Canadian open source community upset over proposed copyright law

Bell moves to limit internet downloads of competitor ISPs

(CBC.ca) - Bell Canada Inc. is moving to impose download limits on customers of independent internet providers, an act the smaller firms say is designed to eliminate broadband competition and prevent the introduction of new television services.

The Montreal-based company, which cut its own Sympatico customers off from unlimited downloading last year, has proposed extending that plan to firms renting portions of its network in order to provide their own services. That would include a number of smaller wholesale ISP customers such as Chatham, Ont.-based TekSavvy Solutions Inc., Cobourg, Ont.-based Eagle.ca and Mississauga-based Acanac Inc.

The limits would range from two gigabytes per month for customers with slower connections of 512 kilobits per second up to 60 GB for those with the faster speeds of five megabits per second, according to Acanac president Paul Louro. Customers who exceed those limits would incur extra charges, much like cellphone subscribers do when they surpass their monthly minutes.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca, Peter Nowak ]

Richard Viguerie: Bush White House Hides True Scope of Federal Deficit

NAFTA and SPP, Securing U.S. Access to Canadian Resources

(IntelStrike Blog Network) - Part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) objectives include further removing barriers and securing access and control to Canadian resources. NAFTA has already seemingly granted the U.S. unlimited access to Canadian energy. The SPP will bring about the further deregulation and privatization of Canadian institutions. There are also fears that under the SPP, Canada will become nothing more then a resource colony. If this agenda is not stopped and a North American Union is allowed to manifest, it will bring about the complete raping of Canadian resources and a once proud and vibrant sovereign nation will cease to exist.

To the global elite pushing for deeper integration, Canadian resources are viewed as North American resources. Multinational corporations are the ones who will benefit from a North American resource pact. We are witnessing the further takeover of Canada, as their own government is in collusion with powerful private corporate interests. It is through NAFTA and the SPP that a North American energy strategy is being implemented, one that favors the United States. Canada needs an independent energy strategy that puts its future needs ahead of the U.S. and multinational corporations.

As it stands, Canada’s energy strategy is to essentially cater to U.S. demands while it is left importing fuel needed for its eastern provinces. Canada is the largest supplier of crude oil and natural gas to the United States. Canadian oil production is expected to reach the one-billion mark this year. There is talk of tripling its oil sands production by 2015. The Council of Canadians states that, “NAFTA prevents us from selling our energy resources at rates lower than we sell them in the U.S. We also can’t ever cut back on the proportion of energy we produce and sell to the United States, even in times when our country runs short.” The aim is to further expand oil and gas production in Canada. Through the SPP framework, the North American Competitiveness Council is further pushing Alberta tar sands development. Canadians need to be aware of plans to further integrate and hand over more control of its resources to the Americans and this also includes water.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: IntelStrike Blog Network, Dana Gabriel ]

Privatization of Mexican Oil Will Advance SPP Objectives

(IntelStrike Blog Network) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon has proposed sweeping reforms to its state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). He denies that his reforms constitute privatization and claims they will serve to make PEMEX stronger. Many view his proposals as a threat to Mexican sovereignty and nothing more then an energy grab. It is through NAFTA and the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) that the U.S. is further securing access and control to Canadian and Mexican resources. Former presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost to Calderon, is spearheading a movement to stop oil privatization and pushing for a referendum. Opponents of the reforms were able to force the Mexican Congress to hold a series of debates which ended on July 22. There is a swell of national sentiment spreading across the country as the majority of Mexicans wish to retain control of one of their last symbols of sovereignty.

Mexico’s oil industry was nationalized in 1938, and its constitution forbids foreign investment in the oil sector, including private corporate ownership. Calderon insists that his reforms are necessary for the very survival of the country. He describes PEMEX as broken and bankrupt, and believes that the only way to further develop any deepwater drilling is by opening it up to foreign investment. The reforms will allow for key components of PEMEX to be taken over by private companies. Opponents of the plan have called it backdoor privatization and fear it will lead to the complete takeover of the industry. If passed, the reforms will allow private companies to build refineries, transport oil, and own pipeline networks. It will open 37 of PEMEX’s 41divisions to private subcontractors. It has been reported that Halliburton already has a contract with PEMEX to drill for new wells and maintain pipelines. The move to privatize Mexican oil runs contrary to a worldwide trend to further nationalize oil reserves.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: IntelStrike Blog Network, Dana Gabriel ]

