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Live G20 blog @ The Toronto Star

cleanup

cleanup

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jun 26, 2005
2,643
10
Toronto
http://thestar.blogs.com/g20/

Pretty crazy stuff happening here today. I narrowly avoided the rioting down near Yonge & Dundas. I was in Starbucks, was locked in for a bit. I then saw people fleeing down Bay street in the opposite direction, so I decided to leave. Most businesses have locked down, and it was an effort getting home as riot police have blocked off many streets. Luckily I live across from the back entrance of the Metropolitan Police Headquarters, so my condo probably won't be vandalised/affected.

All in all, the G20 has ruined my weekend! I will support every citizen's right to free speech and protest, but a small group of idiots are causing a ruckus downtown, endangering ordinary citizens and giving the police an excuse to respond in kind. Uncool. I doubt many of the rioters are from Toronto in the first place.
 
G20 Blog said:
6:37 p.m. Air Canada Centre Andre Rieu's concert cancelled tonight

Andre Rieu’s concert at the Air Canada Centre has been postponed, according to Ticketmaster.The classical violinist’s show was slated to start at 8 p.m. Saturday.Ticketmaster has no further information at this time regarding a possible new date for the concert.

Hundreds of well dressed, disappointed fans of Andre Rieu had braved their way into downtown Toronto only to find their concert cancelled.
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The protestors have gone too far when they come between Andre Rieu and his well-dreseed fans. Do they have no limits :mad:.
 
cleanup said:
All in all, the G20 has ruined my weekend! I will support every citizen's right to free speech and protest, but a small group of idiots are causing a ruckus downtown, endangering ordinary citizens and giving the police an excuse to respond in kind. Uncool. I doubt many of the rioters are from Toronto in the first place.
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A small group of idiots? I am sorry you were inconvenienced while people were trying to fight against the New World Order. I hope you like being a slave.
 
bizzle said:
A small group of idiots? I am sorry you were inconvenienced while people were trying to fight against the New World Order. I hope you like being a slave.
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Seriously? Thousands of people protested today, which is FANTASTIC! Then yes, a small group of IDIOTS, come in and cause poo to hit the fan. How did they help? What did burning police cars, looting, destroying businesses do exactly? Endanger peoples lives? Yup! Drown out the voice of those with actual messages? Yup! Cause the police to become more defensive, rightly so? Yup! Send a message? Nope!

All the media has been talking about for the past hour is the vandalism and car burning.
 
amoda said:
Seriously? Thousands of people protested today, which is FANTASTIC! Then yes, a small group of IDIOTS, come in and cause poo to hit the fan. How did they help? What did burning police cars, looting, destroying businesses do exactly? Endanger peoples lives? Yup! Drown out the voice of those with actual messages? Yup! Cause the police to become more defensive, rightly so? Yup! Send a message? Nope!

All the media has been talking about for the past hour is the vandalism and car burning.
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Not to mention the COSTS:
Higher taxes - due to storefront damages
City owned police cars; heck maybe even leading to a strike from local police after all of this for higher pay which ... you bet comes OUT of ALL our Ontarian taxes.
I was really pissed that I had to walk 16km downtown and back from Bloor because NO transit was allowed in the downtown core (ANYTHING East of Spadina, South of Bloor, West of Sherbourne was on LOCK Down: No subway, streetcars or buses.

How many elderly was affected with sores, injuries, or even breathing problems on a humid (not so hot) day having to walk so far home today?!

Senseless righting.

And for the fool that posted about being a slave ... careful there - I'm of a race where slavery has YET to be apologized for in the USA, or recognized by the UK government. That is NOT a word to be used loosely, nor is the Holocaust, or words like World War I/II. I HATE how comfortable we've gotten to so loosely use words to relate to other things.
 
Prom1 said:
I was really pissed that I had to walk 16km downtown and back from Bloor because NO transit was allowed in the downtown core (ANYTHING East of Spadina, South of Bloor, West of Sherbourne was on LOCK Down: No subway, streetcars or buses.
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Jeez, I didn't realize it was this bad. So glad I'm not in the city right now.
 
Sad to see whats happening to our peaceful city. I have no problem with *peaceful* protesters.

The Black Bloc and other violent protesters should **** off.

I could see fires from where I live. Very strange - to see what I see on TV - actually happening.



bizzle said:
A small group of idiots? I am sorry you were inconvenienced while people were trying to fight against the New World Order. I hope you like being a slave.
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You are a ****ing wanker if you condone the violence.



EDIT: macrumours, maybe you should censor the word "wanker"

MORE:

If the Black Bloc had any balls, they wouldn't be covering their heads with hoods. *COWARDS*.
 
