statism watch

Incredible – it’s explicitly admitted in this article that ID cards from across North America are compatible now. The elite are moving rapidly against the people – we’re on our way to a global identity database – and that’s a pilot program, right here in British Columbia!

Flashback: Australian nightclub installs face-scanning security system | Alberta bars could collect names, photos under proposed bill | Let’s face it, soon Big Brother will have no trouble recognising you | Police will use new device to take fingerprints in street, vendors say face scanning next | Interpol wants facial recognition database to catch suspects | ‘Pre-crime’ detector shows promise | Alberta privacy commission to rule on bar scans

Katie Derosa, Times Colonist
July 9, 2009

You can’t get in unless you submit card; B.C. investigating program

Nine of Victoria’s most popular bars are capturing data from patrons’ ID cards and taking their photos as part of a new program still under investigation by B.C.’s privacy watchdog.

Bar Watch, officially implemented yesterday, will blacklist problem patrons by keeping track of whether they have been kicked out of another bar that night, caused a fight, or have gang ties. Thirteen bars have signed on to the program but not all are using the swiping database.

As patrons enter a bar, they’ll have their ID cards swiped through a data reader and their photos taken. If a person causes trouble in the bar, an “alert” will be placed on their file, which will show up when that person tries to enter another participating bar, said Owen Cameron, who created the database. The alert can last from 24 hours to a year, depending on the incident, said Cameron, president of B.C.-based TreoScope Technologies.

The card readers will accept driver’s licences and ID cards from around North America. [Ed Note: RED FLAG!]

(more…)

Flashback: TASER launches new headcam for police – with ‘privacy mode’ | All officers need Tasers, police associations say | TASER bracelets considered for airline passengers | ‘Peel and Stick’ Tasers Electrify Riot Control | Tasers: the next generation

David Hambling, Wired.com
July 9, 2009

Controversial electroshock weaponeer Taser International is quickly building up it arsenal. But the results from the safety and field tests of that new gear – well, that’s coming along much more slowly.

The firm recently made available a shocking XREP shotgun projectile. It also introduced a new specialist shotgun (pictured) optimized for the XREP and other ‘”less lethal” rounds. And then there’s the ghastly teaser campaign for the company’s forthcoming “X3.”

(more…)

Be sure to click through to the source – always advisable – and check out the sidebar: ‘Plucky federal budget officer’s days could be numbered‘. You won’t want to miss it.

Flashback: G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Flaherty looks for way to end stimulus | Harper lays out stimulus spending in progress report | ‘Reduced pace of deterioration’ indicates economy on the mend: Flaherty | Federal deficit to top $50B | Bank of Canada poised to print money to buy bonds | G20 deal part of ‘unprecedented’ response to crisis: Harper | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | Premiers to press Harper for infrastructure boost | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Jim Flaherty Urging Greater Federal, International Control over Canadian economy | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies

Les Whittington, Toronto Star
July 9, 2009

OTTAWA–The parliamentary budget watchdog says there’s no proof that the massive stimulus package the Harper government trumpeted in January as a lifesaver for Canada is having any positive impact on the economy yet.

“In terms of the money actually flowing, so that it’s actually having an impact in the economy – in the cities and regions of the country – we cannot tell right now,” Kevin Page told reporters yesterday.

“We have no estimate as to what is the dollar figure, we can only presume it’s been very little to date.”

(more…)

The journal article mentioned seems to have created quite a kerfuffle… resignations, recriminations, everything you’d expect from such a hot-button issue. And yet, science is science and it stands (or falls) on the facts, not political issues. Mainstream foreign media sources continue to cover this, yet not a peep here in North America.

Flashback: Study claims ‘highly engineered explosive’ found in WTC rubble | Fire Consumes Beijing Skyscraper, Unlike WTC7 Building Does Not Collapse | National Post Columnist: Who dares to question the ‘Big Lie of 9/11′? | NIST WTC 7 Report: Shameful, Embarrassing And Completely Flawed

Russia Today
July 9, 2009

Could the most audacious terrorist attack in history be a “sophisticated masterpiece of demolition”?

