And George Carlin too, while we're at it

Michael Moore might have been bang-on with his analysis (see previous post), but he wasn't the first to make it.

The late George Carlin, in what might have been his finest moment ...

Wisconsin update: Rethugs strip fiscal dimensions, pass union-busting bill

... so they could do an end run around the procedural rules requiring quorum for the enactment of fiscal legislation.

SIU re-opens another G20 investigation. Stop me if you've heard this before

Well. Who'd'a thunk it?

This time it's a guy whose arm and shoulder were fractured. Shockingly, the SIU couldn't get conclusive evidence after interviewing eight witness officers. They're re-opening the investigation only because additional evidence has come to light.

The Harper Government's tipping point

The Globe's Lawrence Martin catalogues the many indicators of the Harper Government's abuse of power.

Read it here.

Oh, and speaking of the Harper Government (TM) ...

... click here.

Heh.

Mozart, three different ways

With a giant tip of the chapeau to KenInNY at DownWithTyranny.

The "Soave sia il vento" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, three different ways. There are more.

Hey, PMO cyberweasels? Correct this

Well, while I've been running on at the mouth about labels and meaning and context, CK's been setting things on fire over at Sister Sage.

Now what's all the fuss about?

"Oh, fiddle de de dee! Don't I even get a chance to take a bath?"

Yes, well. Some of the comments on Thursday's post take me, with more than a little justification, to task for what may have been an excessively facile argument about the slippery and elastic nature of political labels.

At this point, labels don't matter

Not looking for a big theoretical or semantic foofaraw about partisanship and party affiliation and whether the Liberals, New Democrats, Bloc and Greens can set aside their differences long enough to get rid of the Harpoon Junta.

We ain't gonna have no stinkin' inquiry

I know, I know. The Star's calling for one. The Putz is calling for one. Even a Stun writer is calling for one.

Why aren't Canadian media types paying more attention to Wisconsin?

What Fern Hill said (why should thwap have all the fun?).

How thoughtless of me

A postscript to an earlier entry: in my haste to suggest that the Toronto Police were simply using the G20 as an excuse to lash out at anyone they deemed insufficiently abject, I neglected to provide any meaningful context.

Why this blog has the name it has

Check out this piece of jernamalism from CTV. Not only can they not tell Queen and Spadina from King and Bay – they juxtapose the Nathalie Des Rosiers interview with the same old same old footage of the burning police car, over and over.

G20, police wilding, and the Dawgmeister's Nazi-vision post

So I finished watching the fifth estate documentary about the G20 (kindly posted by Dr. Dawg), and now that the initial rush of rage has subsided, let's talk Godwin for a minute.

Fantasy for a Saturday in February

Corporate oligarchic pieces of shit like the Kochs actually have to do their own dirty work ...

Toronto's brutal cops and their shit-for-brains enablers

Have you ever stewed about something for weeks, months on end, and never been able to put it into words? You keep turning it over and over again, picking at it like a scab, unable to leave it alone? And then someone comes along and crystallizes it in maybe two or three sentences?

Is this what they call a cheap shot?

Four senior Conservatives charged with violating Elections Canada spending laws.

This could be where we juxtapose the news with all the soft-on-crime rhetoric.

Organized labour under attack, from Pinochet to Ford to Wisconsin

Sometimes the connections between history and current events aren't that easy to see. Sometimes, however, they're hard not to see – especially when they're framed in the context of the widening gap between haves and have-nots, the polarization of society between those who have power and those who do not, and the attendant implications for social cohesion and democratic governance.

Democracy: the latest word to be stripped of its meaning

If you're not reading DownWithTyranny – a marvellous, thoughtful, progressive source from one of our friends to the south – then start now.

Oh look, the cops are investigating themselves ...

... again.

This should go well.

Moments of optimism on the Queen car

It's quite possible that I'm investing this with more significance than it really merits. What can I say – sometimes my inner drama queen needs to get out.

How Hitler would have dealt with Canadian ISPs

I'm not trying to go all Godwin here or anything, but maybe we need to re-evaluate old Adolf.

Seriously, I almost pissed myself laughing at this. This is fucking genius.

