A penny for your thoughts? It could cost you $1,200
by Jesse Kline
National Post
September 12, 2012
The Canadian penny may be going the way of the Dodo bird, but that hasn’t stopped the Royal Canadian Mint from trying to make a mint off the design.
The Mint recently issued a warning to Halifax-based folk music singer Dave Gunning — whose upcoming album depicts pennies on both the front and back cover — that he has violated the government’s copyright on the currency. Most of us have probably never thought of inspecting our money in great detail, but Canadian bills do indeed contain a copyright notice in the lower right corner, and coins are covered under the same provisions.
The album, entitled No More Pennies, includes lyrics about the coin and features a man sitting in a coffee shop with a bunch of pennies strewn across the counter on its front cover. On the back is a picture of a giant penny falling below the horizon like a sunset.
The Mint says it will not charge Mr. Gunning a fee for the first 2,000 albums he produces, but will levy a charge of $1,200 for the next 2,000 copies — a cost this struggling artist says he cannot afford. According to one government bureaucrat, however, the Mint is helping “this guy out by giving him a break.” How nice of them, especially considering Ottawa is in the process of withdrawing the penny from circulation, which means it will soon disappear in any case.
It’s one thing to try and protect the currency from counterfeiting, but that is not what we’re talking about here. No one is going to cut the pennies off the album cover and trying to pass them off as the real thing. The government is simply trying to get a cut of the action by demanding royalties — a process that is generally referred to as taxation.
[hat tip: Stefan Wesche]
Canada: Selling Its Soul to America
By Stephen Lendman, Contributor
theintelhub.com
September 10, 2012
Canada is more colony than sovereign state. Canadians perhaps wonder when it’ll grow up, act like an adult, and regain its rightful independence.
They’re also worried about a country junior partnering with imperial America, Israel, and other rogue NATO allies.
A previous article said the following:
On September 7, Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada closed its Tehran embassy. It expelled Iranian diplomats in Ottawa. They have five days to leave. He claimed a nonexistent Iranian threat. He took a page from AIPAC’s playbook. He bogusly called Tehran the gravest threat to global security.
He accused Iran of “providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime.” He ignored Washington’s war Syria. He said nothing about Canada’s role.
He didn’t explain how America, rogue NATO partners, and regional allies recruit, arm, fund, train, and direct ravaging death squads. He was silent on what matters most.
He recited a litany of lies about Iran. He unconscionably pointed fingers the wrong way. Canada is a committed imperial partner. It’s one of 28 NATO countries. It supports the worst of Israel’s crimes.
It’s on the same slippery slope as America. It’s fast-tracking toward fascism. Sleeping with the devil rubs off.
Unless stopped, it’s just a matter of time before Canada crosses a rubicon of no return. It’s perilously close to full-blown imperial/ neoliberal/police state dark age harshness.
In her book “Holding the Bully’s Coat: Canada and the US Empire,” Linda McQuaig discussed Canada’s sacrificial subservience. It abandoned its traditions. It sold its soul to Washington. It became submissive junior partner.
Conservative and Liberal parties allied with America’s “war on terrorism.” They stopped short of participating in its Iraq “coalition of the willing.” They willingly marched in lockstep with its illegal Afghan war of aggression and occupation.
In February 2004, they partnered with America and France against Haiti’s Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They ousted a democratically elected leader. They crushed his popular movement. They ended his progressive reforms. They installed fascist harshness. They had unchallenged pillaging in mind.
Canada today operates as an appendage of imperial America. It abandoned its traditional commitment to equality, inclusiveness, and rule of law inviolability.
It’s plagued by a militaristic/imperial/neoliberal culture. It’s no longer a fair arbiter and promoter of just causes. The conservative Harper government is fast-tracking toward fascism.
In the 1980s, Canada’s downward trajectory began in earnest. Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney bonded with Ronald Reagan.
