statism watch

Flashback: UN sanctions urged over Iran’s uranium plans | Western powers voice scepticism over Iran uranium offer | U.S. deploys land and sea-based missile shield in the Gulf to deter attack from Iran | UK: Tony Blair attempts to shift focus to Iran as ‘global threat’ at Iraq war inquiry | Iran admits jailed protesters were beaten to death | Iranian commanders assassinated, Iran fingers Western intelligence | IAEA members question Iran nuclear intel authenticity | US military could strike Iran, but at what cost? | Another War in the Works | Iran to allow nuclear site inspection | Iran plays into Obama’s hands with disclosure of nuclear facility | UN approves nuclear ‘disarmament’ resolution | Tens of thousands march in Iran | Obama scales back missile defence shield in Europe | Israel ‘will attack Iran this year’ if West does not cripple Tehran with sanctions | Brookings Publication mentions possibility of ‘Horrific Provocation’ to Trigger Iran Invasion | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | Proposed Missile Shield seen as Provocation by Russia | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Russia threatens to ’strike’ Poland in wake of U.S. missile plan | Cheney Considered False Flag Operation to Justify War with Iran | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Israelis ‘rehearse Iran attack’ | Israeli official says attack on Iran ‘unavoidable’ | 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 | 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 | Former CIA Officer – US Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran

Steven Edwards, Canwest News
February 9, 2010

UNITED NATIONS — U.S. President Barack Obama signalled Tuesday that he will take action against Iran over its nuclear ambitions even if he can not secure the full support of the United Nations.

Expressing uncertainty about the level of support China will provide in the UN Security Council, which must authorize any legally binding international censure, Mr. Obama said Washington and its allies were “looking at a variety of ways” to rein in Tehran

“The UN will be one aspect of that broader effort…” Mr. Obama said. “How China operates at the Security Council as we pursue sanctions is something that we’re going to have to see.”

Mr. Obama spoke after China said Iran’s move towards producing weapons-grade nuclear fuel should be met with a new round of diplomatic initiatives – not new sanctions.

Because China is a veto-bearing member of the Security Council, the comment by a Chinese Foreign Ministry official in Beijing effectively blunts calls by Washington and its allies for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran.

But taking action that sidelines the Security Council could be politically tricky for Mr. Obama on the world stage after he emphasized in his inaugural UN address as President last year that the United States had “re-engaged” the world body following the frequent arm’s length approach of the former Bush administration.

Indeed, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan lambasted George W. Bush because he had, as president, launched the Iraq war after abandoning an attempt to win explicit Security Council approval when it emerged France would veto such a request.

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Flashback: ACTA One Step Closer To Being Done; Concerns About Transparency Ignored | UK MPs frozen out of super-secret ACTA copyright talks | Reading Between The Still Secret Lines Of The ACTA Negotiations | Beyond ACTA: Proposed EU – Canada Trade Agreement Intellectual Property Chapter Leaks | New Leaks of Secret ACTA Copyright Law Reveal Oppressive ‘Global DMCA’ | MPAA Says Critics of Secret Copyright Treaty Hate Hollywood | ACTA Threatens Made-in-Canada Copyright Policy | More ACTA Details Leak: It’s An Entertainment Industry Wishlist | Six Days Left: Canadian Net Users Caught As Copyright Consultation Nears Conclusion | MP Charlie Angus on copyright: industry lobby pulling for ‘dead business model’ | Ottawa denies altering public’s ECopyright Consultation submissions | Security guards stop MPs, students from distributing fair use flyers at Toronto copyright townhall | Can The Public Be Heard On Copyright Issues? | Copyright Consultation Launches: Time For Canadians To Speak Out | Third stab at copyright law ‘reform’ to kick off with consultations | Time to slay Canadian file-sharing myths | Canadian copyright lobbyists leaned on “independent” researchers to change report on file-sharing | Think tank plagiarizes, pulls report on Canadian piracy | Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets | Latest Round of Closed-Door ACTA Copyright Negotiations Wrap Up | Digital rights groups sue for access to secret ACTA treaty | Critics waging a cyber offensive to fight copyright changes | Canadian Industry Minister lies about Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up | The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print | Government ready to drop copyright bomb | Transparency needed on ACTA | Revamped copyright law targets electronic devices | New Attempt to Align Canada’s Copyright Act with USA Coming Soon | Canadian DMCA To Be Introduced Tomorrow Morning?

