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stat·ism /ˈsteɪtɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[stey-tiz-uhm] 1. the principle or policy of concentrating extensive
economic, political, and related controls in the state at the cost of individual liberty.
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Linda Sandler, Bob Van Voris and Don Jeffrey
March 12, 2010

March 12 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. helped cause the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. by demanding more collateral and changing guarantee agreements, according to a report on the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

“The demands for collateral by Lehman’s lenders had direct impact on Lehman’s liquidity,” said Anton Valukas, the bankruptcy examiner, in a 2,200-page document filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. “Lehman’s available liquidity is central to the question of why Lehman failed.”

Former Lehman Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, ex- Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan, former Executive Vice President Ian Lowitt and former Managing Director Christopher O’Meara certified misleading statements about the bank’s finances, according to the report. Fuld, 63, was “at least grossly negligent,” Valukas said. New York-based Lehman collapsed in September 2008 with $639 billion in assets.

In addition to his conclusions regarding New York-based Citigroup and JPMorgan, Valukas said of London-based Barclays Plc’s purchase of Lehman’s North American brokerage that a “limited amount of assets” belonging to Lehman were “improperly transferred to Barclays.” He added that the value of the assets may not be “material.”

Kerrie Cohen, a Barclays spokeswoman in New York, and Brian Marchiony, a JPMorgan spokesman, declined to comment.

Preliminary Review

Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, said in an e-mailed statement that the bank is reviewing the report, and that a preliminary analysis shows the examiner “has not identified any wrongdoing on Citi’s part.”

Lewis Liman, a lawyer for Lowitt, who is now at Barclays, said in an e-mailed statement his client did nothing wrong.

“In the three months during which he held the job, Mr. Lowitt worked diligently and faithfully to discharge all of his duties as Lehman’s CFO,” Liman said. “Any suggestion that Mr. Lowitt breached his fiduciary duties is baseless.”

Barclays is Britain’s second-biggest bank. Citigroup is the third biggest U.S. bank, and JPMorgan is second. Bank of America Corp. is the biggest U.S. bank by assets.

Fuld was warned months before the bankruptcy by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that Lehman might fail if it continued to report losses without finding a buyer or formulating a survival plan, according to Valukas’s report.

‘Grossly Negligent’

Fuld was “at least grossly negligent in causing Lehman to file misleading periodic reports” while its risks were rising because of long-term assets financed with short-term debt, Valukas said in the report.

Lehman’s executives engaged in conduct ranging from “non- culpable errors of business judgment” to “actionable balance sheet manipulation,” as they used “accounting gimmicks” to move assets off the balance sheet without disclosing that to the government, rating-agencies, investors or Lehman’s board.

Fuld’s lawyer, Patricia Hynes, disputed the examiner’s allegation that the Lehman estate has a claim against him relating to transactions called “Repo 105 transactions.”

“Mr. Fuld did not know what those transactions were — he didn’t structure or negotiate them, nor was he aware of their accounting treatment,” Hynes said in a statement. She also said none of Lehman’s senior financial officers, lawyers or outside auditors raised concerns about the transactions with Fuld.

Michael Chepiga, a lawyer who represents O’Meara in Lehman- related securities lawsuits, declined to comment.

‘Unimpeachable Loyalty’

“Any claim that Ms. Callan breached her fiduciary duties or was somehow liable for the failure of Lehman Brothers is baseless and misguided,” Robert Cleary, Callan’s lawyer, said today in a phone interview. “During her brief tenure as CFO, she served the firm diligently and with unimpeachable loyalty in the face of extraordinary circumstances that she did not create.”

Valukas, 66, a judge’s son, is chairman of the Chicago- based law firm Jenner & Block LLP, where his clients have included David Radler, Hollinger International Inc.’s former president. As U.S. Attorney in Chicago from 1985 to 1989, he was dubbed the Midwest’s Rudolph Giuliani for his hard line on white-collar crime, according to a 1989 New York Times profile.

In his report, he said that Ernst & Young LLP, Lehman’s auditing firm, failed to question inadequate disclosures by the Lehman executives.

The examiner said Lehman’s directors are “immunized from personal liability” concerning the way the company handled risk because management hadn’t presented any “red flags” to them.

Last Audit

“Our last audit of the company was for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 2007,” said Charlie Perkins, a spokesman for Ernst & Young, in an e-mailed statement. “Our opinion indicated that Lehman’s financial statements for that year were fairly presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and we remain of that view.”

Valukas spent a year and $38 million producing the report. He interviewed more than 100 people including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, and scrutinized more than 10 million documents, plus 20 million pages of e-mails from Lehman, according to filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

“There are a limited number of colorable claims for avoidance actions against JPMorgan and Citibank,” Valukas said in the report. He defined a colorable claim as sufficient credible evidence to persuade a jury to award damages at trial.

JPMorgan and Citigroup were two of New York-based Lehman’s main short-term lenders. On Feb. 24, Lehman said it settled with JPMorgan over the last of $29 billion in claims the bank filed against Lehman.

Collateral Transfers

Lehman’s lenders had reasons to try and protect themselves as the investment bank’s finances deteriorated and its stock dropped in late August and September 2008, Valukas said. In any suits against the banks, he said they would have “substantial defenses,” complicating a plaintiff’s task.

Still, both JPMorgan and Citigroup may be sued to undo the guarantees they received from Lehman in the days before its bankruptcy and reverse the transfers of collateral under those agreements, the examiner said.

In the case of JPMorgan, there are grounds for suing to reverse almost $7 billion of the $8.6 billion in collateral that Lehman transferred to JPMorgan under an agreement called the September Guaranty, he said. Lehman didn’t receive fair value for additional obligations it agreed to in the September guaranty of its subsidiaries’ debt to JPMorgan, the examiner said. That expanded Lehman’s obligations to JPMorgan by more than $4 billion, he said.

Lawsuit Grounds

Lehman may have gotten fair value if there had been an increase in the value of the guaranteed subsidiaries, Valukas said. However, some of the Lehman subsidiaries, including the brokerage it sold to Barclays, “were insolvent and not likely to generate any value” for Lehman, leaving Lehman without fair value for its collateral. That’s grounds for a lawsuit, Valukas said.

JPMorgan may also be subject to lawsuits for demanding excessive collateral from the weakened Lehman in September 2008, breaching good faith and fair dealing, Valukas said in the report.

For instance, a JPMorgan analysis indicated the bank had enough cushion for its loans as late as Sept. 10, 2008, he said. Another analysis said it was over-collateralized by as much as $6.1 billion on Sept. 12, three days before the bankruptcy filing.

Maximum Liability

The September Guaranty Agreement between Lehman and JPMorgan provided that Lehman’s maximum liability would be $3 billion, although it gave JPMorgan the right to ask for extra collateral, the examiner said.

While there are no precise tests of how much collateral is too much, and the bank may have been following reasonable commercial standards of protecting itself, undermining any potential claim, there are enough competing facts in the JPMorgan case for a “trier of fact” — a jury — to decide if it acted unreasonably or not, Valukas said.

Citigroup, which handled currency trades for Lehman, received a new guarantee from Lehman when the now-bankrupt firm was already insolvent and didn’t give enough value in return, the report said.

“The examiner concludes that a colorable claim exists to avoid the Amended Guaranty as constructively fraudulent,” Valukas’s report said. The Citigroup guaranty has the same legal issues as JPMorgan’s guaranty, Valukas said.

Currency Trading

Citigroup extended intraday credit to Lehman in handling the currency trades, “thereby assuming a certain amount of intraday credit risk,” according to the report. The currency- trading agreement between Lehman and Citigroup provided that any extension of credit by Citigroup was at its “sole discretion,” the report says.

In June, Citigroup obtained a $2 billion deposit from Lehman to reduce its intraday risk. The money was to be maintained in a Citigroup overnight call account. The deposit was included in Lehman’s reported liquidity pool, the report says.

In July, the two banks failed to negotiate a collateral pledge agreement after Citigroup declined the securities Lehman proposed as collateral in lieu of the cash deposit because it “questioned whether there was a ready market for them,” the report says.

‘Acutely Concerned’

“By early September, Citi had become acutely concerned about its claim on the $2 billion deposit,” the report says. Citigroup and Lehman amended a Guaranty Agreement and the custodial agreement, “which provided Citi with a broad and explicit security interest over cash, securities or other assets held by Citi on behalf of Lehman,” the report says.

“Given the rapidly deteriorating market conditions, it was not unreasonable for Citi to seek added security from Lehman,” the report says.

Barclays bought Lehman’s brokerage for $1.54 billion. Lehman has sued Barclays for at least $5 billion, saying it made a “windfall” on the purchase. Barclays responded that it’s owed $3 billion. A bankruptcy-court trial is set for April 26.

The assets improperly transferred to Barclays included equipment with a book value of less than $10 million and customer information of “questionable value” that Barclays didn’t obtain in a “wrongful or unlawful” way, Valukas said. He found “limited colorable claims” against the bank for the transfers. The examiner found no evidence that any securities transferred to Barclays in the sale of the brokerage were owned by Lehman or its affiliates.

Lehman CEO Bryan Marsal said in an e-mail that he would “carefully evaluate” Valukas’s report to assess how it might help “ongoing efforts to advance creditor interests.”