Welcome To The 21st Century Police State

(Rogue Government) - It is becoming increasingly clear that we are living in a police state the likes of which Adolf Hitler would have approved of. In the past week, a couple of disturbing news stories detailing extreme police brutality has been reported. In Arkansas a young man was tasered 19 times while he was incapacitated on the ground injured with a broken back. The young man had fallen off a bridge and instead of the police helping him, they decided it was necessary to taser him multiple times despite the fact that it was obvious he couldn’t be any sort of threat. In New York City, a cowardly police officer brutally assaulted a bike rider for no reason and to add insult to injury, the police charged the bike rider with assault and other crimes. The police officers who have engaged in this behavior are cowardly pieces of trash who need to be taken away to prison. If these cops think they are so tough, we should give them the opportunity to pick fights with hardened criminals in a maximum security prison.

READ MORE HERE [ Source:  Rogue Government, Lee Rogers ]

Desperate Haitians Eating Mud

(UPI) - People in Haiti have become so desperate for food that many are eating mud, U.N. officials said.

U.N. officials say that food is available in the impoverished Caribbean nation, The Guardian reported. But prices are rising so fast that the Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that food will cost 80 percent more at the end of the year than it did in January.

The high prices come in a country where much of the population is already living on the edge. The United Nations says that two-thirds of Haitians live on less than $1 a day.

In normal times, pregnant women use mud cakes as a source of calcium. Now, they are famine food.

“It stops the hunger,” said Marie-Carmelle Baptiste, who makes mud cakes. “You eat them when you have to.”

The cakes’ raw material comes from a clay deposit outside Port-au-Prince. Baptiste said they have become more expensive to make, but she does not want to raise her prices until she has to because she knows that, for her customers, the cakes are the last resort.

[ Source: UPI ]

Bill C-51, Codex and the SPP

(IntelStrike.com) - On April 8, 2008, Canada’s Health Minister introduced Bill C-51 which proposed sweeping changes to the Food and Drugs Act. The Canadian government has since been forced to make amendments because of intense grassroots pressure. There are fears that this Bill could lead to some vitamins, herbs, minerals, and dietary supplements no longer being available in the country. Through the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), Canada, the U.S., and Mexico are already busy harmonizing food and drug regulations into a North American Union structure. Some have suggested that this Bill would also bring Canadian law into compliance with the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Bill C-51 has the potential to take away the rights of people to freely choose natural medicine as an alternative to expensive drug-based products and treatments.

Bill C-51 will further encroach on civil liberties and increase police state measures. There is reason for concern because of the Bills ambiguous language in regards to raids and seizures. It has been referred to as a police state bill masquerading as a health bill.  It will make it easier for Canadian officials to seize natural health products and remove them from store shelves. It grants inspectors the power to raid homes and businesses without a warrant and the power to seize bank accounts and property. Some might recall that in the early 90’s, the FDA engaged in paramilitary raids on American health food stores, holistic treatment centers, and other nutritional supplement businesses. This behavior created such a public outcry and backlash, leading Congress to pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) to protect the right of American consumers to purchase and use nutritional supplements.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: IntelStrike.com ]

Telemarketers face ‘do-not-call’ axe on Sept. 30

(CBC.ca) - Canadians will be able to give telemarketers the slip as of Sept. 30 when the national do-not-call-list officially begins operating.

Under the new rules, announced Wednesday by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, telemarketers will not be allowed to call anyone who registers either by phone with Bell Canada Inc., which is administering the list on behalf of the CRTC, or online at www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca.

Telemarketers will have a grace period of 31 days to contact people who have registered, but after that will be eligible for fines of $1,500 in the case of an individual or $15,000 for corporations should a registrant complain.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca ]

Olympic journalists face web restraints

(CBC.ca) - Journalists covering the Beijing Games will not have uncensored internet access, Chinese and Olympic officials have confirmed.

Foreign media had complained about being unable to access politically sensitive websites such as that of Amnesty International, which on Tuesday accused China of failing to live up to its promise to improve human rights.

China is known for rigid internet controls, but said during the Olympics bidding process that foreign media would have “complete freedom to report” at the Summer Games, which begin Aug. 8.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca ]

Spectre of hunger again haunts North Korea, UN says

(CBC.ca) - Undernourished people are scrounging for wild foods.

Hit by bad harvests and soaring prices, millions of North Koreans are hungrier than they have been in years, and many are seeking wild food in the countryside, United Nations officials said Wednesday.