Mike Masnick, Techdirt.com
February 9, 2010

When concern over ACTA secrecy started picking up a few months ago, one of the industry lobbyist talking points that floated out was “don’t worry about ACTA, because it’s not a ‘treaty’ but an ‘executive agreement’ and thus, it can’t impact US law.” An IP lawyer in our comments keeps making this point over and over again, and arguing that anyone who argues otherwise doesn’t understand the Constitution. Of course, that’s silly. In response to that guy in particular, I’d been doing more research to understand the real differences between a “treaty” and an “executive agreement” and realized that pretty much everyone (including people at the State Departement) admit that the only substantive differences is that you don’t need 2/3 Senate approval for an executive agreement. Otherwise, in every way, it’s just like a treaty. Basically, it’s a way to end-run around a treaty that wouldn’t get approval. I’d been meaning to write up something about this, but it looks like Andrew Moshirnia of the Citizen Media Law Project has beaten me to it and done an excellent job ripping apart the “but it’s just an executive agreement” argument:
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As the Daily Mail points out, cervical cancer fells approximately 3 out of 100,000 per year and doesn’t come anywhere close to the deaths associated with breast cancer, lung cancer, heart disease, etc. It is also preventable by screening via pap smear – women still have to go for them anyways, since there’s no guarantee of protection from the vaccine. Taxpayer money is being poured into GSK at a fantastic rate for a disease that, while terrible, is way down the priority list. And serious concerns about the safety of these vaccines remain: the website The Truth About Gardasil maintains a collection of personal testimonials to injuries received from HPV vaccination. It makes for some interesting reading, and should be investigated.

Flashback: HPV vaccine ‘As deadly as the cancer’: Cervarix designer | Public Health: Mystery tumour ‘likely’ killed British girl after HPV shot | British schoolgirl dies after HPV vaccination | UK: Question a doctor about HPV shot and lose your child | Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Merck Makes Phony Peer-Review Journal | Vioxx, Gardasil maker Merck and Co drew up doctor hit list | U.S. again denies approval to expand use of Gardasil vaccine | Did Pharma Giant with Gardasil HPV Patents Buy Nobel Prize? | Report urges long-term funding for HPV vaccine | Revealed: The serious health concerns about the cervical cancer jab | Study finds higher rate of reactions to HPV shot | Researchers Question Wide Use of HPV Vaccines | CDC reports almost 8,000 adverse reactions to “Gardasil” HPV vaccine in U.S. | Is HPV Vaccine to Blame for a Teen’s Paralysis? | Alberta to offer HPV vaccine this fall | Discovery of HPV in male oral cancers leads to vaccination call | HPV vaccination program raises concerns in B.C. | Gardasil shots have earned a painful reputation | Perspective on the HPV vaccine | Deaths associated with Merck’s HPV vaccine (Gardasil), over 3500 adverse affects reported | Political Intrigue in Merck’s Push for Mandatory HPV Vaccinations

André Picard, The Globe and Mail
February 9, 2010

Canadian women will now have choice between newly approved Cervarix and Gardasil

Canadian women who want to be immunized against HPV, a family of viruses that causes cervical cancer, now have a choice of two competing vaccines.

Yesterday, Health Canada approved Cervarix, a product of GlaxoSmithKline Inc., which is expected to be available by the end of the month. Gardasil, a product of Merck Canada, has been on the market since 2006. [Ed. Note: Makers of our national swine flu shots as well.]

