Look at Harper

and you see a corporate goon willing to carry out their every wish. I'm very disturbed by the warlike stance this government takes on nearly every issue whether it be legitimate protests such as those at the the G8-20 or on a perceived "enemies at the gate" attitude in the Defense commercials trying to attract new cannon fodder.

I don't believe we are a warlike nation just yet but Harper and the rest (and I include the Liberals) are surely trying to make us one.

Our enemy is within, they

Our enemy is within, they are our political and business elite and are committing economic treason. Our mass-media is not reporting this nor any other political parties. But the great unwashed know about it and are getting pissed-off. The authorities sense that something is stirring hence the police business in Toronto this summer was a 'dry-run', a rehearsal for any future protests.

Don't Be Naive I...

"I am referring here to the commitment of the Harper government to implementing policies that increase the importance of a war-fighting military in Canadian society, its preoccupation with tough-on-crime legislation, its blank cheque to security operations like the one "protecting" the G20 summit, and its continued efforts to convince Canadians that they face the constant risk of terrorist attack." MDobbin

While I much agree with the thrust of this article, I suggest that it would be strange indeed if we did NOT face the risk of a terrorist attack. You want to stand too close to the Amerikans, the Brits and their global "imperialist" alliance, you had better be prepared to take on their enemies and risk their, in my view, entirely understandable attempts to mount attacks within our borders.

It is not reasonable to expect that we should be killing, maiming, torturing and jailing so many of their populace on their homelands, including hundreds of thousands of civilians, and wrecking havoc across their society and economy, and not expect that they might want to retaliate against our "tolerant of imperialism" population, infrastructure etc. (In their eyes.)

So this fear on the part of the quasi-fascist Harperites, brought to us initially by the Liberals it should be mentioned, is likely well founded.

The solution though is simple enough; a sincere apology, withdrawal and reparations to Afghanistan etc. Not the Security State.

The mounting of the brutal and now being discovered, illegal in many aspects (no warrants, cops with no identity indicators, the passage of an illegal emergency law etc.) police repression at the G20, and the ongoing building of a manifold Police State apparatus is less based on the above fears, and more on our own internal circumstances. They know full well what the social impacts that the changing times and economic circumstances for the citizenry is likely to bring: a more restive domestic population. And they are preparing in advance to deal with it. Hence the expansion of a surveillance, police, military, prisons and internal espionage apparatus.

continued next post...

Don't Be Naive II...

from previous post...

These people, the Harper fascists and the entire compliant parliamentary party system, are not total fools, as we are often inclined to write them off. They know as well as certainly I do, what is coming... One does not have to be a soothsayer or weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. ...The current "apathetic" appearance state of the population is a "false" face phenomena, in my view, and is like an invisible, odourless and tasteless gas drifting across the landscape. Until it finally hits something that ignites it. And it is but a matter of time, before it does.

These ruling class folks and their politicians are not total fools, just blind with greed and with the instruments of power in their hands.

So actually, in my view, their fear and preparations are on the one hand at least, rational enough, based on a real fear of the inevitable consequences of what they are doing and facilitating. It just does not appear so to us, looking at it from quite a different social landscape perspective.

Prepare for the times. Heed their warning activity. Don't be naive.

It's the security........

That our world has built. Nice to blame it on one person, but why do we try to personalize such issues? Is it easier to focus if you're of limited intelligence?

If a country is "important",

If a country is "important", it faces security threats and has to mount massive security measures. So if a country mounts a massive security effort then it must be important...right?

Why is it all the "Terrorists" are so dumb?

Or young and testosterone driven, like those boys convicted of playing paint ball and saying they wanted to do some decapitating on Parliament Hill being led by a " paid police agent".
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/506507
"Canada's first convicted terrorist was a naive 17-year-old Muslim convert who was easily manipulated as well as lacking education and street smarts. But in a landmark decision yesterday a judge ruled there was overwhelming evidence he belonged to a homegrown terrorist group.

The young man, accused of attending two terrorist training camps and stealing items for the so-called Toronto 18, displayed no emotion when the verdict was read in a Brampton court.

"(The youth) clearly understood that the camps were training for a terrorist purpose," said Justice John Sproat as he read from his 94-page decision. "He also understood that contributing materials to be used at the camp enhanced the ability of the group to conduct the training."

Prominent in the judge's decision was the testimony of paid police agent Mubin Shaikh, who had come under attack during the trial from Crown prosecutors when they accused their own star witness of fabricating evidence to protect the youth."

The Yemeni "man on the street" knows it's a sham....how come Canadians are so naive?

"The people of Yemen simply don’t believe in Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden, and for good reason. When Abdullah al-Faqih, professor of political science at Sana University told the New York Times, “We cannot differentiate between what is propaganda and what is real…Some of what looks like Al Qaeda is really terror as a business.”
With early news stories being continually contradicted, bombs that weren’t really bombs heading out on flights that never existed, carrying packages for companies that don’t service Yemen, all heading for Chicago synagogues,"
http://redactednews.blogspot.com/2010/11/al-qaeda-presence-not-credible.html

Crooks protecting crooks

Its called criminal justice for a reason folks.

Here's a little Right Wing Haiku:

BBC today on the death of Massera:
At his trial in 1985, Mr Massera refused to apologise for the abuses, saying the military was fighting a war against left-wing subversion.

"Nobody has to defend himself for having won a fair war," he said. "You can't interrogate a terrorist as if you were questioning a child."

Human rights groups say up to 30,000 Argentines were killed during military rule.

salient points

Dobbin points to some central contradictions in the world-view of so-called fiscal conservatives - namely the willingness to spend unlimited public monies on prisons and war-making while simultaneously insisting that schools, healthcare, and social welfare programs be limited due to lack of funds.

As to the F-35s. These are the latest shiny toys the US military-industrial complex has to offer, and they are only offered to a select group of loyal allies. To certain politicians, being "in" on the chance to purchase these planes is a form of flattery. It is, in a way and in it's price tag, a form of tribute to the empire. But beyond that, they are a bad product. Here's an informative podcast with much detailed information - "The F-35 Boodoggle" http://www.electricpolitics.com/podcast/2010/05/the_f35_boondoggle.html

What is puzzling is so many

What is puzzling is so many support Canada's George W. Bush...

14 defining characteristics of Fascism

"Fourteen Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Brit

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

post continued

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Does this sound familiar?