The case is In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 08-13555, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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Environment Head Wants Global Warming Tax | Ottawa considering aid for private broadcasters | Financial Post editor: America’s future at risk of ‘inflationary outburst’ | U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar | IMF poised to print billions of dollars in ‘global quantitative easing’ | G20 officials pledge ‘whatever action necessary’ to revive economy | Changes to law could affect navigation of Canadian waters, critics say | Mainstream Financial Publication Finally Admits that Austrian Economists Were Right | Global recession deepening, Geithner says | Obama calls for G20 joint action | UK Central Bank begins using ‘new’ money | Brace for sharp slump, IMF warns Canada | IMF, World Bank predict a global recession | Worst crisis since 1930s says Fed, calls for ‘forceful action’ | Jobs data grim, Flaherty says | Atlas felt a sense of déjà vu | UK government takes control over Lloyd’s bank | Canada expects EU free-trade talks soon: Stockwell Day | GM pensions: Who’s responsible? | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | GM says it will go bust in days without new US bail-out | Terence Corcoran: Ontario’s green energy plan sneaks in feed-in taxes | Time to emulate Roosevelt’s New Deal and create green jobs | Central bank tactics pushed to brink | Ontario facing massive deficit | Obama outlines ‘hard choices’ budget | UK: Loss-making Northern Rock to pay bonuses to managers | IMF emergency fund is doubled to $500bn, Northern Rock bank granted $14bn bailout | EU backs sweeping new financial rules, more power for IMF | GM wants twice as much taxpayer’s money | Volcker sees crisis leading to global regulation | Gold Tops $1,000, First Time Since March as Recession Deepens | Stocks Drop Around the World; Stoxx 600 Falls to 6-Year Low | Greenspan backs bank nationalisation | Behemoth budget bill to be rammed through parliament unread | Obama signs stimulus bill | Congressman warns unread ’stimulus’ bill will prolong agony | Gordon Brown seeks sweeping reforms to give IMF global ’surveillance role’ | $787B stimulus package passes through U.S. Congress | Paul Martin prescribes international regulatory body for ailing fiat economies | US Congress reaches deal on economic stimulus package | World stocks fall on skepticism over U.S. bank plan | Next US bailout could top $1-trillion | Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout | Canada lost 129,000 jobs in January: StatsCan | Economic crisis: The shakeup Canadians need? | Pass stimulus or watch out, Obama warns | Canadian credit card delinquencies rising | Iceland to be fast-tracked into the EU | France responds to economic downturn with a general strike | U.S. House passes $819B economic stimulus | World Economic Forum elite blame ‘profit’, not fraud, for crisis | Fed infrastructure money requires provincial spending | Ignatieff lets government stand with budget amendment demand | Rewriting the rulebook for 21st-century capitalism | Obama urges Republicans to support economic plan | The budget: Global shock therapy | All maxed out? Budget measures would improve credit access | $12B for infrastructure forms key pillar of stimulus package | Few surprises as government turns on the spending taps | U.S. Senate confirms Geithner as treasury secretary despite reservations | Iceland’s government collapses | Optimistic central bank expects speedy economic rebound | Ottawa risks erasing decade of debt reduction | Canadian, U.S. energy policies to be inextricably linked: Prentice | Business Development Bank will get $350M injection, Clement says | Prominent Economist: Crisis Caused By Government Interventions | New UK bank bailout | Vancouver dodges public referendum requirement for funding to finish Olympic Village | Zimbabwe unveils 100 trillion dollar banknote | Financial crisis: Bank of America given $138bn rescue package | Q&A: Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks with The Post’s John Ivison | Premiers to press Harper for infrastructure boost | Vancouver mayor to recall legislature to handle Olympic Village crisis | Bring in a Canadian securities regulator: Flaherty’s handpicked business panel | Merged Citigroup, Morgan brokerage would be largest | Obama to visit Canada, Tories to propose ‘integrated carbon market’ | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Canadians starting to save cash, shun debt | GM’s U.S. bailout deal bars strikes | European Leaders Call For New Global Order | Transport Minister Baird calls for dramatic action on stimulus package | Obama calls for ‘dramatic action’ on stimulus package | UK PM unveils ‘New Deal’ plan to create 100,000 jobs | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Analyst: One Third Of Banks Could Collapse or Merge In 2009 | Auto bailout gives Federal, Provincial governments incremental nationalization powers | Banks won’t say where U.S. bailout money going | UK: Bailiffs get power to use force on debtors | Kissinger Calls For New International System Out Of World Crises | Canadian auto bailout could reach more than $4-billion | U.S. to spend $17.4-billion to ‘rescue’, nationalize auto industry | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Flaherty appoints business leaders to economic advisory council | IMF Chief Warns Of Riots In Response To Economic Crisis | Bank of Canada ready to monetize distressed equities | Canada may backstop ABCP rescue: Flaherty | The ugly spectre of ‘new Keynesianism’ and the self-appointed Guardians | Army ‘Strategic Shock’ Report Says Troops May Be Needed To Quell U.S. Civil Unrest | Federal government, Ontario agree on $3.3B auto bailout package | ‘Outrage’ greets banks’ failure to match rate cut | State to bail out, control US auto industry | Get close to Obama on economy and security, paper says | Financial Times: And now for a world government | Terence Corcoran: It’s Twilight for Detroit and the U.S. economy | Mexico to downsize metal in coins to save a few cents | Automakers seek $6B aid package from Ontario, federal government | Bank of England mulls “nuclear option” of cash injection | Zimbabwe tackles cash shortage amid riots and looting | Icelanders storm central bank in protest | Liberals and NDP sign unprecedented pact; to pursue stimulus, carbon taxes | UN Climate Change Conference open with call for ‘co-operation’ | UK closer to joining euro, EU commission president says | Iceland turns 90 amid economic ruin, currency freeze | TSX drops 600 points, N.Y. also falls | Britain buys control of Royal Bank of Scotland | Iceland inflation soars to 17.1% | Canada in recession: OECD | Maybe we should look at Zimbabwe before trying to print our way out of a money crisis | Britain to introduce massive stimulus package | Obama appoints architects of economic collapse, financial globalism to economic team | Jim Flaherty Urging Greater Federal, International Control over Canadian economy | Citigroup seeks ‘emergency cash’ | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Harper vows Canada will remain open to international trade | 5 injured during protest in Iceland over economic meltdown | ‘Hard decisions’ needed during economic crisis: throne speech | Paulson, Bernanke defend change of plan: $700-billion now to be given directly to banks | After G20 meeting, Ottawa ready to spend to spark economy | Congress Accuses Federal Reserve Bagman Of Bailout “Bait and Switch” During Angry Hearing | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Analysts Predict Hyper-Inflation To Push Gold To $2000, Oil to $300 | Terence Corcoran: Rescuers pulling market under | U.S. government won’t use bailout fund to buy troubled assets | Ottawa to pour another $50B into mortgage markets | Bank of Canada adds $8B to credit markets | Merrill CEO: Economic Environment Recalls 1929 | Fed Hides Destination Of $2 Trillion In Bailout Money | PM, premiers agree to speed up infrastructure investment | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies | Who are the Architects of Economic Collapse? | The Bush gang’s parting gift: a final, frantic looting of public wealth | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Morgan Chase Exec Brags Bailout Is for Takeovers, Restructuring, Not Lending | Draft letter calls on IMF to play critical role in financial crisis | Ottawa to guarantee interbank lending | More cash needed to save economy: Bernanke | Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout | German parliament backs bail-out | Regulator says brokers failed on ABCP, sets new guidelines | US Bailout Cost Heads Towards $5 Trillion | Market Euphoria Dissipates | Loonie leaps, then reverses course | $25B credit backstop for banks ‘not a bailout’: Harper | Brown wants ‘global’ bank support | US considers following British example of taking stakes in banks | New World Order: Global co-operation, nationalisation and state intervention – all in one day | TSX closes up 226 points in wild day after rate cuts | Federal Reserve Moves to Monetize Commercial Paper Debts | Stocks recoup some losses after markets hit by panic selling | Star column blames ‘Capitalism’ for market woes, offers false choice: Authoritarianism or Socialism | Bank of Canada greases financial system with $12B in new cash | Stock markets drop despite bailout | Why Paulson’s Plan is a Fraud | Representatives Were Threatened With Martial Law In America Over Bailout Bill | Congress Rejects (First) Bail-Out Plan | Congressman Ron Paul: Bailout Will Destroy Dollar, World Economy | Paul Martin calls for ‘global solution’ | Markets sink as woes spread | UK banking shares plunge as crisis deepens | Congressman Ron Paul Schools Fed Chairman Bernanke on the Bailout Plan | Bailout is “petty cash”, Inflation is the Federal Reserve’s real crime | Private Federal Reserve Makes Power Grab as Bush, McCain Urge Congress to Approve Plan | Canadian Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal in ABCP case | Last major investment banks in U.S. change status | U.S., British market regulators ban short-selling | Next Federal Reserve bank bailout round could cost taxpayers 1$ Trillion Dollars | Bank of Canada piles on in global inflationary swindle | Central banks continue inflating global economy | Central Banks Move to Transfer Wealth from Taxpayers to Banks | Crisis on Wall St. as firms collapse | Goldman-Sachs Alumni Hold Reins of Financial System | Frontrunners emerge in scramble to save another major bank | Lehman Brothers on Verge of Collapse, Wall Street Fears | US Treasury nationalizes Freddie Mae, Fannie Mac | Cities Debate Giving Away Public Infrastructure to Bankers | Court Grants Big Banks Immunity from Lawsuits over Derivatives Losses | Bush Calls for New Highway Tolls, More Private Funding of Roads | US mortgage firm bailout includes rider clause to expand police state: all credit card transactions now to be reported to IRS | Global ‘liberalization’ illusion under threat. Economist calls for world economic regime, Keynesian saviour. Irony? | Federal Reserve cites global stakes in Fannie and Freddie rescue | Financial ’super cop’ role for Fed | What Really Killed Bear Stearns? | Soros points out regulated markets fail to operate on market fundamentals, calls for more regulation | Competition study calls for lowered barriers to foreign ownership, bank mergers | Massive overhaul urged on foreign investment in airlines, media, and banks | Bilderberg Seeks Bank Centralization Agenda | Secretive Bilderberg Group Reverses Policy, Releases Press Release and Attendance List | Banks face “new world order,” consolidation: report

The Associated Press
March 11, 2010

ATHENS-Serious street clashes erupted between rioting youths and police in central Athens Thursday as some 30,000 people demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped government’s austerity measures.

Hundreds of masked and hooded youths punched and kicked motorcycle police, knocking several off their bikes, as riot police responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades.

The violence spread after the end of the march to a nearby square, where police faced off with stone-throwing anarchists and suffocating clouds of tear gas sent patrons scurrying from open-air cafes.

Police say 12 suspected rioters were detained and two officers were injured.

Rioters used sledge hammers to smash the glass fronts of more than a dozen shops, banks, jewelers and a cinema. Youths also set fire to rubbish bins and a car, smashed bus stops, and chopped blocks off marble balustrades and building facades to use as projectiles.

Thursday’s strike — the second in a week — brought the country to a virtual standstill, grounding all flights and bringing public transport to a halt. State hospitals were left with emergency staff only and all news broadcasts were suspended as workers walked off the job for 24 hours to protest spending cuts and tax hikes designed to tackle the country’s debt crisis.

Riot police made heavy use of tear gas during the start-and-stop clashes throughout the demonstration, including outside Parliament. Strikers and protesters banged drums and chanted slogans such as “no sacrifice for plutocracy,” and “real jobs, higher pay.” People draped banners from apartment buildings reading: “No more sacrifices, war against war.”

The demonstrators included hundreds of black-clad anarchists in crash helmets and ski masks, who repeatedly taunted and attacked riot police with stones and petrol bombs, at one point spraying officers with brown paint. Shopkeepers along the demonstration route hastily rolled down their shutters, while a few blocks away, people sat at outdoor restaurants, nonchalantly continuing their meals.

Tear gas wafted through the city centre’s streets, sending businessmen in suits scurrying for cover, their eyes streaming.

Minor clashes also broke out in the northern city of Thessaloniki, where about 14,000 people marched through the centre.

Fears of a Greek default have undermined the euro for all 16 countries that share it, putting the Greek government under intense European Union pressure to quickly show fiscal improvement.

It has announced an additional €4,8 billion ($65.33 billion) in savings through public sector salary cuts, hiring and pension freezes and consumer tax hikes to deal with its ballooning deficit, but the measures have led to a new wave of labour discontent.

The cutbacks, added to a previous €11.2 billion ($15.24 billion) austerity plan, seek to reduce the country’s budget deficit from 12.7 per cent of annual output to 8.7 per cent this year. The long-term target is to bring overspending below the EU ceiling of 3 per cent of GDP in 2012.

