It's Time to Break Up the Big Banks

Consider $2 billion lost on a bad bet, plus billions more as investors dumped the stock, a providential warning. When Jamie Dimon, the imperious head of JPMorgan Chase, revealed that the bank had lost so much on a derivatives trade gone bad, it was clear warning that, four years after blowing up the economy, the big banks are still playing with bombs.

This was no rogue trader. Dimon admitted to “many errors, sloppiness, bad judgment” in “poorly executed” derivative trades. Heads may roll, but these were authorized trades by the bank’s leading—and notorious—trader, Bruno Iksil, the “London Whale.”

Dimon, of course, has been Wall Street’s most vociferous critic of banking reforms, deploying an army of lawyers and lobbyists—at the cost of an estimated $7.4 million in 2010— to try to delay, dilute and disembowel the Dodd-Frank legislation. The unrelenting legal and lobbying campaign has clearly intimidated the regulators, forcing delays beyond the dates mandated by the statute. Most recently, the bank lobby seemed on the verge of defenestrating the Volcker Rule, which would limit commercial banks from gambling with depositors’ money. That rule, itself a pale shadow of the Glass-Steagall Act repealed during the Clinton years, might have constrained the kind of opaque, risky bets that led to the losses.

Original Article
Source: the nation
Author: Katrina vanden Heuvel

Relocate EI Recipients? Federal Study Suggests Shifting Unemployed To Regions With Labour Needs

OTTAWA - A new study from the Human Resources Department suggests Ottawa is looking at ways to get people receiving employment insurance to move to other regions with more jobs.

Such measures would go beyond the Harper government's new policy that appears to require that some EI recipients take unfilled jobs but only in their own region.

A focus group study, completed in January, asked 75 people on EI in Quebec and Atlantic Canada what would it take to get them to move to regions where there are more jobs available.

The research, ordered last June shortly after the Conservatives were elected with a majority, required the survey company to determine "what type of migration incentives could encourage EI clients to accept a job that requires a residential move?"

Redford fumbles the oil sands file

When Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives defeated the upstart Wildrose Party in the province’s recent election, there was a shuddering relief in the environmental community.

During the campaign, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith questioned the science of climate change. She was critical of the provincial tax on carbon emissions and unapologetic about an oil sands industry routinely condemned for its outsized contribution to global pollution.

Her position stood in contrast to Alison Redford’s. The Tory leader at least seemed to understand that the oil sands have an image problem that needs to be addressed, and that making headway on that front means making headway on reducing the condemnable volume of greenhouse gas emissions for which the oil sands are responsible.

Recently, Ms. Redford’s administration trumpeted a government-sponsored report that seemed to show some real advancement on that front. As much as anything, it was intended for readers in Europe, where officials are proposing a fuel-quality directive that would significantly hurt Alberta’s market opportunities there.

Reviving Arctic oil rush, Ottawa to auction rights in massive area

Ottawa has placed 905,000 hectares of the northern offshore up for bids, clearing the way for energy companies to snap up exploration rights for an area half the size of Lake Ontario. The scale of the offer indicates eagerness in the oil patch to drill for new finds in Canada’s northern waters less than two years after such plans were put on hold following the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a major Arctic drilling safety review.

The Arctic exploration auction resumes as the Harper government is promoting greater development of the country’s resources. It has taken steps to speed regulatory approvals for major energy projects such as the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, promising to limit the ability of environmental groups and other opponents to block or delay new developments.

New Tory laws set for collision course with the courts

The courts are on a collision course with the federal government over its belief in minimum mandatory sentences that provide judges with no discretion.

A Victoria Provincial Court judge on Monday became the latest jurist to bristle at having his hands tied and his compassion stifled.

In a child pornography case, Judge Robert Higinbotham said he was convinced the defendant didn’t deserve 45 days in jail for possessing 25 sexually graphic images involving minors.

“In the circumstance of mandatory minimum sentences, I have no choice but to sentence [Edward] Grindlay to jail,” Higinbotham said.

“If I had a choice, I would not. I think this is one of those cases where taking discretion out of the hands of judges results in an unfit sentence.”

Bad Liberal habits amplified by Tories

Since they took power in 2006, Stephen Harper's Conservatives have made a habit of turning their list of grievances against the Liberals into an operating manual.

In opposition, they decried the centralization of power in the Prime Minister's Office. But since assuming power, they've taken that philosophy to unprecedented extremes, turning every possible parliamentary and public service channel into a means of amplifying a message dictated in its entirely by Harper.

