statism watch

So much for hopes of an impartial inquiry, if the following is true. Are we to believe that three separate countries, if not more, were accidentally outsourcing torture to middle eastern gulags?

There were reports at the weekend, sourced to the Foreign Office, suggesting that the inquiry would examine only one case – that of Binyam Mohamed – and that Cameron had already concluded that the country’s intelligence agencies were guilty only of errors of omission, not commission.

Related: UK: Fresh torture allegations raised over third British man held in Bangladesh | UK Torture claims investigation ordered by Foreign Secretary | UK Government cannot use secret evidence in Guantánamo torture case, court rules | Afghan torture allegations erupt in UK | UK: Government fury as judges attack MI5, security services | MI5 chief denies cover-up claims over detainees | UK Top judge: Binyam Mohamed case shows MI5 to be devious, dishonest and complicit in torture | Britain reveals details of Binyam Mohamed torture | UK: Rights watchdog reveals Pakistani spies pressed by British to torture detainees | UK: Move to withhold evidence in MI5/MI6 torture collusion claim | UK: New evidence in Binyam Mohamed torture case | UK: Secrets of CIA ‘ghost flights’ to be revealed | UK: CIA ‘put pressure on Britain to cover up its use of torture’ | Revealed – the secret torture evidence MI5 tried to suppress | Guantanamo’s closure window dressing – overseas CIA ‘black sites’ to stay | ‘If I didn’t confess to 7/7 bombings MI5 officers would rape my wife,’ claims torture victim | MI5 faces fresh torture allegations | UK: Government makes ‘unprecedented’ apology for covering up Binyam torture | Obama administration: Guantanamo detainees have ‘no constitutional rights’ | Tortured Guantanamo detainee set free | UK agents ‘colluded with torture in Pakistan’ | Obama backs Bush: No rights for Bagram prisoners | U.K. resident held at Gitmo alleges Canadian involvement in torture | Senior judges attack US over ‘torture evidence suppression’

Patrick Wintour, Ian Cobain, The Guardian
June 29, 2010

Judge-led investigation would examine claims of British complicity in abuse and rendition of terrorism suspects

David Cameron and the foreign secretary, William Hague, are understood to have agreed the terms of a judge-led inquiry into claims that British security services were complicit in torture of terrorism suspects.

The inquiry is expected to offer compensation in cases, where necessary, and is likely to be held in private. A judge-led inquiry or commission may have the advantage of bringing together the 13 separate compensation cases currently going through the courts.

Those cases are leading to complex demands for the disclosure of documents that the intelligence services may not welcome, and are finding difficult to control. Some of the litigants have demanded an inquiry as part of their civil claims.

Cameron is understood to have discussed the issue in recent days with President Obama, but no decision is expected very shortly.

While some in Whitehall have said no inquiry can be held while so many alleged victims of torture and rendition are suing the government, most legal experts believe it is possible.

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Be sure to read these harrowing reports of 20 detainees as well.

Related: Outraged G20 protesters rally against police abuse and arbitrary detention | 20 G20 detention reports: ‘I will not forget what they have done to me’ | The G20: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Tim, BlogTO
June 29, 2010

The G20 detention centre at 629 Eastern Avenue was opened to media today. Staff Sergeant J McGuire did the honours walking a few dozen reporters through the now vacated maze of a building. We were told that the facilities had been cleaned up a bit since the last prisoners were released but half eaten cheese sandwiches, toilet paper and paper cups littered the floors and holding cells and the stench of urine was almost ubiquitous throughout.

