statism watch

Oh, come now Mr. Radwanksi. It wouldn’t be that hard at all. It doesn’t matter who is in power at the time, all they have to do is stage another theatrical, made-for-TV production like the arrest of the Toronto 18 (a group encouraged and run by RCMP provocateurs). That’s guaranteed to pick you up about 10-20% in the polls at least, which is usually enough to tip the scales in your favour.

Flashback: Canada should stay in Afghanistan: NATO head | Britain and US prepared to open talks with the Taliban | U.S. military seeks ’second surge’ for Afghan mission | UK PM Gordon Brown plans troop surge in Afghanistan | Taliban flee new U.S. drive in Afghanistan | Whistleblower Who Linked “Taliban” Leader To US Intelligence Is Assassinated | The Main Result of the “War on Terror”: The Destabilization of Pakistan | Supreme Court of Canada won’t hear Afghan detainee torture case | Canadian Forces: Worries about child abuse by Afghan allies ‘unfounded’ | Afghan front lines take mental toll on military and RCMP | Canada, allies will never defeat Taliban, PM says | Cost of Afghan mission jumps to $11.3-billion | New Canadian commander in Afghanistan welcomes U.S. troop influx | Canadians could be defending Afghan gas pipeline | US Allowed Taliban, Al-Qaeda Airlift Evacuation

Adam Radwanski, The Globe and Mail
August 6, 2009

If it were to come from Barack Obama, as opposed to a NATO secretary-general most Canadians have never previously heard of, I suspect the call to stay in Kandahar past 2011 would find a somewhat bigger audience in this country. But even if it were Obama, it’s a long-shot at this point that public opinion will shift enough over the next two years for any federal government to seriously consider an extension – even if our limited resources would allow it.

At this point, even the Conservatives have stopped making much serious effort to sell the mission. Having wrapped themselves in it when they took over the government, they seem to have come to view it as a political loser. But the bigger problem is that the manner in which they (and to a lesser extent Paul Martin’s Liberals) did try to sell it has precluded making a credible and compelling case now.

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Flashback: U.S. military seeks ’second surge’ for Afghan mission | UK PM Gordon Brown plans troop surge in Afghanistan | Taliban flee new U.S. drive in Afghanistan | Whistleblower Who Linked “Taliban” Leader To US Intelligence Is Assassinated | The Main Result of the “War on Terror”: The Destabilization of Pakistan | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | US Incursion Turned Back by Pakistan Army | Bush secret order to send special forces into Pakistan | Pakistan fury over ‘US assault’ | US Allowed Taliban, Al-Qaeda Airlift Evacuation

CBC News
August 6, 2009

Canada should keep its troops in Afghanistan beyond 2011, NATO’s new secretary general says.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the remark Thursday while visiting a Canadian development project in Kandahar province. Canada is expected to end its military mission in the country in just 18 months.

“Of course I’m not going to interfere with the domestic politics in individual allied nations, but seen from an alliance point of view, I would strongly regret if that became the final outcome of the Canadian considerations,” he told CBC News.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my strong appreciation of the significant Canadian contribution to our mission in Afghanistan.

“At the end of the day, it is a question of our own security. We cannot allow Afghanistan, once again, to become a safe haven for terrorists. And I also think it is in Canada’s interest to ensure a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.”

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Flashback: US: REALID tracking chip ID card resurrected by PASS initiative | India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards | BC Bars swipe patron IDs, collect data | UK: Passport details to be kept on ID register despite card U-turn | Moratorium sought on RFID driver’s licenses | RFID passport security defeated in minutes | Saskatchewan adopting US-mandated ID card, to include RFID chip, facial recognition | Drivers licences with chips spark heated debate | Ontario Privacy Czar Worried about High-Tech Licences | North American ID card in the works through SPP

Update (2009/08/07): The government’s response? “That’s impossible.”

Ian Grant, Daily Mail
August 6, 2009

The prospective national ID card was broken and cloned in 12 minutes, the Daily Mail revealed this morning.

The newspaper hired computer expert Adam Laurie to test the security that protects the information embedded in the chip on the card.

Using a Nokia mobile phone and a laptop computer, Laurie was able to copy the data on a card that is being issued to foreign nationals in minutes.

He then created a cloned card, and with help from another technology expert, changed all the data on the new card. This included the physical details of the bearer, name, fingerprints and other information.

