So Toronto cops think they're the #G20 whipping boys?

From ... guess which piece of birdshit-catcher. The usual "police morale is low" bullshit. A sample:

The situation has worsened with each new allegation of police brutality and little has been done to restore the faith in those sworn to serve and protect Toronto.
“It’s become embarrassing to say you’re a Toronto cop,” said one of several officers who recently spoke to the Toronto Sun on condition of anonymity.
He said it has become a daily concern and many cops are fed up with being “the whipping boys” for decisions they had no hand in making.
“Cops are leaving Toronto in droves,” he said, explaining many have either transferred to other forces, are in the process of doing so, or are getting out of policing.

@cityslikr on the danger - and stupidity - of looking for false equivalencies

An Open Letter To Councillor Josh Matlow « All Fired Up In The Big Smoke

There's nothing that says "balance" is sacrosanct. When one side of an argument is based on facts, reflection and careful consideration of evidence and the other side is based on sound bites, discredited ideologies and gut-instinct idiocy, there's no virtue in claiming that the truth lies somewhere in between.

Required reading.

'Respect for Taxpayers' is a load of crap

True, I may be undermining weeks of arguing for engaging the people we disagree with in a spirit of openness and respect. And name-calling isn't going to help us show them how they're actually voting against their own interests, or reveal the corporatist / continentalist / ruling-class Divide-and-Conquer strategy. Class warfare's tricky that way.

@marcusbgee is right about Bloor Street, but for the wrong reasons

Ah, Marcus. The Globe's ideologically reliable municipal-affairs curmudgeon is kind of like a stopped clock that way.

Of course, the analogy only goes so far, because you don't have to ask a stopped clock why it's right twice a day, and that's a degree of frequency and predictability that ... well, let's just say it's not in the same postal code as Marcus.

Friday night

Following the example of my friends impolitical and pogge.

A few years old, but like a fine wine, it ages well ...

Raising Your Voice...Trying to Stop an Echo by hammockmusic


Raising Your Voice...Trying to Stop an Echo by hammockmusic

On the Canucks Riot, Protest, and Division : Politics, Re-Spun

On the Canucks Riot, Protest, and Division : Politics, Re-Spun

And more.

Good lord, someone's actually pointing out the class dimension inherent in the Vancouver riot, and drawing the connection between that and the corporatist power structure's nasty little game of Divide-and-Conquer.

Not to mention the malignant influence of Don Cherry. You know, that guy who has a national platform on the "left-wing" CBC.

[drops teacup]

How unseemly.

The Sixth Estate » When You Don’t Know Your History, You’re Bound to Make Up S@@t

The Sixth Estate » When You Don’t Know Your History, You’re Bound to Make Up S@@t

And again.

Either the Vancouver Police and the corporate media are taking stupid pills, or they're serving some agenda.

Now let's think about this: who benefits from mischaracterizing the riots as the work of anarchists and political activists?

Whose interests are served by the blanket demonization of activism per se?

Conversely, whose interests would be harmed by acknowledging the connections among NHL product, overwrought ersatz nationalism, unfettered testosterone, economic privation and too much cheap alcohol?

Hmmm ...