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Related: Canadian Forces exercise to be held in High Arctic with American, Danish troops | Strengthening NAFTA Ties and the Push Towards a Common Security Front | America would send troops to G8/G20 if required | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | U.S. combat jets buzzing Ont. border city | Clinton’s Arctic comments cheer Inuit | Inuit group blasts Cannon over summit | Indigenous groups left out of Arctic leaders’ summit | A North American Security Perimeter Coming Into View | Canada warms to idea of a tougher ‘perimeter’ | Canada an ‘energy superpower’ in Arctic, Foreign Minister says | Arctic borders will be defended: MacKay | Arctic expert questions Canada’s northern strategy | Northwest Passage surveillance study halted | Sarnia resident plans ‘moon’ protest of US border spy balloon | Military spycraft patrols Ontario border from Fort Drum | Military’s ‘Polar Breeze’ cloaked in secrecy | Ignatieff on Obama visit: Crisis an opportunity for continental, global integration | Predator drones patrolling border irk Manitoba MLA | U.S. set to launch Predator drones to monitor Manitoba border | Harper plays down threat to Arctic sovereignty | New policy emphasizes U.S. interests in Northwest Passage | Military Tech on the Home Front: Predator drones to begin surveillance of Canada-US border | Surveillance on the Great Lakes: U.S. tightens security along border | UN Given Power to Mediate in Arctic Disputes | RCMP and US Coast Guard to integrate as Canada signs border pact with Homeland Security | Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies | U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan | Nunavut taken aback by military plan for drone patrols | U.S. to patrol Manitoba border with drone aircraft | Remote-controlled aircraft would patrol Arctic: military

Dana Gabriel, BeYourOwnLeader
June 29, 2010

The Arctic has been the subject of dispute between Canada, Denmark, the U.S., Russia and Norway with each country taking steps to expand their scientific research and military presence. Its vast untapped oil, natural gas and mineral resources represent a tremendous economic potential, but control of the region is also important from a strategic standpoint. Increased cooperation and military integration could be used to further secure interests in the area. Canada and Denmark recently signed an agreement which will promote defence and security collaboration in the Arctic. In August, Canadian Forces operations in the far North will include Danish and American participation. There are also calls for U.S.-Canada joint security of North America’s Arctic waters and skies.

Canada continues to assert its military presence in its northernmost boundaries. Operation Nunalivut which ran in the Arctic from April 6-26, is one of three sovereignty exercises conducted each year by Canadian Forces (CF). This year’s joint maneuvers included, “the first landing and takeoff of an Air Force CC-177 Globemaster III aircraft at CFS Alert, from a gravel and ice covered airfield and the first CF dive in the high Arctic, which was the longest sustained ice dive operation in CF history. In addition, the Arctic Response Company Group conducted concurrent training with the Canadian Rangers for the first time in the Arctic, while a team of nine Regular and Reserve Force Signallers tested a new series of Iridium, high frequency and satellite communication systems.” As part of ongoing efforts by Canada-Denmark to strengthen diplomatic and security relations in the Arctic, the operation featured, “combined training with the Danish military’s SIRIUS Dog Sledge patrol.” An agreement reached between Russia and Norway over the long-disputed area in the Barents Sea has also prompted Canada to take steps to resolve conflicting Arctic offshore boundary claims with Denmark and the United States.

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Problem, reaction, solution: globalist bankers have been successful at blowing out the US dollar and the Euro and bringing them to the brink via massive wealth destruction through the sale of fraudulent derivative securities, the monetization of the resultant debt, and “stimulus” inflation. This artificial debt bubble is just about set to pop, and a new solution is being offered by the same people, in much the same way a crack dealer strings along his victims.Want a hit? The first one’s free.

Related: RBS tells clients to prepare for ‘monster’ money-printing by the Federal Reserve | The scary euro? Maybe the most frightening monster is the greenback | Germany could cause euro collapse: Soros | Spain could test the euro to its limit | US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus | Germany’s Merkel Says Euro Is in Danger | Ron Paul: Euro Bailout Will Lead To Currency Collapse | Ontario launches U.S. bond | IMF chief proposes new reserve currency | Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, ‘at centre of hedge funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro’ | Collapse of the euro is ‘inevitable’: Bailing out the Greek economy futile, says French banking chief | Euro currency union shows strains | The Federal Reserve as Giant Counterfeiter | Current And Former IMF Heads Call For New Global Currency | George Soros Calls for World Currency and “New World Architecture” | U.S. dollar sags on global financial leaders’ omission | G20 Meet To Finalize Dumping Of Dollar This Weekend? | Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Central Banks Shift Reserves | Fisk: Nations to hasten demise of dollar in new world order | US dollar set to be eclipsed, World Bank president predicts | Bilderberg Wants Global Currency Now | Dollar to fall under scrutiny at G20 summit | UN wants new global currency to replace dollar | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | China Set to Buy $50 Billion in IMF Notes | Medvedev Unveils “World Currency” Coin At G8 | China calls anew for super-sovereign currency | China explores buying $50bn in IMF bonds | Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds “risky” as Geithner visits| U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency | World needs new Bretton Woods, says Brown

Gabriella Casanas, Mick B. Krever, CNN
June 29, 2010

The dollar is an unreliable international currency and should be replaced by a more stable system, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in a report released Tuesday.

