statism watch

This is a stick-up.

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Jason Groves, Daily Mail
June 15, 2010

EU begin emergency billion-pound bailout of Spain, countries in debt may fall to dictators, EC chief warns

Democracy could ‘collapse’ in Greece, Spain and Portugal unless urgent action is taken to tackle the debt crisis, the head of the European Commission has warned.

In an extraordinary briefing to trade union chiefs last week, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso set out an ‘apocalyptic’ vision in which crisis-hit countries in southern Europe could fall victim to military coups or popular uprisings as interest rates soar and public services collapse because their governments run out of money.

The stark warning came as it emerged that EU chiefs have begun work on an emergency bailout package for Spain which is likely to run into hundreds of billions of pounds.

A £650 billion bailout for Greece has already been agreed.

John Monks, former head of the TUC, said he had been ‘shocked’ by the severity of the warning from Mr Barroso, who is a former prime minister of Portugal.

Mr Monks, now head of the European TUC, said: ‘I had a discussion with Barroso last Friday about what can be done for Greece, Spain, Portugal and the rest and his message was blunt: “Look, if they do not carry out these austerity packages, these countries could virtually disappear in the way that we know them as democracies. They’ve got no choice, this is it.”

‘He’s very, very worried. He shocked us with an apocalyptic vision of democracies in Europe collapsing because of the state of indebtedness.’

Greece, Spain and Portugal, which only became democracies in the 1970s, are all facing dire problems with their public finances. All three countries have a history of military coups.

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The government wishes, perhaps, to avoid a repeat of what happened during last year’s expenses scandal of British labour PM Gordon Brown. It’s just too bad she can’t audit the fake lake, symbol of conservative extravagance. (?) But this is to be a non-partisan effort of course – it’s just too bad Sheila Fraser won’t be able to name names since all four major parties are swindling us.

Related: MPs shouldn’t fear expenses audit: AG | Prime Minister’s Office tells Tory MPs not to answer Citizen reporter’s questions on expenses | MPs reject request to audit expenses | MPs from all four parties ink secret deal on cash | Lax rules on political financing No. 1 global corruption threat: report | Author wins award for work identifying categories of state corruption | Tories admit to using regional funds for federal campaign last election | Another Conservative candidate attacks ‘in-out’ ad scheme | Donations of money, property and services continue to corrupt Canadian politics

CBC News
June 15, 2010

Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser will be permitted to conduct a performance audit of how parliamentarians control their budgets, but won’t audit the individual spending of all MPs.

Fraser joined Conservative House leader Jay Hill and Liberal MP Marcel Proulx in Ottawa on Tuesday to announce the terms of a deal reached with the Board of Internal Economy, an all-party body that oversees Parliament’s expenditures.

The secretive board initially rejected Fraser’s request to examine $533 million in annual spending by the House of Commons and the Senate, saying the proposed audit “would go beyond the scope of the auditor general’s mandate.”

But board members agreed to meet with Fraser and hear her intentions following a fierce public backlash and calls from other MPs for the decision to be reversed. Similar audits of politicians’ expenses in Britain and Nova Scotia sparked scandals and police investigations.

Fraser said performance audits only examine existing management practices, controls and reporting systems. She stressed that her office’s audit would not be looking at the management of individual member’s offices or the merits of their transactions.

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Related: Moscow opens Central Asian supply route for Afghan mission, NATO believes tide turning in Kandahar | Taliban support strong in Kandahar: poll | US special forces ‘tried to cover-up’ botched Khataba raid in Afghanistan | Afghan tension mounts as NATO offensive looms | WikiLeaks releases video of alleged U.S. helicopter attack on Reuters reporters | NATO prepares for major Kandahar offensive, refugee camps | British soldiers ‘tortured and murdered 20 Iraqis, then covered it up with firefight claim’ | Blackwater Guards facing Charges in Case of 17 Dead Iraqi Citizens | Afghan poll not as clear as it seems

The Globe and Mail
June 15, 2010

Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard says insurgent activity has spiked

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CBC News
June 15, 2010

Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, announces plans for an ‘enhanced’ and ’streamlined’ RCMP complaints commission during a June 14 news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

A number of RCMP observers say there are loopholes in the government’s new legislation for a new watchdog agency for the Mounties.

The Public Safety Minister unveiled plans Monday for what he called a more “robust” RCMP review and complaints commission.

“This commission would have significantly enhanced investigative powers over those of the existing body, as well as a more streamlined complaints process and the authority to work hand-in-hand with other review bodies,” said Vic Toews.

But those who have been at the head of the existing RCMP public complaints commission do not agree.

Paul Kennedy chaired the commission from 2005 until the end of 2009 when he was released from the job before releasing his report on the RCMP’s actions with regards to the death of polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

Kennedy says he has an issue with the requirement that the chairperson seek ministerial approval for self-initiated investigations.

