Aptenobytes

I was a teenage anarchist

Here's what protests look like with the black bloc:

Here's what protests look like without the black bloc:

Back in the late 80's, I was involved in a few protests when the Black Bloc form of protest was in it's infancy in North America. The concept as we understood it back then was that we would form a Bloc that would protect the protesters who weren't willing or able to face police brutality. In the second video, the Black Bloc would form a line facing the police and basically face the faceless cops on their own terms, and fight back. A couple of hundred protesters would be sufficient to stop the cops from starting police riots. Make no mistake, I'd seen the cops in Toronto and Ottawa provoke confrontations on more than one occasion.
I was young, angry and had very little to lose if I got arrested.
I'm not going to join a Black Bloc today, but I certainly do understand why young people, when faced by cops who are hell bent on intimidating peaceful protests, might decide to respond in kind.


http://maggieknight.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/the-world-is-watching-g20-media-summary-to-date/

Don't unite the centre.

Apparently some idiots are proposing to unify the Liberal Party of Canada with the NDP. Words do not describe how bad an idea that would be. Warren Kinsella has sworn an affidavit that there are talks going on.

There are two parties for a reason. The Liberals are the Canadian establishment, taking most of their income from corporations and people who have large holdings in those corporations. They are somewhat socially liberal, as far as the corporate hegemony in this country feels that social welfare saves them money.

The NDP is nominally a socialist party. They are supported by Union donations, and by small donations from supporters. They have traditionally been the conscience on Parliament Hill.

I have trouble supporting them, given that I don't really support any group that wants to hold power over people, but most of the time they are on the right side of any given issue.

As far as I can tell, this is a poison pill that the Liberals are trying to make the NDP swallow. The NDP is on the brink of becoming the number two party in the country as the Liberals continue to spiral downwards. By offering this poisoned chalice, the NDP would destroy any chance that the country will find a political balance that is anywhere near the left. It will put the battleground between the Liberals very centrist position and the CPC's right wing stance. Gone will be the balance of the NDP's moderate left position. That is very bad for the country, and especially the people whose voice will be silenced.

Bad idea.

Oh, please protect us some more Ms. Nanny State....

Ontario farmer convicted in raw-milk trial

I'd be OK with forcing him to put warning labels on the raw milk, but this is fricking ridiculous.

Stick a fork in 'em, the Liberals are done

OK. When the webmaster for the Liberals think that this is actually something to put up, then there is something wrong. I'm guessing that at this point Dion is being laughed at inside the party, not just everywhere else.

They're done. Let's hope we get a good strong NDP Official Opposition.

Oh, Come on Supremes.

What the fucking hell is wrong with the Supremes?

Today's decision was a disgrace. Canada Customs has been out of control, and a bookseller that has been our 'point person' in fighting their homophobic and anti-freedom crap has been told that if they want to fight the Canadian government with it's bottomless pockets in court, they have to do it out of their own pockets.

Little Sisters during it's best year ever made a profit of 25,000$. A court case that goes to the Supreme Court can cost up to 2$ million.

Canada's New Government recently cut the program that once upon a time paid for challenges like this. The Court Challenges Program was a smart and useful idea. What killed it was the fact that it was based on a single ideology. Here's where I stop vilifying the Courts for a decision that was bad from a political point of view (I haven't read it, so it may be OK from a legal POV), and rip into the politics....

See, this is the problem with right wingers...

The coverage of the Toronto municipal election by the Western Standard includes this lovely line:


And that leaves the worst for last. David "I love marching in the Pride Parade" Miller.

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See, they have to be bigots. The fact that David Miller is a typical nanny statist who has never met a government program that can't be expanded, and who has mismanaged the City of Toronto in spectacular fashion is undeniable. Does the right deride him for his all too many real flaws? Yes, in passing, but they can't help themselves. They just have to go for the bigot angle to start.

Hehe, I'm loving watching the Liberals stumble along

As the gong show of the Liberals leadership campaign continues, I'm constantly amazed at how few stars have joined the campaign. Really. Iggy is for all intents and purposes, an American, and an asshole. Rae basically walked away from his party solely for a shot at power and is an asshole (he's on my top ten most hated living politicians list). Dion is a disaster in the making. Then there's Volpe, favourite of the Zombie Liberal Contingent. hee hee.

Now I happen to stumble across this post from Steve Janke's Angry in the Great White North, which, for those who don't know is one of the better known right wing blogs, so it does have some small amount of credibility (as opposed to some unknown wacko... this is a known right wing wacko ;).

Pity the poor Liberal Party. They passed legislation that disallowed Corporate donations... and forgot that they are the party that benefitted the most from Bay St., and being out of power, they aren't getting their usual stream of bribes donations from real people.

I'm going to be giggling for a while.

IRB judge offers refugee claimant visa for RAPE

CTV.ca | IRB judge offers refugee claimant visa for affair:

No CTV, being given a choice between deportation and sleeping with an immigration judge is not an affair. It's sexual assault. It's using power and fear to intimidate someone into a sexual act.

Sometimes I wonder about reporters...

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update... looks like this one's getting picked up by a few more blogs...

The Throne Speech

Colour me underwhelmed. Call me when the budget comes out.

No surprises good or bad, with the exception of a remarkable silence on the subject of the gun registry.

Election Night in Canada - 2006

Went and voted. I've been in desperate need of a drink ever since the better to wash the taste out of my mouth. I'll blog the election as it happens. In the meantime, don't even think about posting results in the comments section until 7:00PM PST, as it might land me in jail. No, Really!