In opposition, the Conservatives railed against secrecy and unaccountability. Since taking power, they've similarly taken the Liberals' bad habits to new lows - reaching the point this week where they're demanding an immediate vote on a budget at a time when even their own ministers aren't well-enough informed to answer simple questions about its contents.

Jim Flaherty calls a family meeting

The government plans, maybe, to toughen the criteria under which Employment Insurance recipients can decline work — for example, work that offers less money than one is used to or unsuitable working conditions, or that is not in one’s field — and keep claiming benefits. “I was brought up in a certain way,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters on Tuesday. “There is no bad job. The only bad job is not having a job.”

The NDP responded, too cleverly, that the Conservatives are proposing a “nanny state” solution — i.e., telling people where to work. But Mr. Flaherty’s hilariously obnoxious sound byte is more like something out of a daddy state. “The only bad job is not having a job”? It’s like a line from Yakety Yak. He is Finance Minister Dad. Scrub that Burger King floor, or you ain’t gonna rock and roll no more.

Environment panel never pushed carbon tax, president says

The head of a federal advisory group on the environment says his group never suggested that the federal government adopt a carbon tax.

David McLaughlin was reacting to comments by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in the House of Commons this week that the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy was being closed because the government didn't like its reports.

"Why should taxpayers have to pay for more than 10 reports promoting a carbon tax, something that the people of Canada have repeatedly rejected? That is a message the Liberal Party just will not accept," Baird said on Monday in response to a question by interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae during question period.

MacKay hints Labrador base promises might not be kept

Defence Minister Peter MacKay's recent written response to questions tabled in Parliament reveal that 2006 federal Conservative promises for 5 Wing Goose Bay are no longer part of the military’s plans.

Prior to the election that brought the Tories to power, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to station a new, 650-member rapid reaction army battalion at CFB Goose Bay, plus a new long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadron at the base.

The Conservatives also pledged to create a new territorial defence battalion of about 100 regular force and 400 reserve force personnel in St. John’s.

NDP making inroads among traditional Conservative demographics

Chances are I’ll be watching Grey’s Anatomy tonight. Truth be told, I watch it a fair bit. What’s a guy to do?

After a long week and a seemingly longer battle to get the kids to bed, it’s not a good idea to try to wrest the remote from my wife’s hands.

So Thursday nights, I hang out with McDreamy. Sigh.

I always thought I was the only one. Then last year, an advertising guy told me that about 40% of Grey’s Anatomy audience is actually men. And for the most part, men just like me, watching on account of their better halves.

Thrill is gone in Canadian marriage

Are English Canadians on the verge of kicking Quebec out of the Confederation?

The person responsible for the National Post opinion editorial must have been flabbergasted at readers’ responses to this issue in the last few days. More than 60% of the paper’s respondents said it was time to let Quebec go.

Even if the survey has no scientific grounds and covers a very small sample, the results show the malaise that currently exists in the country. While the separatist option is becoming less popular in Quebec, it surprisingly seems to be gaining popularity in the rest of Canada.

There might never be a referendum in Canada asking voters if they want Quebec to go, but in the current context there won’t be another love-in like the one organized in Montreal in 1995 to keep Quebec in at all costs.

Budget cuts losing Canada friends and allies around the world: academics

OTTAWA — Thousands of academics teaching students about Canada all around the world have been cut loose and left to fend for themselves following the federal government's decision to slash millions of dollars in funding for their work.

An official in the Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement Wednesday that the decision to phase out support for international Canadian studies was made "to focus our programming on the department's core mandate first."

But those affected are now warning that Canada stands to lose a great deal of international influence, profile and allies as many of these Canadian studies professors and faculty won't be able to continue without the government's support.

Politicians pull country apart

The continual and growing dispute among the premiers and the two major federal parties over whether the country has come down with a bout of the dreaded "Dutch disease" is the greatest threat to Canada's continued prosperity.

A report released this week by the Montreal-based Institute for Research on Public Policy indicated that while the country has a touch of the disease, it is far from fatal and should have no long-lasting impact on the country.

That is if politicians stop using this issue as a weapon to beat each other up.

Hard times for the Artful Dodger: Is John Baird running out of tricks?

Is John Baird, the government’s dean of damage control, the team’s most artful dodger, running out of tricks?

Is the Eddie Haskell (“Leave it to Beaver” fame) of Canadian politics losing his way?

“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing, Mrs. Cleaver,” Eddie used to say. Just like J.B., he was an ingratiator non-pareil.