The new plan sparked a wave of strikes and protests from labour unions whose reaction to the initial austerity measures had been muted. Thursday’s strike shut down all public services and schools, leaving ferries tied up at port and suspending all news broadcasts for the day. However, some private bank branches were open despite calls from the bank employees’ union to participate in the strike.

While their colleagues clashed with groups of protesters, some police joined the demonstration.

About 200 uniformed police, coast guard and fire brigade officers, who cannot go on strike but can hold protests, gathered at a square in the centre of the city shortly before the marches got under way.

“The police and other security forces have been particularly hard hit by the new measures because our salaries are very low,” said Yiannis Fanariotis, general secretary of one police association. He said the average policeman made about €1,000-€1,200 ($1,360-$1,635) a month if weekend and night shifts were included.

Joining the protest “doesn’t feel strange, because we are working people like everybody else and we are all shouting out for our rights,” he said.

The government says the tough cuts are its only way to dig Greece out of a crisis that has hammered the common European currency and alarmed international markets — inflating the loan-dependent country’s borrowing costs.

But unions say ordinary Greeks are being called to pay a disproportionate price for past fiscal mismanagement.

“They are trying to make workers pay the price for this crisis,” said Yiannis Panagopoulos, leader of Greece’s largest union, the GSEE.

“These measures will not be effective and will throw the economy into deep freeze.”

A general strike last Friday was marred by violence during a large protest march. Riot police used tear gas and baton charges against rock-throwing protesters, who smashed banks and storefronts, while left-wing protesters roughed up Panagopoulos as he was addressing a rally.

The labour unrest could spark fears that the government will have trouble in implementing its new measures.

Greece insists it doesn’t need a bailout, and its European partners are reluctant to fund one. But it has called for European and international support for its program, saying that unless it receives that support and the cost for it to borrow on the market falls, it might have to appeal to the International Monetary Fund for help.

On Wednesday night, Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Pangalos said Greece could bypass the costly process of borrowing from edgy markets by urging international institutions to buy its bonds at a set interest rate.

“We want, if there is an unjustified speculative attack against Greek bonds, to know that one of these institutions that have the substantial means to absorb such market products will come and say ‘look here, I am buying Greek bonds at this price, with this interest rate,’ “Pangalos told private Mega TV.

He did not say which institutions he was referring to, or elaborate on the interest rate. [Ed. Note: He's trying to tell you that Greece is under economic attack by the banks.]

Markets think some kind of rescue would be organized if default looms. Speculation has focused on possible guarantees for Greek bonds or help from state-owned banks in other eurozone countries.

Source | See also under Protest: EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | Athens erupts as Greek austerity plan passes | Anti-prorogation group becomes pro-participation | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | Black bloc taints anti-Olympic movement | China insider sees revolution brewing | Greek workers stage general strike | Feared police crackdown absent during Games | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Vancouver Olympics protesters fall silent as Black Bloc ruins it for everyone | Ivory Coast protesters killed | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | Police lines block overwhelmingly peaceful Olympic protest march on BC Place Stadium | Protesters in Vancouver slum force Olympic torch off-course | Clashes reported as Iranians march on 31st anniversary of revolution | Greek workers ‘give their reply’ to proposed austerity plan with national strike | Activists Shut Down Australian Government Websites in Internet Filter Protest | Protesters target final leg of Vancouver Olympic torch run | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Kremlin shocked as Kaliningrad stages huge anti-government protest | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | Thousands of Canadians protest shuttering of Parliament | Anti-prorogation protest dogs PM | War resister released from U.S. prison | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | German ‘Fleshmob’ Protests Airport Scanners | Iran admits jailed protesters were beaten to death | Olympic torch delayed by Toronto protest | Copenhagen: the sound of silence | Olympic torch protested in Montreal | Italians march to demand Berlusconi step down | Anti-HST protest at Ontario legislature spills onto Toronto streets | Tory HST protest halts Ontario question period | D.C. to pay 13.7 million to mistreated World Bank, IMF protesters | UK Doctors say most Britons reject swine flu vaccine | Anti-Olympic activists decry ‘Orwellian’ treatment | US citizens fight back against traffic cameras | Iranian demonstrators clash with police | Protesters block Olympic torch relay | Protesters disrupting question period detained and bloodied by hill security | UK Police in £9m scheme to log ‘domestic extremists’ | Montebello police provocateurs called before ethics panel | U.S. artists slam use of music in Guantanamo interrogations | Students Protest Cops In School After One Of Their Own Arrested | Students to protest police role in schools | China executes Tibetan protesters | Police fend off protesters at Bush speech in Montreal | Nortel employees to lose pensions, Liberals vow change to bankruptcy laws | ‘You’re a terrorist’: Palestinian heckles Tony Blair in West Bank mosque | UK: National Health Service frontline staff shun H1N1 vaccine | Police break up IMF protests in Istanbul | UK: G20 ‘Police’ Protest Troupe in Bras and Stockings Charged With Impersonating Police | Provocateur Cops Caught Disguised As ‘Anarchists’ At Pittsburgh G20 | US braced for surge of protest over war in Afghanistan | G20 Police & Military Savagely Attack Peaceful Protesters In Pittsburgh Park | Military Police Kidnap G20 Protester, Shove Him Into Unmarked Car | G20 protesters blasted by sonic cannon | American Citizens Attacked With Military Sound Cannons & Tear Gas At G20 | Thousands rally against coming HST tax in BC | Tens of thousands march in Iran | Iraq shoe thrower released from jail, testifies to brutal torture | Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama’s spending in ‘tea-party’ demonstration | Sonic weapons used in Iraq positioned at congressional townhall meetings in San Diego county | American dissenters urge: “Stop the 9-11 cover-up” | Hutterites press fight vs. licence photos | ‘Freedom lover’ behind ‘Obama Joker’ posters | Prominent protesters stand trial in Iran | Sarnia resident plans ‘moon’ protest of US border spy balloon | Pentagon Caught Subverting Protest Group | Chinese dissident saved by Canada details horror | Global protests condemn new Iran crackdown | Protesters defy Iranian protest ban, violent clashes ensue | Iranian doctor on protests: Regime covering up deaths, using foreign militants | Urumqi Massacre: The repressive reality behind China’s modern mask | Anti-G8 demonstrators clash with police in Italy | Cynthia McKinney Demands Immediate Release After Her Gaza-Bound Boat is Seized by Israeli Navy | Pro-rights ‘Charter 08′ Manifesto author could face prison in China | Are the Iranian Protests Another US Orchestrated “Color Revolution?” | France forbids protesters from wearing face masks | 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 | DoD Training Manual Describes Protest As “Low-Level Terrorism” | Gunfire breaks out at massive Tehran protest | Iranian protesters trash Tehran | Mohawk protesters block Ontario bridge over arming of border guards | Peru protest violence kills natives and police | Protests against Putin sweep Russia as factories go broke | Police pounce on 20th Tiananmen anniversary | Tiananmen Square: briefly, anything seemed possible | Gitmo protest captured on film | ‘Brothers’ Bush, Clinton draw ire, ovations during Toronto visit | UK: Retaining images from surveillance of protesters ruled illegal | Tamil protesters blockade Gardiner expressway to highlight Sri Lankan plight | G20 police ‘used undercover men to incite crowds’ | Cars moving, but Toronto Tamil protest questioned | May Day sparks clashes in Germany, Turkey | UK: Police caught on tape trying to recruit climate activist as informant | Israeli troops kill apartheid wall protester | Thousands Join in Georgia Protest | Moldova’s ‘Twitter Revolution’: Made in America? | Amateur video blasts G20 death coverup | Protests in Moldova Explode, With Help of Twitter | Canadian Parliament votes again to let U.S. war resisters stay | Britons block Google Street View van | G20 ‘kettle’ police containment traps protesters, photograph a requirement for exit | G20 protests: Riot police, or rioting police? | G20 protests: riot police clash with demonstrators | UK media primes London for violence in advance of G20 summit | G20 warned unrest will sweep globe | More than 1 million protesters take part in nationwide strike in France | Annual anti-police protest leads to chaos in streets of Montreal | Pakistan restores outspoken judge | Pakistani police attack opposition march for independent judiciary | Judges give Iraqi shoe thrower 3 years in prison | UK police maintain databank on thousands of protesters | Irish Police Protest And Call The Government A Criminal Accessory | British Secret Service, Army Alert on Bank Riots | Greeks shut airports, services to protest economy | UK: Police warn of ’summer of rage’ due to recession | Huge protest over Irish economy, pension clawback | Seventh Tamil suicide by self-immolation to protest Sri Lankan genocide | UK: Landlord fights police plan for CCTV at pub | UK: Why protesters are now stalkers: An object lesson in legal usage creep | Police and farmers clash in Greece, militant group attacks police station | Thousands protest in Russia over financial crisis | Sri Lankans protest genocide at Toronto’s Union Station | France responds to economic downturn with a general strike | Iceland’s government collapses | Montreal in bid to unmask protesters | Anarchists battle police in central Athens | Olympic security boss puts protesters on notice | London Times: 2009 Heralds “A New Age Of Rebellion” | In Iceland, the heat is on | Police fire pepper spray at Iceland protesters | Rioters Were Paid To Provoke the Police in Bulgaria | Mass Protests in Sofia, Bulgaria, After Protest Ban | Protests over Israel’s Gaza offensive held in Canadian, world cities | Worldwide protests urge end to attacks on Gaza | Food, medicine, fuel needed in Gaza, agencies warn | Gaza relief boat carrying former Congresswoman rammed by Israelis | Protests in Canada, Europe, Middle East condemn Israeli attacks in Gaza | Greek Cops Caught on Video Posing as Anarchists | UK Culture secretary wants international age restrictions for web | Protests in Australia over proposal to block Web sites | Russian police beat auto tariff protesters | ‘Greek Syndrome’ is catching as youth take to streets in France, Sweden | IMF Chief Warns Of Riots In Response To Economic Crisis | George Bush shoe-thrower ‘too severely beaten’ for court appearance | Greek protesters seek European support | Army ‘Strategic Shock’ Report Says Troops May Be Needed To Quell U.S. Civil Unrest | Amnesty: Disproportionate Police Force Used Against Peaceful Greek Demonstrators | Greek Police Battle Mourners, Memories of Dictatorship after Student Shooting | Zimbabwe tackles cash shortage amid riots and looting | Protesters clear out of Thai airports | Icelanders storm central bank in protest | Thai PM stripped of power as court finds government guilty of corruption | Thai protesters begin ‘final battle’ against militarist government | 5 injured during protest in Iceland over economic meltdown | Beijing peasants bullied, beaten off of family farms by state-developer blocs | ACLU wants probe into police-staged DNC protest | Ex-Italian President: Provocateur Riots Then “Beat The Shit Out Of Protesters” | Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout | Peace activists demand Canada leave Afghanistan | Protesters: Police pepper-sprayed peaceful gathering | Suddenly, Denver ‘like a police state’ | News crew crashes Denver’s DNC ‘concentration camp’ | ‘88 uprising scorched in Burmese memory | Supporters, protesters greet Olympic torch’s arrival in Beijing | Chinese citizens dutifully file protest applications in Beijing, suffer detention | Journalists urge ban on police posing as reporters | OPP officer posed as journalist during 2007 Mohawk protest | OPP threatened natives to end blockade | Protestors added to database of terror suspects | Chinese riot in Shenzen over rape, murder, subsequent police coverup | Police inspector posed as militant protester | Alberta natives protest oil exploration on their land | Anti-terror cops probed Ottawa punk band for Cartoon, Political Speech | Toronto rallies denounce Burma, China regimes | CSIS Spying on Natives, Olympic Dissidents | A Report On the Ottawa SPP Protest, April 19 | Toronto Chinese Rally Turns Ugly—UPDATED With Video | A word from the opposition: Mass antiwar demonstration takes to the streets of Toronto | Massacre of the monks in Burma | Burmese monks sent to prison camps | Protesting monks beaten by security forces in Burma, miltary junta buying monk robes | Quebec police admit agents posed as protesters | Undercover cops tried to incite violence in Montebello: union leader | Officers never posed as protesters: Quebec police | Revolution, flashmobs, and brain chips. A grim vision of the future

