Irony

"Canada condemns the decision of the Iranian authorities to use violence and force against their own people... The government's reaction has been to silence the voices of its own people through brutality... The Iranian people deserve to have their voices heard, without fear of intimidation or violence. Canada condemns the use of force to stiffle dissent... The Government of Canada continues to support freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Iran."

-- Conservative Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, June 2009

h/t 

Quick, call the riot cops

Parents in the northern BC community of Dunster have occupied their school to protest its impending closure. "We have been fighting with the school board and ministry for almost six months and getting nowhere," said Julie Marlow, whose oldest child

Just sayin...

Chief Liar Blair admits he violated our rights en mass

This piece of offensive police state crap just in:

Police admit deliberately misleading public on expanded security fence law

‘I was trying to keep the criminals out,’ police chief says there never was a five-metre arrest rule.

Next:

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair displayed a shocking array of weapons and tools [allegedly] obtained from arrested G20 protesters this morning at police headquarters.

The recovered items included body armor, sledgehammers, machetes, an electric drill, saws, crowbars, shields, aluminum bats, dog repellent, bamboo rods and bottles of hot sauce.

Although the display of items took up half the lobby of the headquarters, officers on hand said more than five times the amount on display had been seized by police.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Blair said the items on display demonstrated the extent of the criminal conspiracy surrounding the violent G20 protests over the weekend.

“No one should be so naïve as to think these people were there for the purpose of lawful protest,” he said, noting that the items were capable of “delivering deadly force.”

“We are all deeply disturbed by the crimes that were committed here.”

Chief Liar Blair just pulled this stuff out of storage. The hot sauce is his. Given that this disgrace of a Police Chief lied to the entire city about powers he didn't have, and had his police force illegally stop, search, seize and detain huge numbers of peace-abiding citizens, why should we believe anything this dishonorable man has to say?

'Criminal conspiracy'? Oh, please. Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we Chief Liar Blair?

The only conspiracy I am aware of is the mass violations of our rights this past weekend by our own police force.

Special TVO tonight: Police, Politics and Protest

A special issue of The Agenda with Steve Paikin is on tonight concerning the G20 protests and the uneven police response to them.

The panel, last I heard, is to be composed of

Kate Holloway is a parent of someone detained during Toronto's G20 protests. She is a former Liberal candidate for provincial parliament.

Ken Chan a former police officer, Ken Chan served as an advisor on community safety and police oversight in the office of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, England.

Jesse Rosenfeld was covering the G20 demonstrations for the Guardian newspaper's Comment Is Free section and is an editorial collective member of the alternative media center in Toronto.

Tyler Hodgson is lawyer with Borden Ladner Gervais and a former crown attorney



Mercedes Stephenson is host of the national, weekly, current affairs series MSI (Mercedes Stephenson Investigates). She's also vice president of the Breakout Educational Network, a registered, non-profit, charitable foundation.


Ben Powless is Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario. He is currently studying Human Rights, Indigenous and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. He is also heavily involved with the Indigenous Environmental Network.

The topic: What can the police do and not do? Were their actions this weekend within the law?

It is on tonight at 8 and 11.

The picture I took above is of a released detainee's ID sticker.

Steve Paikin calls unjustified mass arrests a "sad day for democracy"

Steve Paikin is interviewed by The Real News about his experiences Saturday observing the protests. He cites multiple instances of police intefering in our rights to associate and peacefully assemble.

G20 Rights Abuse: Sam, Rose and Ben are missing

Saturday night, I had dinner at my place with Kate Holloway and her son, Sam (a nice lasagna Kate had made). With Sam were his friends, Rose and Ben.

After eating, they announced they wanted to go downtown to observe the protests. *OBSERVE* not partake. The two men had bikes, but Rose didn't, so Kate lent her hers.

As they left, I reminded them to stay out of the way of police, and to split at the first signs of trouble. They were adamant that they wanted to observe, not protest.

A few hours later, Kate got a call: It was Sam saying that they were all about to be arrested at the Esplanade. He explained that they were just there observing, got cordoned off by police, and had no way out. Watch the video below to see what the police did.



At the same time, Steve Paikin started twittering alarming statuses about the same location. See Runesmith for a log of his alarming twitters from last night.

All day, many of us have been trying to get some news on their status. No news. No phone calls, no court appearance, nothing. Steve Paikin picked up the cause for a while, reporting on Twitter:

more fallout from last night:"My 19 yr old son, Sam and his girlfriend Rose were arrested.... > Esplanade last night. They weren't prot

"They are still being processed and I have not heard from them... > they called me last night to tell me that they were being arrested.


sam's mom is kate holloway, a liberal candidate in the 2007 ont election. ironic.

premier mcguinty's new law against assembly in certain places has caught the son of one of his candidates

What we have heard about the detention centre is that conditions and respect for our fundamental rights is not promising. Mike Barber, who was also arrested at the Esplanade, got out recently, and has tweeted some of his his experiences.

Hey everyone! I just got home after spending 18+ hours in the detention centre. Was arrested around 11pm at the anti-#G20 march.

#G20 detention centre guards kept hundreds of wet peaceful protesters in cold, cement air conditioned cells. #G20report  

#G20 detention centre guards refused to grant prisoners demand for a phone call and/or access to legal representation #G20report 

of dozens of fellow prisoners I was able to personally keep visual/verbal communication with, none were granted phone/lawyer #G20report

most of us charged with "unlawful breach of the peace" RT @Martin_K24: @apastdenied arrested for what? What kinda charges

1.) in last night's confrontation b/w cops and peacuful marcher in front of the Novotel Hotel, police phallanx surround and closed in +

2.) of everyone caught between the two phallanx (which offoer NO ESCAPE ROUTE... the police kept surging and grabbing, arresting EVERYONE +

3.) In my first cell (they moved us around) I had two mates that were just jogging in the area. Wrong place/time. Police didn't care.