But for the Conservatives’ clown prince, it’s been a tough season. Last week it was revealed that Baird had urged HRSDC Minister Diane Finley to overrule her department officials to help secure  a $1-million grant for a project run by Rabbi Chaim Mendelsohn, who claims Baird is a “dear friend.” It was the type of thing the Tories used to go berserk over when they were up against the Chretien Liberals.

Tories seek to have robocalls challenge thrown out of court

OTTAWA — The Conservative Party will ask the Federal Court to throw out a citizen advocacy group’s legal challenge that claims misleading telephone calls in the last election affected the results in seven ridings.

Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton told opposing counsel and court officials in a case management meeting Wednesday that he plans to bring a motion on Friday before the Federal Court of Canada seeking to dismiss the applications brought by the Council of Canadians.

In March, the Council filed separate but related legal challenges in ridings in B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Ontario. The litigation claims harassing or misleading calls suppressed the non-Conservative vote and changed the outcomes in these ridings.

RCMP conducted five-month national security probe into leaked F-35 story

OTTAWA - The Harper government called in the RCMP to investigate a politically embarrassing story involving the decision to sole-source the purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter, claiming it was a breach of national security, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Mounties conducted a five-month review into an alleged leak of cabinet documents under the Security of Information Act, recently used to charge a naval intelligence officer in an apparent spy case.

Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show investigators had doubts almost from the outset in July 2010 that any laws were broken in the Globe and Mail story.

The story revealed angst within government about possible alienation from Washington if a competition was held to replace the air force's CF-18s.

29,600 PS jobs to be cut by 2015: economist

OTTAWA — Federal departments are girded to lose more than 10,000 jobs over the next three years before they swallow the $5.2-billion spending reductions announced in the federal budget that will wipe out another 19,200 jobs in the same period.

The yearly reports on plans and priorities that departments tabled in Parliament last week show that 10,400 full-time positions will disappear over the next three years, said David Macdonald, chief economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, who tallied the numbers. That means departments are cutting 29,600 jobs between now and 2015.

Since the budget was released at the end of March, departments have handed out more than 18,000 notices to employees warning them they could lose their jobs, and that number continues to rise. The Fisheries and Oceans Department is expected to send notices this week to about 1,000 employees.

Severe funding cuts for Nova Scotia College of Art and Design

As students in Quebec continue their 14-week strike, students in Nova Scotia continue to be reminded that post-secondary education is not a priority for the Nova Scotia government. Students and faculty at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in particular are bracing for severe funding cuts as the provincial government continues to target the school, which has faced financial hardship for several years. Students have already been told to expect $900 in total fee hikes, including tuition fee increases and the introduction of new fees. NSCAD will also be offering fewer classes and making further program cuts. The university is recommending laying off 26 faculty and staff members.

Last month, NSCAD administration provided their response to a report, commissioned by the provincial government and written by Howard Windsor, that reviewed NSCAD's finances and made recommendations regarding the institution's future. While the university system as a whole has been underfunded for decades, NSCAD has suffered additional problems as a result of a funding formula that has never fully recognized the true cost of providing a studio-based fine arts education.

The whole world will be watching Chicago anti-NATO protests

This weekend, tens of thousands are expected to converge on Chicago to protest against a summit of NATO leaders. Originally, the G8 was also going to meet in Chicago this week, but that gathering of heads of the world's most powerful governments was moved to Camp David.

The war in Afghanistan will be at the top of NATO's agenda, and it will be a focus of the mass demonstrations planned outside the summit. Prominent Afghan women's rights activist and former parliamentarian Malalai Joya adds her voice in support of the anti-war protests in Chicago.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to travel to attend the protests against NATO. But from here in Kabul, I can tell you that the whole world will indeed be watching Chicago this weekend.

Police: Presumed Racist Until Proven Otherwise?

On May 4, Ottawa police announced that they have agreed to collect race-based data. This, they revealed, has been agreed to as part of a settlement of a human-rights complaint that was initiated after a seemingly textbook case of racial profiling.

The complaint came from a then-18-year-old black youth, Chad Aiken, who was stopped by police while driving his mom’s Mercedes. Aiken alleged that he was stopped because he is black, and also claimed that the police assaulted him after he asked for their badge numbers. While few other details have been made public, what seems to have been central to vindicating Aiken’s claims is an audio recording that his fast-thinking girlfriend captured of the incident.