“I would bristle at having to go to the minister before I launched my own public interest hearing or my own complaint. For what purpose? To justify to him to do it? If you’re independent and you’re acting on behalf of the Canadian public, you justify it to the public.”

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Apparently, allowing elected Members of Parliament to see cabinet documents is a danger to ‘national security’.

Related: Military wanted detainee whistle-blower pulled from Afghanistan | MPs reach agreement to share Afghan detainee document information | Afghan torture documents release talks get extension | Detainee documents controlled by a few top bureaucrats | Speaker orders Harper government to cough up Afghan detainee documents | Censors threaten detainee hearings | Military Police begin Afghan detainee torture investigative hearings, reporters barred | Tories table thousands more censored Afghan files | MacKay knew of Afghan detainee concerns: diplomat | Tories flood Ottawa with blacked-out documents in response to Afghan torture scandal | Opposition threatens contempt motion over Afghan torture documents | NDP tables torture-prevention bill | 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 | 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 | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | 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 | 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 | Military lawyer stonewalls on Afghan torture claims | Ottawa was warned Afghan detainees might be tortured | Military commission suspends torture hearings, gags witness | Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness | Federal court limits Afghan detainee torture probe | Watchdog rejects government bid to delay Afghan detainee inquiry | Ottawa moves to block Afghanistan detainee torture hearings again | Bid to Block Afghan Detainee Inquiry Slammed | What Ottawa doesn’t want you to know: Government was told detainees faced ‘extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial’

Juliet O’Neill, Canwest News Service
June 15, 2010

OTTAWA — The New Democratic Party pulled out of an agreement on parliamentary access to Afghan detainee documents Tuesday, saying there will still be too many secret government papers and the truth may never come out.

The NDP pulled out shortly before all-party negotiations ended with an agreement reached by the Conservative government, opposition Liberals and Bloc Quebecois on details of a process to grant MPs — aided by a panel of jurists — a chance to read thousands of documents and passages from detainee-related documents that now are censored from the public on the grounds of national security.

The final agreement bars the MPs from looking at confidential cabinet documents or papers protected for reasons of solicitor-client privilege. Those exemptions were cited by the NDP as a main reason they consider the final agreement a charade and backed out at the 11th hour.

The process “will not get at the truth,” NDP defence critic Jack Harris told reporters.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe are poised to sign a memorandum of understanding on the agreement, which is to be tabled in the House of Commons. That’s unlikely to happen until after House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken responds to an NDP request to reject the deal.

The deal was the result of a ruling by Milliken in late April, in which he said Parliament has the right to see uncensored documents to hold the government accountable — but he asked MPs to work out a way to do that without jeopardizing national security or safety of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

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Anyone willing to take a bet as to whether the marchers were portrayed as ‘terrorists’ in the British press of the day? No, thought not.

In the past century alone, according to political scientist RJ Rummel, governments have been responsible for the killings of more than 262 million people .And he only counts incidents in which more than 1 million were killed. This man, who has looked so deeply into the heart of human darkness, put it this way: “The more power a regime has, the more likely people will be killed. This is a major reason for promoting freedom.” Rummel concludes: “Concentrated political power is the most dangerous thing on earth.” This is an enemy without an individual face, and if this website was ever able to convince people of anything, hopefully this would be it.

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” - Thomas Jefferson

See Rummel’s website here. May the Irish patriots rest in peace.

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Henry McDonald, Owen Bowcott, Hélène Mulholland, The Guardian
June 15, 2010

David Cameron apologises for killings by British paras as Saville report opens possibility for prosecution of soldiers

Prosecutors in Northern Ireland are considering whether to bring charges against British soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday killings after a damning report by a senior judge concluded the shooting dead of 14 people in Derry 38 years ago was “unjustified and unjustifiable”.

David Cameron issued the first formal apology on behalf of the British state as he announced the publication of Lord Saville’s long-awaited report into the day that became the catalyst for 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

Drawing on the conclusions of the 5,000-page, 10-volume report, Cameron said the government was “deeply sorry” for the conduct of the soldiers who opened fire while trying to police a banned civil rights march on 30 January 1972.

On the day, 13 marchers died and another 15 were wounded, one of whom died later in hospital.

The prime minister said the Saville inquiry showed soldiers lied about their involvement in the killings, and that all of those who died were innocent.

He said the inquiry was absolutely clear and there were no ambiguities about the conclusions. “What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong,” Cameron told the Commons.

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Joe Weisenthal, Business Insider
June 15, 2010

The NYT has taken something of a beating for its big Sunday-night story about the $1 trillion worth of resources supposedly stumbled upon by the Pentagon in Afghanistan.

Just about everyone agrees that it’s not really news, and that at a minimum the timing was convenient for an administration that’s desperate to get some good headlines out of the region.

