statism watch

by Todd Howe, We Are Change Toronto
June 30, 2011

Public Service Announcement: If you object to warrantless state surveillance of your online activities, visit http://stopspying.ca now and sign the OpenMedia.ca petition to stop the Harper government’s forthcoming ‘Lawful Access’ provision.

“If we understand the revolutionary transformations caused by new media, we can anticipate and control them; but if we continue in our self-induced subliminal trance, we will be their slaves.” – Marshall McLuhan

During a 1969 interview conducted during the dawn of the new age of electronic media, oft-cited futurist and tech critic Marshall McLuhan made the point that for our species, the market of information we call ‘culture’ is the frame we think within, a common set of ideas and symbols analogous to the air we breathe. Because this set of ideas is so all-pervasive and seemingly without boundaries, leaving us with little to compare and contrast it to, it slips into the background of our awareness.

One of the consequences of this reflexive inability to see the forest for the trees is that it’s precisely those technologies capable of causing social upheaval, of changing the ways people interact with their culture and with each other, that do much of their transformative work out on the liminal edges of awareness. And we tend to prefer it this way, McLuhan suggests — taking refuge in the familiar, numbing our responses to great change like trauma survivors might while technology extends the reach of our nervous system to new and unaccustomed horizons. All the while, we try bravely to take it in stride while the world is changed around us.

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by Dana Gabriel, BeYourOwnLeader
February 10, 2011

Canada and the U.S. have officially launched negotiations on a trade and security agreement which would take continental integration to the next level. A declaration issued by the leaders follows months of secret preliminary talks. The deal would work towards facilitating the movement of travel and trade across the northern border. This includes pursuing a perimeter approach to security in an effort to better address common threats. The agreement sets in motion an agenda with the aim of going beyond NAFTA and further expanding on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), but in the context of a bilateral framework.

On February 4, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a declaration which, “establishes a new long-term partnership that will accelerate the legitimate flows of people and goods between both countries, while strengthening security and economic competitiveness.” Beyond the Border: a Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness will, “focus on four areas of co-operation: addressing threats early; trade facilitation, economic growth and jobs; integrated cross-border law enforcement; and critical infrastructure and cyber-security.” According to the declaration, both nations will, “develop a joint action plan on perimeter security and economic competitiveness that will set out a range of initiatives in the four key areas to improve both countries’ ability to manage security risks, while facilitating the flow of people, goods and services.” The newly formed Beyond the Border Working Group will, “report to their respective Leaders in the coming months, and after a period of consultation, with a joint Plan of Action to realize the goals of this declaration.” The agenda set forth is nothing more than a rehashing of some of the SPP’s security priorities, but without Mexican involvement.

President Obama and Prime Minster Harper also addressed ways to coordinate and harmonize regulations in order to ease red tape for businesses that do trade on both sides of the border. They announced the creation of a United States-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) which will, “promote economic growth, job creation, and benefits to our consumers and businesses through increased regulatory transparency and coordination.” According to a joint statement, the leaders, “are committed to working through the RCC to provide early notice of regulations with potential effects across our shared border, to strengthen the analytic basis of regulations, and to help make regulations more compatible.” Both countries will also, “work through the RCC to determine sectors on which to focus its work that are characterized by high levels of integration, significant growth potential, and rapidly evolving technologies.” Improving regulatory cooperation was a key element of the SPP’s prosperity agenda. Its stated goals are laid out in the SPP Regulatory Cooperation Framework.

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Related: Tucker Bilderberg 2010 Wrapup: Attack on Iran discussed, World Treasury Dept delayed | Bilderberg 2010: Don’t call it a pow-wow! | BC Premier Campbell mingles with world elite at private meeting | Former Nato Secretary-General Admits Bilderberg Sets Global Policy | Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | Bilderberg 2010 Participant List Released | Bilderberg Agenda Revealed: Globalists In Crisis, Supportive Of Attack On Iran | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friend | Bilderberg 2010: The security lockdown begins | Secretive Bilderberg Club ready for protests | Dublin Trilateral attendees let slip need for world govt, war with Iran, Bilderberg oversight | Tucker: Bilderberg To Meet in Spain, Prolong Global Financial Recession For Another Year

Charlie Skelton, The Guardian
June 14, 2010

A huge agenda of global issues was crammed into four days of ‘secret’ meetings by a mysterious group of power brokers. But who elected them and why are we paying for them?