Flashback: RCMP to test Taser cameras | RCMP plans dramatic changes to Taser policy | RCMP plans dramatic changes to Taser policy | Canadian police adopt new TASER directive | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | RCMP halts use of malfunctioning Tasers after B.C. decision | RCMP still uses Tasers too often, watchdog finds | RCMP softened Taser-use restrictions | Ban Tasers if RCMP doesn’t curb use by year’s end: Commons committee | U.S. jury shocks Taser, investors, with rare loss in court

Annie Sweeney, Kristen Schorsc, Chicago Tribune
March 11, 2010

Announcement comes as man dies in suburbs after police use stun gun

The Chicago Police Department is dramatically expanding its use of Tasers, adding several hundred more and putting them in the hands of patrol officers for the first time, officials said Wednesday.

The “stun guns” will go in every squad car to give front-line beat officers a more effective way to protect themselves and calm a disturbance.

But the electrical devices have caused controversy nationwide, with debates about their safety and lawsuits filed on behalf of dozens of people, some in the Chicago area, who have died after being “Tased.”

Chicago police laid out their plans just hours after a 31-year-old south suburban man was pronounced dead after Midlothian police used a Taser to subdue him. Jaesun Ingles, of Riverdale, who was on parole, was stunned with the Taser after he tried to swallow a plastic bag that police believed contained drugs, resisted arrest and ran from officers, Midlothian police said. An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner’s office Wednesday was inconclusive, pending further investigation.

Chicago police officials and instructors insisted that Tasers are far within acceptable safety guidelines and are a better option to subdue offenders.

“It’s a level of force that I want to authorize to use before the situation escalates,” Police Superintendent Jody Weis said. “We want to use every other option before we use lethal force.” [Ed. Note: You don't usually shoot someone when you have them in a headlock on the ground, do you?]

Currently, 280 Tasers are in use by Chicago police, although just sergeants and field training officers are allowed to carry them. Now 380 of the devices will be added, including one for each of the department’s 281 beats and additional ones for special teams.

One Taser will be assigned to each squad car. When officers check out the vehicle, they will also take a Taser.

To carry the weapons, officers must undergo eight hours of training. The training division is also devising follow-up courses.

Officers are instructed to use the Tasers when they are being attacked or if an offender is resisting arrest or trying to flee.

Officers are trained in drills that require moving about to simulate stressful events that might occur on the street, Sgt. Michael Partipilo said.

The electrical charge that the weapon carries not only causes pain but also forces the muscles of the target to stiffen. A trigger pull delivers the current for five seconds, giving officers time to handcuff the offender.

The pain is still far less than what could be caused if an officer used a baton, Partipilo said.

But whether a Taser strike can kill a person by causing their heart to go out of rhythm has been a controversial question for years.

John Webster, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin, said there is “no doubt” that Tasers save lives by reducing the number of people shot. But at the same time, it would be “controversial” to say they are not lethal, he said.

“Taser is a good thing over all,” he said. ” (But) our studies on pigs show that (it) can cause ventricular fibrillation and death.”

Still, Webster said such cases are rare. One study he performed showed that six people out of 1 million might die.

Taser International on Wednesday released details, as it has in the past, from studies that found that use of the devices reduced the risk of injury to officers. It also said that studies have found that Tasers are “generally safe and effective and cannot directly cause a fatal outcome in humans.”

Yet in October, the company changed its guidelines, recommending that users aim below a target’s chest to increase “effectiveness” and to “minimize controversy.”

Abiding by those changes, Chicago police are instructing that police officers aim below the chest and away from the heart if shooting a Taser at the target’s front. Officers are also trained not to shoot at the head and should, if possible, aim at the back.

Department officials acknowledged that some data has shown a potential to affect the heart.

“It’s a small amount, but it’s part of the reason why we adopted their change in the target area,” said department spokesman Roderick Drew.

In the Midlothian case, police stopped the car that Ingles was driving about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 14600 block of Pulaski Road for several traffic violations, police said in a news release. An officer smelled marijuana and found a small amount of the drug after a search of Ingles, police said.

While officers tried to arrest Ingles, he ran behind a local business and tried to swallow a plastic bag believed to contain drugs, police said.

After a foot chase, Ingles continued to resist and was stunned with a Taser, Lt. Harold Kaufman said. Ingles began to have trouble breathing and emergency responders came to the scene, police said.

Kaufman said he did not know how many times a Taser was used on Ingles. He would not detail the department’s protocol on when a Taser can be used. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is investigating the death.

Several officers were injured trying to subdue Ingles. One received treatment for a sprained wrist and an injured shoulder, another for a knee injury and a third for an injury to his right hand, Kaufman said.

There have been other deaths associated with Tasers in the Chicago area. A 47-year-old Park Forest man died after he was stunned during a fight with police. Police later said he suffered cardiac distress. In 2008, a 37-year-old man died after Chicago police used a Taser to subdue him.

Use of the Tasers by Chicago officers is monitored by the department. The weapon automatically records certain details, including when it is discharged. Officers must file a report whenever they discharge the weapon. The Independent Police Review Authority then investigates whether the officer complied with department rules.

In 2008, there were 166 people hit with Tasers in Chicago. The number jumped to 228 in 2009.

“If they are going to be used and adopted as a less lethal approach, it really does become imperative that oversight be put in place,” said Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois,” … so that the community and citizens can know that these weapons and these really highly dangerous (confrontations) are being monitored adequately by supervising personnel.”

Source | See also under Tasers: RCMP to test Taser cameras | RCMP plans dramatic changes to Taser policy | Regina police probe RCMP torture claims | Taser inquiry can rule on RCMP misconduct | U.S. ruling limits how police can use Tasers | RCMP had no grounds to use Taser on N.W.T. girl: report | Scathing report concludes RCMP used TASERs prematurely in Vancouver airport death | U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Death linked to ‘excited delirium’: coroner | US Cop Tasers and Arrests a 10-Year Old Girl For Throwing a Fit | RCMP defend Taser use on girl, 16 | Taser inquiry wraps up in Vancouver with legal squabbles | Canadian police adopt new TASER directive | PQ wants probe after Taser used on mentally challenged man | RCMP actions ‘gratuitous, ‘violent,’ BC needs own police lawyer tells inquiry | RCMP tests Tasers that record video | Braidwood inquiry reopens, RCMP bickers over preplanned TASER use | Merced police used TASER on unarmed, legless man in a wheelchair | UK: Police may be issued with new high-power Taser | TASER files court motion to quash Braidwood probe’s findings | Pregnant mother tasered at baptism party | TASER introduces 3-shot semiauto | Mounties have no choice but to comply with TASER ruling | Justice says changes needed in Taser use | US Lawsuit: Cops tasered 3 kids in shelter, threatened one with sodomy | Officer denies uttering sexual threat before lethal TASERing | Latest TASER victim looked ’scared’ as officer approached with knife | Safety Tests MIA for Taser’s Shocking New Shotgun | Mounties discussed Tasing Dziekanski prior to altercation | UK Police watchdog to investigate Taser arrest, beating posted on YouTube | Judge: B.C. taser probe can rule on Mountie misconduct issue | New video shows officer shove, then taser 72-year-old great grandmother | Mounties want to bar Taser inquiry from finding misconduct | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | RCMP halts use of malfunctioning Tasers after B.C. decision | Taser inquiry into Dziekanski’s death hears last witness | Dziekanski’s death following Taser jolts no coincidence: expert | Dziekanski ‘would not have died’ if spared Taser, expert tells inquiry | TASER’s medical expert says weapon didn’t cause Dziekanski’s death | RCMP didn’t tell pathologist Dziekanski suffered multiple TASER stuns, inquiry hears | RCMP spokesman told to hold off correcting false details of Dziekanski incident, inquiry hears | RCMP ’sorry’ for errors in taser briefings | MPs grill top Mountie on tasers | RCMP shocked 16 people five times or more last year | RCMP still uses Tasers too often, watchdog finds | RCMP credibility battered by TASER inquiry | Quebec orders police to turn in Tasers | RCMP softened Taser-use restrictions | RCMP supervising officer contradicts earlier testimony in Dziekanski inquiry | Boys, 15, Tasered by police, stats show | Toronto police used Tasers 367 times in 2008: statistics | Stun gun shock to head may cause seizures, doctors warn | TASER launches new headcam for police – with ‘privacy mode’ | TASERed immigrant ‘had the stapler open… he was in a combative stance’ | Dziekanski’s ‘combative behaviour’ justified Taser jolt: Mountie | Witness alters story but maintains Dziekanski attempted to staple RCMP | Airport refused help from Polish-speaking employee before Taser death | Dziekanski didn’t wield stapler before RCMP fired Taser, inquiry hears | Selkirk teen sues RCMP over stun gun allegations | Ban stun gun use on young people, Ontario child advocate urges | Emergency call taken out of context: airport Taser death witness | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | U.S. study raises more questions about TASER safety | Second phase of Taser inquiry begins in Vancouver | RCMP watchdog launches new Taser probe around deaths | Police forces withhold information on Taser use from public: audit | US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons | No charges to be laid against RCMP officers in airport Taser death | RCMP to face no charges in case of TASERed Polish immigrant: Report | Taser International disputes CBC/Radio-Canada testing as ‘flawed’ | Red Deer man shot by Taser had pre-existing heart condition: doctor | Cops Taser Drowned Dad’s Distraught Son | Amnesty urges moratorium on Taser use after CBC/Radio-Canada probe | Some tested Tasers fire stronger current than company says: CBC/Radio-Canada probe | RCMP Investigates, Clears Self of Wrongdoing in Case of TASERed Inuvik Girl | US Cops Tase 54 Year Old Woman For Sitting In Wrong Seat At Football Game | Prison service ices TASER pilot project | B.C. man dies after Taser used during Calgary arrest | Mountie involved in fatal crash was supervisor at time of airport Taser death | Drug abuser executed by TASER blasts – TASER toll stands at 25 | Mountie arrested in fatal crash present at airport Taser death | Inquiry into Vancouver airport Taser death put off 2nd time | Tasers being used for pain compliance during interrogation, suit alleges | Family sues police claiming Taser raid on autistic son in own bedroom | Naked Langley, B.C., robbery suspect dies after Taser jolt | Tasering of mom with baby ‘necessary’ in order to take child, police say | Brampton man is 23rd Canadian TASER death; police duly investigate themselves | RCMP didn’t study Taser use enough: Report | Probe into tasering of teenaged girl reopened | Police Taser and abuse suspect, lie on stand, man still convicted | RCMP should end use of Tasers: Zaccardelli | Police delay report on Taser until 2009 | Mounties pinned me down in cell and tasered me, Manitoba girl says | 21st Canadian TASER death occurs in Winnipeg alleyway | RCMP e-mails throw Dziekanski Taser probe into question, critics say | TASER bracelets considered for airline passengers | Taser use could put police under fire | Inquiry says ‘insidious’ TASERs being used as tool of convenience, should be reclassified, restricted under criminal code | Man dies in custody after Taser incident involving Ontario police | Ban Tasers if RCMP doesn’t curb use by year’s end: Commons committee | One-third of people shot by Taser need medical attention: probe | RCMP firing Tasers multiple times at subjects, probe reveals | U.S. jury shocks Taser, investors, with rare loss in court | Youth Worker Subjected to Warrantless Raid on Secret Evidence | Tasering violated suspect’s rights, judge rules | RCMP willing to change Taser policy, inquiry told | Tasers pose risk to heart, MDs testify | ‘Peel and Stick’ Tasers Electrify Riot Control | Canadian police have been brainwashed, Taser inquiry told | Mounties censor Taser report | Taser group’s chair to defend stun guns at public inquiry | RCMP release heavily censored incident report about Dziekanski | Inquiry examining Taser use, Dziekanski’s death begins Monday | Chicago study calls Taser’s safety claims into question | Tasers: the next generation | Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man | Officer injured in Taser demonstration