But is there more than that?

The Asia Times takes a close look at the actual timing of the auction, and notes this nugget:

The Pentagon memo may have been an effort to attract international interest in the mining sector before the auction in the next few weeks of the 1.8 billion-ton iron-ore field in Hajigak, which could be worth $5 billion to $6 billion, according to the British-based Times. The development of the country’s largest known iron deposit has been hampered by the war and weak institutions.

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Another precrime provision, with the additional goody of sharing your medical records with the police. Decisions like this, that may appear reasonable on the surface to some, are readily exposed as driven by a wider agenda when put in context. For one thing, the definition of ‘mentally ill’ is subject to inflation. US veterans of the wars in the middle east that have been encouraged to file for PTSD benefits (small wonder after multiple tours of duty – a Pentagon study found 10% of returning soldiers have PTSD) are in many cases surprised to discover they’re also being denied gun ownership. CNN reported back in 2007 that the total figure for mental illness could be as high as a third of vets. Nexus this in with the recent report that Obama has promised to support a United Nations small arms treaty calling for a global gun registry and stringent licensing restrictions, the brutal totalitarian-style raids, the knock and talk campaigns to build a list of citizens that own firearms, and you’re starting to get an idea of the big picture.

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Virkram Dodd, The Guardian
June 14, 2010

Doctors have agreed to breach duty of medical confidentiality if patients who own guns become seriously mentally ill

Doctors have agreed to breach their duty of medical confidentiality to patients who own guns if they fear they have become so seriously mentally ill they may use their weapons on themselves or the public, the Guardian has learned.

GPs say they will tell the police if a gun owner’s deteriorating health makes him or her a serious danger to the public, without the patient giving consent to their medical privacy being breached.

In order for doctors to know which patients have guns, the medical records of patients holding or applying for firearms licences would be “flagged”.

The agreement comes after months of talks between the Association of Chief Police Officers and the British Medical Association.

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Al-Qaeda has really big computers, and apparently they’re going to get us unless we let the NSA (or some other organization above state accountability) monitor networks.. See here and here and here for moves that have already been made to to create a global Internet Ministry (Mininet?). And then there’s cases like that of hacker Gary McKinnon, who found his way into a Pentagon computer, looking for evidence of UFOs and free energy. While we may dispute whether or not this is a productive use of one’s time – phreaking and hacking is how many of the present generation of digerati actually learned their skills – should Mr. McKinnon be subject to military response? And what would that entail, a drone strike? A bit cannon blasting his ISP with a government denial of service attack? We don’t know. All we know is that this really looks like it’s being hyped and trumped up to subject the free web to surveillance, as Wired has reported.

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Vito Pilieci, The Ottawa Citizen
June 14, 2010

Top defence official travels to Ottawa to launch initiative

OTTAWA — The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense stopped in Ottawa Monday to drum up support for a new international organization to combat cyber warfare.

“A nuclear missile comes with a return address,” William Lynn told an audience of about 100 at the Château Laurier. With cyber warfare, on the other hand, “international co-operation is imperative.

“We can’t defend our networks by ourselves. The cyber threat is much larger.”

Lynn said the threat posed by hackers and computer viruses is steadily growing and poses a threat unlike anything the global community has seen.

“Previously, we would refer to the level of lethality. Terrorists did not have access to lethal weapons,” Lynn said in a speech hosted by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute.

“That no longer holds true. Terrorist organizations have access to sophisticated cyber warfare (weapons).”

Lynn’s comments come on the heels of a simulation by the Bi-Partisan Policy Institute in the U.S. The political think-tank simulated an Internet-based attack that wreaked havoc on the financial markets, hammered the Internet connections of millions, shut off the cellular phone connections of more than 20 million users, and caused sporadic blackouts affecting more than 10 million American homes.

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The Toronto Star is further reporting that if the alert (eg; pain beam) function is used it will “be in two to five second bursts, as suggested by Toronto police and the manufacturer’s guidelines” as an all-hail function. So you’ll jump out of your skin as you’re blasted with the LRAD but don’t worry you’ll only be in pain for as long as it takes “‘To alert the public, the crowd . . . to the fact that there is an upcoming message we want them to hear,’ Drummond said.”

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CBC News
June 14, 2010

Effects of device have not been properly tested, Canadian Civil Liberties Association argues

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has filed an injunction against the Toronto Police and Ontario Provincial Police in an effort to disarm the controversial “sound cannon” before this month’s G20 summit.

The application for an injunction was filed with the Ontario Superior Court last Thursday, addressed to Toronto Chief William Blair and OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino.

A hearing is scheduled for June 23, just days before international leaders, delegations and protesters are expected to descend on Toronto for the G20 summit.

At issue is the Long-Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, four of which have been obtained by the Toronto police in the lead up to the summit.

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