That’s what chemistry professor Niels Harrit has been asking, following his investigation of the World Trade Centre rubble, which has revealed traces of explosives.

RT: Professor Niels Harrit, you examined the rubble that came from the World Trade Center. What did you find in it?

Niels Harrit: Well, in there we find the remains of what we characterize as thermetic material, and this is a very energetic material which can be used either for melting iron, or it can be designed as an explosive.

Flashback: Western Governments Funding Taliban & Al-Qaeda To Kill U.S. Troops, Destabilize Countries | Whistleblower Who Linked “Taliban” Leader To US Intelligence Is Assassinated | Homing chips are CIA’s latest weapon against ‘al-Qaida’ targets hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt | CIA: Our Drones are Killing Terrorists. Promise. | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | Swiss nuclear-smuggling suspect says CIA made him do it | Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests | CIA Foreknowledge of the Mumbai Attacks | IntelCenter Releases Video of Former CIA Employee Zawahiri Threatening America | CIA, Pakistani ISI have long, complicated relationship | Guantanamo’s closure window dressing – overseas CIA ‘black sites’ to stay | CIA waterboarded 2 al-Qaida suspects 266 times | Document lays bare CIA torture techniques | CIA destroyed 92 interview tapes | DC9 with 5.5 tons of cocaine was CIA plane

Tim Starks, CQ Politics
July 9, 2009

CIA Director Leon Panetta told the House Intelligence Committee that the agency had misled and “concealed significant actions from all members of Congress” dating back to 2001 and continuing until late June, according to a letter from seven Democrats on the panel.

The letter was dated June 26, two days after Panetta appeared before a closed door session with the committee and it asked that the CIA chief “correct” his statement from May 15 that “it is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.”

“Recently you testified that you have determined that top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from all members of Congress, and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week,” states the letter to Panetta from Anna G. Eshoo of California, Alcee L. Hastings of Florida, Rush D. Holt of New Jersey, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Adam Smith of Washington, Mike Thompson of California and John F. Tierney of Massachusetts.

(more…)

France, prepare for massive data wiretapping infrastructure to follow. It’s a sad day for the country that birthed modern civil liberties.

Flashback: Next up for France: police keyloggers and Web censorship | France passes ‘three strikes’ Internet surveillance law | 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
July 9, 2009

‘3 strikes’ legislation hotly debated

France’s Senate has approved a bill that will give judges the authority to cut the internet connections of people who have illegally downloaded or uploaded copyright-protected music and video files.

The Senate voted 189-142 late Wednesday for the bill, which now goes back to the lower house of parliament for final passage. Under the terms of the bill, offenders are given “three strikes” before they face a connection shutdown.

(more…)

I wonder if the supporters of the Montreal mask ban feel their position is still tenable now that it’s apparent how anonymity protects the people when it counts. Assisted by foreign nations or not, an Iranian uprising has been brewing for a while, yet it remains to be seen if it will be used as a cynical pretext to attack the country. Joe Biden, the Vice President of the US, stated that if Israel chose to attack, the US would not stand in the way. Reiterating this implicit stance in a public forum only serves to greenlight an attack. Hands off Iran – American or Israeli interference will do more harm than good.

Flashback: Iranian doctor on protests: Regime covering up deaths, using foreign militants | Are the Iranian Protests Another US Orchestrated “Color Revolution?” | Violence on the streets of Tehran as police beat back protesters | Iran protests: Fifth day of unrest as regime cracks down on critics | Twitter emerges as news source during Iran media crackdown | Gunfire breaks out at massive Tehran protest | Iranian protesters trash Tehran | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Israelis ‘rehearse Iran attack’ | Bush ‘plans Iran air strike by August’ | U.S. Navy starts exercises in Gulf waters | U.S. National Intelligence Estimate: Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003 | Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran | Former CIA Officer – US Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran | U.S. sending third aircraft carrier to the Middle East | US aircraft carriers in Persian Gulf | Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh: US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran

Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi, LA Times
July 9, 2009

Over 1,000 demonstrators gather in Tehran, continuing to protest the June 12 presidential election. Security forces fire tear gas and beat protesters. Many people wear masks to hide their identities.