Anyone using the term 'bandwidth hog' forfeits the right to be taken seriously

Yeah, yeah, I know. A coherent policy framework may be too much to expect, given the Harper government's predilections.

Scandalous!

It's only Monday, but Jonathan Goldsbie's already taken the prize for Tweet of the Week.

Someone remind me: what does the Police Services Board do again?

So the cops are going to keep their sound cannons. The deal is done.

Bandwidth shortage! Hoard your bytes!

Of course, it's bullshit. Manufactured narrative and straw men.

Ottawa cops and sex-assault claims

It seems the Ottawa police throw out complaints of sexual assault at a rate ten times that of any other crime.

Now why do you suppose that could be? [cough] Stacy Bonds [cough]

This is what happens when you enable dictators

Apparently the Egyptian security forces have started rounding up foreign journalists in Cairo.

Harper and the CRTC: baiting and switching?

Is that the term for it?

Could it be that he's throwing us a bone on usage-based internet billing so that the loosening of broadcast standards making it easier to lie on the air stays under the radar?

Egypt and the death of the American Empire

What was I saying a few weeks ago about Tucson?

Looks like Thomas Walkom's thinking the same thing. Bet he's not the only one, either.

All the wankers taking cellphone pictures of TTC operators ...

... should take a fucking pill.

Honestly, they're like kids with extremely annoying toys.

A 'terrorist fist bump' to Alex Hundert

That's right. Give the wanktards something to get all excited about.

What thwap said (how many are we up to now?)

Go. Read this, now.

The narrative. Always with the narrative.

There are times when it's possible to allow oneself a small measure of optimism, and kayn ayhoreh, this might be one of those times.

Fire up the Blue PR machine again!

Well, looky here.  The Special Investigations Unit is re-opening another investigation into G20-related police brutality.

Coalitions and reclaiming the discursive turf

This is how Steve Harpoon wants us to think about the idea of a coalition.

(All right, all right. I wanted an image for "monster under the bed," and, well ... whaddayagonnado. Cheap laugh.)

Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC

And here I was thinking that broadcasting in the United States couldn't get any dumber.

Now that the tribal display is over ...

A few worthwhile links, thanks to Jymn and John Lorinc, among others.

That's awful! Really awful!

Best / worst line from yesterday's massive Blue PR offen – er, funeral! :

"Time to stop the gravy hearse."

Sometimes I just hate myself.

As long as we're asking quis custodiet ipsos custodes ...

I know, I know, it's Sunday night and people just want to wind down the weekend and fall asleep in front of the Golden Globes and for chrissakes, can't you just give it a rest already?

Yeah, well. Michael Geist flagged this last week, and pogge and Jymn have picked up on it, but it bears more than a little emphasis. The Star and the Globe seem to think it's important too.

Hey, RCMP? How's that kicky, tasery, shooty thing workin' out for ya?

Not much to add to this. Kelowna RCMP pull a guy over, order him out of his vehicle, he complies, and cop kicks him in the face for no apparent reason.

Cue up the Internationale

(big h/t Sabina Becker)

They won't get away with this!

Well, who could have foreseen it? Especially during budget season.

Broadcasting, media and internet policy: the confluence of the absurd

This is where we juxtapose:

The Blue Tribe spins up its PR machine

Dear Lord, it's still going on.

For the last hour, CBC radio's been on about Sgt. Ryan Russell.

The U.S. Constitution, explained

(h/t downwithtyranny)

Can't really argue with this

A meta-narrative for the Tucson shootings

Not much to add to the chorus of horror and outrage regarding the shootings in Tucson. Everything that can be said in terms of immediate reaction and analysis has already been said, and for that I must acknowledge, once again, the stellar work of the Dawgmeister, Cathie, and Montreal Simon, among others.

Nice country you got there

There's a light unto the nations for you.

Police budgets, and how a phony narrative gets manufactured

Earlier this week, the Star ran an essay in which the best mayor Toronto's had in the last half-century argues that there's plenty of wasteful spending in the police budget, and that if the Ford regime is serious about trimming fat and stopping the gravy train, there's lots of room to cut there.