The use of the dollar for international trade came under increasing scrutiny when the U.S. economy fell into recession. “The dollar has proved not to be a stable store of value, which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency,” the report said.

Many countries, in Asia in particular, have been building up massive dollar reserves. As a result, those countries’ currencies have become undervalued, decreasing their ability to import goods from abroad.

The World Economic and Social Survey 2010 is supporting a proposal long advocated by the International Monetary Fund to create a standardized international system for liquidity transfer.

Under this proposed system, countries would no longer have to buy up foreign currencies, as China has long done with the U.S. dollar. Rather, they would accumulate the right to claim foreign currencies, or special drawing rights, or SDRs, rather than the currencies themselves.

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This sort of corrupt, smirking lack of accountability is a hallmark of the authoritarian thug, and the events of the past weekend more than make the case for Blair’s removal. He has disgraced this city and his uniform. And as for McGuinty – he should be recalled, impeached, whatever one does to remove weasels masquerading as Premiers.

Related: The G20: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

The Canadian Press
June 29, 2010

‘I was trying to keep the criminals out,’ police chief says

The expiration of the five-metre rule that had Toronto residents fearing arrest if they strayed too close to the G20 security perimeter came with a startling revelation Tuesday – it never existed.

The rule seemed straightforward when the news broke last Friday that the Ontario government made a regulatory change to a little-known act in secret.

Come within five metres of the summit security fence and you’d better have some identification or risk arrest.

The temporary regulation, which was passed in secret June 2, did decree that all streets and sidewalks inside the fence were a public work until 11:59 p.m. Monday. Under the Ontario Public Works Protection Act, that allowed police to search people trying to enter that area.

But there was no power to search people coming within five metres of the fence, said ministry spokeswoman Laura Blondeau.

“The area designated by the regulation as a public work does not extend outside the boundary of the fence,” Ms. Blondeau said.

Asked Tuesday if there actually was a five-metre rule given the ministry’s clarification, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair smiled and said, “No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out.”

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Related: 20 G20 detention reports: ‘I will not forget what they have done to me’ | The G20: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Brendan Kennedy, Amy Dempsey, Toronto Star
June 28, 2010

Police followed protesters through downtown streets once more Monday as about 1,000 people rallied against alleged police brutality and the detention of people without charge during the G20 summit.

The crowd buzzed with talk of conditions in the Eastern Ave. detention centre: cramped and filthy cells, mismanagement and disorganized paperwork, lack of food, water and toilet paper, and denial of legal aid and access to lawyers.

Taylor Flook said she spent almost 24 hours in detention before being released without charge and witnessed strip searches of women by male officers, as well as sexist remarks made by several officers.

“The entire city of Toronto has gone through extreme trauma,” said Flook, who spoke to the crowd. “We have all been victims of the G20 summit.”

She described being in a cell with a 17-year-old girl who had to urinate in front of male officers because there were no doors for the portable toilets at the makeshift jail.

The demonstration began around 5:30 p.m. in front of police headquarters on College St., where hundreds of officers stood stone-faced as protesters hurled questions and accusations from across the street.

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Related: The G20: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people | The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

The Toronto Star
June 28, 2010

20 people arrested at the G20 tell of ‘inhumane’ treatment at the hands of police

Lulu Maxwell, 17, Grade 12, Rosedale Heights

Maxwell and a friend were hanging around near Queen and Dufferin Sts. at a convergence centre for protesters on Sunday afternoon when police started making arrests. “My friend was blowing bubbles and I was scribbling peace signs on the sidewalk.”

Within minutes, her friend was grabbed and Lulu was put up against a wall. Her backpack was searched and Lulu says an officer said she could be charged with possession of dangerous weapons “because I had eyewash solution in my backpack.”

She was taken to the detention centre and almost 12 hours after her arrest was allowed to call her parents. She was released, without charges being laid, at 5 a. m.

Natalie Logan, 21, U of T student

Logan was taking photos at The Esplanade on Saturday evening when she was arrested.