Without getting into whether it is a positive or negative thing that Ottawa police have agreed to collect these race-based statistics, what is problematic about this case – and the public’s reaction to it – is that it serves to encourage continual acceptance of the idea that the word of a black man against a police officer is effectively worthless in its own right.

The time to take action on Toronto G20 summit security was 2009

The various reports now blasting police crowd control measures and violations of civil rights during the G20 fiasco in Toronto in 2010 are a classic case of closing the barn door after the horse has left.

Any I-told-you-sos now are a day late and a dollar short — actually two years too late and tens of millions of dollars off the mark.

The time to take action for any person holding a relevant responsible position — Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, then-Mayor David Miller, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Jim Flaherty, the federal cabinet minister with responsibility for Toronto — was in 2009, a year before the June 2010 summit ravaged the city’s core.

It should have been obvious to the planners of the event then that middle of Canada’s largest city, the financial heart of the nation, was not the place to hold a gathering of world leaders that was guaranteed to attract swarms of violent protesters bent on mayhem and confrontation.

The Commons: Help Wanted

The Scene. Peggy Nash was very nearly pleading. ”Will someone in the government,” she asked, “please outline right now what constitutes suitable employment?”

In Ms. Nash’s moment of need it was Ted Menzies, minister of state for finance, who stood. ”Mr. Speaker, I actually have some examples here of what constitutes suitable employment,” he reported.

At last, clarity seemed at hand. ”A mining company in Newfoundland is looking to hire 1,500 people in St. John’s, Newfoundland, through the temporary foreign worker program,” Mr. Menzies explained. “There are 32,500 people looking for work right now. That is why we are trying to make EI more effective to help these mining companies get people to employ.”

What precisely was the minister of state suggesting here? That if you are presently looking for work you might soon be expected to strap on a helmet lamp and make for St. John’s? And are there really only 32,500 people in this country presently looking for work?

Quebec’s student protests: righteous anger, shame about the execution

About a year and a half ago, sister mag L’Actualité published a rebuttal issue to our fun and frameable Bonhomme cover entitled Quebec: The Most Corrupt Province In Canada. Their cover picture depicted a pack of righteously outraged Bonhommes armed with (I think) vuvuzelas, marching in the street against corruption. The idea, of course, was that Quebecers were furious with corruption-addled Liberal government, and weren’t going to take it anymore.

I thought it was a neat-o picture. My friend/colleague Patrick Lagacé, not so much. “Bah,” he said when he saw the cover. ”Quebecers don’t protest in the streets unless it’s over a hockey team.”

Ouch.

And yet, he’s right, isn’t he? Despite being in power for nearly 10 years, most of which in the doldrums of public opinion, there has been no large-scale, grassroots protest against the Charest government. This is even more incredible given the numerous scandals (here, here, here and most recently here, for starters) over the last three or so years.

Tories should look at alternatives to F-35s after U.S. subcommittee recommends cutting $528-million from its own purchase, say MPs

PARLIAMENT HILL—A U.S. Congressional recommendation to cut $528-million from planned F-35 fighter jet acquisitions over the next year suggests the costly project the Conservative government has signed on to may be “crumbling before our eyes,” NDP MP Matthew Kellway says.

Mr. Kellway (Beaches-East York, Ont.) and other critics said the reprimand from a powerful budget appropriations panel in the U.S. House of Representatives should make Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) take a serious look at “alternatives.”

Despite increasing U.S. Department of Defense requests for spending by a total of $5-billion on a range of other weapons and system procurements, and other defence areas, the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee recommended $528.5-million in procurement cuts for the F-35, Gannet Company’s DefenseNews.com reported.

Opposition wants answers on Chinese firm's telecom deals

The opposition is demanding to know what steps have been taken to address security concerns over foreign companies operating in Canada's telecommunications industry, in the wake of a CBC News report about a Chinese firm's contracts in Canada.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told the House of Commons Wednesday that concerns raised by Canadian officials have been addressed and Canadians can rely on a safe and secure system.

But the opposition parties said they aren't satisfied with the government's responses and want more "transparency" about the security concerns.

Harper and Toews were asked to respond to a CBC report by Greg Weston on warnings from North American security officials about Huawei Technologies, a giant Chinese firm that has partnerships with Telus, Bell, SaskTel and WIND Mobile.

Montreal student protest ends with 122 arrests

Thousands of students protested in Montreal's downtown overnight and dozens were arrested after the Quebec government announced it would suspend the current semester for many college and university students until August.

Montreal police made 122 arrests after the protest was declared illegal shortly after midnight Thursday.