Guards routinely ignored demands for water, food, blankets, bathroom visits, and demands to make a phone calls, contact their legal defense

Right now, the police have for hours kept a crowd of fellow Canadians 'kettled' at Queen and Spadina out in the rain. They can't go anywhere. This is what illegal detention looks like, folks. And if they'll do it in the open, you can only imagine what conditions they'll allow in private.


I'm hearing on CP24 that many are being released from the detention centre. 

Let's hope.


======
Update:


Found! They've been released. Rose has shown up, and the others are on their way.

Breaking: Rights banned within G20 defense perimeter

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is reporting that a draconian regulation has been enacted severely restricting rights within the G20 perimeter:

...streets and sidewalks within the perimeter of security zone have been designated under the Public Works Protection Act.  Importantly, this Act gives dire powers to the “guards” of the public work:  power to search without warrants, obligation of visitors to state name and purpose of the visit, power to deny entry. Most of these powers contradict current constitutional safeguards.  The Regulation which was not announced and has appeared on e-laws and will be published in its regular form on July3rd 2010.  One person has already been arrested under the Act, which provides:

A guard or peace officer,
(a) may require any person entering or attempting to enter any public work or any approach thereto to furnish his or her name and address, to identify himself or herself and to state the purpose for which he or she desires to enter the public work, in writing or otherwise;

(b) may search, without warrant, any person entering or attempting to enter a public work or a vehicle in the charge or under the control of any such person or which has recently been or is suspected of having been in the charge or under the control of any such person or in which any such person is a passenger; and

(c) may refuse permission to any person to enter a public work and use such force as is necessary to prevent any such person from so entering.

Every person who neglects or refuses to comply with a request or direction made under this Act by a guard or peace officer, and every person found upon a public work or any approach thereto without lawful authority, the proof whereof lies on him or her, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $500 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two months, or to both.
CCLA is obviously extremely concerned about the implications of this measure and will seek to challenge them.

WARNING : The new designation changes dramatically the advice that lawyers may have been providing to protesters or the general public if they find themselves at the proximity of the fenced area.  Please consult and write to us if you are concerned about this development.

What gets cut in response?

My hero, Kevin Page, has produced numbers showing that just one of the Conservative's crime bills will cost us a staggering $618 million per year.

This does not include the capital costs of building new prisons (another $1.8 billion over five years). It only looks at the costs from Bill C-25, the Truth in Sentencing Act. 


Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has budgeted $2 billion overall. Originally, he had claimed it would be only  $89 million.

The response by Toews regarding this immense bill is typical: Crime costs society, so any initiative is worth it. Of course, Page had trouble getting any data from the government, so one has to wonder how much Toews believes his own rhetoric. If it's all such a great idea, why hide the numbers, Toews?

People like Toews considered the billion-dollar price tag for the gun registry to be a waste...

When states in the US started doing this (jail guards in California became arguably the most powerful union, and donated heavily to Republicans), increased costs for the prison system was met by slashing costs in other areas, such as education.

In our system, the budgeting is even more complex as many of these costs are borne by the provinces. How convenient for the Conservatives. Pass the buck, take the credit.

Framing is everything. Instead of debating whether or not this initiative reduces crime, and, if it does, is it worth it, debate whether spending $1 billion per year less on, say, our children's education, is worth making our already declining crime rates perhaps slightly lower.

A modest proposal

Why not hold the next G8/G20 meetings in Second Life? I understand fake lakes are the norm there.

BP hires Dick Cheney's former press secretary

Anne Womack-Kolton has been hired to head its American public relations efforts.

From PR Watch:

Womack is a former employee of the PR firm APCO Worldwide, perhaps best known for its work on behalf of the tobacco industry. In 1995, Philip Morris hired APCO to orchestrate a massive national "tort reform" movement, and in 1993, PM hired APCO to organize the front group The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition to attack the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it rated secondhand smoke a Group A Human Carcinogen, the same rating the agency gives asbestos and radon gas. Womack also served as a White House spokesperson, defending Bush's White House Office Of Faith-Based Initiatives. 

 This does not inspire confidence.

BREAKING: Latest BP well containment attempt a failure?

Bloomberg is reporting that the latest attempt to abate much of the gusher has failed, and there's nothing to do but wait until the relief wells are complete, sometime in August.

On the slightly brighter side, other news outlets are still reporting that the latest 'great idea' is merely stalled.

From that last link:

"The slick from the crippled well has now drifted within striking distance of beaches on the Mississippi, Georgia and northwestern Florida coast."

 Here's an idea: If we can't solve a well failure like this, maybe we shouldn't be drilling at such depths? At all?
====
UPDATE:

Bloomberg is too early on the call. The gusher may be mostly capped in the next 24 hours.

Lyin' Brian gets to keep his $2 million

There's some great posturing from the Liberals about getting back the $2 million Mulroney "legally defrauded" from us taxpayers in his false libel suit. Unfortunately, in law, settlements are settlements; that is, when done, they are done. He gets to keep the cash. We get to stay screwed.

We didn't label him lyin' Brian for nothing!

Crooks and lairs have used libel law for generations to intimidate truth-tellers into settlement and silence. Politicians and captains of industry have long been loath to change these laws because they nearly alone have the ability to use the reverse onus nature of Canada's various libel statutes to grind whistleblowers into humiliation.

Demanding the money back is the right thing to do, but it'll never happen.

Here is one law for all in Canada, but some of us are better able to leverage it.