He then rewrote data on the card, reversing the bearer’s status from “not entitled to benefits” to “entitled to benefits”.

He then added fresh content that would be visible to any police officer or security official who scanned the card, saying, “I am a terrorist – shoot on sight.”

According to the paper, Home Office officials said the foreign nationals card uses the same technology as the UK citizens card that will be issued from 2012.

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The WHO seems to be in damage control mode over the adjuvant issue, considering the amount of reassurance being offered in the article below. But there’s little offered to counter the known issues with adjuvant additives and their worrisome safety record. Incidentally, since the vaccine will be shipped in multi-dose phials, it will also contain mercury, a known neurotoxin. It’s worth your time to look into this – the adjuvant squalene, as administered to soldiers in an experimental Anthrax vaccination, has been exposed as the main factor behind Gulf War Syndrome.

Flashback: Genetically modified Swine Flu hybrid may provide vaccine yield solution | Washington Post: Swine Flu Vaccine Will Contain Mercury | UK Government Swine Flu Advisor On Vaccine Maker Payroll | Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine will be safe, officials insist | Swine flu: How scared should we be? | Top Epidemiologist Slams Swine Flu Fearmongering | Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe

CBC News
August 6, 2009

$400M contract goes to GlaxoSmithKline factory in Quebec City

A technician holds a master H1N1 virus sample, for the pre-production of a vaccine against pandemic H1N1 influenza Avirus at a GlaxoSmithKline laboratory in Dresden, Germany. (GlaxoSmithKline/Reuters)

The federal government will order 50.4 million doses of swine flu vaccine, and will pick up 60 per cent of the cost, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Thursday.

The number of doses is enough for all Canadians who want and need to be vaccinated against the H1N1 pandemic virus, said Dr. David Butler-Jones, chief public health officer of Canada.

The total cost will be more than $400 million, Butler-Jones told reporters.

A spokesperson for the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline said the entire order for the vaccine will be produced at its factory in Quebec City.

Canada’s pandemic influenza plan calculated that about 75 per cent of Canadians might want or need to be vaccinated during a pandemic.

Results from trials of the avian flu vaccine suggest one dose should be enough, particularly since Canada’s flu vaccine supplier, GlaxoSmithKline, is using an additive known as adjuvant, he said. Adjuvants are used to boost immune response from vaccines.

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They didn’t think of that already?

Flashback: Bisphenol A traces found in baby food: Health Canada | Elevated BPA levels in people drinking out of plastic bottles, study finds | Tests find Bisphenol A in majority of soft drinks | Chemical ban targets toys, rubber duckies | As in Canada, gender-bending chemicals in UK rivers grow more potent | Chemicals feminizing males, study suggests | Major report to reveal male gender under threat from pollutants | CBC broadcasts “The Disappearing Male”, an expose of hormone-disrupting plastics | Plastics ingredient linked to feminization in children | Health Canada adds bisphenol A to list of toxic substances | Scientists Note Hormones in Water, Feminization of Fish Downstream of Montreal | New study raises concerns Bisphenol-A could be related to heart disease | Air freshener chemicals could impact fertility: study | Bisphenol tied to lower brain function | Chemical Industry Source of Hyped FDA Study ‘Exonerating’ Plastic Bottles

Martin Mittelstaedt, Globe and Mail
August 6, 2009

Citing possible risks to young children, Health Canada recently banned plastic baby bottles made from bisphenol A and is proposing to ban toys containing six types of phthalates, best known as the rubber duck chemical.

Singling out babies and toddlers for special protection against harmful chemicals is a good idea because infants, with their rapidly growing bodies and unique exposure patterns, can be more vulnerable to dangerous chemicals than are most adults.

But a question has arisen about Health Canada’s actions: If young children shouldn’t come into contact with the two chemicals, what about pregnant women and their fetuses, which are even more susceptible to harmful compounds, especially those with hormonal impacts, like these man-made substances?

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Flashback: Bank of Canada declares recession over | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | More Canadians in arrears on credit payments | Canadian households $1.3-trillion in debt | Credit card changes benefit families, Flaherty says | Credit companies seek to avoid regulation, create global debit system | Canadian credit card delinquencies rising | All maxed out? Budget measures would improve credit access | Now the consumer crunch: falling credit limits, rising interest rates | Bank of Canada adds $8B to credit markets | $25B credit backstop for banks ‘not a bailout’: Harper

CBC News
August 6, 2009

Credit monitoring company Equifax revealed data on Thursday indicating more Canadians are falling behind on their credit repayment.