Flashback: Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Government Experiments on U.S. Soldiers: Shocking Claims Come to Light in New Court Case | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests | Atomic-testing veterans to receive whopping $24,000 each in compensation | Remembering Brainwashing | Chinese Torture Techniques Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo | Canadian MKULTRA project mind control victim to tell of pills, shocks, brainwashing | Much of Britain sprayed in secret germ warfare tests

Henry Samuel, The Telegraph
March 11, 2010

French bread spiked with LSD in CIA experiment

Heads, made out of bread by this Thai artist. Seemed appropriate somehow.

In 1951, a quiet, picturesque village in southern France was suddenly and mysteriously struck down with mass insanity and hallucinations. At least five people died, dozens were interned in asylums and hundreds afflicted.

For decades it was assumed that the local bread had been unwittingly poisoned with a psychedelic mould. Now, however, an American investigative journalist has uncovered evidence suggesting the CIA peppered local food with the hallucinogenic drug LSD as part of a mind control experiment at the height of the Cold War.

The mystery of Le Pain Maudit (Cursed Bread) still haunts the inhabitants of Pont-Saint-Esprit, in the Gard, southeast France.

On August 16, 1951, the inhabitants were suddenly racked with frightful hallucinations of terrifying beasts and fire.

One man tried to drown himself, screaming that his belly was being eaten by snakes. An 11-year-old tried to strangle his grandmother. Another man shouted: “I am a plane”, before jumping out of a second-floor window, breaking his legs. He then got up and carried on for 50 yards. Another saw his heart escaping through his feet and begged a doctor to put it back. Many were taken to the local asylum in strait jackets.

Time magazine wrote at the time: “Among the stricken, delirium rose: patients thrashed wildly on their beds, screaming that red flowers were blossoming from their bodies, that their heads had turned to molten lead.”

Eventually, it was determined that the best-known local baker had unwittingly contaminated his flour with ergot, a hallucinogenic mould that infects rye grain. Another theory was the bread had been poisoned with organic mercury.

However, H P Albarelli Jr., an investigative journalist, claims the outbreak resulted from a covert experiment directed by the CIA and the US Army’s top-secret Special Operations Division (SOD) at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

The scientists who produced both alternative explanations, he writes, worked for the Swiss-based Sandoz Pharmaceutical Company, which was then secretly supplying both the Army and CIA with LSD.

Mr Albarelli came across CIA documents while investigating the suspicious suicide of Frank Olson, a biochemist working for the SOD who fell from a 13th floor window two years after the Cursed Bread incident. One note transcribes a conversation between a CIA agent and a Sandoz official who mentions the “secret of Pont-Saint-Esprit” and explains that it was not “at all” caused by mould but by diethylamide, the D in LSD.

While compiling his book, A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments, Mr Albarelli spoke to former colleagues of Mr Olson, two of whom told him that the Pont-Saint-Esprit incident was part of a mind control experiment run by the CIA and US army.

After the Korean War the Americans launched a vast research programme into the mental manipulation of prisoners and enemy troops.

Scientists at Fort Detrick told him that agents had sprayed LSD into the air and also contaminated “local foot products”.

Mr Albarelli said the real “smoking gun” was a White House document sent to members of the Rockefeller Commission formed in 1975 to investigate CIA abuses. It contained the names of a number of French nationals who had been secretly employed by the CIA and made direct reference to the “Pont St. Esprit incident.” In its quest to research LSD as an offensive weapon, Mr Albarelli claims, the US army also drugged over 5,700 unwitting American servicemen between 1953 and 1965.

None of his sources would indicate whether the French secret services were aware of the alleged operation. According to US news reports, French intelligence chiefs have demanded the CIA explain itself following the book’s revelations. French intelligence officially denies this.

Locals in Pont-Saint-Esprit still want to know why they were hit by such apocalyptic scenes. “At the time people brought up the theory of an experiment aimed at controlling a popular revolt,” said Charles Granjoh, 71.

“I almost kicked the bucket,” he told the weekly French magazine Les Inrockuptibles. “I’d like to know why.”

Source | See also under Torture: UK Government attempts to keep torture case secret | Ottawa anticipated Afghan torture allegations: memo | CSIS secretly interrogated Afghan prisoners | Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: lawyer | Harper grilled over prorogation, Afghan detainee torture documents | MP threatens motion on Afghan documents | UK: Government fury as judges attack MI5, security services | CSIS Agents likely contributed to Toronto man’s torture: Inquiry | Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | MI5 chief denies cover-up claims over detainees | UK Top judge: Binyam Mohamed case shows MI5 to be devious, dishonest and complicit in torture | Britain reveals details of Binyam Mohamed torture | US Interrogation Squad Doing ‘Scientific Research’ | Military probes beating of Afghan prisoner | US magazine claims Guantánamo inmates were killed during questioning | Regina police probe RCMP torture claims | Tories fail to appoint military complaints chair, torture inquiry may be delayed | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Claims troops mistreated prisoners unfounded: military police | Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006 | Canada’s troops investigated for Afghan abuse | Colvin disputes witnesses’ detainee testimony | Tories sabotage Afghan committee meeting | Eyewitness Recounts Forced Organ Removal in China | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | RCMP had no grounds to use Taser on N.W.T. girl: report | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | Torture claims unreliable, officials say, despite having found evidence of torture | MPs vote public inquiry into Afghan detainees, Tories ignore majority motion | Torture claims weren’t probed, official testified | Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue | Colvin’s testimony true: former Afghan MP | David Mulroney testifies war confused issue of torture | Hillier says he saw no credible reports of torture | Afghan torture emails reached MacKay’s office | UK: Rights watchdog reveals Pakistani spies pressed by British to torture detainees | Opposition wants documentation prior to government torture rebuttal, PM cries foul | Canadian officials discussed torture in 2006 | Canada shamed on Afghan prisoner torture | Canada ignored torture warnings: Diplomat | Guantanamo won’t close by January: Obama | Israelis Want a Pain Ray of Their Own | UK soldier testifies comrades beat Iraqi to death | Military lawyer stonewalls on Afghan torture claims | U.S. court denies Maher Arar’s appeal | UK: Move to withhold evidence in MI5/MI6 torture collusion claim | U.S. artists slam use of music in Guantanamo interrogations | Ottawa was warned Afghan detainees might be tortured | Military commission suspends torture hearings, gags witness | Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness | Portable heat ray weapon may end up in police hands | Guantanamo January closing deadline may slip | Federal court limits Afghan detainee torture probe | Iraq shoe thrower released from jail, testifies to brutal torture | Sonic weapons used in Iraq positioned at congressional townhall meetings in San Diego county | CIA doctors face human experimentation claims | U.S. probes ‘inhumane’ CIA tactics under Bush | US justice department to investigate CIA over interrogation methods | Obama approves new interrogation unit | UK: New evidence in Binyam Mohamed torture case | UK: Secrets of CIA ‘ghost flights’ to be revealed | UK: CIA ‘put pressure on Britain to cover up its use of torture’ | Microwave weapon will rain pain from the sky | Abdelrazik accuses CSIS, MPs of harassment and interrogation | Pentagon-handpicked 9/11 families want Gitmo kept open | CSIS ignored Khadr’s human rights: Parliamentary report | ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Revealed – the secret torture evidence MI5 tried to suppress | Guantanamo’s closure window dressing – overseas CIA ‘black sites’ to stay | ‘If I didn’t confess to 7/7 bombings MI5 officers would rape my wife,’ claims torture victim | MPs call for clear policy against torture | New video shows officer shove, then taser 72-year-old great grandmother | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | Gitmo protest captured on film | MI5 faces fresh torture allegations | Skepticism greets launch of Afghan detainee inquiry | Government Experiments on U.S. Soldiers: Shocking Claims Come to Light in New Court Case | Supreme Court of Canada won’t hear Afghan detainee torture case | Reversing himself, Obama seeks to block abuse photos | British soldiers ‘tortured and murdered 20 Iraqis, then covered it up with firefight claim’ | CIA waterboarded 2 al-Qaida suspects 266 times | UK: Government makes ‘unprecedented’ apology for covering up Binyam torture | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | Mumbai attacks suspect alleges torture, retracts confession | Obama publishes torture memos, protects perpetrators | Obama Tilts to CIA on Torture Memos | Document lays bare CIA torture techniques | CSIS chief backpedals on earlier torture statement, claims long-term official ‘misspoke’ | CSIS won’t rule out tips derived from torture | Watchdog rejects government bid to delay Afghan detainee inquiry | Rights groups press for better security oversight | Head of RCMP unit that framed Arar promoted to Assistant Commissioner | Obama administration: Guantanamo detainees have ‘no constitutional rights’ | CIA destroyed 92 interview tapes | Tortured Guantanamo detainee set free | UK agents ‘colluded with torture in Pakistan’ | Obama backs Bush: No rights for Bagram prisoners | U.K. resident held at Gitmo alleges Canadian involvement in torture | Senior judges attack US over ‘torture evidence suppression’ | After Obama praises torture ruling, civil liberties group appalled | Ban stun gun use on young people, Ontario child advocate urges | 24 star Keifer Sutherland opposed to torture, questions role of series in inspiring interrogations | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | Obama shuts network of CIA ‘ghost prisons’ | Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests | US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons | George Bush shoe-thrower ‘too severely beaten’ for court appearance | Conspiracy against Arar reached to highest levels, U.S. court told | Ottawa moves to block Afghanistan detainee torture hearings again | UK Home Secretary orders inquiry into MI5 and CIA torture claims | Tortured trio say report ‘vindicates us’ | Ottawa given evidence of torture, official says | Torture Tactics Endorsed in Secret White House Memos | Tasers being used for pain compliance during interrogation, suit alleges | Lawyers say UK Guantánamo suspect has no hope of fair trial | Defiant military watchdog widens detainee hearings | CSIS faces review in Khadr case | RCMP lays no charges in Maher Arar ‘terrorist’ leaks, declares case closed | Protesters push for Omar Khadr’s release | ‘You don’t care about me,’ Omar Khadr sobs in interview tapes | Remembering Brainwashing | Chinese Torture Techniques Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo | US Counterinsurgency Manual Leaked, Calls for False Flag Operations, Suspension of Human Rights | Torture was expected in ‘top-down’ decision to deport Arar: lawyer | Bid to Block Afghan Detainee Inquiry Slammed | CSIS suspected U.S. would deport Arar to be tortured: documents | What Ottawa doesn’t want you to know: Government was told detainees faced ‘extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial’ | Canadian MKULTRA project mind control victim to tell of pills, shocks, brainwashing

