G8-G20 Protests - Friday, Part 3

The march itself started from Allan Gardens with the purpose of heading West. For everybody but a few march leaders, its final destination, where a "tent city" was to be established, was unknown.

Not having been anywhere near a G8 protest march, I had a hazy idea of what it's makeup would be like. I remember watching the massive Battle of Seattle, where anarchists trashed stores, obscuring the message of save the sea turtles. Would this march be the same? There were certainly many voices, many of whose messages appear to only marginally overlap - which ones would get heard?

I decided to make a list of all the groups I saw. I may have missed a few, but here's my best crack at it:

- No One is Illegal, a migrant rights group
- 911 Truthers
- Damn 2025, a disability direct action group ("You don't need to stand up to fight back!")
- The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
- The Canadian Union of Public Employees
- The Animal Rights Kollective II
- PETA (or at anti-sealers holding a PETA sign)
- The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
- Christians (the let's all live in peace kind)
- Feminists
- Environmentalists (though their showing was rather small)
- Anarchists - the "black bloc"
- Communists (a lot of Iranian communists, interestingly enough)
- The Frontline Partners with Youth Network
- Natives' rights supporters
- Marijuana advocates
- Anti-capitalists of all stripes

Interestingly absent from the march was the Falun Gong. I think they took up their quiet protests in Queen's Park, where I rode past on my way back. They were dismantling a giant bloody hammer and sickle. I wonder if the communists would get along with them, citing China as an oppressive capitalist nation, or oppose them on the basis of their imagery, if not their views. It's hard to say.

Standing on College St. you could hear the roll of slogans as the crowd passed you by.

No G8 on stolen native land!
Communities and youths under attack! What do we do? Stand up fight back!
Down with capitalism! Long live socialism!
Viva viva Palestina! Viva viva intifada!
Stop the war on the poor! Make the rich pay!
1! We are the people 2! A little bit louder 3! (I never quite caught the last bit of this one but it goes back to 1!)

While certain groups were easily identifiable, some of the general chanting seemed to cut across group lines. If the crowd was speaking with a single voice, it was mostly to exert their presence, their right to protest. This is the impression I got from most of the "We won't go away!"-type chants, in particular from the group call-and-response "Whose Streets? Our streets!" Most people had their issues, but everybody just wanted to tell the world, and especially the G8-G20, that their voices aren't heard at the meetings, and that they have the right to be heard nevertheless.

It'd be a miracle if the G20 actually met any actual demands - clearly "No G8 on stolen native land" is out. As many of the groups were directly anti-government (e.g. the anarchists, communists), it seems unlikely that they wouldn't be satisfied with the addition of women's rights on the agenda, or even the creation of an independent Palestinian state. It's easy to march together if you're for and against ephemeral concepts - pretty much everyone was against "capitalism" and I'd say a good number of people were for "socialism". What exactly those mean, aside from a hand-wavy description of governments/societies being for corporations versus being for the people is hard to say. What's apparent was that people were pissed off at the state of the world and damn well weren't going to keep quiet about it.

As one girl's t-shirt said, maybe the protest was about "defending my right to dissent". If getting the leaders' attention was the goal, or even raising awareness among Torontonians, I doubt Friday's march did anything. However, if you just wanted to reinforce your claim to free expression, then I suppose Friday's protest was a success.

G8-G20 Protests - Friday, Part 2

The whole thing began at Allan Gardens at 12:30. I rode up, locked my bike, and exchanged greetings with the police who were standing near the entrance. They seemed pleasant - maybe they thought that a simple hello might help win them some favour. So far, though, the cops were looking a little lonely: the reporters at the scene easily outnumbered the "protesters", at this point a handful of 20-somethings, most of whom appeared to refuse to discuss matters with the media. Was this due to a deep-seated distrust of the established media? Was this because the reporters asked "hard-hitting" questions, like the one reporter who asked a protester with a "For Sale: G20 ₤€ader$" sign whether he was opposed to the actual meeting or their particular agenda? Whatever the reason, those around decided to save their voices for the street. Who knows. The sign-bearer in particular seemed uncomfortable with the reporter's pretty tame line of questioning. Maybe he was just more comfortable parroting slogans than answering actual questions.

