Civil dissent is not a conspiracy!

[previously posted to facebook notes]

With each day that passes, the sharp and distinct feelings -- rage, disgust and disappointment -- over the recent police actions in Toronto, fade just that much more. If the officials continue to control the pace at which these events will be "legally" dealt with, the public will sink back into blissful ignorance and the numbers opposing the leaders of this free nation (ha!) will dwindle. I refuse to let it go. This fire that burns in the pit of my stomach re-explodes every time I tentatively reach out to touch it. We, the people, must take back our country, our freedom, our rights -- before we no longer have the ability and mobility to fight.

The more I educate myself over the events that took place, by reading personal accounts or watching extended YouTube videos, the words to express the anger, sadness, disappointment, outrage, shock and utter disgust at the actions of police authority during the 2010 Toronto G20 mistake escape me. It would take a much better writer than myself to capture this deluge of emotions. I am not sure the digital equivalent of shaking my head, but somehow it feels as though that is really all I can do at the surreal comedy of errors which took place in Canada, the True North, strong and free.

The history of the Canadian national anthem, with versions changing over the years, is a good place to look for slogans of what it feels to be Canadian, the homogeneous message is clear:

1880 - Thy valour [...] Will protect our homes and our rights!

1906 - Defend our rights, forfend this nation's thrall!

1970 - [...] keep our land glorious and free!

In late June 2010, the 'Thin Blue Line' was spun into a noose by actions taken during the Toronto G20 mishap, and has now hung itself out to dry -- will Chief of Police William Blair take the fall, as the vocal showpiece of this administration, or will those who pulled his strings be forced into the public eye and held accountable for their decisions to trample the Canadian Charter?

It has been suggested that there is no proof for Blair's wrong-doings, however -- I'd like to suggest that video footage of him encouraging the non-existent 5m rule be tinder enough to allow all actions taken under his command during the summit spark the roaring fire in which his career has gone up in smoke. The following are comments taken from fellow Canadians who have signed a petition to have Blair resign.

[Ed. note: I may have edited for grammar/spelling, but at no point did I alter the message. I do not claim these points to be my own words, but certainly, many of them are things I have said already.]

• As a citizen I have the blood of our constitution on my hands.
  
  
• We have a duty to speak against this injustice.
  
  
• An erosion of accountability is followed closely by an erosion of trust.
  
  
• The officers who were put in this situation, where they were given free-range to trample the rights of individuals living in Toronto [need to be held liable to criminal charges for their documented and/or video recorded actions.]
  
  
• Are we living in a military state? Police are meant to be there to protect the public, not intimidate, beat and harass them.
  
  
• Blair's abuse of the powers of his station were shocking and totally unbecoming of a city official.
  
  
• The inexcusable actions by police leave me breathless. Illegal searches, imprisonment, sexual misconduct with female and gay arrestees, assaults of all shapes and sizes.
  
  
• The gentleman with one leg who was harassed, abused and had his artificial leg torn from him and detained with no reason. The young hearing impaired man who could not discern police instruction and was separated from his friend and consequently roughly arrested and detained with NO interpreter. The young man with cerebral palsy who was taunted and humiliated by police in the detention center. The older man who was paralyzed on one side and wet himself after being given no assistance to use the facilities. The speech-impaired detainee who was cuffed with hands behind the back, and unable to communicate for upwards of 20 hours. Are they seriously security threats that ONE billion dollars could not more appropriately address? These actions by police are inexcusable and there is no reason the police, provincial or federal government could use to justify the excessive use of force and the inhumane treatment of citizens of this country. These stories are only the tip of the iceberg and it is impossible to hide them all.
  
  
• The Law Enforcement Oath states: "On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the constitution my community and the agency I serve." Under the command of William Blair, the police force has broken every vow within that oath.
  
  
• The action of the ISU during the G8/G20 has brought nothing but shame upon the [entire Canadian] police force.
  
  
• A police officer who does not uphold the law and the rights of the citizens he serves, has no right to the badge he wears.
  
  
• William Blair - I can not believe the horrendous legacy of crushing people, and our civil liberties. Civil dissent is not a conspiracy.
  
  
• I am so ashamed to be Canadian today.
  
  
• Either he doesn't understand the Charter of Rights & Freedoms or he willfully ignored it.
  
  
• There was no call for the Draconian measures or flagrant disregard for human rights exhibited and apparently sanctioned by the TO Police during the G20.
  
  
• The tyranny the cops imposed is inexcusable and if we don't weed them out now we will all become the victims
  
  
• I am CONTINUALLY astonished of the stories coming out that flagrantly display massive abuse, torture and complete DISREGARD of our constitutional rights!! PUBLIC INQUIRY!!
  
  
• The more I read, the worse it gets. Scary.
  