Corporate America remembers his December 1984 address. He appeared at the New York Economic Club. Business heavyweights packed the house to hear him. He didn’t disappoint.
He said “Canada (was) open for business.” His meaning was unambiguous. US corporations were welcome. Economic integration would proceed. America’s sovereignty henceforth took precedence over Canada’s. It’s been downhill ever since.
Before Stephen Harper became prime minister in February 2006, Liberal leader Paul Martin tilted hard right. In 2003, he succeeded Jean Chretien.
His 2005 defense policy review stressed integrating Canada’s military with America’s. He approved redeploying Canadian Afghan peacekeepers as combatants. Harper maintains the same policy. Canadians have no say.
He governs in lockstep with Washington. He abandoned Canada’s traditional even-handed Israel/Palestine agenda. In 2006, he threw its democratically elected Hamas government under the bus. Doing so showed contempt for Palestinian rights.
He showed no concern for 50,000 Canadians in harm’s way during Israel’s war of aggression on Lebanon. He called its death and destruction campaign “measured.”
Post-WW II, things were different. Canada’s internationalism evolved. It supported rule of law principles, endorsed peacekeeping, spurned militarism and imperialism, and worked cooperatively with other nations. No longer.
Harper’s government, Canadian elites, its business community and military support imperial/neoliberal/anti-populist policies. Ottawa replicates Washington. Essential social programs are eroding. Egalitarianism is disappearing.
What corporate Canada wants, it gets. Militarism grows stronger. So does police state harshness. Pandering to Washington is policy. Tortured logic follows the same destructive path.
McQuaig calls Harper America’s “unctuous little sidekick.” She compared Canada’s government, corporate, and military officials to 19th century compradors.
Modern-day ones are subservient US junior partners. Canada’s soul went on the auction block for sale. Like Americans, Canadians are force-fed the worst of all possible worlds.
Ottawa allied with Washington’s war on Libya. It’s partnered against Syria and Iran. It shamelessly supports what it should renounce.
Doing so makes it complicit in the supreme crime against peace. It’s guilty of crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. It’s leaders are war criminals.
Iran responded to Canada suspending diplomatic ties. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said:
“The decision by Canada showed that this country has sacrificed the interests of its nation for the sake of the Zionists by following their policies against Iran.”
He called Harper’s government “racist” and “hostile.” He added:
“The closure of the visa section of the Canadian Embassy in Tehran, freezing the bank accounts of Iranian nationals living in Canada, and prohibiting money transfers to Iranian students studying in that country are among the Canadian government’s numerous hostile measures against the Iranian nation and the Iranian community in Canada.”
Senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi accused Harper of “blindly” following Britain, saying:
“The British government certainly seeks to lead its friends to the same path that it had taken. Therefore, this decision was in fact blind acquiescence by the Canadian government.”
He added that Canada allied with Washington and Israel’s attempt to undermine a historic NAM summit in Tehran. It perhaps reacted to its success. He also called on Iran’s Foreign Ministry to respond in kind.
Mehmanparast said expect it to be swift.
Britain is part of a US/UK/Israeli troika. It’s an axis of evil. Canada supports it. It threatens humanity. It’s involved in North African/Middle East/Central Asian imperial wars. It plans more. Independent nonbelligerent countries are targeted. Syrian and Iranian sovereignty are threatened.
Almost half a million Iranians live in Canada. Many reside in Toronto. Tehran planned a consulate to serve them. They’ll have no representation now.
On Friday, Netanyahu congratulated Harper. He called his move “a bold decision, (a) “moral step,” (a) “clear message to Iran and to the entire world.”
Tehran’s successful NAM summit endorsed peace, mutual cooperation, Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, and national sovereignty.
Netanyahu called it “a show of anti-Semitism and hate in Tehran.”
Every time he opens his mouth, he puts his foot in it. He displays racist scorn for Muslims, imperial brazenness, contempt for anyone not Jewish, and hostile rage.