“We’ve found that many more people are now scavenging for wild foods which provide little nourishment and are difficult to digest,” Jean-Pierre de Margerie, UN World Food Program country director for North Korea, said in a statement. “Food assistance to reach the hungry is urgently needed.”

Famine is a recurring tragedy in North Korea, a nation of 23 million whose economy has withered under an eccentric blend of communism and personality cult.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca ]

Strike On Iran Still Possible, U.S. Tells Israel

(BuzzFlash.net) - Bush administration officials reassured Israel’s defense minister this week that the United States has not abandoned all possibility of a military attack on Iran, despite widespread Israeli concern that Washington has begun softening its position toward Tehran. In meetings Monday and Tuesday, administration officials told Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the option of attacking Iran over its nuclear program remains on the table, though U.S. officials are primarily seeking a diplomatic solution. At the same time, U.S. officials acknowledged that there is a rare divergence in the U.S. and Israeli approaches, with Israelis emphasizing the possibility of a military response out of concern that Tehran may soon have the know-how for building a nuclear bomb. “Is there a difference of emphasis? It certainly looks as though there is,” said a senior American Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing the sensitive talks. U.S. and Israeli officials believe Iran is enriching uranium with the aim of building nuclear weapons. Tehran says that it is engaged in a peaceful enrichment program for civilian energy purposes.

» original news

Obama Warns Dems: Israel May Strike Iran…

(BuzzFlash.net) - Obama told the caucus, according to an attendee, "Nobody said this to me directly but I get the feeling from my talks that if the sanctions don’t work Israel is going to strike Iran." » original news

Bush signs bill to provide mortgage relief

(BuzzFlash.net) - With no fanfare, President Bush signed a mortgage relief bill that he had threatened to veto. He changed his mind on the veto last week. While blaming Democrats for forcing an imperfect bill, he said: "hurting homeowners could not wait." The bill gives the US Treasury powers that it has not had since the Depression.

» original news

Russia takes control of Turkmen (world?) gas

(BuzzFlash.net) - From the details coming out of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan and Moscow over the weekend, it is apparent that the great game over Caspian energy has taken a dramatic turn. In the geopolitics of energy security, nothing like this has happened before. The United States has suffered a huge defeat in the race for Caspian gas. The question now is how much longer Washington could afford to keep Iran out of the energy market. Curiously, the agreements reached in Ashgabat on Friday are unlikely to enable Gazprom to make revenue from reselling Turkmen gas. Quite possibly, Gazprom may now have to concede similar terms to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two other major gas producing countries in Central Asia. In other words, plain money-making was not the motivation for Gazprom. The Kremlin has a grand strategy. Russia and China have a heavy agenda to discuss in energy cooperation far beyond the price of Turkmen gas supplies. But suffice it to say that Gazprom's new stature as the sole buyer of Turkmen gas strengthens Russia's hands in setting the price in the world gas (and oil) market. And that has implications for China. Moscow would be keen to ensure that Russian and Chinese interests are harmonized in Central Asia. Besides, Russia is taking a renewed interest in the idea of a "gas cartel". Medvedev referred to the idea during the visit of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Moscow last week. Note: Continuation in the comments section.

» original news

What a Police State Looks Like…

(BuzzFlash.net) - The day after a video emerged of a cop knocking a cyclist to the ground, a second video alleging police brutality surfaced today in which an NYPD officer is seen whaling away at a man's legs with a baton. Cephus [the victim] says he wasn't drinking that day and denies having gotten physical with the officers. "I was with some friends at a cookout," he said. "I stepped out of the park to get some ice. The officers told me I couldn't return because they said I had alcohol. I told them it was only ice. "They thought I was drunk and they just came at me. They started swinging and hitting me with the batons." Cephus was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and resisting arrest. Note: So what if the man was drunk? Lock him up without excessive force.

» original news

Copyfight Attracts Local Attention

(Michael Geist Blog) - The Tri-City News in Maple Ridge, B.C covers local Fair Copyright for Canada activity. NDP MP Dawn Black describes the bill as a "massive failure."

"A Coquitlam man frustrated with the Conservative government’s plan to implement sweeping changes to Canada’s copyright legislation is drumming up local support to fight the bill.

Jesse Betteridge, an organizer with Fair Copyright, is hoping Tri-City residents concerned about Bill C-61 will attend an upcoming meeting with the group."