  
• How could large numbers of Canadians turn a blind eye to this terrible story and still cling to the opinion that authorities acted responsibly on that dreadful weekend – or, worse, that merely by being on the scene everyone present was “asking for it”?
  
  
• Since the G-20 disgrace I no longer consider myself proud to be a Canadian. My Canada day was celebrated by an upturned Canadian Flag icon on my facebook profile with the statement, “Oh, Canada….”That doesn’t mean I will stop assembling, stop rallying and stop protesting though; if anything it will push me further to do so. Canada and Harper in specific allowed an atrocious nightmare to unfold without any concern on their behalf and unfortunately for them, people finally have noticed and are not happy with it at all. His actions backfired.One step closer to dissent within this country. An ugly event like this does not do much to promote peaceful protest, which it obviously condemned, but only armed struggle. Go, Canada, Go.
  

The petition we were invited to sign (which can be found here: http://chiefblair.resignnow.ca/this_is_my_right-1.html) included this quote: "I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind." Many people chose merely to paste this as a comment. Choice is a choice word, but I think the key thing to remember is that freedom is never free -- what is your freedom worth to you?

Canadian Antipathy?

[previously posted to facebook notes]

I'm still reading... and reading .. and reading .. in no particular order, this is some of it:

1) http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/LettertotheEditor/article/800965 [bad link]

2) http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/aalya/2010/07/black-and-white-and-rage-all-over

3) http://biseenscene.com/2010/07/03/criminal-conspiracy-maybe-but-did-anyone-have-a-stapler/

4) http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/boasts+largest+mass+arrest+Canadian+history/3223036/story.html [bad link]

5) http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/29/g20-chief-fence571.html

6) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/weapons-seized-in-g20-arrests-not-what-they-seem/article1622761/

and always: http://www.pressfortruth.com/

but most importantly are these words

"As the stories of the protests continue to emerge, my hope is the pre-digested reality spoonfed to us from the lips of leaders will break down enough for us to continue to feel, articulate and act on the momentum of our rage."

Veja Magazine – Get both sides campaign

Don't let that rage die out ... time can be a strong method to douse the flames burning in you now, but don't give in -- keep yourself informed and DISGUSTED at the acts that were carried out in the name of 'public safety'.

Don't allow the G20 to be your only anger -- look at the broader picture. Think about our children. Do we start the battle now, or leave it for their generation, after the other side has already been entrenched for decades. You decide.

freedom n 1: the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints

The Year is Now 1984.

unity==strength

[previously posted to facebook notes]

I can not believe how many "don't be there if it looks dangerous" and "stay at home" and "what did you expect" comments there have been in response to the G20 horror show in Toronto last week. I don't expect anyone to read this, I just need an outlet to EXPRESS something. My hands are tied, but my fingers scream across this keyboard, the only weapon I may ever possess.

I admit to tears while watching the plethora of YouTube videos documenting this surrealistic comedy of errors. It boggles my mind that I have been so naive for so many years, to think I actually lived in a land of freedom of movement and freedom of speech. To think we as Canadians were somehow better off than our neighbours to the South. I admit to many more tears over the past week, while driving in my car, while playing at the park with my young daughter, while simply sitting and staring -- an act I am not well known for, but have found myself to be in more and more since news of the G20 events first were told.

I. Feel. Powerless.

Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a farce.

SecII: ... freedom of expression, freedom of the press and of other media of communication, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association.
Sec VII: right to life, liberty, and security of the person.
Sec VIII: right from unreasonable search and seizure.
Sec IX: freedom from arbitrary detainment or imprisonment.

and all capped off by Section I:
"The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."

DEMONSTRABLY JUSTIFIED.

People were walking home from work, home from dinner, out to gather with friends. People were exercising their freedom of movement and freedom of peaceful assembly ... and for using their Charter-given rights, they were aggressively approached, surrounded, psychologically attacked (as in told to go home, without being given a means by which to comply, and then arrested for non-compliance), and then detained without explanation for upwards of 20 hours.

This didn't happen to one, or ten people. This happened to at minimum, _ S E V E N _ H U N D R E D _ non-criminal bystanders. The criminals, or rather, the police express regret that innocent people were 'caught in the net'. If these were the odds of a fisherman's daily catch -- weeding out 700 of the wrong kind of fish, just to get 200 of the maybe kind of fish and 10 or 20 of the right kind of fish... he would not be employable for very long and his family would starve!

Heck, we even study the bystander-effect on children when related to bullying and how it can be damaging to the human psyche and future development. I certainly feel like these acts were done to my neighbours and my friends, not only my fellow Canadians, but merely my fellow human beings -- and I sat at a distance of 100km and did nothing. Could do nothing. Was powerless to assist.