A few of the people who were detained will face charges of assaulting police officers or uttering threats, but most were arrested for taking part in an illegal protest.

CBC reporter Catherine Cullen said police and protesters clashed at the corner of Ste-Catherine and Mansfield streets.

Report critical of G20 tactics, Chief Blair defensive

It was a defensive Chief Bill Blair who met reporters in the atrium of Toronto police headquarters on Wednesday. A scathing report on police conduct during the G20 protests in 2010 had just been released. It found that disorganized, poorly trained police had often trampled on the rights of protesters and sometimes resorted to excessive force.

Did the chief care to apologize? Would he acknowledge that police sometimes acted outside the law? Did he have any sense of regret?

No, no and no. “Generally – I think overwhelmingly – the rights of our citizens were protected that weekend,” he said. Asked if he agreed with the report's finding that police had acted unlawfully on several occasions during the G20, he replied: “No. That has not been proven at all.”

Ornge key legal adviser introduced Mazza to McGuinty

Ornge chief executive officer Chris Mazza was keen to share his vision for creating a world-class medical transport business with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, and he got his first chance at an exclusive fundraising reception back in 2007.

It was Alfred Apps, a key legal adviser to Ornge at the time and prominent member of the Liberal Party, who helped organize the $1,000-a-ticket reception with the Premier at the National Club in Toronto. Dr. Mazza was there as Mr. Apps’ guest.

“Last nite [sic] worked perfectly,” Mr. Apps said in an e-mail to Ornge executives the following day. “Chris was able to make a real connection with the Premier, and to lay out the success story of Ornge at a high level in a way that provides the groundwork for our entire initiative.”

How Toronto’s transit plan takes taxpayers for a ride

After much controversy, Toronto’s major transit investments until 2020 are being finalized. All that is needed now is approval from the provincial government, due in a month or two, of the plans for spending a total of $8.4-billion (in 2010 dollars) by 2020.

Canada’s costliest infrastructure project – a hydroelectric dam in B.C. is second – is the centrepiece of Toronto’s transit expansion plans. It is a 19-kilometre light-rail line along Eglinton Avenue, of which 11 kilometres is to be tunnelled and the remainder is to be on a separated right-of-way run along the centre of the roadway.

According to Metrolinx, the provincial agency charged with implementing the transit improvements, the Eglinton line is to cost $4.9-billion (an amount under review). It is forecast to carry 5,400 passengers per hour in the peak direction in 2031, eleven years after it is scheduled to begin operation.

Imperial Oil eyes selling Nova Scotia refinery

Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO-T41.01-0.99-2.36%) is hanging a “for sale” sign on its 95-year-old refinery in Dartmouth, N.S., but would consider converting it to an import terminal, the company said Thursday.

The refinery, which employs 400 people and processes 88,000 barrels per day of crude, produces a range of products from gasoline and diesel, to home heating fuel, but is facing tough competition from foreign refineries serving eastern North America.

The Dartmouth plant operates in the highly-competitive Atlantic basin market, where a number of refineries in the eastern U.S., Caribbean and Europe have been shuttered or sold.

Federal study suggests moving EI recipients to areas with more jobs

A new study from the Human Resources Department suggests Ottawa is looking at ways to get people receiving employment insurance to move to other regions with more jobs.

Such measures would go beyond the Harper government’s new policy that appears to require that some EI recipients take unfilled jobs but only in their own region.

A focus group study, completed in January, asked 75 people on EI in Quebec and Atlantic Canada what would it take to get them to move to regions where there are more jobs available.

The research, ordered last June shortly after the Conservatives were elected with a majority, required the survey company to determine “what type of migration incentives could encourage EI clients to accept a job that requires a residential move?”

What the report on policing Toronto’s G20 summit doesn’t discuss

Gerry McNeilly, head of Ontario’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director, is scathing about how police handled the 2010 Toronto G20 summit.

He confirms what critics had said all along: that police were too often brutal in dealing with anti-summit protesters, that they arrested and jailed hundreds for inadequate reasons, that at times they exceeded their lawful authority.

But what McNeilly’s 286-page report does not examine are the actions of two other parties involved in the wild activities that June: the government that set this fiasco in motion and the protesters who brought their grievances to downtown Toronto.

G20 report identifies officer responsible for orders that breached civil liberties

The question has lingered for two years: Who gave the orders for mass arrests and the kettling of people at Queen and Spadina — a move that a report now says was unlawful?