Weary and bramble-scratched, elated by the press coverage, and sick of riot vans and lukewarm Spanish omelette baguettes, we return from Bilderberg 2010 with the following thoughts uppermost in our tired mind:

- ‘Global cooling’ is on the cards

Check out the agenda for Bilderberg 2010: “Financial reform, security, cyber technology, energy, Pakistan, Afghanistan, world food problem, global cooling, social networking, medical science, EU-US relations.” That list is a window into your future. Don’t think for one minute that it isn’t. And don’t ignore it, because it isn’t ignoring you.

I love how “social networking” must fry the Bilderbergian mind. On the one hand, as Zuckerberg of Facebook says, privacy is no longer a social norm so it’s okay to milk the networking sites for information, social trends and dissident thinking; however, you can’t stop the people from arranging a meet-up to discuss internet censorship or the rights and wrongs of “global cooling”. Speaking of which, Bill Gates (Bilderberg 2010) is funding “cloud whitening” technology; trials start soon. Global dimming isn’t just something that happens every time Big Brother starts. On the basis of this agenda, I think we can expect a lot of statements about cutting-edge cloud-technology trials in the next 12 months. If it works in Dubai, it can work in Britain too…

- You can’t keep a good story down

If I had to pick the point when Bilderberg finally broke through into mainstream news, it would be when the BBC News Blog published a round-up of Bilderberg reports. Twelve months ago, this would have been barely conceivable. This year, Kissinger must be spitting chips.

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In recent years, the JTF2 have been operational in Afghanistan, at the Vancouver Olympics, and at the curiously bungled hijacking in Jamaica which just happened to take place while Harper was promoting JTF2′s training of the Jamaican emergency task force.

Related: Toronto G20 weekend: Private security fast-tracked, traffic jams, heavy police presence, but no sonic weapons | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | G8/G20: Cell phones to be jammed as motorcades move through Huntsville, Toronto | G20: Eastern Avenue Protest Jail | G20 Security unbridled: Cops bring out artillery as civil rights observers preach vigilance | Construction begins on Toronto G20 security barrier | G20 media centre with fake lake to cost $1.9M | Toronto police show off G20 summit security | Mounties shun ‘sound cannons’ in urban settings ahead of G20 | 1,100 private security guards to work G8-G20 summits | Police detail G20 security zone | Toronto Police to take up to $100-million of G20 security funds | Toronto police buy four ’sound cannons’ for G20 | Toronto and Muskoka G8/20 Summit security costs hit $1.1B | The Toronto G20 Police State Crackdown | Toronto police agree to erase security zone pass info after G20 | Toronto banks review G20 security after Ottawa RBC fire | Condo behind security fence during G20 summit | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Toronto G20 should address climate issues: Nicholas Stern, UN | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked-Down Police State This Summer | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Police State Canada 2010 and the G20 Summit | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Militarized police integrate with private security for G20 Toronto concourse drill | Small army to protect Toronto during G20 summit | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | Toronto G20 summit security to be ‘massive’ | RCMP needs 5,500 rooms during G20 summit | G20 ’sherpas’ meet with IMF, World Bank on Ottawa | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | G8/G20: Gearing up for the biggest security event in Canadian history | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | G20 security could strangle downtown | G20’s Metro Convention Centre location to bump baseball, pride activities | Harper confirms June G20 summit in Toronto | Is G20 more than Toronto can handle? | With only seven months to go, G20 site may be moved to Toronto | Top Mountie says Huntsville too small for G20 | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Allan Woods, Toronto Star
June 12, 2010

OTTAWA — The Canadian military’s premiere special forces soldiers are ready to spring into action if terrorists target the G8 meetings in Huntsville or the G20 summit that follows immediately in downtown Toronto.

In an exclusive interview with the Star, the commander of Joint Task Force Two shared some details of the unit’s preparedness for this month’s summits, but in keeping with the shadowy nature of the black-clad unit, much of its work remains secret.

“I’m at a readiness every single day that allows me to reassure my chain of command that regardless if it’s a G8 or G20 day or the most quiet day of the year, we’re equally ready,” Brig.-Gen. Mike Day, JTF2 commander, said in a rare on-the-record interview.

“It’s what people should expect from us, right?”

If the billion-dollar summit-security plan works, you will neither see nor hear from Canada’s counterterror strike squad two weeks from now.