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Michael Geist Blog ]

U.S.-China trade has cost 2.3 million U.S. jobs: report

(BuzzFlash.net) - The U.S. trade deficit with China cost 2.3 million American jobs between 2001 and 2007, the Economic Policy Institute said on Wednesday in a report likely to fuel debate about free trade ahead of November elections. Even when they found new jobs, workers displaced by job loss to China saw their earnings decrease by an average of $8,146 each year because the new jobs paid less, according to the report, funded in part by labor unions. Contrary to popular belief, jobs lost to China were not necessarily low-skilled, the report showed. Thirty-one percent of the jobs lost were among workers with college degrees.

» original news

22 McCain Lies About Obama More than Just “Going Negative”

(BuzzFlash.net) - The news toady seems to be concentrating on the question of whether McCain’s "going negative" could have the effect of working against him. They pundits hem and haw, discuss the pros and cons and in the end determine it might hurt him some, but not near as much as it hurts Obama. They may be right, but only because the question is framed wrong. The question they should be asking is whether "lying" is helping McCain, because, whether out of his own mouth, through messages he’s approved, or through people speaking on behalf of his campaign, the "Straight Talk Express" is lying through his teeth. Here are 22 lies about Obama...

» original news

Forgetting His Vote To Allow Waterboarding, McCain (R-Idiot) Says ‘We Could Never Torture Anyone’

(BuzzFlash.net) - In February, Sen. John McCain (R-Idiot) voted against a bill banning the CIA from waterboarding and using other torture tactics in their interrogations. When the bill passed, McCain urged Bush to veto it, which he did. In an interview with Newsweek published this week, McCain defended his position, insisting that the CIA plays “a special role” in defending the U.S. and thus should be allowed to use harsh interrogation tactics such as waterboarding, but also said "We could never torture anyone". McCain’s vote against the waterboarding ban did make one thing clear: that he condones torture.

» original news

FactCheck.Org Gets It Right: McCain’s (R-Idiot) Troop Visit Attack Ad Is False

(BuzzFlash.net) - FactCheck.org comes through with a bracing takedown of the McCain (R-Idiot) ad falsely attacking Obama over the canceled troop visit, concluding the same thing we've been yelling all day: McCain's (R-Idiot) facts are literally true, but his insinuation -- that the visit was canceled because of the press ban or the desire for gym time -- is false. In fact, Obama visited wounded troops earlier -- without cameras or press -- both in the U.S. and Iraq. And his gym workouts are a daily routine...

» original news

New Orleans Public Housing Defenders Face Terror Charges

(Alternet.org) - As activists continue to fight for people's rights to keep their homes in New Orleans, repression by local authorities is brutal.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, Bill Weinberg ]

Olympics Journalists Urged To Use Crypto, to Thwart Chinese Spying

(Wired: Threat Level) -  Journalists covering the Olympics in Beijing ought to consider using virtual private networks and avoiding the use of instant messenger to interview subjects for stories, says Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN's former Beijing bureau chief and University of Hong Kong new media professor.

"If you are trying to work on sensitive stories that may be beyond topics that perhaps the Chinese government might be happy about you reporting, if you’re communicating with sources who might be under surveillance, you  need to make sure that you’re using secure e-mail and that you’re using a secure internet connection," she says.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Threat Level, Sarah Lai Stirland, stirland@gmail.com ]

The Canadian Copyfight 2.0

(Michael Geist Blog) - Last week, I delivered a talk to the Toronto Fair Copyright for Canada chapter that chronicled the Canadian copyfight and stressed how important it is for Canadians to speak out now on the Canadian DMCA.  Audio and slides of that talk have been posted on Blip.tv and embedded below.  A video version of the talk can be accessed  at MDialog or at Google Video.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Michael Geist Blog ]

61 Reforms to C-61, Day 28: TPMs - Interoperability Exception, Linux and DVDs

(Michael Geist Blog) - The emergence of open source software as a powerful alternative to proprietary software models has been an important business and societal development.  Open source software is today widely used by consumers (e.g., Firefox browser) and businesses (e.g., Linux operating system, Apache web server).  From a policy perspective, the Canadian government's professed goal is to create a level playing field so that the marketplace rather than laws will determine marketplace winners.  It has opposed attempts to create policy preferences for open source (over the objection of some advocates and countries) instead favouring a more neutral approach.

