessions placed on creditors south of the border and here in Canada were more than they anticipated.

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Flashback: SMS texts being data mined in France: Man strip searched, held after joke | French legislators reject internet piracy bill | French government accused of ‘Big Brother’ tactics over internet piracy

CBC News
May 12, 2009

France on Tuesday passed legislation that would allow internet service providers to cut the internet connections of customers who download copyright-protected music and video files illegally after “three strikes.”

The legislation, which failed to pass in an earlier vote in the country’s lower house in April, was approved on Tuesday in the government’s second attempt, with 296 votes for and 233 against.

The earlier defeat, by a vote of 21-15, came on a day when few legislators showed up to finalize the measure.

The bill was hotly contested, as critics said it would encroach on personal freedoms and be difficult to enforce while the music and film industry had pushed for tougher laws to combat online piracy.

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Flashback: Military to probe response to sex charges | Don’t look, don’t tell, troops told in response to Afghani child abuse

Murray Brewster, Canadian Press
May 12, 2009

OTTAWA – Allegations that Canadian commanders turned a blind eye to sexual abuse of young boys by Afghan soldiers and police have been dismissed as unfounded by military investigators.

The Canadian Forces National Investigative Service, which oversees military police, says it has determined allegations made by returning soldiers and the pastors who counselled them contained “serious discrepancies” and could not be verified.

“There’s rumours and innuendos of course, but there’s no information to corroborate those allegations,” said Lt.-Col. Gilles Sansterre, head of the investigative branch.

At least two soldiers have claimed they witnessed young Afghan boys being led into a Canadian forward operating base, where they were sodomized by Afghan troops and police.

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So the Caisse CEO, Henri-Paul Rousseau, leaves the pension fund after it collapses for a position at Power Corp? Interesting. And the head of Coventree? Now working for the Business Development bank of Canada, handing your money over to the automakers. Brilliant!

Flashback: Banker at heart of credit crisis leads plan to buoy auto sales | Governments to back ABCP deal with $4.45B | Canada may backstop ABCP rescue: Flaherty | Regulator says brokers failed on ABCP, sets new guidelines | Canadian Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal in ABCP case | Court Grants Big Banks Immunity from Lawsuits over Derivatives Losses

Konrad Yakabuski, Globe and Mail
May 12, 2009

MONTREAL — Money managers at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec figured there was no difference between non-bank asset back commercial paper and similar products backed by the Big Five banks in making the investments that later proved fatal to the provincial pension fund manager.

Senior executive Claude Bergeron on Tuesday told the Quebec National Assembly’s public finance committee, which is looking into the Caisse’s $40-billion loss in 2008, that a team of four portfolio managers was responsible for the institution’s money market, or short-term, investments.

Two managers in particular looked after the investments in ABCP, but they made no distinction between paper issued by third-parties and paper backed by the chartered banks. Both shared identical triple-A credit ratings, while the non-bank ABCP had a slightly higher yield, Mr. Bergeron said.

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Andrew Clark, The Guardian
May 12, 2009

Ailing US carmaker sees shares collapse after top executives dump personal stock holdings

The ailing US carmaker General Motors saw its shares collapse to their lowest level since the Great Depression after six top executives dumped personal stock holdings, fuelling fear of imminent bankruptcy.

As GM and the Obama administration continued to plead with reluctant lenders to write off much of the company’s $27bn (£18bn) in debt, the shares dived by 29 cents to close at $1.15 , valuing the largest of Detroit’s motor manufacturers at barely $700m.

At one point, GM’s shares fell as low as $1.09, their lowest level since April 1933. The slump came after half a dozen senior managers cashed out equity for a knockdown total price of $315,000.

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Come, on Canada – it’s your old pal Brian. Brian! You remember – the twinkling Irish eyes, that resolute jaw. He’s just a regular guy, trying to enjoy retirement with his family. Why must he be persecuted so?