A park local, clutching his 1L bottle of Labatt Ice seemed to have taken issue with the slow but stead trickle of protesters. Clearly their struggle against capitalism, their championing of the poor was lost on this individual, who appears to have the unfortunate experience of actually being a have-not. A useful police-woman biked over and consoled him, while gently removing his bottle. Maybe he just wanted someone to listen to him. Soon enough he was enlisted into the cause, and was handing out leaflets for gatherings (one for women only) at the feminist circle which, at 1PM, composed the totality of anti-G20 activity. Not to worry, though, there was more to come.

A man with his arm in a sling came by on his scooter and spoke to anyone who would listen. He claims that his disability prevented him from leashing his dog, and that when he went to the human rights board they turned him over to the cops, who dragged him down to the Don Jail and horribly beat him. It was a sad story of police brutality, and his obvious suffering was hard to bear. His suspiciously porous narrative and obvious screw loose didn't gain him the total sympathy he might otherwise have deserved, though; somehow Royal Bank is involved in this as well - I'm not sure how. He also is not afraid to die, since he was dead for a bit, saw Jesus, and came back. I'm glad he's got at least that going for him.

I wandered off site then back again an hour later, around 2PM. Apparently police where demanding to check people's bags who were entering into the park and were confiscating gas masks. For "security", of course. This is, of course, entirely illegal - there are no such laws in place in Canada for any public places outside of the fence that require people to consent to personal searches on the mere suspicion of having a backpack and being dressed somewhat in black. You don't even need to show police your ID. Reportedly, one individual stood his ground, and was supported by the growing crowd in this endeavor. The police backed off. I'd say "one point for civil liberties", but I'm not convinced keeping score would be very encouraging.

The time was drawing near and people began preparing for the march. The feminists, who had started the whole get-together had painted created three coffins - one in white symbolizing violence against women ("He though that once I said yes, I couldn't say NO."), one in red, covered with coat hangers symbolizing women who died from unsafe abortions ("SHAME"), and one draped in rainbow-coloured flags, representing all the trans-people unfortunate enough to have been born in times and places where being themselves was not an option. I though about Alan Turing, the computer pioneer who was chemically castrated by the UK for his homosexuality and omitted suicide shortly after. Point made, I suppose.

There were a handful of t-shirt vendors, communists/socialists handing our pamphlets and multi-lingual literature (mostly criticizing Israel, the demon-de-jour - I suspect the communist interest in Israel is not because of its deeds, which isn't as relevant to their global anti-capitalist agenda as, say, Wall Street, but because it's the most fashionable thing to protest these days), a (the?) guy from unionrocks.ca (he's committed to spreading unions through music and rock venues, and claims to be super-successful at it - easily my favourite guy in the park), and meal-servers, who provided me some of the most delicious free food I've ever had. There were feminist singers, communist changers, and an anarchist marching band. Hell, there was even a lone dissenter, proudly sporting a black t-shirt saying "Hey ANARCHISTS ANALKISSTHIS!", sporting a green sign with with personalized "fuck off" messages for several organizations (including CUPE - the union of which I'm a part of). There were anarchists in black, communists in red, and a guy in a pink pig suit with a white-collar office-worker of sorts shoved up his ass. And there were photographers. Tons of photographers. Armed with cameras better than my own and audio recorders which far surpassed my $40 factory-direct mail-in-rebate-special, I felt a little outclassed. But there was no time to cry over my (borrowed) point-and-shoot: the march was starting and it didn't appear to be t waiting for me to acquire an SLR.

G8-G20 Protests - Friday, Part 1

Well, it’s time for the world leaders to get together again and decide our fates. This strange phenomenon, which is characterized as either a necessary meeting to discuss improvements to international monetary policy or a secretive closed-door session to further stuff the pockets of the fat cats of Big Business, depending on which side of the fence you’re on, is called the G8. This year Ontario has the great privilege of welcoming not just eight, but 20 political leaders from the most important (i.e. richest) countries in the world. Ah, the G20. This should be fun.