Notwithstanding the claims of neutrality, Bill C-61 creates significant marketplace impediments for open source software.  Achieving a level playing field requires interoperability so that differing computer systems can freely exchange data.  The bill includes an interoperability provision at Section 41.12 which states that the anti-circumvention provisions do not apply to:

a person who owns a computer program or a copy of it, or has a licence to use the program or copy, and who circumvents a technological measure that protects that program or copy for the sole purpose of obtaining information that would allow the person to make the program and any other computer program interoperable.

The problem with this provision is that it does not extend far enough to maintain a level playing field. 

The classic example involves the use of Linux as a consumer operating system (Ubuntu has become a popular version).  Unfortunately, this operating system cannot officially play DVDs since most commercial DVDs contain a digital lock and the entity that controls the lock does not license the necessary locks to play DVDs on Linux.  Programmers have developed alternatives, but all involve circumventing the digital lock, an act that becomes illegal under Bill C-61. 

The interoperability provisions do not help address this issue, since DVDs may not be considered computer programs and many of the circumventing programs have functionality beyond playback of commercial DVDs.  The net effect, as noted by the Canadian Software Innovation Alliance, is that Bill C-61 erects an enormous barrier to open source software adoption, thereby harming innovation and a competitive marketplace.  The solution - as proposed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association in 2000 - is to create an exception the substantially broadens the interoperability exception.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Michael Geist Blog ]

The Shield Law: Truth or Fear Mongering?

(Wired: Threat Level) - Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is again playing the "we're-all-going-to-die" card.

On Monday, in a USA Today op-ed piece, the director wrote that a proposed reporter's federal shield law "will gravely damage our ability to protect national security information."

"The intelligence community recognizes the critical role that the news media plays in our democratic society," the director wrote. "However, this bill would upset the balance established by current law, crippling the government's ability to investigate and prosecute those who harm national security."

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Threat Level, David Kravets, dkravets@wired.com ]

Congress Reconsiders Ban on Gays in the Military

(Alternet.org) - The hearing was an important first step in repealing an un-American law that hurts the military by pushing away talented gays and lesbians. READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org ]

Mad scientists and marketers plan to make us all “One”

(ParallelNormal.com) - 17 years ago — long before Al Gore told us we were destroying the Earth — a small, extremely powerful group of scientists, diplomats and royals planned their crackdown on the planet’s human population. which they feared were growing mistrustful of their leaders.

The plan: to tighten control of the people to such a degree that they will act “as a single nervous system,” with an unwavering faith in their governments and political parties.

Today, marketing people are answering the call from that same elite group, the self-appointed Council of the Club of Rome, to launch grassroots campaigns promoting the Council’s “we are one” concept.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: ParallelNormal.com, Mark Baard ]

OPINION: TCM Community Sucked In by StopC51 Propaganda

Here is an alternative opinion provided by Barry Green of OttawaSkeptics.org.

(ottawaskeptics.org) - StopC51 continues to play on the fears of natural health product (NHP) users.  This time, the people who have been duped appear to be the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) community, according to articles in the Vancouver-based The Province (”Feds want to restrict traditional cures“) and CBC news online (”Traditional Chinese doctors fight federal regulation under Bill C-51“).  It’s too bad that, with just a little fact-checking by the journalists, the stories could have been balanced and factual instead of just outlets for StopC51’s unchallenged propaganda.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: ottawaskeptics.org, Barry Green ]

Privacy breaches on the rise in B.C.

(Vancouver Sun) - The number of privacy breaches in B.C. is on the rise, partly due to a spate of stolen laptops and personal records swiped from employee cars last year, according to the provincial privacy commissioner.

Commissioner David Loukidelis said Tuesday his office investigated 92 privacy breaches last year, up from 86 a year earlier and 34 in 2005-06.

Most of the incidents related to “inadvertent breaches” with laptops and personal records left in cars that were stolen or broken into. One public body alone recorded 10 such incidents, according to Loukidelis’s annual report, released Tuesday.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Vancouver Sun, Kelly Sinoski ]

Study: Saudi oil exports may start falling in 2014

(PeakOil.com, Bloomberg) - Saudi Arabia’s oil exports may start to fall in 2014 after it reaches maximum production capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day and domestic consumption grows, Chatham House said in a report.

“Once production levels off at a plateau, exports will decline” as local demand rises, the London-based think tank said in report titled “Ending Dependence: Hard Choices for Oil- Exporting States.” Current Saudi output capacity is 11.3 million barrels a day, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said June 30.