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Related: BC Premier Campbell mingles with world elite at private meeting | Former Nato Secretary-General Admits Bilderberg Sets Global Policy | Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | Bilderberg 2010 Participant List Released | Bilderberg Agenda Revealed: Globalists In Crisis, Supportive Of Attack On Iran | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friend | Bilderberg 2010: The security lockdown begins | Secretive Bilderberg Club ready for protests | Dublin Trilateral attendees let slip need for world govt, war with Iran, Bilderberg oversight | Tucker: Bilderberg To Meet in Spain, Prolong Global Financial Recession For Another Year

Charlie Skelton, The Guardian
June 9, 2010

So far at Bilderberg 2010, Charlie Skelton has clocked Queen Beatrix and Henry Kissinger. Not bad considering the Spanish police’s €10m anti-media operation

A man under a hedge stretches, blinks, curses the pointy pebble under his hip, and down goes his finger on the shutter.

CLICK…

Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank, a former managing director of Goldman Sachs.

CLICK…

Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US federal reserve, current chairman of Obama’s economic recovery advisory board.

CLICK…

Josef Ackermann, chairman of Deutsche Bank.

CLICK…

Peter Voser, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell.

CLICK…

Dr Henry Alfred Kissinger.

The photos we’ve seen from this year’s conference, which we’re showcasing in our big hitters Bilderberg Power Gallery , have been very revealing. You can see from the body language who runs Bilderberg. There’s been a lot of power sloshing round the Dolce Sitges Hotel this past week, a lot of wealth, a lot of influence, but you can sense the ÃÅ“berpower when it shows up.

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Good job, Campbell. Love what you’re doing, what with the HST, the Olympics, the carbon tax, and the license plate scanning network. Welcome to the club.

Related: Former Nato Secretary-General Admits Bilderberg Sets Global Policy | Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | Bilderberg 2010 Participant List Released | Bilderberg Agenda Revealed: Globalists In Crisis, Supportive Of Attack On Iran | Bilderberg 2010: Why the protesters are your very best friend | Bilderberg 2010: The security lockdown begins | Secretive Bilderberg Club ready for protests | Dublin Trilateral attendees let slip need for world govt, war with Iran, Bilderberg oversight | Tucker: Bilderberg To Meet in Spain, Prolong Global Financial Recession For Another Year

Jonathan Fowlie, The Vancouver Sun
June 8, 2010

Premier Gordon Campbell spent his weekend rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s leading political and business figures at the 58th annual Bilderberg Meeting in Sitges, Spain.

The secretive invitation-only meeting — dubbed by London’s The Independent newspaper as an “annual cabal of the world’s elite” — pulls together top international names to discuss issues such as foreign affairs and the economy.

“We talked about the economy, we talked about trade, we talked about health care and the challenges that health care presents to all economies with the changing demographic,” Campbell said Monday, not going into detail about what was discussed.

“We talked about how is it possible to feed the world and what are the barriers that are in the way of us actually accomplishing that goal.

“Everybody is connected now with international trade. Everyone will be affected by what happens with the European currencies and that’s a significant issue everyone is concerned about.”

A list posted on the website www.bilderbergmeetings.org shows other attendees at this year’s meeting included Bill Gates, former U.S. treasury secretary Robert Rubin and former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger.

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Flashback: White House approves assassination of cleric linked to Christmas bomb plot | Terror of innocent Britons named as assassins: Why choose us, ask men whose identities were stolen during alleged Israeli hit on Hamas official | Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power | Dick Cheney ‘hid plans to kill al-Qaida operatives abroad’ | Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh describes ‘executive assassination ring’ that reported to Cheney | New book details Mossad false flag assassination attempt on Canadian passports

Tim Reid, Michael Evans, London Times
June 5, 2010

President Obama has secretly sanctioned a huge increase in the number of US special forces carrying out search-and-destroy missions against al-Qaeda around the world, with American troops now operating in 75 countries.

The dramatic expansion in the use of special forces, which in their global span go far beyond the covert missions authorised by George W. Bush, reflects how aggressively the President is pursuing al-Qaeda behind his public rhetoric of global engagement and diplomacy.

When Mr Obama took office US special forces were operating in fewer than 60 countries. In the past 18 months he has ordered a big expansion in Yemen and the Horn of Africa – known areas of strong al-Qaeda activity – and elsewhere in the Middle East, central Asia and Africa.