Flashback: DHS Video Portrays Average Americans As Terrorists | US Homeland Security: Terror fight needs public’s vigilance | DoD Training Manual Describes Protest As “Low-Level Terrorism” | UK schoolkids trained to inform on ‘extremist’ classmates by police DVD | ‘AmeriCorps’ Domestic Paramilitary Propaganda Ad | Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More | Secret Homeland Security Threat Assessment Labels Gun Owners Potential Terrorists | UK Home Secretary unveils civilian anti-terrorism security force | Pre-Olympic transit ads encourage citizen surveillance | US Urban Warfare Drills Linked To Coming Economic Rage | UK Terror Law To Make Photographing Police Illegal | Army ‘Strategic Shock’ Report Says Troops May Be Needed To Quell U.S. Civil Unrest | US Counterinsurgency Manual Leaked, Calls for False Flag Operations, Suspension of Human Rights | CBC Radio Broadcasts Expose of North American Police State | Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
March 11, 2010

Government ad running on British radio station tells public to report people who close their curtains as potential suicide bombers

A new government commercial currently running on one of Britain’s most popular radio stations is selling one thing – fear – by encouraging Londoners to report their neighbors as terrorists if they use cash, enjoy their privacy, or even close their curtains.

The advertisement, produced in conjunction with national radio outlet TallkSport, promotes the “anti-terrorist hotline” and encourages people to report individuals who don’t talk to their neighbors much, people who like to keep themselves to themselves, people who close their curtains, and people who don’t use credit cards.

“This may mean nothing, but together it could all add up to you having suspicions,” states the voice on the ad, before continuing “We all have a role to play in combating terrorism” (we’re all indentured stasi informants for the government).

“If you see anything suspicious, call the confidential anti-terrorist hotline….if you suspect it, report it,” concludes the commercial.

Listen to the ad below.

That’s right, if you are trying to stay out of debt by not having a credit card, you’re obviously a prime candidate to be a suicide bomber.

If you’re watching television or using a computer monitor and want to keep the sun off the screen by closing your curtains, you’re probably operating at the behest of Osama bin Laden.

If you’d rather not let the entire neighborhood know your business then you could be planning to hijack planes and crash them into buildings.

Of course, the sheer lunacy of this commercial on the face of it doesn’t need to be explained in any depth. What’s infinitely more disturbing is the deeper message the government is trying to force upon the public – that everyone has a responsibility to act as a citizen spy, a Stasi informant working for the state, and that everyone is under constant suspicion no matter how apparently benign their behavior.

This has nothing to do with catching non-existent terrorists and everything to do with creating the perception that anyone who attempts to live their life even marginally outside of the system, by not having a credit card for example, is a potential danger to the rest of the sheep who have chosen to remain firmly inside the confines of the pen.

This is about getting the other inmates to police any other prisoner who dares to step outside the boundary of the cell.

Another aspect is the accelerating attempt to create a cashless society where every transaction is tracked and recorded. To predominantly eliminate the use of cash, it has to be demonized as suspicious, dirty and criminal.

People who have been reading this website will know that we have tracked the evolution of these kind of campaigns with increasing horror at their resemblance to the darkest days of Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany.

Similar previous “anti-terror” campaigns have featured posters that imply people who get refunds, live in apartments, or drive vans should be reported. Does that sound incredible? It’s true, the London Metropolitan Police actually ran a campaign encouraging people to report individuals as potential terrorists because they had a home, under the slogan, “Terrorists need places to live. Are you suspicious of your tenants or neighbors?”

A more recent campaign encouraged citizens to study the contents of each others’ trash and report anything suspicious, as well as to grass up individuals who glanced at the millions of CCTV cameras that line every major street in the country. Staring back at big brother is a sign of terrorism, according to the British government. People who use mobile phones, cameras and computers were also labeled suspected terrorists.

As America and Britain sink deeper into militarized police states, society begins to parallel more and more aspects of Nazi Germany, especially in the context of citizens being turned against each other, which in turn creates a climate of fear and the constraining sense that one is always being watched.

One common misconception about Nazi Germany was that the police state was solely a creation of the authorities and that the citizens were merely victims. On the contrary, Gestapo files show that 80% of all Gestapo investigations were started in response to information provided by denunciations by “ordinary” Germans.

“There were relatively few secret police, and most were just processing the information coming in. I had found a shocking fact. It wasn’t the secret police who were doing this wide-scale surveillance and hiding on every street corner. It was the ordinary German people who were informing on their neighbors,” wrote Robert Gellately of Florida State University.

Gellately discovered that the people who informed on their neighbors were motivated primarily by banal factors – “greed, jealousy, and petty differences,” and not by a genuine concern about crime or insecurity.

Gellately “found cases of partners in business turning in associates to gain full ownership; jealous boyfriends informing on rival suitors; neighbors betraying entire families who chronically left shared bathrooms unclean or who occupied desirable apartments.”

“And then there were those who informed because for the first time in their lives someone in authority would listen to them and value what they said.”

Gellately emphasizes the fact that the Germans who sicked the authorities on their neighbors knew very well what the consequences for the victims would be – families torn apart, torture and internment in concentration camps, and ultimately in many cases death – but they still did it with few qualms because the rewards of financial bounties and mere convenience were deemed more important to them.

This strikes at the root of the selfish and childish urges the government is trying to manipulate in getting people to report on their neighbors. The self-important feeling of being listened to, ascribed some temporary sense of authority, and the cult-like pavlovian reward of being metaphorically patted on the head by someone in a uniform, are all tendencies such campaigns play on.

However, if we don’t want to end up in a society that exists in a constant state of tyranny and fear as in Stasi East Germany or Stalinist Russia, we must learn that our neighbors are not our enemies, and that the only real threat against which we need to unite is an oppressive state that tries to destroy us by turning us against each other.