“I was documenting the protest when the police started encircling everyone,” she said. She was taken to the detention centre at 3:30 a.m. “Before they handcuffed me, I peed in a bottle because I knew I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”

She wasn’t charged and suddenly released at 3:30 p.m., more than 14 hours after her arrest. “I am embarrassed for my city, embarrassed for Toronto Police and embarrassed that this could happen.”

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Related: The G20’s ignominious end: Panic, outrage as police detain hundreds for hours in pouring rain | National Post photographers arrested, spend night in G20 detention camp | Peaceful Eastern Ave jail solidarity action attacked by Toronto police | Police Raid U of T Student Union for Hosting G20 Protesters | Guardian journalist beaten, arrested at peaceful G20 protest on Esplanade | Black Bloc tactics sparked Saturday G20 vandalism, confrontation | G20 protesters clash with Vancouver police | ‘Anarchists’ leave trail of destruction, peaceful 3hr march forgotten | Four alleged G20 violence ringleaders appear in court | Pre-dawn raids in Toronto homes result in four arrests | Naomi Klein and 500 marchers crash party at tent city | Protesters flood the streets on first day of Toronto G20 summit | First G20 ‘secret law’ arrestee plans Charter challenge | G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people | Huntsville G8: Military, locked down security, few protesters | CP Reporter: How I was detained by G8 security | G20: Activists Arrested, Others Denied Entry into Canada | UK: Filmmaker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror Stop Laws | Canada flunks on indigenous rights: G20 native protesters | Marcus Gee: Why the G20 protesters won’t condemn violence | Peaceful protests continue in Toronto as G20 nears | No legislation, no precedent to limit G20 police powers | Anti-poverty activists occupy ESSO station during Monday G20 protest – for ten minutes | Toronto activists launch G20 alternative media centre | Ban G20 summit agents provocateurs: activist groups to PM | Oxfam astroturf march leads early G20 protest for bank tax | Activists plan walkout and tent city to protest G8/G20 summits | G20 centre for protesters set to open | Rights group files for injunction against G20 ‘sound cannon’ | G20 activists accuse CSIS of intimidation | Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

John Cruickshank, Toronto Star
June 28, 2010

The G20 security strategy has been spectacularly successful at cocooning the world’s leading politicians and staggeringly ineffective at protecting the property and peace of mind of Torontonians. And the one, inevitably, led to the other.

By bringing in thousands of heavily armed strangers and throwing up barricades everywhere to regular traffic, frightening off good and decent citizens, Canadian authorities created a ghost town in the heart of our city.

Perfect for the political leaders. Protesters were kept blocks away from where the deliberations were going on.

And most protesters conducted themselves faultlessly as the global good and great met behind rings of gulag-like fencing and battalions of police beating Plexiglas shields with batons in a primitive show of might.

It was, however, less than perfect for the city, its businesses and its inhabitants. The only force that can prevent vandalism and mayhem in a city is the presence of its population. Surely that was the lesson every urban planner learned from looking south to the hollowed-out urban war zones of the United States in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

No police force, no matter how large, how well armed, how empowered to limit the civil rights of citizens, can stop vandalism in the empty shell of a city. Canadian authorities have proved that two days and nights running.

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A disarmed people are vulnerable, and at risk of enslavement to the expansion of authoritarian governments both domestic and foreign. Dictatorships thoughout history have employed gun control to devastating effect. This is the fundamental reason for the 2nd Amendment to the American constitution. This is a principle urban Canadians, who have been trained in a couple of short generations to quake in fear at the thought of a gun, have lost sight of. Kids in the US used to take their guns to school and stick them in their lockers. It was no big deal, the culture was accustomed to handling firearms responsibly. This, then, is the point that some ‘tea party’ types exercising their right to open carry at demonstrations are making. It is not a threat to shoot Barack Obama, as some moronic media commenters have inferred, voices quavering at the thought of the evil guns.

The stakes are very high when it comes to whether the citizens of any country are permitted their right to a means of self-defence, which is why there is so much obfuscation and spin around the issue. Which is why legitimate gun owners are demonized and police forces are directed to engage in tactics like knock and talk, seizures for minor violations of arbitrary registration laws, and bribery (cameras for guns) programs to encourage disarmament. This ruling by the US Supreme Court is a victory for liberty, but it is not an absolute victory, given that the absolute right of any citizen to act in their defence is now subject by this decision to any limitation local governments may dream up. It could be argued that this is a Pyhrric victory – it simultaneously affirms the intention of the constitutional framers on the one hand, while simultaneously restricting the right they held to be such an important check on the power of central governments with the other.