According to The Washington Post, Mr Obama has also approved pre-emptive special forces strikes to disrupt terror plots, and has given the units powers and authority that was not granted by Mr Bush when he occupied the White House.

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Related: Google attorney slams ACTA copyright treaty | Official ACTA Draft Released, Only Very Slightly Less Awful Than Expected | The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots | Big Content’s dystopian wish-list for the US gov’t: spyware, censorship, physical searches and SWAT teams | Thousands condemn secrecy of New Zealand round of internet copyright talks | ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws | Entire Text of ACTA Treaty Leaks to Online Rights Website | Revealed: ACTA to cover seven categories of intellectual property | New ACTA Leaks Complete Picture of Oppressive Global Copyright Treaty | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | ACTA Internet Chapter Leaks: Renegotiates WIPO, Sets 3 Strikes as Model | ACTA Is Called An ‘Executive Agreement’ To Implement Restrictive Copyright With Less Hassle Than A Treaty | ACTA One Step Closer To Being Done; Concerns About Transparency Ignored | UK MPs frozen out of super-secret ACTA copyright talks | Reading Between The Still Secret Lines Of The ACTA Negotiations | Beyond ACTA: Proposed EU — Canada Trade Agreement Intellectual Property Chapter Leaks | New Leaks of Secret ACTA Copyright Law Reveal Oppressive ‘Global DMCA’ | MPAA Says Critics of Secret Copyright Treaty Hate Hollywood | ACTA Threatens Made-in-Canada Copyright Policy | More ACTA Details Leak: It’s An Entertainment Industry Wishlist | Six Days Left: Canadian Net Users Caught As Copyright Consultation Nears Conclusion | MP Charlie Angus on copyright: industry lobby pulling for ‘dead business model’ | Ottawa denies altering public’s ECopyright Consultation submissions | Security guards stop MPs, students from distributing fair use flyers at Toronto copyright townhall | Can The Public Be Heard On Copyright Issues? | Copyright Consultation Launches: Time For Canadians To Speak Out | Third stab at copyright law ‘reform’ to kick off with consultations | Time to slay Canadian file-sharing myths | Canadian copyright lobbyists leaned on “independent” researchers to change report on file-sharing | Think tank plagiarizes, pulls report on Canadian piracy | Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets | Latest Round of Closed-Door ACTA Copyright Negotiations Wrap Up | Digital rights groups sue for access to secret ACTA treaty | Critics waging a cyber offensive to fight copyright changes | Canadian Industry Minister lies about Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up | The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print | Government ready to drop copyright bomb | Transparency needed on ACTA | Revamped copyright law targets electronic devices | New Attempt to Align Canada’s Copyright Act with USA Coming Soon | Canadian DMCA To Be Introduced Tomorrow Morning?

Mike Masnick, Techdirt.com
May 12, 2010

After about a year or so of very public questions over the incredible level of secrecy of ACTA (including the patently ridiculous claim that details couldn’t be revealed for national security reasons), including a complete smackdown by the EU Parliament concerning the whole ACTA process, the negotiators finally (and very reluctantly) released the latest draft in April. Of course, by then, the full document had already leaked. Still, the officially released document left out some of the key parts that were in the leaked draft. Funny how that works.

But, of course, the negotiators pushing for ACTA pretended that the only concerns people had with ACTA were over the transparency issue, and now that a draft has been released, apparently they think that there should be no more complaints about ACTA. Uh huh. Except, of course, those who actually understand these issues, have pointed out some serious problems in the way ACTA is written, in that it locks in certain parts of copyright law that are very much in flux, and seems to export only the limits of copyright law, with none of the very important exceptions.

And, now it’s coming out that this new “transparency” may have been a one-time deal. The head negotiator from the EU, Luc Devigne (the guy who planned to ignore the rebuke from the EU Parliament), has apparently told people that the April release is all that they planned on releasing. So, after the next round of negotiations happens (next month), the latest document will not be released again.