Ottawa has had poor relations with Iran since the 1979 revolution. They became strained after former Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor helped rescue six Americans during the 1980 Tehran hostage crisis.
In 2003, they were further damaged after dual Canadian/Iranian citizen/freelance photographer Zahra Kazemi died in custody. He was arrested while taking photographs outside a Tehran prison.
Canada responded. It recalled its ambassador. Iran ordered him out after unsuccessfully trying to resolve the issue and agree on exchanging ambassadors.
Washington severed diplomatic relations in 1980. In November 2011, Britain recalled its entire diplomatic staff. It followed two days of protests.
Hundreds of Iranian students staged it outside London’s Tehran embassy. They pulled down Britain’s flag and demanded its envoy’s ouster.
Without justification, the Cameron government claimed Iranian leaders ordered it. It also expelled its diplomats from London.
Days earlier, Tehran downgraded ties to Britain. It was over London’s decision to impose sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank and false allegations about its nuclear program.
Washington, Britain and Israel target Iran for regime change. Top priority ahead is war. Not now, according to Time magazine.
On September 5, it headlined, “Worried About Israel Bombing Iran Before November? You Can Relax,” saying:
According to some Israeli analysts, Israel’s “war of choice” isn’t cancelled. It’s delayed. Internal opposition and public opinion are against it. Even Defense Minister Ehud Barak now wavers. He’s not called “Mr. Zigzag” for nothing.
Netanyahu wants Washington’s full commitment. In late September, he’ll meet Obama in New York. They’ll both address the UN General Assembly. Expect neither to sound benign.
Netanyahu’s saber-rattling bluster long ago wore thin, but not his hostile intent. He and Obama remain on the same page. Differences are mostly over timing and perhaps strategy.
“For now, the US looks likely to persuade Israel to sit on its hands.” Nonetheless, “it’s probably a safe bet that war talk will be revved up again come spring” or perhaps earlier post-election.
Canadian Foreign Minister Baird didn’t explain why he cut diplomatic ties now, not earlier. He denied perhaps knowing that war is more imminent than Time imagines.
“Unequivocally, we have no information about a military strike on Iran,” he said. In the fullness of time, we’ll know.
A Final Comment
In 1953, Chicago Tribune owner Colonel Robert McCormick called Canadian statesman/diplomat/later prime minister (1963-68)/Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1957) Lester Pearson “the most dangerous man in the English-speaking world.”
It was over Pearson’s refusal to cooperate with Senator Joe McCarthy’s witch-hunt communist hearings. They destroyed lives, ruined careers, accomplished nothing, and led to McCarthy’s own demise.
Pearson’s ideas were mirror opposite Harper’s and other imperial aggressors. He wanted NATO involved with economic and social issues as well as defense. He supported an alliance for Western free market alternatives to communism.
He opposed nuclear weapons. He challenged Washington on policies he believed dangerous, provocative and destructive. In 1955, as Secretary of State for External Affairs, he was the first Western official to visit Moscow.
He spoke forcefully against colonial domination. He endorsed sovereign rights for all nations. He supported internationalism, conciliation, and peace. He was a worthy Nobel laureate.
His lecture stressed hard facts. Countries have a choice. “Peace or extinction” is in their hands. He added that nations cannot “be conditioned by the force and will of a unit, however powerful, but by the consensus of a group, which must one day include all states.”
Predatory nations can’t be tolerated, he believed. At the same time, he opposed communism and backed efforts to contain it. He erred supporting Washington’s Vietnam War. A later Temple University address challenged America’s Southeast Asian role.
Overall, he supported peace and peacekeeping. His Nobel lecture named “four faces of peace: prosperity, power, diplomacy and people.”
As prime minister, peacekeeping was prioritized. Canada has none like him today. Neither do other Western countries. War, not peace, matters most. So does imperial dominance.
