G20 gag reflex

With publication of CCLA/NUPGE report, even the National Post has reached the limit of its gag reflex and is now calling for a public inquiry into the G20 police riot:

Police tactics at the G20 so demonstrably exceeded the threat posed by protesters that a comprehensive public investigation is warranted.

The Ottawa Citizen echoes the call:

The new report adds weight to the argument that the abuses by security forces outside the summit were built into the system, not just the result of a few officers misunderstanding the rules or going rogue.
"Given the scope and severity of the violations of rights that occurred during the G20 it is difficult to view this situation as anything other than a failure of policy and training," the report says.
And that sums up why a thorough inquiry is needed.

Oh, and we can no longer say that not a single person has been convicted following the G20 protests - an inept career criminal who was not part of either the Black Bloc or any protest group has now been convicted of setting one of the two police car fires.

Great post of the day

From John Cole:

A unionized public employee, a teabagger, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, then looks at the teabagger and says “Watch out for that union guy—he wants a piece of your cookie!”

Strange days indeed

Dr. Grumpy's recent phone call with the Megalithic Suxshit Insurance Company:

Mr. Voice: "Hello, Megalithic Suxshit Insurance Company, can I help you?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Hi, this is Dr. Ibee Grumpy. In the past 2 days I've faxed you the same form on a patient 3 times and..."
Mr. Voice: "We haven't received a form from you at all, Mr. Grumpy."
Dr. Grumpy: "...and each time I do you guys call a few hours later to say you haven't received it yet."
Mr. Voice: "What number are you faxing it to Mr. Grumpy?"
Dr. Grumpy: "It's Dr. Grumpy. I faxed it to 1-800-FAX-HERE, the number printed at the top of the form."
Mr. Voice: "Mr. Grumpy, that's the wrong number. You should be faxing it to 1-800-SUX-SHIT. Where did you get that other number?"
Dr. Grumpy: "It's the only fax number on the form! It's at the top of the page, right next to a sentence that says 'Please fax this form to the following number.' "
Mr. Voice: "Just because it says that on the form doesn't mean you were supposed to fax it there."
Dr. Grumpy: "Okay, but if the number to fax it to ISN'T the one on your form, how do I find out what the number is that I'm supposed to use?"
Mr. Voice: "You need to request that number by sending us a fax."

It's still fish and it still stinks

The words of Rosanne Rosannadanna still ring true.
Joe Warmington already has a column up about the Fifth Estate story on the Toronto G20 protests. He writes:

Bizarre arrests looking like assaults, horse tramplings, cops violently whacking people with batons for no reason, kettling, people shot with rubber bullets all in the wake of a real attack by a real group of vandals that the cops ignored.
It was hardly Toronto Police’s finest hour.
...The G20 is a rotten fish in every conversation concerning policing here. It’s a stench that won’t go away until somebody at the helm says in a free country they won’t stand for regular citizens being treated this way.

In the documentary, the most astounding comment by Toronto police chief Bill Blair was when he said "We then had a riot to try to suppress."
WTF? If a riot is "a sudden and intense rash of violence", then it was the police who were rioting in Toronto eight months ago.








One of the things I still find unnerving about the C20 protests is just how scared the police were.
This fear even came though in what Blair said last night, talking about how police had to "prevent criminality"
It is particularly evident in the Scary Cop Lady video -- the plainclothes police are tense, frightened, yelling at everyone to Get Back, justifying their own aggression by acting as though they are in imminent danger of violent attack from the crowd -- yeah, sure, a bunch of teenagers with cell phones and cardboard signs?
So who was it that convinced police there would be so many violent Canadians in the crowd that they should be scared of?

Jihadis and all that

So Bob Rae described the PMO staff as "25-year-old jihadis":

"... this government just doesn't have the imagination, political will, or the willingness to let other people do things.
"If they can't control it, if the 25-year-old jihadis in the prime minister's office can't control it, it doesn't happen. and that's what's wrong about this government. That's the pathology I talked about two weeks ago, and that's the pathology that affects everything that moves in this government."

Hrumph, hrumph! Let the pearl-clutching begin about how extremely rude Rae is to call ideological, ignorant young people "jihadis".
Would the term "Hitler Youth" be more acceptable?

That was then, this is now

‎"We find the actions of the government, firing upon its own citizens, to be outrageous and unacceptable"

That's what Harper says now, but remember this, Stevie?
Eight months ago, this girl was just a thug who somehow deserved to get shot for pleading to police.

And remember this one, too.

Don't miss the Fifth Estate on Friday:

HT Canadians demanding a public inquiry into Toronto G20

Just come up with a proposal, won't you?

Here's an actual memo sent to the stupidest guy on the face of the earth from the next-stupidest guy:



Let's play with this a bit:

Memo to Bev Oda from Stephen Harper
re: Issues w/ various international problems
We need to do something really good for women and children. We also need to solve abortion. And birth control, what about that too. Are you coming up with proposals for me to send around? Thanks.

And here's another one:

Memo to Peter MacKay from Harper
re: Issues w/ various countries
We need to get the troops out of Afghanistan as soon as we can, so we can get one of the military transports painted white and red for me. What about buying those new airplanes? And we need to do something about the Russians in the Arctic. Are you coming up with proposals for me to send around? Thanks.

Gee, this governing stuff is so easy, isn't it -- just dash off a quick email to a subordinate and toodle off to lunch.

The Black Mamba

Neat film, h/t Little Green Footballs

I know you are but what am I

Is anyone the least bit surprised that our anti-coalition Prime Minister is doing whatever is necessary to stay in power?
But its not a coalition, oh no, not at all....

Stranger in a strange land

Well, we're back home from Vegas and we found out what a strange and lawless place it is.
No, not that one.
This one.

The only diet we should ever need

Michael Pollan at the New York Times condenses the last 50 years of nutritional studies and diet advice:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Senior moments

From Pam Peterson

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Simon's Cat

Guess where we're going?

Next steps

If Mubarak had resigned yesterday, then Suleiman could have taken over. But because Mubarak was, as someone said yesterday, a "stubborn old man", it took the Army to finally get him out. Likely, in the process, Suleiman has been totally discredited too -- though perhaps that is no loss.
But I think now the democracy movement in Egypt will find their next challenge will be to get the Army out.