While production may hold steady for decades, the kingdom’s exports may fall as more oil is diverted to the local market. The Saudi economy absorbed 20 percent of the country’s oil output in 2006, Chatham House said, citing data from BP Plc’s Statistical Review and national statistics. The report didn’t estimate a figure for future demand. Local consumption rose 7 percent last year to 2.15 million barrels a day, BP data show.

To ensure the Saudi economy keeps growing, other sources of income will be needed to replace oil revenue, which may plateau by the middle of the next decade, according to the report’s authors John Mitchell from the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies and Dundee University Emeritus Professor Paul Stevens. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Nigeria will stop exporting oil by 2040, the researchers said.

Oil output from Iran, Kuwait and Nigeria, whose production capacity represents more than a quarter of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ total, will level off as soon as 2010, the report said. Oil exports may last longer if producing nations scrap domestic fuel subsidies to reduce energy use or adopt renewable energy.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: PeakOil.com, Bloomberg ]

CNN Interview With Ret. Col. Sam Gardiner Iran War Underway

Viacom agrees to YouTube privacy deal

(vnunet.com) - Google and Viacom have reached an agreement to omit user information from a YouTube log which the search giant has been forced to hand over.

The agreement means that Viacom will not be able to see precisely which videos have been accessed by each viewer, nor will it be able to see a specific user’s viewing history.

Additionally, all users’ IP addresses and visitor ID information will be removed from the list.

The agreement will allay fears that the logs would be used to pursue individual cases against users who had uploaded or shared pirated content.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: vnunet.com, Shaun Nichols ]

Peak Oil - How Will You Ride the Slide?

AL GORE: Green Energy by 2018 (7/17 Speech)

Bill C51 in Canada is a MAJOR WARNING to all of us. Fascism is coming in through food and health products.

(OpedNews.com) - Activists in Canada have wrung some changes from the government in regard to Bill C51 it but the bill is so draconian that it stands as a warning to all of us of what corporate/government agencies will do to destroy alternative movements that are growing, whether in health or in food, and the means that they are using.

The bill derives its forces from the Codex Alimentarius, created by the United Nations in 1962, through a series of relationships between The World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the American FDA and USDA.

The dangerous elements of the Codex are first, that these standards are devised as international rules intended for world-wide adoption, and second, that they classify nutrients as toxins.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: OpedNews.com, Linn Cohen-Cole ]

Clement wants Parliament to dig into food legislation

Clement was commenting on Canwest News Service reports about an internal government review showing big gaps in Canada’s safety checks on imported foods and a draft plan to transfer key parts of domestic meat and other food inspection to industry.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Canwest News Service, Juliet O'Neill ]

Air Force Special Ops Getting ‘Light’ Gunship

(Wired: Danger Room) - The Pentagon is moving forward with plans to buy a small gunship for Air Force Special Operations Command, according to a budget document provided to DANGER ROOM. In a mid-year reshuffling of money, the Pentagon is providing $32 million to buy a C-27J as a prototype for the AC-XX, the next generation gunship designed to replace the AC-130. The smaller C-27J will server as a "light gunship" allowing the military to "operate in austere conditions," such as in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.

[ Image: U.S. Air Force ]

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Danger Room, Sharon Weinberger, sharonweinberger@hotmail.com ]

OPP officer posed as journalist during 2007 Mohawk protest

(CBC.ca) - An OPP officer pretended to be a news reporter at a Mohawk protest that prompted the closure of a major rail line and Highway 401 in eastern Ontario during last year’s Aboriginal Day of Action, CBC News has learned.

The officer’s tactics have emerged from testimony recently made public when a judge overturned a publication ban on the preliminary hearing for Mohawk protester Shawn Brant.

Observers and media organizations, including the CBC, are protesting the tactic of police posing as journalists, saying it makes reporters’ jobs more difficult and more dangerous.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca ]

Exposing Bush’s historic abuse of power - salon.com

(911blogger.com) - Exposing Bush's historic abuse of power

salon.com - By Tim Shorrock

July 23, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- The last several years have brought a parade of dark revelations about the George W. Bush administration, from the manipulation of intelligence to torture to extrajudicial spying inside the United States. But there are growing indications that these known abuses of power may only be the tip of the iceberg. Now, in the twilight of the Bush presidency, a movement is stirring in Washington for a sweeping new inquiry into White House malfeasance that would be modeled after the famous Church Committee congressional investigation of the 1970s.