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Related:  Fed Sicks Attack Dogs On Ron Paul After Audit Amendment Passes | Americans Deserve a Transparent Federal Reserve | Federal Reserve Appeals Order to Disclose Emergency Bank Loans | Judge Orders Federal Reserve To Disclose Who Received Bailout Trillions | Former NY governor Spitzer: Federal Reserve is ‘a Ponzi scheme, an inside job’ | Hands off the Fed, Bernanke warns Congress | US Senate Blocks Bill To Audit The Fed As Government Prepares For Second Round Of Looting | Congressman Ron Paul Slams Federal Reserve’s New Dictatorial Powers | Federal Reserve To Be Given Sweeping New Powers | HR 1207: Battle To Audit The Fed Has Only Just Begun | Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout | Banks won’t say where U.S. bailout money going | Paulson, Bernanke defend change of plan: $700-billion now to be given directly to banks | Congress Accuses Federal Reserve Bagman Of Bailout “Bait and Switch” During Angry Hearing | U.S. government won’t use bailout fund to buy troubled assets | The Bush gang’s parting gift: a final, frantic looting of public wealth | Why Paulson’s Plan is a Fraud | Congressman Ron Paul: Bailout Will Destroy Dollar, World Economy | Congressman Ron Paul Schools Fed Chairman Bernanke on the Bailout Plan

Steve Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
May 6, 2010

Dorgan, Grassley introduce another amendment for spending transparency

The push to audit the Federal Reserve was given a fresh injection yesterday with the introduction of another bipartisan amendment to the Wall Street reform bill in the Senate that would force the central bank to reveal where $2 trillion in public bailout money was spent.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) noted that the Fed’s continued secrecy regarding its emergency lending programs, even in the face of federal court rulings, had motivated them to introduce the measure.

“The Fed refuses to disclose this information to the American people so we are taking Congressional action to determine how the Fed has used these trillions of dollars,” Dorgan said in a joint press release.

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Hopefully Mr. Jeffrey Smith will reemerge from the conference to provide more detail on this so far single-sourced report. It does, however, tie into expectations about the nature of the UN’s Codex Alimentarius food regime, a document they’re trying to build international consensus around. Qui bono? Regardless of whether a product is harmful or not, consumers have a right to know what they’re being sold.

Flashback: Fury as EU approves antibiotic resistant GM potato | Will This Little GMO Piggy Go to Market? | Monsanto’s GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals | Canada’s flax crop mysteriously contaminated by GM seeds | Britain will starve without GM crops, says major report | It is too late to shut the door on GM foods | Organic food no more nutritious, study finds | Researchers working on swine flu ‘vaccine corn’ | High-fructose sweeteners linked to obesity, diabetes | Doomsday seed vault’s stores are growing | Genetically Modified Seeds: Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach | UK Environment minister calls for international food treaty, GM foods at Fabian Society address | GM Crops Climb to Nearly One-Tenth of Global Crop Production | Genetically engineered meal close to your table | The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops | Europe’s secret plan to boost GM crop production | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | GM crops could lead to ‘disaster’: Prince Charles | Small Farmers Pushed to Plant GM Seed | American thinktanks sowed seeds of food crisis | Agribusiness positions GM crops as panacea to predicted global food shortage | Monsanto Plans to Save World with its Biotech Crops | High-level UN task force to tackle global food crisis | Scientist who claimed GM crops could solve Third World hunger admits he got it wrong | Codex Alimentarius – An Emerging Threat | Codex Alimentarius Commission adopts more than 50 new food standards

Mike Adams, NaturalNews.com
May 4, 2010

I received an urgent alert from Jeffrey Smith today about a dangerous situation taking place right now at the international CODEX conference. The U.S. is attempting to push its agenda to censor all GMO labeling of foods everywhere around the world. This would result in a global GMO cover-up as consumers are left in the dark about whether their foods and grocery products are genetically modified or not.

Your help is urgently needed to send a message to the Secretaries of State (Clinton), Agriculture (Vilsack), and Health and Human Services (Sebelius) to urge them to halt the USA’s nefarious attempts to install a global GMO deception.

Take part in this online petition, go here:
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/GMF…

Please understand that the U.S. is attempting to outlaw non-GMO labeling of foods, thereby making it illegal for a non-GMO food product to even claim “non-GMO” on the label. If the U.S. succeeds in this global GMO cover-up, the FDA could seize any products in the USA that make “non-GMO” claims. Additionally, the USA could file lawsuits through the World Trade Organization against any country that allows non-GMO labeling or claims on its products.

Why is the U.S. pursuing such a devious and sinister course of action? Because, as you well know, virtually the entire federal government caters to the financial interests of powerful corporations — and these include the “Big Ag” giants like Monsanto that want to patent all seeds while destroying the no-GMOs movement. They want to turn non-GMO foods into violations of the law and thereby strip all such products from store shelves.

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