Flashback: Airbus funds likely source of Schreiber’s ‘Britan’ account: witness | Former Mulroney aide says he can’t recall writing letters about Airbus | Mulroney wanted Schreiber deal kept quiet, inquiry told | Mulroney, Kohl may have discussed Airbus: inquiry document | Schreiber says he paid Mulroney because he’d need him ‘sooner or later’ | Moores linked to Airbus before Mulroney came to power, memo reveals | Schreiber Inquiry: Premier’s wife testifies bank account was to be hers, not Mulroney’s | Mulroney-Schreiber inquiry steers clear of ‘Airbus affair’ on first day | Mulroney-Schreiber probe has no jurisdiction to find liability | Mulroney confidant knew about Airbus commissions: CBC News investigation | The Mulroney Affair: Why politicians seek out the rich | Twenty years ago today, the clock clicked down on free trade | The Fifth Estate: Money, Truth, and Spin

Les Whittington, Richard J. Brennan, Toronto Star
May 12, 2009

Former prime minister says unfair treatment by media and investigators ’scarred’ his family and was the reason for his silence over payments

OTTAWA–Brian Mulroney told an inquiry today that he should never have accepted an envelope full of cash from German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber in a hotel room in 1993 shortly after leaving office as prime minister.

Instead of taking the $75,000 as a partial retainer to work with Schreiber to promote the sale of German-made light armoured vehicles, he should have demanded a cheque, Mulroney testified.

If he had asked for a cheque, “we wouldn’t have been here today,” Mulroney said toward the end of his first day on the stand at an inquiry into his controversial dealings with Schreiber in the 1980s and 1990s.

Earlier today Mulroney testified he had no knowledge of a $500,000 payment that German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber alleges was deposited in a Swiss bank account for the former prime minister in 1988.

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Related: Leaked 1955 Bilderberg Docs Outline Plan For Single European Currency | Leaked Agenda: Bilderberg Group Plans Economic Depression | Bilderberg chairman: ‘Bilderberg helped create the Euro’ | Bilderberg Seeks Bank Centralization Agenda

Richard Blackwell, The Globe and Mail
May 12, 2009

I hear the Bilderberg group is meeting this week. What is it?

The Bilderberg group consists of about 140 wealthy and powerful people who meet annually to discuss key global issues. Named after the Bilderberg hotel in Oosterbeek, the Netherlands, where it held its first meeting in 1954, the group is highly secretive, doesn’t let journalists attend unless they agree beforehand not to report on the proceedings, and won’t even say who is a member.

It’s known that attendees include politicians, royalty, wealthy industrialists and back-room power brokers. Conspiracy theorists say the group essentially controls the world and makes key decisions on international policy.

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So you want to leave school on your lunch hour? Forget it, you’re in the government camp. You will be “calm, fitter, healthier and more productive” whether you like it or not – “a pig, in a cage, on antibiotics.”  (Radiohead, ‘Fitter, Happier’)

Flashback: Schools seek more police as crime drops | Police presence in high schools makes the grade | Safety report author Falconer on armed police in schools: “Facile” | 27 Toronto schools to get armed police presence | Frequent school lockdowns raise questions | Two trustees stand opposed to armed police in schools | Armed police officers heading to high schools | Texas truant students to be tracked by GPS anklets | CCTV cameras spying on hundreds of classrooms | Scots schoolchildren to be fingerprinted in controversial ID scheme | Armed Police to Roam Toronto High Schools | In the new Canada, we are all wards of the state | $4 Million Earmarked for Cameras, “Respect” at Toronto Schools | Random use of police sniffer dogs breaches Charter: top court

CBC News
May 12, 2009

The Toronto District School Board is considering a controversial proposal designed to get students to eat healthier foods.

A task force on nutrition has recommended keeping middle school students on school grounds at lunch hour to prevent kids from buying junk food.

School board staff are endorsing most of the two dozen recommendations made in a report. But they want to review the proposal to keep middle school students on school grounds at lunch.

“By having young people stay in the school you can provide better options and also encourage them to bring in their own meals,” said trustee Michael Coteau, who led the task force.

Grade 9 student Yannick Kabongo said he has lunch off the school grounds every day because he wants to get away from school — and the school cafeteria.

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