Related: UK doctors agree to waive privacy of mentally ill gun owners | Toronto police beat man, TASER dog in failed gun raid | Liberals aim to put a bullet in bill to scrap gun registry | Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | Anti-gun registry bill hits snag as committee votes not to proceed | Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry | Gun activists rally in U.S. capital | George Jonas: Mr. Bumble’s gun registry | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | BATF Notice Bans Private Gun Sales In Texas | Parliament votes ‘in principle’ to scrap gun registry, bill moves to second reading | Tories move closer to killing gun registry | UK: Paramilitary police placed on routine foot patrol for first time | Toronto police seize 400 guns in ’safety push’ | Handgun bans and the world of make-believe | No vote scheduled on Tory bill to kill gun registry | Americans stick to their guns as firearms sales surge | Secret Homeland Security Threat Assessment Labels Gun Owners Potential Terrorists | Harper urges supporters to fight long gun registry | Police-run gun amnesties in trouble across country | 1,900 Guns Traded for Cameras in Toronto | Toronto Police offer gun owners shiny new camera, home visit to disarm themselves | Layton promises urban gun control | Ont. premier calls for Canada-wide ban on handguns | Citizens Witness Gunplay, Black Uniforms as ‘Flashpoint’ Shoots Drama in Heart of Toronto | A historic gun club’s final days | Chicago, awash in gun violence, gives Toronto advice: You need a gun ban like ours | Illinois governor suggests National Guard help with Chicago gun crime | Armed Police to Roam Toronto High Schools | My gun, my right. We’ll see | Municipalities Join Miller in Calling for Final Citizen Disarmament | Pistol Pendant Causes Airport Holdup | Miller wants shooting ranges shut down | Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway

Bloomberg News
June 28, 2010

A divided U.S. Supreme Court said the constitutional right to bear arms binds states and cities, as well as the federal government, in a decision that raises questions about gun laws around the country.

The ruling, while not creating an unlimited right for individuals to carry weapons, restricts the power of cities and states to regulate firearms. A 5-4 majority said Chicago went too far by banning handguns even for self-defense in the home. The Chicago ordinance is now unenforceable, its mayor said, though the law stays in effect pending lower court proceedings.

The ruling said states and cities can ban possession by convicted felons and mentally ill people and enforce laws against bringing guns into schools or government buildings.

Chicago is the only major city with a blanket handgun ban, after a 2008 Supreme Court decision struck down a similar ban in Washington, D.C., a federal enclave. Jurisdictions with narrower weapons restrictions, including New York City, may now face new legal challenges.

The right to bear arms “is fully binding on the states and thus limits (but by no means eliminates) their ability to devise solutions to social problems that suit local needs and values,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.

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Related: North Korea rejects talks with UN Command on sinking of warship | G8 wraps with money for maternal NGOs and words for Iran, N. Korea | U.S. to Join South Korean Military Exercise Off North Korea Coast | North Korea reacts angrily as Seoul’s navy holds military exercises off coast | North Korea to sever ties with South | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted by authoritarian hate and ignorance | North Korea calls for peace treaty with US | State Of War Between Two Koreas After Armistice Ended | Swiss nuclear-smuggling suspect says CIA made him do it | How the USA Gave North Korea The Bomb

The Telegraph
June 28, 2010

North Korea said Monday it would bolster its nuclear weaponry in response to what it branded US hostility

It comes as world leaders intensified pressure on Pyongyang over the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Recent developments underscore the need for the North “to bolster its nuclear deterrent in a newly developed way” to cope with persistent US hostility and its military threat, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Baek Seung-Joo of the (South) Korea Institute for Defence Analyses, said the statement indicates the North would start developing nuclear weapons based on highly enriched uranium.

After years of denial, the hardline communist state last September announced it had reached the final stage of enriching uranium – a second way of making nuclear bombs in addition to its original plutonium-based operation.

Tensions have been high on the peninsula since Seoul, citing a multinational investigation, accused its neighbour of sinking a South Korean warship near the disputed border in March with the loss of 46 lives.

The North, which angrily denies responsibility, has threatened a military response if the UN Security Council takes action over the issue.

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