“The vaccines are different but we can’t say one is clearly better than the other because we have no clinical head-to-head studies,” said Barbara Romanowski, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Cervarix is designed to protect against infection with two strains of human papillomavirus, HPV 16 and 18. It also offers some protection against HPV 31, 33 and 45.

Between them, those strains account for more than 80 per cent of cases of cervical cancer.

Gardasil is designed to prevent infection with four strains of HPV: 6, 11, 16 and 18. The latter two strains are responsible for more than 70 per cent of cases of cervical cancer, while the other two cause about 90 per cent of cases of genital warts. (There are almost 200 strains of HPV. In addition to cervical cancer, human papillomavirus can cause throat cancer, cancer of the head and neck, anal cancer, penile cancer and other cancers of the female genital tract such as vulvar and vaginal cancer.)

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Flashback: Ottawa won’t budge on secrecy laws | McGuinty won’t deny political interference with Freedom of Information requests | Information commissioner quits, Ottawa chided for lacking ‘guts’ | Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online | Government secrecy ‘grim,’ watchdog says | Watchdog alarmed by Harper’s information clampdown | Listeria files withheld due to ’systemic’ problems with access to information | Public access vs. government secrecy the issue in Supreme Court of Canada case | Radical change needed in privacy protection, Ont. watchdog says | Files tagged as `sensitive’ cause unfair delays, watchdog says | Tentacles of Secrecy Grip Tightly | Parliament losing power, author says | Over 100 complaints about access to govt. info on Afghan mission: report | Information lockdown: How Harper Controls the Spin | Tories kill access to information database | Harper to create government-run media centre: report

Richard J. Brennan, Bruce Campion-Smith, The Toronto Star
February 9, 2010

OTTAWA—The Prime Minister’s Office has warned senior political staff across government not to interfere in the handling of access to information requests.

The warning comes as opposition MPs are calling for an independent investigation into “all instances of Conservative interference” to foil the release of information.

Guy Giorno, Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, penned a memo on Tuesday to chiefs of staff in federal departments reminding them to “respect” the access to information process, a senior official said.

And they were pointedly warned that it’s an offence to deliberately obstruct access requests.

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Well, that’s good news at least. (For those keeping track, that’s two major RCMP investigations covered by this journal that have ended in the exposure of an inventory miscount to date. The other was at the Canadian Mint.)

Flashback: RCMP hasn’t closed book on missing potential explosive as Olympics loom | GPS game blamed for Ottawa bomb scare | ‘Bombs’ in Ottawa this weekend are just for training | Art student released on bail after bomb hoax

The Canadian Press
February 9, 2010

Potentially explosive ammonium nitrate fertilizer that seemed to disappear on the eve of the Vancouver Olympics was not stolen, the RCMP say.

There was no evidence of theft or other criminal activity in an inventory discrepancy that left two one-tonne bags of the substance unaccounted for, RCMP Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said in a news release Tuesday.

A high level of security was in place throughout the manufacture, transport and storage of the ammonium nitrate, so the most reasonable explanation is that errors in the administrative process led to the discrepancy, Vermuelen said.

The RCMP investigation was led by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team and included the intelligence group responsible for the Olympics. Investigators conducted more than 200 interviews with people who came in contact with the fertilizer, as well as audits at docks in the Vancouver area and at offices in Edmonton, Calgary and Salt Lake City.

Terminal operator Kinder Morgan reported the ammonium nitrate missing on Dec. 31, telling the RCMP it had disappeared after being shipped to Vancouver from Alberta.

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Somewhere, Mel Lastman is laughing.

