April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Canada

Storm pics

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So yesterday July 19 marks year 27 of married life.

also huge storm.

There was either a mini tornado or a downburst and there is so much damage. We ran into the building hall at one point it seemed like all the windows were going to blow in. Windows were slightly opened and by them water was a couple of inches deep in the house.

We were doing fine for power until around 4 this morning 6:30 now still no power. Have been emergency vehicles around diverting traffic all night. There was a fire from a lighting strike about 1/2 a block away.

The pics aren’t that great and don\t really show the extent of the damage.

Climate Change Threatens Amazon

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While some debate if it even exists the devastating effects of climate change are plainly seen;

Billions of trees died in the record drought that struck the Amazon in 2010, raising fears that the vast forest is on the verge of a tipping point, where it will stop absorbing greenhouse gas emissions and instead increase them.

The dense forests of the Amazon soak up more than one-quarter of the world’s atmospheric carbon, making it a critically important buffer against global warming. But if the Amazon switches from a carbon sink to a carbon source that prompts further droughts and mass tree deaths, such a feedback loop could cause runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences.

“Put starkly, current emissions pathways risk playing Russian roulette with the world’s largest forest,” said tropical forest expert Simon Lewis, at the University of Leeds, and who led the research published today in the journal Science. Lewis was careful to note that significant scientific uncertainties remain and that the 2010 and 2005 drought – thought then to be of once-a-century severity – might yet be explained by natural climate variation.

“We can’t just wait and see because there is no going back,” he said. “We won’t know we have passed the point where the Amazon turns from a sink to a source until afterwards, when it will be too late.”

from the Guardian

Toronto Police Force Drops Tasers for Bubbles

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AR MEDIA EXCLUSIVE– AR Media has just learned that the Toronto Police Force has signed a 2 year contract with DollarDiscount to supply them with bubble mixture, holsters and bubble guns. All contracts with Taser International have been dropped. Having realized the potential of bubbles as a weapon and in an effort to cut costs Toronto’s finest will now be sporting the much more sinister bubble gun. A police spokesperson said, “Tasers have been shown to be a shockingly inadequate weapon against peaceful protesters anarchist thugs”

As this young officer shows, controlling protesters is now as easy as point and shoot. No friend to the 'human garbage' on the streets of Toronto this officer is glad to always have his bubbles at the ready.

Police have released this video showing bubbles being used as a weapon against them. “Once we saw the inherent power of these bubbles and saw that these weapons were already in the hands of the anarchists we knew we had to move quickly, said Officer Bubbles”

SWAT teams will be equipped with these large bubble devices sure to bring a tear to any criminal elements eye.

Bubble Bazooka carried by SWAT

Of course the criminal element is always trying to stay one step ahead of the law and already Anarchist CookBook type sites are popping up on the web such as this one which describes how to make your own bubble wands and solution.

AR Media will keep you posted on further developments to this story.

McGuinty: No Apology for Rights Abuses

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Two peas - same pod
Shorter McGuinty; Meh, not my problem.

* “I know that some folks feel that their rights have been abridged, and there are avenues available to them and I would encourage them to pursue any remedies that are available to them through those avenues,” he said.

Feel their rights have been abridged? Are you fucking serious?

Hey McGuinty have you seen this?

I was now around 2:00am. I’ve been held since 10:30pm, not read my rights, not explained anything, not yet charged, no phone call. And in an overcrowded cell with no access to water. Every guy had to pee; there was a line around the inside of the cell to piss. Trying to pee with your hand cuffed together was horrible…but we all managed…the outhouse was messy. No toilet paper. So, here we all were. Ages from 16-78. Three German men asked why the guard made a joke about Auschwitz. They were here from Germany, left a bar, got arrested. They said they had no idea Canada was like this; they said the world thought we were free. The said “poor Canadians, this is shame”.

In police custody for 6 hours now, no water, no anything. We start to get worried. We are still very polite guards “Please, we need water. Please help us. Please help this 16-year-old kid. Please split us up, we can’t even all sit in here”. We look at the camera and beg for help. We can hear people in the other cells yelling and begging for water. We hear a girl ‘Please! I need my medication! HELP ME!”. I yell “Help that girl, what the hell is going on here!” Other cages begin to yell. I find out later this girl was in my girlfriends cell and was way passed her medication time. The male officers were laughing in at her and tapping their keys along the bars leering at the girls in wet clothes. Finally two female officers took the girl away. They also had a 17-year-old girl in her cage as well. Still thirsty.

What about this?

G20 Toronto Police Rape Threats

or this
Guardian journalist Jesse Rosenfeld released after being beaten and arrested by Toronto police at G20

“the journalist identified himself as working for ‘the guardian.’ he talked too much and pissed the police off. two officers held him….”