How can we even consider "staying at home" as an option to AVOID what "was to be expected" from this event? Go to work, pay your taxes and don't make trouble, has been said (tongue-in-cheek) in previous comments. Does this sound like a democratic system? Did you invite the G20 to the center of Toronto? Did you choose to spend $1 billion (that we don't have) on so-called security measures which were used as a tool to harass the innocent? I certainly didn't, but then, no one asked me.

What is the solution? What is the recourse? For those who weren't even given paperwork to prove they were robbed of an entire day of their life and held in sub-standard conditions, what can be the recourse except multiple hours and dollars in long, drawn-out court appeals, which will never actually make up for the events that occurred.

The time for action has come.

If there truly are masses of people ready to take back their freedoms then we need to get organized, unify and choose to stop. As in -- stop using banks, stop paying bills, stop purchasing, stop giving them the means by which to control us, the money that funds their unwarranted expenditures and all-sweeping decision making.

I know its not really that easy -- you need a roof and ... electricity and food and running water, etc, etc, etc .......

But if millions can find a way to survive it in third world nations ..... why must we in the civilized (read: comfortable) world continue to be the fodder for their canons and funding all they do? We go to work, we pay taxes, those in power do what they want and when we disagree, they don't listen... but we continue to go to work and fund their decisions.

Getting educated about your rights is still important, but the time for getting ready to fight has come and gone. The fight is already upon us, and from the monotonous responses to the recent injustices, it is overtly apparent that long-standing propaganda and main-stream news agency are winning the silent war. Exercise your freedom. Words and placards and flowers and peace ... will get us nowhere, or, as we've just witnessed, will get us unlawfully removed and detained. ACTION is where its at, but nothing says it must be _violent_ action. Can it not simply be us saying enough is enough is enough?

Dear Casual Sex,

I forever call out your true identity. You are not Casual, you are Empty. And it is finally time for me to tell you to hit the road. You are not wanted here any more. I have been visited by you for almost a decade now, and really, since I was 16 and didn't have a choice, didn't know better, didn't really understand the invitation I was extending.

Well, I'm an adult now. I know the feelings that come with your arrival. The emptiness, the guilt, the feeling of self-rape and degradation.  I want no more of this. I will rewrite my script and I will find meaningful and real interactions with other mature adults that have no basis in your realm. Empty Sex, you shall cease to rule my existence.

While I have had some friendships form out of your easy means of interaction, these relations will always be tainted by questions of intent. Is he only here for the sex? Does she come back because I make her feel sexy and wanted? Is he only saying those nice things so he'll get some later?

And the fear of what may come, hidden between the sheets, requiring a professional's attention, or even worse, a life-sentence, shall haunt my nightmares no more.

I bid you a quick, painless goodbye and ask only that you do not write.

Yours in sincerity,
Cassandra J. Henry

Creepy things happen to me all the time!

The latest:

Kyla and I were driving home from Etobicoke to St. Catharines .. (I, of course, was driving, she was in the back seat!) and as happens quite often, she was starting to feel car-sick, so I told her to look out the window and find the furthest thing she could see and try to figure it out .. so she decided to find shapes in the clouds ... and she said she could see a dragon's tail ... and its head was up above the car ... so I played along, wondering if it was going to eat the car! And she shouted YES! .. so I asked if she knew a magic spell to protect us, she didn't know one, but said she knew one to make us invisible... and she proceeded to chant a spell that involved lots of hand actions and spooky words and swooshing noises ... and then she said "Okay! Now we are invisible!" .. and silly me, told her it worked, that I couldn't see the car at all! And no sooner had she said "yay! neither can anyone else! I really am magic!" ... then the big black truck to my left put on his signal and changed lanes RIGHT into me .. I honked and edged onto the shoulder of the road and braked all at the same time ... there was no accident, thank goodness, but the driver of the truck didn't even seem to REACT to my honks or evasive actions.... as though we weren't even there!!!

Kyla moments!

I keep meaning to write these down, so I thought I'd take a second and pop them on here:

1) We were out for dinner with my mom and sister last night, and they now bring the debit machine right to your table. So there my mom is, punching in tip and such, and Kyla slips out of her chair to watch over my mom's shoulder. After a moment, Kyla pipes up "Are you going to win?" (as though a video game is being played!) :) it was very very adorable!

2) We do not have television in our house. Not that we don't have a physical TV, but anything that goes on it is either downloaded from the internet or store-bought. Kyla has been VERY into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I found the first three seasons from the 1980's airing for her to watch (nearly 80 episodes). We do have rabbit-ears on her little television, and she often gets PBS in the morning before school. This morning I woke up with a headache and so I got Kyla breakfast and turned the tv on for her -- but it was on a different station. Eventually, the more recent version of TMNT came on, but about half-way through, Kyla came into my room and asked if she could please watch her other TMNT, because she was didn't want to "watch a little bit of the show, and then watch bunch of pieces about other shows that are going to be on, before watching more of this show!" .. it took me a minute to understand that she meant, she didn't like commercials!! :)

I love her every day, but some moments are just ... more!