Nationally, 1.56 per cent of credit facilities were delinquent — more than 90 days overdue without making any payment — in June. That’s a three per cent increase over May and 24 per cent higher than where the rate was in June 2008.

Rates are increasing fastest in Alberta and B.C., by 32 and 30 per cent, respectively. In Calgary, 1.36 per cent of accounts were delinquent, in Edmonton the rate was 1.45 per cent, and in Vancouver, it was 1.21 per cent.

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Could celebrity culture possibly get any lamer?

Flashback: Designer baby row over US clinic | The evolution of baby-making

Francine Kopun, Toronto Star
August 6, 2009

Hollywood look-alikes are a hit in U.S., where sperm is a commodity

If your baby looks like Bill Gates, will he make money like Bill Gates? Have you always wanted a child that resembles Antonio Banderas? Tiger Woods? How about a bunch of Bob Sagets?

A Los Angeles-based sperm bank is offering parents-to-be the choice.

California Cryobank, Inc. recently launched a celebrity look-alike feature that allows prospective parents to narrow their donor search to men who resemble their favourite actor, athlete, musician or comedian.

“The most frequently asked question we get in the client services department is, `What does this donor look like?’” says Scott Brown, communications manager for the cryobank. “So we’ve done the best we could at answering that question.”

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Not such a sterling recovery in England, apparently.

Flashback: Geithner lambastes US economic watchdogs resistant to planned transfer of powers to Federal Reserve | Bank of Canada declares recession over | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | Central Bank of Canada ‘considering’ regulatory changes, ‘continuous private liquidity creation’ | Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Officially Establishes Banking Dictatorship In United States | Bank of Canada poised to print money to buy bonds | IMF poised to print billions of dollars in ‘global quantitative easing’ | UK Central Bank begins using ‘new’ money | Central bank tactics pushed to brink | Bank of England cloaks books, fears of monetary manipulation arise | Bank of Canada greases financial system with $12B in new cash

Julia Kollewe, The Guardian
August 6, 2009

Quantitative easing programme expanded to £175bn, move bigger than economists had expected

The Bank of England is pumping another £50bn into the UK economy in a further attempt to lift it out of recession.

Britain’s central bank will raise the total amount of new money created under the quantitative easing (QE) programme to £175bn. The move is bigger than economists had expected, with the Bank admitting the recession had been “deeper than previously thought”. It also noted that the world economy is still in recession.

City economists broadly welcomed the decision, which sent the FTSE 100 index up to a new high for this year of 4729.58, but pushed sterling down against the dollar.

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MedImmune, incidentally, was founded by Wayne T. Hockmeyer – who now sits on the board of Baxter Pharmaceuticals. And as was reported last week, Sir Roy Anderson sits on the board advising the UK on pandemic issues while simultaneously sitting on the board of GlaxoSmithKilne. He also sits on Royal Society boards alongside NIBSC officials. And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of conflict of interest problems in the vaccine industry. In this case a number of questions remain unanswered, foremost among them the identity of the viral strain that has been tapped for its improved genetics for production in eggs. Is it the ‘highly pathogenic’ avian flu, John Wood’s specialty in his work for the experimental FLUPAN project? And what is the epidemiology of using internal genes from a different virus to increase rate of growth? And why is it left up to a small online journal to ask these questions?

Flashback: Washington Post: Swine Flu Vaccine Will Contain Mercury | UK Government Swine Flu Advisor On Vaccine Maker Payroll | Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine will be safe, officials insist | Swine flu: How scared should we be? | Top Epidemiologist Slams Swine Flu Fearmongering | Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe

Helen Branswell, Canadian Press
August 6, 2009

A British laboratory may have found a fix for the low yield problem that has been plaguing companies making swine flu vaccine, a scientist from the lab revealed Wednesday.

John Wood of the U.K.’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control said an improved version of the seed strain his lab produced in May seems to generate a virus yield that is on a par with what manufacturers get when they make seasonal flu vaccine.

While Wood cautioned the increased yield has to be confirmed by manufacturers, any improvement would be welcome news. Manufacturers have been clamouring for the new seed strain, which the lab started shipping out Wednesday.

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