Police Chief Bill Blair has avoided singling out individual officers, but Wednesday’s report by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director has made clear that one man — who said he was following directives from his superiors — was responsible for several specific orders now found to have breached civil liberties and contributed to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history: Supt. Mark Fenton.

Fenton was the night shift incident commander at the Major Incident Command Centre (MICC), the central point of command and control for Toronto Police Services. Both he and day shift incident commander, Supt. Hugh Ferguson, were entrusted with the role by Blair.

It all started with eight words Deputy Chief Tony Warr said to Fenton, hours after black-clad vandals began wreaking havoc on city streets: “I want you to take back the streets.”

Journalist, Plaintiff Chris Hedges Hails "Monumental" Ruling Blocking NDAA Indefinite Detention

In a rare move, a federal judge has struck down part of a controversial law signed by President Obama that gave the government the power to indefinitely detain anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial — including U.S. citizens. Judge Katherine Forrest of the Southern District of New York ruled the indefinite detention provision of the National Defense Authorization Act likely violates the First and Fifth Amendments of U.S. citizens. We speak with Chris Hedges, a journalist who filed the suit challenging the NDAA along with six others, and Bruce Afran, the group’s attorney. "This is another window into ... the steady assault against civil liberties," Hedges says. "What makes [the ruling] so monumental is that, finally, we have a federal judge who stands up for the rule of law."

Video
Source: Democracy Now!
Author: ---

Panicked Greeks withdraw nearly $900 million from banks in one day

LONDON/ATHENS — Greek savers may be gripped by a “great fear that could develop into panic” in the words of President Karolos Papoulias, but many Greeks shifted their money to safer havens in Britain, Switzerland, Germany and Nordic countries long ago.

Worries about a run on Greek banks has rattled Athens this week, after savers withdrew at least 700 million euros ($890 million US) on Monday alone, according to minutes of Papoulias’s comments to political leaders posted on the presidency’s website.

It is not only Greeks who are worried about their savings. Data shows depositors have also taken flight from banks in Belgium, France and Italy. And on Thursday, Spain’s Bankia was reported to have seen more than 1 billion euros drained by its customers in the past week.

How FBI Entrapment Is Inventing 'Terrorists' - and Letting Bad Guys Off the Hook

This past October, at an Occupy encampment in Cleveland, Ohio, "suspicious males with walkie-talkies around their necks" and "scarves or towels around their heads" were heard grumbling at the protesters' unwillingness to act violently. At meetings a few months later, one of them, a 26-year-old with a black Mohawk known as "Cyco," explained to his anarchist colleagues how "you can make plastic explosives with bleach," and the group of five men fantasized about what they might blow up. Cyco suggested a small bridge. One of the others thought they’d have a better chance of not hurting people if they blew up a cargo ship. A third, however, argued for a big bridge – "Gotta slow the traffic that's going to make them money" – and won. He then led them to a connection who sold them C-4 explosives for $450. Then, the night before the May Day Occupy protests, they allegedly put the plan into motion – and just as the would-be terrorists fiddled with the detonator they hoped would blow to smithereens a scenic bridge in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park traversed by 13,610 vehicles every day, the FBI swooped in to arrest them.

Right in the nick of time, just like in the movies. The authorities couldn’t have more effectively made the Occupy movement look like a danger to the republic if they had scripted it. Maybe that's because, more or less, they did.

Conservatives asking court to quash Council of Canadians robocalls claim

The Conservative Party will ask the Federal Court to throw out a citizen advocacy group's legal challenge that claims misleading telephone calls in the last election affected the results in seven ridings.

Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton told opposing counsel and court officials in a case management meeting that he plans to bring a motion on Friday before the Federal Court of Canada seeking to dismiss the applications brought by the Council of Canadians.

In March, the Council filed separate but related legal challenges in ridings in B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Ontario. The litigation claims harassing or misleading calls suppressed the non-Conservative vote and changed the outcomes in these ridings.

Conservatives asking court to quash Council of Canadians robocalls claim

The Conservative Party will ask the Federal Court to throw out a citizen advocacy group's legal challenge that claims misleading telephone calls in the last election affected the results in seven ridings.

Conservative Party lawyer Arthur Hamilton told opposing counsel and court officials in a case management meeting that he plans to bring a motion on Friday before the Federal Court of Canada seeking to dismiss the applications brought by the Council of Canadians.

In March, the Council filed separate but related legal challenges in ridings in B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Ontario. The litigation claims harassing or misleading calls suppressed the non-Conservative vote and changed the outcomes in these ridings.