Flashback: Obama Executive Order Stokes Martial Law Fears | Police State Canada 2010 and the Olympic Crackdown | Public Safety Canada’s emergency plan not implemented: Auditor General | UK: Paramilitary police placed on routine foot patrol for first time | Canada’s military peers into future, sees drone patrols, draft, insurgency | Maximum Alert: U.S. Troops Now Occupying America | More troops on the streets: U.S. terror alert expands to transit and stadiums | Ground broken on $3.4 billion Homeland Security complex | Military helicopters over downtown Montreal for exercise | British Army to Police Medicine Hat During Urban Warfare Drills | Urban warfare drills coming to Medicine Hat | Military readies reservists for threats to ‘domestic front’ | Military may patrol bar zone in Barrie | British Secret Service, Army Alert on Bank Riots | US Urban Warfare Drills Linked To Coming Economic Rage | Military and police practice integration during Olympic security exercises | A decade later, Lastman proud he called in army | Canadian military getting 1,300 new heavily armoured trucks for ‘domestic use’ | Army ‘Strategic Shock’ Report Says Troops May Be Needed To Quell U.S. Civil Unrest | Pentagon earmarks 20,000 additional troops for American streets | Troops in the Streets: Army Brigades Standing By to Assist in Disasters, Help Quell Dissent | Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies | U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan | Harper pledges to boost military presence in cities | Ontario Police Chiefs travel to Israel to study police tactics

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
February 9, 2010

Americans are once again being conditioned to accept the sight of troops patrolling the streets and dealing with domestic law enforcement issues under the pretext of National Guard soldiers “helping” recovery efforts after the deluge of snow that has hit the East coast, the same soldiers who just months ago were also “helping” authorities to brutalize innocent people during the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.

“In the aftermath of the weekend’s storm, hundreds of National Guard members have been helping Pittsburgh’s emergency personnel respond to residents’ needs; and beginning tonight, they’re also going to be patrolling some city streets,” reports KDKA.

“We will also begin to have the National Guard patrol our neighborhoods to deal with any issues that come up,” Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced at an afternoon news conference. “So city residents,” he added, “be advised that you will begin to see National Guard Humvees in some of your neighborhoods beginning this evening.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also reported that Gov. Ed Rendell dispatched the troops to deal with all manner of calls that would normally be handled by police, including “domestic disputes”.

The use of National Guard soldiers to provide aid in emergency situations is a perfectly reasonable measure, but when those troops start to randomly patrol the streets and work with cops in dealing with “domestic disputes” and “any issues that come up,” then a dangerous precedent is being set, especially considering the fact that less than five months ago, these same troops were working with the Army and the Air Force to conduct “crowd control” duties and run military checkpoints during the G20 summit.

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That’s pandering to your constituency at the expense of addicts in Vancouver’s blighted downtown eastside. Is the ‘Conservative’ party now pro-HIV and pro hepatitis?

Clearly, any high-profile loosening of the official proscription against drugs will be resisted by the state. Insite is an anomaly, an experiment made possible by the (formerly) laissez-faire culture of Vancouver. It is officially unthinkable, however, to suggest that the individual has the right to the disposition of his or her own body and health. Because if drugs were decriminalized, the bottom would fall out of the illegal market, prices would collapse, and that would undercut an important source of funds for the global intelligence mafia. It’s a sure bet this ideological trickle-down has a lot to do with the campaign against Insite.

Flashback: Congressman Ron Paul: After ‘CIA coup,’ agency ‘runs military’ | Occupiers involved in drug trade: Afghan minister | Afghan leader’s corrupt brother paid by CIA, U.S. officials say | Madsen: CIA collusion with “Al Qaeda” financiers and attack planners | Secret RCMP studies of Insite ideologically biased, advocates say | Karzai’s kin linked to heroin trafficking | Confirmed: Mexico drug plane used for CIA ‘rendition’ flights | Afghani Narco-state Continues to Blossom under Puppet President | Third Cocaine Plane Surfaces and is Tied to Web of Government Connections | How the CIA infiltrated the DEA | Sloppy tradecraft exposes CIA drug plane | DC9 with 5.5 tons of cocaine was CIA plane | Pulitzer Winning Journalist Who Linked CIA to Crack Sales Found Dead of Apparent Suicide | Dark Alliance: The Story Behind the Crack Explosion

CBC News
February 9, 2010

The federal government is asking the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal a lower court ruling that sanctioned Vancouver’s supervised drug injection site.