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut — Violent clashes erupted today in downtown Tehran between more than a thousand determined young men and women chanting, “Death to the dictator” and “God is great” and security forces wielding truncheons.

The screams of a woman being beaten could be heard from nearby buildings, a witness said. Business owners could be seen hustling protesters into their buildings to shield them from plainclothes officers and anti-riot police who fired tear gas canisters.

Passing drivers and motorcyclists honked their horns and flashed the “V” sign in support of the clumps of demonstrators. At least one trash bin was set afire, a witness said, sending a plume of black smoke rising as dusk approached.

Many of the demonstrators wore surgical masks to protect their identities from cameras stationed at adjacent buildings. They could be seen escaping into side streets and regrouping as shops quickly were shuttered.

(more…)

Flashback: Are the Iranian Protests Another US Orchestrated “Color Revolution?” | Violence on the streets of Tehran as police beat back protesters | Iran protests: Fifth day of unrest as regime cracks down on critics | Twitter emerges as news source during Iran media crackdown | Gunfire breaks out at massive Tehran protest | Iranian protesters trash Tehran | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Israelis ‘rehearse Iran attack’ | Bush ‘plans Iran air strike by August’ | U.S. Navy starts exercises in Gulf waters | U.S. National Intelligence Estimate: Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003 | Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran | Former CIA Officer – US Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran | U.S. sending third aircraft carrier to the Middle East | US aircraft carriers in Persian Gulf | Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh: US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran

Anonymous Source, The Guardian
July 9, 2009

This is an account by a doctor working in Tehran who says the death toll from the protests following Iran’s disputed election is much higher than the official figure of 20. His account is published as part of the Guardian’s project to trace those killed and detained during the unrest. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify his account

I have been working in a public hospital in Tehran over the last few weeks. The authorities are covering up the number of dead protesters and their causes of death. The official statistic is 20 dead – that’s wrong. In our hospital alone there were 38 riot deaths in the first week. Most died from gunshot wounds.

(more…)

Have you seen the TV commercial encouraging you to spy and snitch on your neighbours to report signs of purported elder abuse to the authorities? It’s shot through a crack in a set of venetian blinds, looking out on a residential street on which we view (horror!) a family quarrel, a boy getting some money from a grandmother and greedily snatching an extra bill, etc. Pretty innocuous stuff that if we actually had communities any more, might be addressed by talking to someone. Instead, you’re encouraged to call the authorities. But what are the authorities up to? Surely there are a lot of well meaning people in these social agencies, but the point is that if enough power is vested in their hands, they naturally become rapacious, and that road can lead to a very dark place. The problem is that systemic corruption is an emergent property of statism itself. This thug culture has to be nipped in the bud, and the only way to do it is to decentralize power.

Flashback: Useless seniors burdening the state have duty to die: British Baroness | New video shows officer shove, then taser 72-year-old great grandmother | RCMP Taser Confused, Hospitalized 82 Year Old

Amanda Stutt, CBC News
July 9, 2009

Last months of elderly woman’s life made miserable by agency: friends

When Winifred Hall entered her friend Sheila Scholnick’s home in Vancouver’s west side after she was locked out, the place looked as though there had been a burglary.

“The house had been ransacked,” the elderly B.C. woman told CBC News, her voice shaking.

A Jewish altar lay overturned in the living room of the Dunbar area home, with its candles and Torah lying on the floor. Upstairs in the bedroom, dresser drawers had been emptied and underwear was scattered on the bed.

The culprits: British Columbia’s Public Guardian and Trustee, a provincial agency set up to protect the financial and legal affairs of those declared mentally incapable of handling it themselves.

While the public guardian is supposed to protect society’s most vulnerable citizens, Hall and several others are describing it as a ruthless organization abusing the rights of the very people it claims to protect.

(more…)