June 2010 - Posts
Toronto, Ontario, CA - Things were much worse then I knew when that last post was made. On this page is a video that puts a much darker face on things. Find the video labeled CTV Toronto Extended: Anarchists Target Yonge. Unfortunately the page is set up in such a way that I cannot directly link the video.
Is this the image they want on their cause what ever that may be? A bunch of thugs destroying private and public property?
Those aren't protesters. Those are criminals and thugs in serious need of a righteous ass kicking. Just watching them made me want to take up arms and defend the property they vandalized. Had any of that been my property I can assure you they would have had a war on their hands. I freely admit the odds of me winning are not all that good. But I would have cracked a few heads before I lost.
That brings us to another question. Where in the Hell were the police? Where was that nifty APC with the water canon and pepper spray options? Why were these self righteous little brats allowed to wander unchecked up Yonge street without so much as one policeman in sight?
I'm not sure which frustrates me more. The protesters or the lack of police action to stop them.
"Was that the Starbucks we stopped at this morning?"
- A reporter in the press center watching these videos.
Well now, lets total up the score so far.
- Scratch two police cars.
- Scratch two news vehicles.
- Add two urine soaked members of the media.
- Scratch a few windows in private vehicles.
- Scratch a dozen or so large windows.
- Add several discharged tear gas canisters.
- Add roughly a hundred gagging, choking, half blind protesters.
- Toss in a few more that were trampled my mounted patrols.
- Finish off the tally with many, many arrests.
It's game on in Toronto.
You have to wonder who is coaching this bunch of twits. If you don't want to be portrayed as worse then the unruly bunch of asshats that you are, the news crews and their accoutrement are hands off.
Have a good 15 minutes, boys and girls. Hope the police record is worth it.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
- William Shakespeare
The Direct Energy Center in Toronto, home of the media center. The fence primarily serves to keep we satellite truck monkeys away from the food and bathrooms.
Toronto, Ontario, CA - World leaders are streaming into Canada for the G8 and G20 summits. I'm just trying to get to the food inside. It will be interesting to see if anything useful comes out this high priced, well hyped get together. So far in years past the only thing to come out of these meetings has been a lot of talk, no action and a few protesters get sent to jail.
Here's a few pictures for your amusement.
The main press room. This is where the press gathers to watch the events from either downtown or Hudson.
This is the set for the Business News Network inside the press center. I'm not certain where that network is based. Since they are working with CTV my guess would be Canada.
This is a book sculpture by Tom Bendtsen of Philadelphia, PA. Not to worry. Bendtsen is a Canadian born and schooled artist now living and teaching in the US. According to the press handout Tom has been working in books since 1994.
And the now infamous "fake lake." There was quite a furor among Canadians when a newspaper erroneously reported that this display promoting Canadian tourism cost $1 Million. (It was actually around $57 Thousand.) Oh yeah, that lake you see in the background is remarkably good HD television through a huge projection system. The fake lake is about six inches deep just beyond the chairs.
One thing is for certain, Canadian company Dome Productions is doing an outstanding job as the host broadcaster for the event. All the technicians with Dome went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed.
And when things are not going well in Toronto, you're going to hear about it. And you're going to say things are not good at all, where it's really not that bad.
- Mats Sundin
EW turned me on to this entry on "The Hill"
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is being urged to monitor "hate speech" on talk radio and cable broadcast networks.
A coalition of more than 30 organizations argue in a letter to the FCC that the Internet has made it harder for the public to separate the facts from bigotry masquerading as news.
The groups also charge that syndicated radio and cable television programs "masquerading as news" use hate as a profit model.
"As traditional media have become less diverse and less competitive, they have also grown less responsible and less responsive to the communities that they are supposed to serve," the organizations wrote to the FCC. "In this same atmosphere hate speech thrives, as hate has developed as a profit-model for syndicated radio and cable television program masquerading as 'news.'"
The Hill: Groups want FCC to police hate speech on talk radio, cable news networks
There are a couple of problems with this...
Free speech is free speech. Even the ACLU recognized the Klan's right to spread their ignorance in Skokie, IL. We either have it or we don't. It doesn't matter if that free speech is in the form of a march or broadcast on radio or TV.
These "groups" (usually read liberals) consider any statement that contradicts their views to be hate speech. They use this tactic because most of their arguments cannot stand up to facts and figures. Those arguments almost always fail under the hate filled question, "Who's going to pay for this?"
It is interesting to note many of these "groups" complaining about hate speech on the airwaves have absolutely no problem comparing comparing President Bush with Hitler. This they don't consider hate speech.
Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.
- Potter Stewart