“a third punched him in the stomach. totally unnecessary. the man collapsed. then the third officer drove his elbow into the man’s back.”

And as for the Tories well hardly surprising they don’t want an investigation but are more than willing to make political hay on the backs of the abused.

* “I don’t think we need a public inquiry to do that and I don’t think we should spend millions of dollars, and that’s what it would do . . . I don’t think we can afford to do that right now. I just think the premier — in good faith — should apologize on behalf of the government.”

An apology is NOT going to make this go away. It is NOT enough. But it would be a start to the appropriate course of action for a man in charge of a province and city who saw war declared on it’s citizens.

*quotes from The Star

Respect and Preserve the Rights of People You Disagree With

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Here is my advice as we begin the century that will lead to 2081. First, guard the freedom of ideas at all costs. Be alert that dictators have always played on the natural human tendency to blame others and to oversimplify. And don’t regard yourself as a guardian of freedom unless you respect and preserve the rights of people you disagree with to free, public, unhampered expression. ~Gerard K. O’Neill, 2081

For some time now I’ve been concerned that it seems we are losing the lessons of past. This weekend confirmed for me that this is true. My parents, who both fought in WWII, taught me the importance of learning from history, they joined the forces not for any abstract thoughts of glory or duty but because they wanted to be a part of stopping the sweeping force of repression and hatred. During my life I was taught that continual pursuance of education, defence of freedom, respect for everyone’s right to their opinion, a healthy questioning of authority, and participating in elections was my duty. This they saw as the cornerstones of a free and democratic society.

Those who are educated have the ability of critical thought, those who value and understand the importance of freedom are less likely to sit back and watch it stripped away. Those who value free thought will respect others right to it as well – remember how people used to say “I disagree with what you are saying but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Whatever happened to that? Those who question authority will never commit atrocities while claiming to only be following orders. Those who participate fully in the electoral process and educate themselves on the issues and facts will never be fooled by trite sound bites appealing to their lower natures.
This lower nature was evident this weekend. From the actions of the police who declared war on the citizenry to the comments on blogs and news stories some even calling for the police to use live rounds on those exercises their right to peaceful public assembly.

One need look no further than the remarks such as these to understand how a society slips into the depths of a fascist police state, quickly and quietly like a drowning victim;

  • Throw them all in jail they have no right to use public parks for demonstrations.
  • Ther[sic] will probably come a time when these unemployable gits will just be taken out behind the barn and despenced[sic] with. Better for them and better for the tax payers who pay to keep these dingos alive
  • I think the police were too soft on these protesters/rioters. To me they are the same if they claim to be there for peaceful protests and stand and watch as some of their buddies cause damages to our city. So, tough. They got arrested, went to jail for couple of hours, got roughed up a little, they totally deserve it. Also, they should be forced to pay for the damages caused by these protests. Although, I seriously would wanna know a breakdown of this $1.1B cost for this summit. For that amount of money they could have had 10 times more police on the streets and these protesters wouldn’t be able to breathe without being monitored.

Among those roughed up and illegally arrested were a number of media people. In fact media whether mainstream or citizen journalist seemed to be targeted. It was as if there was a predetermination to avoid at all costs having the truth told. Naturally the truth is a police states’ worst enemy. Pictures and video helped lead to the publication of evidence of provocateurs at Montebello
Those involved in such actions and those involved in unlawful actions against both legitimate protesters and innocent bystanders would want to keep proof against them at a minimum.

It is difficult out of all the startling images to chose one that best exemplifies the great wrong that was perpetrated, however the image of the woman with her walker looking into the faces of a line of unmoving riot police, finally sitting on her walker with a look of both confusion and resignedness on her face to me had a similar feel as the man in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square. There was no concern for her humanity. She could not be mistaken for a black hooded anarchist. There were none to step forward to either Serve or Protect. It was a scene which should create a feeling of deep and abiding shame in each and every officer present.

Democracy is not something that can be locked up in box and trotted out for tearful jingoistic events. You either have it or you don’t.

This Canada Day I mourn for my country and it’s tenuous grasp on democratic principles and all those who do not even recognize its departure.

Further action: Join the FaceBook Group Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry Into Toronto G20

Health Canada Considering Death Bed Photos on Cig Packs

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Lets face it — everyone knows smoking isn’t good for you. Adults who have made the choice to smoke are aware of the dangers and the things that exist to help stop smoking. Pictures of blackened lungs and limp members have not made a difference so why on earth would Health Canada think this is going to?

Health Canada is considering ordering cigarette companies to put deathbed photos of an emaciated cancer victim on every package.

Health Canada is now testing 49 new health warnings for possible placement on cigarette packages. Two of the new warnings feature photographs of Edmonton anti-smoking activist Barb Tarbox, taken just before her death from cancer.

This is just gruesome and odd. Go back to the drawing board Health Canada — seriously — NOW!

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