Ottawa’s on board with Washington. Its traditions long ago eroded and died. Some wonder what defines it as a nation. Riding shotgun for America and supporting the worst of Israeli lawlessness give them reason for pause.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/
Members of Iranian regime will be barred residence in Canada
by Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau
thestar.com
September 10, 2012
OTTAWA—Canada’s immigration minister says he is heeding warnings that members and allies of the Iranian regime are trying to set up residency in Canada.
Jason Kenney said officials have been told to comb through applications from Iranian nationals to ensure anyone deemed allied with or part of the Iranian government — declared last week a state sponsor of terrorism — is barred from entering Canada.
“Many in the Persian community in Canada have been concerned that people, who (they believe) have been close to or members of the regime and their relatives, . . . have in too many cases been able to establish residency in Canada,” he told reporters at a news conference Monday.
“We want to ensure that people who may be inadmissible — that is to say those who perhaps are associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Al Quds force, the Basij, or senior members of the regime — are not admissible to Canada.”
Hamilton teachers will wear black to protest Bill 115
by Flannery Dean and Julia Chapman
CBC News
September 11, 2012
Hamilton high school teachers will wear black on Wednesday to protest new legislation that freezes their wages, bans strikes for two years and ends their ability to bank sick days.
The Ontario legislature passed Bill 115 Tuesday morning, which imposes a contract on elementary and secondary teachers across the province, as well as 50,000 support staff.
Many local public high school teachers will wear black in protest, said Chantal Mancini, chair of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federations (OSSTF) local 21 bargaining unit.
The OSSTF has also asked its members to withdraw from volunteer and extracurricular activities on Wednesday.
Most teachers are feeling “demoralized” and “as if somehow they have no rights,” Mancini said.
Quebec Assassination Attempt: More Signs of Being a Black Op! [video]
The Truther Girls
September 7, 2012
More evidence that Richard Bain, who tried to shoot our Premier elect, Pauline Marois, was an MKULTRA-style mind control slave! AND evidence has surfaced that the shooting was a LIHOP. The PQ, police and even the SQ had been warned several hours earlier that someone was going to attempt to assassinate Mme Marois. This has all the earmarks of some kind of black op. Was it a warning to our new Premier to watch herself?
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Quebec+shooting+suspect+Richard+Henry+Bain+a…
NO HISTORY OF BEING NUTS OR VIOLENT!
http://news.yahoo.com/quebec-election-shooting-suspect-faces-16-charges-18324…
POLICE WARNED OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151053141847057&set=a.1512697620…
Local Quebecois news is covering this warning and lack of response, but NONE of the English/US papers are
http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/national/elections2012/archives/2012/09/2012…
Arron’s Channel:
http://youtube.com/barbarianrebellion
Iran: Canada’s action is unconventional, misuse of int’l laws
End the Lie – Independent News
September 10, 2012
IRNA – Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, Sept 8, IRNA — Islamic Republic of Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Canada’s action to close its embassy in Tehran and expel Iranian diplomats from Ottawa is unprofessional, unconventional, unjustifiable, and a misuse of international laws.
According to Foreign Ministry Media Department, the ministry, in a statement released on Saturday, said the government of Canada, in a hasty decision, has resorted to this ‘absurd’ action in order to deviate the public opinion from the success of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in successfully holding the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran.
“The conservative regime of Canada under Mr. Harper, is known with adopting radical policies and following the defeated and outdated policies of Neo-conservatives and widespread criticism of people in Canada against high prices of these approaches confirms this,” said the statement.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the policy of isolation and limiting Canada’s foreign relations to a very few countries is another manifestation of the policies of present administration of Canada.
The statement continues,” the government of Canada, according to the reports of United Nations Rapporteur on indigenous rights, has the worst record on violating human rights, with its radical actions and financially supporting the extremist forces in the region and its all-out, blind support for the Zionist regime which is a racist regime, has adopted policies which does not help the world peace but is a source of threat to international security.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in the past two years, while observing the destructive behavior of the government of Canada, and on the basis of the conditioned interaction principle, tried to limit bilateral relations to providing the rights of Iranian community in Canada and keeping people-to people relations.”