For Toronto, the G20 has meant one thing: "security". Well, two things if you count security and reckless spending that makes the American Military look thrifty as discrete entities. Yes, Toronto the Good has reverted to its original title: Fort York, updated for the 21st century. Complete with giant fences, severe laws for those who stray 5 metres within them, water and sound cannons, and hundreds if not thousands of cops.

But is it necessary? Is there any possible justification for what appears to most Torontonians as a lapse of judgment usually reserved for terrorist attacks? Well, the argument goes, security needs to be in place to save us all from violent protesters, who wish to tear down the fence (as stated online), and assault innocent investment bankers dressed in suits (as stated nowhere).

Word on the net was that a large march was to happen Friday, starting at Allan Gardens, going to some undisclosed location, where a temporary "tent city" would be established, to implore the world leaders to consider the poor. A protest! I would have to attend - not to join in, but to observe, to witness.

Tea Party Hangover

One of the most fun parts of following the health care debate was the wackiness of the Tea Party movement. Part spontaneous uprising by conservatives against an expansion of the welfare state, part result of careful cultivation by Fox News, and part paranoid delusion by conspiracy nuts and unruly mobs, it was always exciting to follow the twists and turns. Probably the lowest point of the whole thing came when someone caught a few Tea Party activists on tape accosting a Parkinson's victim who was holding a pro health care reform sign:


The video went viral and was even played on cable news. After the identity of one of the protesters - the guy who was throwing dollar bills - became known, a kind of repentance happened. From an interview in a recent article, he seemed to genuinely feel remorse, and in a way none of the conservative leaders who were responsible for working people up into that kind of a frenzy have, he owned up to what he had done:

"I snapped. I absolutely snapped and I can't explain it any other way," said Chris Reichert of Victorian Village, in a Dispatch interview..."He's got every right to do what he did and some may say I did too, but what I did was shameful," Reichert said. "I haven't slept since that day."

Obviously Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or John Boehner aren't going to take responsibility for anything, regardless of how bad things might get, but it will be interesting to see if regular Tea Party activists start to come down from the high of "fighting tyranny" and, once it's clear that health care reform isn't going to lead to Armageddon or the end of freedom, are left with the sort of hangover Mr Reichert appears to be feeling.

Spot me a ronnie

I heard somewhere that there is a Republican proposal to replace Ulysses S. Grant with Ronald Reagan on the American 50 dollar bill. This made me wonder: if you really wanted to piss off Civil War buffs and get rid of Grant, shouldn't you replace him with James Madison, who, after all, wrote the constitution? But apparently Madison already had a bill: the $5000 bill, which according to Wikipedia, when adjusted from 1929 dollars when it was still being printed, would be worth over $63,000 in 2010 dollars.


There was even a $100,000 bill featuring Woodrow Wilson, worth over $1.6 million in today's dollars. I'm not completely clear on how the money supply actually works, but I don't imagine that even pre-computer, it was ever necessary to account for every dollar in bill form. I can't imagine what the point of printing bills that big was.

In any case, I don't think the Reagan proposal is taken very seriously, but I do find the "culture war" angle of it to be interesting. Why replace Grant rather than, say, Hamilton on the $10 bill, or Jackson on the 20? You could even go after Franklin on the 100 who, like Hamilton but unlike Grant, wasn't even a president.

Grant won the Civil War for the north. Reagan scored a victory in the Culture War for the south. It's that eternal struggle: Neil Young vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd:

Andrew Bird

I'm a big fan of Andrew Bird, and this performance is especially wonderful. Around 16 minutes in St. Vincent joins in:

Toxic Asset

Planet Money, the NPR economics blog/podcast, bought a toxic asset and then created a pretty adorable video about it:



The idea was to buy a toxic asset and create an interactive website that allows people to keep track of it, giving a sense for where we are in the financial crises in general. The stunning thing is that the $1000 they spent would have been more like 75,000 before the crises.