Source | See also under Terror: A Guide to the 9/11 Whistleblowers | Military trials possible for Sept. 11 terror suspects | United States weighs massive expansion of Internet monitoring | Gunman shot and killed after shooting 2 Pentagon police officers | Twelve New England towns demand 9/11 reinvestigation | Croissant causes downtown St. Petersburg terror evacuation | Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet | Obama gives Patriot Act another year with no privacy protections | Arrested Terrorist Leader Exposes Extensive CIA Connections | UK: Government fury as judges attack MI5, security services | CSIS Agents likely contributed to Toronto man’s torture: Inquiry | Washington Times: Architects for 9/11 Truth Present Petition to Congress | Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | N.Y.C. bomb plot suspect Zazi makes plea deal after mother threatened | Former terror suspect Hassan Almrei wants apology | Nine Months Before Operation Northwoods, Government Leaders Suggested False Flag Terror in the Dominican Republic | The truth about the Mossad | Anthrax mailing probe closed by FBI | Dubai police call on Interpol to help arrest Mossad head | Terror of innocent Britons named as assassins: Why choose us, ask men whose identities were stolen during alleged Israeli hit on Hamas official | Khadr’s lawyers dispute government decision | Ottawa reluctantly asks U.S. for assurances Khadr trial will not use evidence CSIS obtained in violation of rights | Toronto 18 conspirator Shareef Abdelhaleem ‘not entrapped’, despite evident entrapment: judge | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | 5 Muslims jailed for Australian terror plot | Vancouver police shut down several blocks, shopping mall to blow up fishing rod | Explosive chemicals not stolen prior to Olympics after all: RCMP | CIA Tells Congress al-Qaeda to Attack in Three to Six Months | Domestic threats biggest Olympic security concern: expert | Washington DC transit system holds anti-terror drills | Harkat denies knowing al-Qaeda operative | Harkat denies links to terrorism in court | Pakistani Taliban leader reportedly killed in U.S. strike | Yemen rejects rebel’s ceasefire offer; bloodshed continues | Israel denies Gaza war crimes in report to UN | Omar Khadr’s rights were violated: Ruling sees top court clash with Tories | Crotch bomber bill before Congress: Treat all ‘terrorism suspects’ as enemy combatants. Domestically. | UN in secret peace talks with Taliban | ‘Bin Laden’ slams U.S over global warming, dollar, in another unconfirmed tape | Pentagon to Send More Special Forces Troops to Yemen | Crotch Bomber Mutallab’s Visa Approved by State Department | Authorities Quietly Reverse Underwear Bomber Official Story | Bomb plotter blames police in Toronto 18 case | Pie tossing is terrorism, MP says. Seriously. | UK: Airline passengers have ‘no right’ to refuse naked body scanners | ‘Toronto 18′ accused involved in bomb plot through RCMP agent, defence says | Full-body scanner blind to bomb parts | U.S. can’t confirm latest ‘bin Laden’ tape authentic | UK: Photographers protest over terror search laws | UK terror threat raised to ’severe’ | Indian airports on alert after report of hijacking plot | No new Taliban crackdowns for 6 months, Pakistan says | Toronto 18 member pleads no contest in preparation for entrapment defence | FBI ‘fabricated terror emergencies to get phone records’ | The Toronto 18 Publication Ban: Silence affects the core of justice | US magazine claims Guantánamo inmates were killed during questioning | Toronto 18 ‘mastermind’ gets life sentence | Walkom: Mole crucial to terror trial | RCMP hasn’t closed book on missing potential explosive as Olympics loom | Harkat challenge of security certificate goes to court | Toronto 18 ringleader says he’s sorry | Yemen forces ‘kill Al-Qaeda chief’ | RCMP ends search – and Wiebo Ludwig opens his door | UK: Anti-terror stop and search policy ruled illegal by European human rights court | Remain vigilant while travelling, Baird tells Canadians | ‘Toronto 18′ suspect wanted to profit from bombings: witnes | ‘No intention’ to invade Yemen: Obama | Wiebo Ludwig arrested ‘to protect public’: RCMP goes fishing in pipeline bombing case | Killer of CIA agents in Afghanistan called for revenge for Baitullah Mehsud | American cash gives Yemen a reason to join the hunt for al-Qaeda | Obama orders ’strengthened’ no-fly list after bomb plot | Spy links with CIA suicide bomber are problem for Jordan | Most U.S. homegrown terror suspects are young men: study | Convicted 9/11 conspirator not allowed to see evidence, loses appeal | US implements travel profiling: Tougher air screening for ’security-risk’ countries | UK: Full-body scanners being ordered for airports, says Gordon Brown | Britain, U.S. to fund Yemen anti-terror unit | Underwear Bomber’s Visa Had Expired, Say Yemeni Authorities | US plots retaliatory strikes against al-Qaida in Yemen over plane bomber | Detroit bombing: US had received intelligence suggesting Nigerian was planning an attack | US jet plot suspect ‘was in Yemen in December’ | Airport restrictions denounced as ’security theatre’ | Obama vows to step up terror fight | No carry-on bags for flights to U.S., RCMP assisting with screening | U.S. quietly takes terror war to Yemen | ‘Al-Qaeda’ in Yemen claims responsibility for attack on plane | Britain ‘barred US air terror suspect’ | Flight 253 passenger: Sharp-dressed man aided terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab onto plane without passport | Father of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, Nigerian terror suspect in Flight 253 attack, warned U.S. | British student held over alleged airline bomb attempt | Mumbai terror attack suspect withdraws confession | Mumbai suspect is US double agent, India claims | Iraq security forces involved in bombings: PM | US Buying Illinois Prison for Guantanamo Detainees | Almrei security certificate struck down | Government will review ‘anti-terror’ security certificates: Van Loan | CIA admits Blackwater presence in Pakistan | UK: From snapshot to Special Branch: how my camera made me a terror suspect | British Muslim gets life over ‘liquid bomb’ plot | Mumbai police ignored security alerts, says report | U.S. Military Joins CIA’s Drone War in Pakistan | Bin Laden not in Pakistan, says prime minister | UK: Photographer questioned under anti-terror laws for taking pictures of Christmas lights | U.S. ‘missed chance’ to capture bin Laden in 2001 | Mumbai highlights security on attack anniversary | Blair lied and lied again: Mandarins reveal that 10 days before Iraq invasion PM knew Saddam couldn’t use WMDs | Pakistan charges 7 in Mumbai attacks | US pours millions into anti-Taliban militias in Afghanistan | Sears Tower ‘bomb plot’ ringleader sentenced to 13 years | Guantanamo won’t close by January: Obama | Taliban: Blackwater to blame for Pakistan attacks | Federal Privacy Commissioner raises alarm over terror security measures | UK ‘backs Taliban reintegration’ | Alleged 9/11 mastermind to go on trial in NYC | Omar Khadr to face Military Commission trial in US | How the US Funds the Taliban | UK: Terror ’suspects’ could remain on DNA database for life, innocents get 6 years | Public Safety Canada’s emergency plan not implemented: Auditor General | China launches ’strike hard’ crackdown in Xinjiang | Clinton confronted by Pakistanis over attacks by aerial drones | Top Mountie wants more money to fight terrorism | Canadians blind to terror threat: top spy | Police arrested over Iraq bombing | Taliban Chief Blames Blackwater, ISI for Peshawar Blast | Omar Khadr ‘innocent’ in death of U.S. soldier | Bomb kills dozens in Pakistan as Hillary Clinton arrives | UK: Move to withhold evidence in MI5/MI6 torture collusion claim | Ex-CIA agent confirms US ties with Jundullah | Pakistani Army working with ‘Good Taliban’ | Toronto 18 video evidence released | Court orders CSIS to hand over secret file | Iranian commanders assassinated, Iran fingers Western intelligence | Canada’s military peers into future, sees drone patrols, draft, insurgency | Pakistani troops assault ‘Taliban’ stronghold | Danish Prime Minister Knew WTC Would Collapse | Despite provocation taint, absence of plan, five men convicted of ‘terror plot’ in Australia’s longest trial | Militants attack Pakistani cities | Pakistan launches air strikes before offensive | Pakistan hit by another deadly bomb blast | Bloody siege in Pakistan ends with 20 dead | ‘Toronto 18′ leader pleads guilty | RCMP warns EnCana bomber may strike this weekend | US ‘will’ disregard borders in terrorist hunt, says Obama | DHS Video Portrays Average Americans As Terrorists | Kuebler dropped as Omar Khadr’s lawyer | Crown appeals Toronto bomb plotter’s sentence | Third guilty plea in Toronto 18 ‘terror plot’ | Prosecutor: US terror suspect wanted to carry out attack on 9/11 anniversary | Adil Charkaoui, ‘terror suspect’, to be freed | More troops on the streets: U.S. terror alert expands to transit and stadiums | ‘Al Qaeda’ video predicts Obama’s downfall | Media hypes terror plot, despite the fact no one is charged with terror | Lawyer for imam charged in alleged terrorism plot says he is a scapegoat | Judge eases restrictions on Harkat | Second Toronto 18 suspect pleads guilty | Canada sees worsening security in Afghanistan | Another dubious Bin Laden tape: Obama ‘powerless’ in Afghanistan | UK: ‘Airline bomb plotters’ jailed for life | Charlie Sheen urges Barack Obama to reopen 9/11 investigation in video message | Has Osama Bin Laden been dead for seven years – and are the U.S. and Britain covering it up to continue war on terror? | American dissenters urge: “Stop the 9-11 cover-up” | Able Danger and DIA had advanced knowledge of 9/11 | In wake of 9/11, ‘War on Terror’ spawned more terrorism | Charlie Sheen Requests Meeting With Obama Over 9/11 Cover-Up | Army defuses huge bomb on Northern Ireland border | 3 U.K. men convicted in airline bomb plot | The making of a homegrown terrorist | Links to ‘Al-Qaeda’, Pakistani training camps linger after ‘Toronto 18′ member imprisoned | NATO pledges probe of deadly Afghan air strike; civilians killed | Supreme Court to hear government’s appeal of Khadr case | ‘Toronto 18′ member handed 14-year sentence | CIA doctors face human experimentation claims | Sri Lanka journalist gets 20 years in jail for exposing state abuse | Australian Army Base Terrorism Case ‘Exaggerated’ | Evasive Australian police quizzed whether covert operative was planted among terror suspects | Madsen: CIA collusion with “Al Qaeda” financiers and attack planners | Ottawa to appeal Khadr ruling to top court| 2-year term sought in Toronto ‘terror plot’ | Charkaoui asks court to toss security certificate case | US Officer responsible for Vietnam massacre finally apologizes | Harper hints at appeal of Khadr ruling | ‘Global War on Terror’ rebranded as call to address extremism, social change | Canada should stay in Afghanistan: NATO head | ‘Imminent’ terror strike foiled in Australia | A Sibel Edmonds Bombshell – Bin Laden Worked for U.S. Until 9/11 | US Homeland Security: Terror fight needs public’s vigilance | UK: Secrets of CIA ‘ghost flights’ to be revealed | Mumbai attack suspect shocks court and own defence lawyer by pleading guilty | Pentagon-handpicked 9/11 families want Gitmo kept open | Ex-FBI Agent: Why I Support a New 9/11 Investigation | Dick Cheney ‘hid plans to kill al-Qaida operatives abroad’ | RCMP pipeline bomber hunt draws harassment compliants, comparisons to secret police | Professor fingers Thermite charges as responsible for 9/11 demolition | Pakistani president Asif Zardari admits creating terrorist groups | Revealed – the secret torture evidence MI5 tried to suppress | RCMP now refer to pipeline sabotage as ‘domestic terrorism’ | UK: As rumours swell that the government staged 7/7, victims’ relatives call for a proper inquiry | Guantanamo’s closure window dressing – overseas CIA ‘black sites’ to stay | Western Governments Funding Taliban & Al-Qaeda To Kill U.S. Troops, Destabilize Countries | Latest EnCana pipeline explosion was deliberate: RCMP | Taliban flee new U.S. drive in Afghanistan | CSIS bungled second terror case | Obama Administration Shuts Down 9/11 Families Lawsuit | Selective enforcement: Charkaoui barred from US airspace on flight from Fredericton to Montreal | Pakistan remains silent as U.S. air attack kills 80 | ‘If I didn’t confess to 7/7 bombings MI5 officers would rape my wife,’ claims torture victim | UN rushes Abdelrazik terror allegations onto website in wake of exoneration | Leaked documents in 9/11 suit show House of Saud links to ‘Al-Qaeda’, extremism | Harkat raid ruled illegal | Ottawa appeals court order to repatriate Omar Khadr | Whistleblower Who Linked “Taliban” Leader To US Intelligence Is Assassinated | Toronto 18 ‘terror’ accused signs confession, media retreads tales of planned chaos | Ottawa will allow Abdelrazik to return to Canada | DoD Training Manual Describes Protest As “Low-Level Terrorism” | CIA: Bin Laden still in Pakistan | Man with Toronto 18 ties convicted in the U.S. | Pakistan army backs citizens fighting Taliban | CSIS reviews security certificate cases in wake of criticism | UK schoolkids trained to inform on ‘extremist’ classmates by police DVD | Gitmo protest captured on film | Would-be U.S. jihadist met with ‘Toronto 18′ members: prosecutors | The Main Result of the “War on Terror”: The Destabilization of Pakistan | CSIS forced to ‘reveal’ info on secret source in Harkat case | Homing chips are CIA’s latest weapon against ‘al-Qaida’ targets hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Abu Ghraib abuse photos ’show rape’ | Homegrown terror threat still real, Public Safety Minister warns alongside Homeland Security counterpart | Judge orders recall of CSIS witnesses in Harkat case for potential perjury, obstruction | Oppressive anti-terror laws stay despite end of Sri Lankan civil war, Canadian embassy defaced by govt supporters | Public may not hear fate of Greyhound bus killer | Pentagon: One in seven released from Guantanamo involved in terrorism | Skepticism greets launch of Afghan detainee inquiry | Pakistani troops battle Taliban in key Swat Valley city | Man sentenced, then freed, after involvement in Toronto ‘bomb plot’ | How MI5 blackmails British Muslims | Supreme Court of Canada won’t hear Afghan detainee torture case | New York “Terror Plot” Another Government Provocateured Set-Up | US arms sent to Afghan forces ‘in Taliban hands’ | UK Police, MI-5 stretched too thin to stop London bombings: report | Abuse ‘endemic’ in Irish Roman Catholic schools: Report | Quarter of a million Sri Lankans face two years in camps | Tamil Tiger leader killed, insurgency crushed: officials | MacKay to discuss security concerns with Pakistan | Caught in the crossfire – the Swat valley’s fleeing families | Medics helpless, ’safe zone’ hospital shelled 2nd time in Sri Lanka | Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More | Reversing himself, Obama seeks to block abuse photos | CIA: Our Drones are Killing Terrorists. Promise. | ‘More than 1,000 civilians killed’ in attacks on Sri Lanka safe zone | 500,000 fleeing Pakistani airstrikes, fighting, UN reports | US air strikes kill dozens of Afghan civilians | Toronto 18 member pleads in bomb plot | Al-Qaeda Chief In Iraq: Captured, Killed, Never Actually Existed, Now Captured Again | PM must press U.S. for Khadr’s return from Guantanamo, court rules | Pakistan’s army: as inept as it is corrupt | UN satellite imagery attests to shelling of Tamil ’safe zone’ | Memo: 9/11 Commission Witnesses Were Intimidated By Government “Minders” | Trio not guilty of helping 7/7 London bombers | rom Guantanamo, court rules | British soldiers ‘tortured and murdered 20 Iraqis, then covered it up with firefight claim’ | Pakistan is ‘abdicating to the Taliban,’ says Clinton | All 11 men arrested during anti-terror raids released without charge | CIA waterboarded 2 al-Qaida suspects 266 times | Tamil civilians slaughtered as army shells ‘no-fire zone’ | UK: Government makes ‘unprecedented’ apology for covering up Binyam torture | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | ‘Toronto 18′ teen to be sentenced as adult | Mumbai attacks suspect alleges torture, retracts confession | 9/11 Commission Counsel: Government Agreed to Lie About 9/11 | NATO denies air strike killed Afghan civilians | Secret Homeland Security Threat Assessment Labels Gun Owners Potential Terrorists | UK: Terror bomb plot ‘intelligence’ came from MI6’s Pakistan operation | Khawaja appeals terrorism conviction | China executes two men, ‘guilty’ of killing 17 police before Olympics | Police feared ‘Al-Qaida terror attack’ on UK was planned for Easter | Police arrest 12 in anti-terror raids in Britain | Document lays bare CIA torture techniques | Khadr’s military lawyer reinstated | Study claims ‘highly engineered explosive’ found in WTC rubble | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | NYPD seeks to expand anti-terror program to midtown | Watchdog rejects government bid to delay Afghan detainee inquiry | London Police Encourage Citizens To Inform on Neighbour’s Garbage | Judge finds no entrapment of suspects in Toronto ‘terror’ case | UK Home Secretary unveils civilian anti-terrorism security force | Intelligence made it clear Saddam was not a threat, diplomat tells MPs | Israeli military whistleblowers: troops fired on children | US military may escalate ‘war on terror’ by striking deeper into Pakistan | Security certificate detainee requests prison over intrusions on family | Obama administration: Guantanamo detainees have ‘no constitutional rights’ | Supporters defy law, buy plane ticket for Montrealer stuck in Sudan | Khawaja sentenced to 10½ years in prison | Tories aim to bring back anti-terrorism provisions | Security guards stood by as gunmen killed Northern Ireland soldiers | Not very cricket: Witnesses report Pakistani security abandoned convoy prior to attack | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Military readies reservists for threats to ‘domestic front’ | Against protocol, bus decapitation accused released from Ontario institution in 2005 | CIA destroyed 92 interview tapes | New book details Mossad false flag assassination attempt on Canadian passports | Obama tries to kill lawsuit challenging wiretapping program, fails | Pakistani officers helped plan Mumbai attacks, says India | Tortured Guantanamo detainee set free | Obama backs Bush: No rights for Bagram prisoners | Canadians tortured overseas sue government | ‘Bomb plot’ case jury dismissed | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | Terrorist plot was to blow up seven airliners, prosecutor tells court | Former MI5 chief: UK Ministers ‘using fear of terror’ to restrict civil rights | UK: Calling the police to account for anti-photography law | Crown seeks lengthy sentence for Khawaja | RCMP mole in Toronto 18 case says he felt ‘bad’ in terror sting | Australian ‘terrorist leader’ sentenced to 12 years | Former President Jimmy Carter Supports Call For New 9/11 Investigation | Toronto 18 Terror case: RCMP agent Shaikh was instigator who broke law: defence | Publication ban law too broad, top Ontario court rules | Pentagon’s terror ‘recidivism’ claims blasted as ‘propaganda’ | Ex-Guantanamo detainee becomes No. 2 for al-Qaeda in Yemen | Obama shuts network of CIA ‘ghost prisons’ | Swiss nuclear-smuggling suspect says CIA made him do it | Pakistan lauds arrest of 7/7 militants on US tip, Britain denies suspect’s involvement | Israel admits troops used phosphorus shells in Gaza | Woman swats children on plane, charged with Terrorism | Newly Uncovered WTC 7 Video Betrays More Foreknowledge Of Collapse | Khadr trial date up in air after ’secret’ refiling of charges: defence lawyer | Indian Mumbai dossier details gunmen’s calls with handlers | India signs new anti-terror laws in wake of Mumbai attack | Five muslims face life for Fort Dix ‘terror plot’ orchestrated by FBI | FDNY Lieutenant Admitted Plan To ‘Take Down’ WTC 7 | Australian Citizen Journalist Charged for Filming Police under Anti-Terror Law | India to create national spy agency in wake of Mumbai attacks | Conspiracy against Arar reached to highest levels, U.S. court told | Sept. 11 suspects want to “confess” | Former ISI Chief: Mumbai And 9/11 Both “Inside Jobs” | Blackwater Guards facing Charges in Case of 17 Dead Iraqi Citizens | Indian Intelligence Provided SIM Cards to Mumbai Gunmen | CIA Foreknowledge of the Mumbai Attacks | Counterterrorism squad rounds up UK opposition member over whistleblower incident | “Fair-skinned, blonde” assailants began attack in Mumbai | Experts doubt Al Qaeda link in Mumbai attacks | Mumbai Attacks Blamed On Al-Qaeda As Pretext For U.S. Military Response | Terror strikes Mumbai | Former US congresswoman, presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney barred from boarding plane to human rights conference | German Intelligence Agents Caught Staging False Flag Terror in Kosovo | IntelCenter 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rea’ intention test questioned prior to Toronto 18 terror verdict | Youth found guilty in Toronto terror trial despite RCMP mole’s entrapment role | Feds ordered to share evidence with defence in Harkat security case | American Intelligence Contractors Leak Canadian Toronto 18 ‘Terror Training’ Video to Web | Ottawa balks at travel permit for man trapped in Sudan | Prosecuters fail to secure airborne liquid bomb convictions, conspiracy charges stick | Troops in the Streets: Army Brigades Standing By to Assist in Disasters, Help Quell Dissent | Blackwater-linked firm to train Canadian troops | Canadian troops continue gearing up, to receive US counter-insurgency training | US Government Questioned on Forged Letter Linking Saddam to 9/11 | Crown can’t tie Khawaja to British bomb plot, lawyer argues | Pentagon Front Groups Release Laughable Olympics “Terror” Video | Prosecutors weigh options after hung jury in 7/7 UK terror trial | Bombs explode, Washington-based Intelcenter releases yet another terror video, China cracks down on transport security | Cheney Considered False Flag Operation to Justify War with Iran | Terrorism claims against Khawaja stunned his ex-fiancée | Terror suspect’s inflammatory personal EMails judged admissable | 3 men plead guilty to lesser charges in ‘liquid bomb’ airline plot | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Afghanistan suggests Pakistan responsible for embassy bombing | Informant ‘never discussed’ fertilizer bomb plot with accused in Ottawa ‘terror trial’ | Third Mole Surfacing in Toronto Terror Trial? | Crown turns on own witness in ‘terror’ trial | Report: U.S. Gave Green Light For Taliban Prison Attack | Trial of Canadian charged in UK fertilizer bomb plot gets underway | Third Mole Surfacing in Toronto Terror Trial? | RCMP informant says accused in militant plot was naive | Paid CSIS Informant Says Public Not Upset Enough about Toronto ‘Terror’ Plot | Latest Toronto 18 ‘Terror’ 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Related: Cabinet ministers’ offices regularly interfere in access to information requests, says Tory staffer | Conservatives accused of hiding information | 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, Toronto Star
March 11, 2010

