The Sean Salvati #G20 video: Abu Ghraib comes to Toronto

So apparently it takes three big strong police officers to manhandle one guy. Naked and handcuffed.



Don't know whether this is before or after they beat the shit out of him.

Mistakes were made, Bill Blair says | #G20

So Bill Blair's had some time to reflect on last summer's G20 clusterfuck, and good and loyal servant he is, he's graced us with a report. Among other things, he praises his officers for "facing danger and extreme provocation."

Indeed. Takes a special kind of guts to stand your ground in the face of a small woman blowing soap bubbles.

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