25 random things about me...

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

(intentionally left un-numbered, but I assure you, there ARE twenty-five!)

Hallmark-holidays depress me. I always say I want to celebrate earth-driven holidays, like solstices, but I never seem to gather with the right people for such celebratory events to occur. Help?

I enjoy baking for other people. Cheesecake, muffins, apple crumble, zucchini bread, cookies, whatever. I recently discovered a recipe for double-chocolate cookies and replaced the chips w/ mint chips -- DIVINE!

I like to think that I think differently than other people. I've never been anyone but me, so I don't know how other people think. This creates a certain fallacy of my first statement. Tell me, do you think like I think? And if we thought the same, would we express our thinking in the same manner? What do you think?

The first boy I ever 'dated' was when I was 12. It wasn't until I was 15 that I had my heart broken and it wasn't until 19 that I was devastated by love. I often wonder if we ever truly recover from those wounds.

If I had to pick a favourite "great mind" it would be Arthur Schopenhauer. If I had to pick a favourite "artist" it would be Alex Grey. If I had to pick a favourite place, it would be inside a cuddle.

I've always wanted to write a book (since I was 9 at least). I've had poetry published and even some of my art, but it is the elusiveness of form that leads me astray from book-dom.

There is nothing quite as spectacular to watch as professional yo-yoing.

My favourite flower is a white calla lily. Roses are over-done, Carnations are my mom's flower and anything else just doesn't come close to the elegance of my favourite.

I often leave off reading the last chapter, or couple pages of a book, if I'm certain the author will end the story in a way I don't want to accept -- to this day I've yet to read the end of Cujo, Fahrenheit 451, and several others.

My favourite 'colours' are argyle, camouflage and paisley.

Kyla's middle name (Raeghan) came to me in a dream while I was pregnant. I wish I'd pushed harder for it to be her first name. I still hold hopes that she will change to it when she's older.

I watched the one movie that is guaranteed to make me cry every time (Untamed Heart) for the first time this year without crying, and I felt terrible for not being able to shed tears. Have I changed that much?

I often feel like the whole world is laughing at me behind my back, and if I were to leave the room just a moment later than I meant to, I might catch the first sniggers.

I love my daughter more and more every day, and yet the older she gets, the harder it is to be a single parent.

The most exhilarating high I have ever felt was after talking to 300+ grade 9 students about making good choices (and not choosing drugs!). It was better than any drug I've ever done (and I've done too many to list!) I am terrified to do a talk like that again, but I know I will.

I have a cat named Elvis and a cat named Trinity that live with me, but they are not my cats. I have a cat named T.O.C. (The Other Cat) who does not live with me, but he will always be my cat.

I feel guilty when I let my daughter's fish die (four times!) and really bad about flushing them down the toilet without so much as a farewell.

I haven't even applied to Ryerson yet (I will by Tuesday of next week) and I am already looking at the cost of living in Toronto.

I've always been a high 80's or 90's student, without ever truly applying myself. I am afraid to actually apply myself to something, for fear of failure -- I have never failed at anything serious in my life (except relationships).

I forgot my dad's birthday for the first time in my life this year.

I value my alone time. In a world so full of people and commitment and responsibilities and appointments and rush-hour and dead-lines and, and, and! I value the ability to sit, alone, in a quiet space, with a cup of (Chai) tea.

I give. I give to the point of my own detriment. I give so much that people just expect it of me and don't even notice. I wish sometimes I could stop giving, but half the time I don't even notice that I am!

Twenty-five seems rather arbitrary. The last one I read asked for sixteen, which also holds no significance. Would eighteen suffice? Would thirty be too many? A goal of mine might be to find the exact number that holds enough information without being overwhelming and yet not quite enough to be filling. (Is it a baker's dozen?)

I'm OCD about many, MANY, many things. The problem is -- I can always "get on" with the rest of my life, so it is not classifiable as OCD. But I will dwell on the things left un-done ... if I didn't get to stack my used creamers inside one another, with the sugar packets rolled and stuffed inside the top one, I will feel slighted and focus on the loss for extended periods. If I can't check the time when I wake up, I will feel completely disoriented until I catch a glimpse of clock.

I used to rearrange the items in my fridge before a date would come over, on the off chance he might be looking when I offer him a drink, and will think "wow, she has a very tidy fridge" which, to my mind, would score bonus points in his mind. (Now do we understand why I have relationship problems?!)