“In this regard, the personnel of Iranian Embassy in Ottawa was reduced and economic ties were diverted to other areas.“
Noting that the Canada decision was against all human principles, Minitry of Foreign Affairs has emphasized that the government of Canada has done its best to increase pressure on Iranian community in Canada.
The statement has mentioned multiple actions of Harper’s administration against Iranian nation including closing Consular section of its Embassy in Tehran, closing bank accounts of many Iranians in Canada, and preventing money transfer for Iranian students in Canada, etc.
“The extremist regime of Harper did a lot to prevent the holding of NAM summit in Tehran but countries and international figures completely ignored it and imposed another defeat to this regime.”
The statement said Iran will do its best to continue providing consular services to Iranian community in Canada.
Referring to poor record of Canada in protecting diplomatic personnel and buildings, the statement has stressed the responsibility of Canadian government in this regard.
1771**1771
Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 80314741
Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2012/iran-120908-irna01.htm
The Case To Reinstate The Bank Of Canada [video]
Press For Truth
September 10, 2012
On December 12th 2011 Canadians William Krehm and Ann Emmett launched their case to restore the use of the Bank of Canada to it’s original purpose with the Canadian Federal Court.
TWO CANADIANS AND A CANADIAN ECONOMIC THINK TANK CONFRONT THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL POWERS IN THE CANADIAN FEDERAL COURT.
THE CANADIANS PLEAD FOR DECLARATIONS THAT WOULD RESTORE THE USE OF THE BANK OF CANADA FOR THE BENEFIT OF CANADIANS AND REMOVE IT FROM THE CONTROL OF INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE ENTITIES WHOSE INTERESTS AND DIRECTIVES ARE PLACED ABOVE THE INTEREST OF CANADIANS AND THE PRIMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF CANADA
Canadian constitutional lawyer, Rocco Galati, on behalf of Canadians William Krehm, and Ann Emmett, and COMER (Committee for Monetary and Economic Reform) on December 12th, 2011 filed an action in Federal Court, to restore the use of the Bank of Canada to its original purpose, by exercising its public statutory duty and responsibility. That purpose includes making interest free loans to municipal/provincial/federal governments for “human capital” expenditures (education, health, other social services) and /or infrastructure expenditures.
The action also constitutionally challenges the government’s fallacious accounting methods in its tabling of the budget by not calculating nor revealing the true and total revenues of the nation before transferring back “tax credits” to corporations and other taxpayers. The Plaintiffs state that since 1974 there has been a gradual but sure slide into the reality that the Bank of Canada and Canada’s monetary and financial policy are dictated by private foreign banks and financial interests contrary to the Bank of Canada Act. The Plaintiffs state that the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were all created with the cognizant intent of keeping poorer nations in their place which has now expanded to all nations in that these financial institutions largely succeed in over-riding governments and constitutional orders in countries such as Canada over which they exert financial control.
The Plaintiffs state that the meetings of the BIS and Financial Stability Board (FSB) (successor of FSF), their minutes, their discussions and deliberations are secret and not available nor accountable to Parliament, the executive, nor the Canadian public notwithstanding that the Bank of Canada policies directly emanate from these meetings. These organizations are essentially private, foreign entities
controlling Canada’s banking system and socio-economic policies.
The Plaintiffs state that the defendants (officials) are unwittingly and /or wittingly, in varying degrees, knowledge and intent engaged in a conspiracy, along with the BIS, FSB, IMF to render impotent the Bank of Canada Act as well as Canadian sovereignty over financial, monetary, and socio-economic policy, and bypass the sovereign rule of Canada through its Parliament by means of banking and financial systems.
PN 