While reporting on domestic surveillance under Bush, Salon obtained a detailed memo proposing such an inquiry, and spoke with several sources involved in recent discussions around it on Capitol Hill. The memo was written by a former senior member of the original Church Committee; the discussions have included aides to top House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, and until now have not been disclosed publicly.

Salon has also uncovered further indications of far-reaching and possibly illegal surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency inside the United States under President Bush. That includes the alleged use of a top-secret, sophisticated database system for monitoring people considered to be a threat to national security. It also includes signs of the NSA's working closely with other U.S. government agencies to track financial transactions domestically as well as globally.

The proposal for a Church Committee-style investigation emerged from talks between civil liberties advocates and aides to Democratic leaders in Congress, according to sources involved. (Pelosi's and Conyers' offices both declined to comment.) Looking forward to 2009, when both Congress and the White House may well be controlled by Democrats, the idea is to have Congress appoint an investigative body to discover the full extent of what the Bush White House did in the war on terror to undermine the Constitution and U.S. and international laws. The goal would be to implement government reforms aimed at preventing future abuses -- and perhaps to bring accountability for wrongdoing by Bush officials...

Continued... http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/07/23/new_churchcomm/index.html

read more [ Source: 911blogger.com ]

No More ‘Collateral Damage’ in Afghan Attacks?

"In their deliberate targeting, the Air Force has all but eliminated civilian casualties in Afghanistan," Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst with Human Rights Watch, told The New York Times. "They have very effective collateral damage mitigation procedures."

He's referring to the increased use of aerial drones for verifying targets ... and the improving precision and decreasing size of U.S. missiles and bombs.

But when it comes to spur-of-the-moment air strikes the kind that are vital in combating elusive insurgent groups -- civilian and accidental deaths continue to mount. Just last week, nine Afghan police were killed in an errant U.S. air strike.

According to the United Nations, 698 civilians were killed in the first six months of this year, compared with 430 in the same period last year. The United Nations report said nearly two-thirds of the deaths this year resulted from actions by the Taliban and other insurgents. The remainder were attributed to actions by Afghan government, American or allied forces.

[ Photo: Daivd Axe ]

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Danger Room, David Axe, david_axe@hotmail.com ]

Willie Nelson In Talks To Hold Concert For 9/11 Truth

(911blogger.com) - Plans being drawn up to emulate Woodstock for a new generation

Steve Watson Prison Planet Wednesday, July 23, 2008

In an exclusive interview today on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones show, iconic musician Willie Nelson volunteered to take part in a concert for 9/11 truth and as part of a campaign to stave off an attack on Iran.

The country music superstar told listeners that some form of musical event to help generate media attention would be a great idea if it could be organized successfully.

In response to a caller’s suggestion to perform at a concert in aid of 9/11 first responders and their families, as well as to raise the profile of the 9/11 truth movement, Nelson responded:

“I would agree to both of those things in a minute.”

READ MORE HERE [ Source: 911blogger.com, Steve Watson ]

Varsity on C-61

The Varsity focuses on the effects of the Canadian DMCA on students.

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Challenges National Chamber IP Approach

(Michael Geist Blog) - As Copyright Watch recently chronicled, local Chambers of Commerce have been singing from the same songbook as Industry Minister Jim Prentice in letters to the editor on Bill C-61.  This is consistent with the national Chamber, which earlier this year formed a new lobby group to push for copyright reform and issued a press release supporting the introduction of the copyright bill - complete with local quotes - within 90 minutes of the tabling of the bill.

Notwithstanding these lobbying efforts, a crack in the coalition has emerged.  At least one chamber of commerce has decided that it wants to look at the bill with an eye to the impact on small and medium sized businesses. The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce had adopted a resolution that it is hoping to get the Ontario and Canadian Chambers of Commerce to adopt seeking studies on the impact that IP legislation would have on SMEs. The concern is that SMEs would bear the burden of enforcement directed at businesses. The Hamilton chamber argues:

• The estimates of piracy used in support of the Canadian and Ontario policies are unsupported by verifiable Canadian data;
• Most small businesses are not aware of IP issues and would likely be at a disadvantage if action were ever taken against them on any alleged IP infringement;
• Small businesses would have a disproportionate increase in expenses in complying with the costs that the policies would create;
• In Canada, many large owners of IP have ‘over-reached’ the protection that IP has given them to the detriment of small businesses;
• The proposed change in laws does nothi