The case has raised important questions about the division of powers among federal and provincial governments that need answers, said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson on Parliament Hill Tuesday.

“The case we’ll be presenting before the court is to ask for clarification,” he said. “I think it is important to do that.”

Nicholson pointed out that there was a dissenting opinion in the lower court ruling. “I think it is appropriate for me to seek leave to appeal,” he said.

The minister agreed that drug addicts need assistance, pointing out that the federal government’s anti-drug strategy is aimed at prevention, and treatment for addicts.

The B.C. Appeal Court ruled Jan. 15 that provinces, not the federal government, have jurisdiction for health care, which includes services such as supervised injection sites for addicts of illegal street drugs.

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The hoax of the benign body scanner has been entirely exploded now. These machines need to be banned, and they need to throw the book at Michael Chertoff for corruption. Want to know how that will happen? It’s up to you, the reader, to get this information out.

Flashback: Radiation Safety Group Says Naked Body Scanners Increase Risk Of Cancer | UK: Airline passengers have ‘no right’ to refuse naked body scanners | Full-body scanner blind to bomb parts | Airport scanner companies queue for business after ‘underpants bomber’ | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | Body scanners capable of storing, sending images, group says | Dutch police develop mobile body scans | Whole-body airport scanners are basically safe—or are they? | Airport security starts in the parking lot | Body scanners coming to Canadian airports | UK: New scanners break child porn laws | US implements travel profiling: Tougher air screening for ’security-risk’ countries | UK: Full-body scanners being ordered for airports, says Gordon Brown | Group slams Chertoff on conflict of interest in scanner promotion | The ‘Israelification’ of airports: High security, little bother | Underwear Bomber Renews Calls for ‘Naked Scanners’ | Federal Privacy Commissioner raises alarm over terror security measures | Privacy watchdog OKs ‘naked’ airport scanners | Security may soon test ‘virtual strip search’ at large Canadian aiports | US Border Guards to Expand Use of X-Ray Body Scanners | Homeland Security seeks Bladerunner-style lie detector | Greyhound introduces security screening of passengers, bans fruit, carry-ons | Germany rejects full-body scans at airports | Interpol wants facial recognition database to catch suspects | ‘Pre-crime’ detector shows promise | Eye scans, fingerprints to control NZ borders | Air passengers to undergo ‘virtual strip search’ | US Homeland Security Keen on ‘Novel’ Israeli Airport Security Technology | Israel startup uses behavioral science to identify terrorists | Airport scanner a ‘virtual strip search’

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
February 9, 2010

Claims on behalf of authorities that naked body scanner images are immediately destroyed after passengers pass through new x-ray backscatter devices have been proven fraudulent after it was revealed that naked images of Indian film star Shahrukh Khan were printed out and circulated by airport staff at Heathrow in London.

UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said last week that the images produced by the scanners were deleted “immediately” and airport staff carrying out the procedure are fully trained and supervised.

“It is very important to stress that the images which are captured by body scanners are immediately deleted after the passenger has gone through the body scanner,” Adonis told the London Evening Standard.

Adonis was forced to address privacy concerns following reports that the images produced by the scanners broke child pornography laws in the UK. When the scanners were first introduced, it was also speculated that images of famous people would be ripe for abuse as the pictures produced by the devices make genitals “eerily visible” according to journalists who have investigated trials of the technology.

However, the Transport Secretary’s assurances were demolished after it was revealed on the BBC’s Jonathan Ross show Friday that Indian actor Shahrukh Khan had passed through a body scan and later had the image of his naked body printed out and circulated by Heathrow security staff.

“I was in London recently going through the airport and these new machines have come up, the body scans. You’ve got to see them. It makes you embarrassed – if you’re not well endowed,” said Khan, referring to how the scans produce clear images of a person’s genitals.

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