OTTAWA –– Prime Minister Stephen Harper draped himself in Olympic gold medals Thursday as he boasted – in the House of Commons and via YouTube – that his Conservative government almost single handedly pulled Canada back from the precipice of financial ruin.

“Bad choices now – unaffordable long-term spending commitments, ill-advised tax hikes, dithering on deficits and difficult decisions – will doom those countries who choose them to years of debt, stagnation and joblessness. A country of 33 million people that can win the most gold medals ever at an Olympic Games does not deserve that. And, on our watch, Canada will not get it,” Harper concluded at the end of a 30-minute speech.

Giving his official response to last week’s throne speech, Harper went beyond the television sets of Canadians and had his speech livestreamed on YouTube.com, where viewers were also invited to submit questions. Harper will make a return visit next Tuesday at 7 p.m. to answer a selection of questions.

In turning to the popular video-sharing website to get his message out to Canadians and others “unfiltered” by the national media, Harper opened up a social media can of worms.

Even before Harper’s Thursday speech, more than 170 questions had been submitted from across the country, asking the prime minister about everything under the sun, including whether he was sporting a toupe.

A question submitted after his speech stated: “You couldn’t get a majority against the weak Martin or the lame duck Dion, & polls show you would also fail vs the foreigner Ignatieff. When are you going to step down and let a real leader win a majority for the good of the party & the country?”

The more serious submissions ranged from the environment to free trade, with many of them stated in unflattering terms.

Harper was asked why he didn’t cut income taxes rather than the GST, what the economic impact on Canada would be if the U.S. pulled out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and whether the health care system can withstand the onslaught of the baby boomers. Others were more critical, including why he continues to abuse power by proroguing Parliament and a comment calling him the worst prime minister in Canadian history.

Among the fringe comments was a video raising fears about airplane contrails, a popular target of Internet conspiracy theorists.

“Social media is changing the way Canadians interact with politicians,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Wednesday. “It allows Canadians to have unfiltered and immediate access to information. Livestreaming complements our government’s current use of social media.”

In using YouTube, Harper was going head-to-head with millions of videos, showing everything from brides falling into pools to bloopers uttered by former U.S. president George W. Bush.

“Canadians, especially younger Canadians, are no longer getting their news from just television, radio and print media. They are turning to new media in increasing numbers,” the PMO said.

One analyst noted that politicians have often looked for ways to go around the national media.

“People are trying lots of new ideas and new technologies but to me this doesn’t sound like a winner,” said Christopher Waddell, associate professor and director of the Carleton school of journalism.

As of noon Thursday, more than 350 questions had been submitted at YouTube.com/TalkCanada, including a handful of video submissions, and more than 780 people had participated or cast votes. The questions must be submitted by Sunday at 1 p.m.

The throne speech was delivered a day before the Harper government tabled its federal budget.

The House of Commons voted in principle Wednesday to support the federal budget 142-132. All three opposition parties opposed the motion, but the Liberals made sure enough of their MPs stayed away to avoid toppling the minority Conservative government.

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