Palin in Whitehorse

Apparently Sarah Palin used to sneak her family across the Alaska-Yukon border to take advantage of Canada's health care system in Whitehorse. It must have taken some real courage considering all the death-panels and child killing socialists, but I definitely understand why she chose to take her family to Whitehorse.

My own experience with health care in Whitehorse has been almost too good to believe. When working in the north last summer I got tendinitis. Considering how I was planning on returning south to study jazz piano in the fall, I took it fairly seriously. I went to the hospital, which seems like a newly built facility, and waited for maybe 15 minutes to see a doctor, who seemed generally happy to have a patient to treat. A year before, I accompanied April to the hospital and had pretty much the same experience.

Having mostly lived in Montreal for the past few years, I'm under no illusion that the Canadian system has serious problems, particularly in Montreal where minimum wait-times, in my experience, were 3 hours, and where it's practically impossible to get a family doctor. Quebec, with a language barrier to attracting English speaking North American doctors, has special challenges, but similar problems are everywhere in Canada.

Except in Whitehorse. The 33 thousand people living in the Yukon Territory have really gotten a great deal for themselves, though obviously you don't have to be there very late into the winter before seeing why it takes some extra incentives to get people to stay.

Considering that the Whitehorse system was the one Palin had experience with, you can't help wondering how she was under the impression that single payer was really so bad. In Whitehorse, it's practically utopian. What's more likely: she wasn't. Conservative politics around US health reform has always seemed disingenuous. Palin is just not very good at hiding it.

The Closing Ceremony Debacle

I just finished watching the Olympic closing ceremonies, and I thought it was terrible. It's possible that the closing ceremony is supposed to be over-the-top silly, but even if it is, it was still poorly thought out.

The one highlight was Neil Young's performance, after he was lifted from beneath the floor on some kind of weird trap-door elevator thing. Then came William Shatner and Michael J. Fox. While I consider Michael J. Fox to be a kind of hero, it seemed like the only point behind the speeches he and Shatner gave was to start the kind of "bet you didn't know he was Canadian" conversation Canadians love to have with Americans. The fact is that this sort of thing only makes sense in the North American context, and I can't imagine an international audience caring if Captain Kirk or that guy from Back to the Future are Canadians or not.

After that there was a bizarre display of super-sized Canada stereotypes. Giant beavers, massive floating moose, lumberjacks, mounties, women dressed as maple leaves, and whatever other stereotype you can think of. Even the TV announcer said: "it's like if someone put together a Las Vegas show around Canadian cultural stereotypes," and "it's like a gift shop at Niagara Falls."

I know I'm being curmudgeonly, but maybe pointing out that Vancouver is a majority minority city, or Toronto is 50 percent foreign born and is among the most ethnically diverse places in the world, would be more interesting and revealing to an international audience than that William Shatner happened to have been born in Montreal before leaving for Hollywood.

I'm not even going to start on the choice of music.

Sports

A follow up to the last post:

As someone who generally doesn't follow sports, I've often wondered why people seem to take it so very seriously when I find watching any sports game to be insufferably boring. (I recently heard about a "coming out of the closet" movement for people who are not interested in sports). It obviously doesn't have to do with how exciting the specific sport is, considering how there are people as invested in the relatively slow game of baseball, or completely dull curling, as to fast paced hockey, where there's always a good chance of seeing a fight.

I used to explain it by saying that what makes the difference is that you care who wins. In this way, a game of rock-scissors-paper can be as exciting as a game of football, as long as it matters to you who wins. I'm not a very patriotic person, so I've never been able to say that I much care if, say, Montreal wins the game vs. any other place. After this hockey game, I feel like what is important isn't just that it matters to you personally, but that it matters generally. I'm sort of interested in the outcome of a baseball game simply because my grandmother really really wants the Red Sox to win. And, since I can hear people yelling in the streets and honking horns from where I'm sitting in Halifax, I couldn't help but find that last hockey game entertaining.