I've been at Bay and Dundas all day without incident. I went out and surveyed the damage about an hour ago, between Dundas and College on Yonge. Most of the damage was minor and was limited to specific storefronts; American Apparel, Foot Locker, Starbucks and the like got hit, while local businesses like Marble Slab were left alone, and some like Mama's Pizza were even still open. What damage was done seemed fairly targeted and organized, leading me to believe it was from a small group of affiliated demonstrators like the Black Bloc.

I live on Carlton, it seems like that area got hit a lot harder, despite being farther removed from the summit. College Park got smashed up, as did the police centre.
 
bizzle said:
A small group of idiots? I am sorry you were inconvenienced while people were trying to fight against the New World Order. I hope you like being a slave.
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Are you a member of this said group of idiots? It is their fault that the police are now justified in kicking ass and taking arrests. Peaceful protestors were marched upon with tear gas and zipties just because those Black Bloc folks started showing their disregard for people's wellbeing. Thanks to them, now everyone who bothered to show up at the protests is labeled. Yes, a small group of idiots.
 
It's time for the police to break out the live ammo. These violent anarchist scum and leftists deserve whatever is coming to them. I support the Canadian police in their crackdown against these criminally violent neanderthals. Hopefully there will be more juicy video footage to come, I've got my popcorn ready by the microwave. I like seeing stupid people get smacked down by the police.:D
 
Black Macbook said:
It's time for the police to break out the live ammo. These violent anarchist scum and leftists deserve whatever is coming to them. I support the Canadian police in their crackdown against these criminally violent neanderthals. Hopefully there will be more juicy video footage to come, I've got my popcorn ready by the microwave. I like seeing stupid people get smacked down by the police.:D
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They better have the streets cleaned up by the 1st or I am going to punch one of those hooded *******s in the face and get deported on my first day. :D
 
Black Macbook said:
It's time for the police to break out the live ammo. These violent anarchist scum and leftists deserve whatever is coming to them. I support the Canadian police in their crackdown against these criminally violent neanderthals. Hopefully there will be more juicy video footage to come, I've got my popcorn ready by the microwave. I like seeing stupid people get smacked down by the police.:D
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Agreed. As a former Torontonian I'm outraged...I think CSIS and Immigration Canada really dropped the ball letting these troublemakers in to the country just to cause problems...

-J.-
 
.Andy said:
Are there no citizen anarchists in Canada :confused:?
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What does that have to do with anything? I'm sure that there's some Canadian troublemakers who live in Canada. That doesn't mean that they have to allow in more troublemakers and criminals than they already have.
 
.Andy said:
Are there no citizen anarchists in Canada :confused:?
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Get with the program, there are only six anarchists in total but they get around a lot every time there is some sort of civil disorder in Europe or north America it's those same six (usually black clad and often riding motorcycles) they organise the completely unable to think for themselves majority into given lip to their masters and betters.:)
 
.Andy said:
Are there no citizen anarchists in Canada :confused:?
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Obviously not. If CSIS and Immigrations Canada had handed out a survey to new arrivals that asks "are you a member of the Black Bloc?" the honour system would have stopped this from happening.
 
G20 Protests: Oh the futility!

After the events of this past weekend I'm really not sure what was accomplished, and I really wonder why people see this as an opportunity for their voices to be heard.

A significant part of my weekend was spent watching live feeds and coverage of events, and the only 'cause' I clearly recognized was the protest outside of the temporary detention centre complaining about the conditions and treatment in the facility. Well I guess that's not fair; I know there was a labour movement protest at one point, but I have no idea what they were protesting about. It could have been salaries, child labour, long hours, no free coffee in the break room... who knows.

None of the protesters issues got through this week, it's partly the media's fault; they didn't take the time to investigate the issues behind the protests but also a large chuck of the blame can be placed on the protesters too. The protesters themselves didn't seem to have any clear agenda other than to show up and march, they didn't communicate directly with the media and didn't clearly explain their issues. All the protests were so ineffectual I wondered why they bothered at all.

Instead the media's attention was focused on a group of #@@holes who just wanted to cause a little destruction to make themselves feel powerful. The world leaders had their meetings and spent a billion of Canadian taxpayer dollars. And people with possibly legitimate concerns and issues never got heard. :rolleyes:
 
Raid said:
After the events of this past weekend I'm really not sure what was accomplished, and I really wonder why people see this as an opportunity for their voices to be heard.

A significant part of my weekend was spent watching live feeds and coverage of events, and the only 'cause' I clearly recognized was the protest outside of the temporary detention centre complaining about the conditions and treatment in the facility. Well I guess that's not fair; I know there was a labour movement protest at one point, but I have no idea what they were protesting about. It could have been salaries, child labour, long hours, no free coffee in the break room... who knows.

None of the protesters issues got through this week, it's partly the media's fault; they didn't take the time to investigate the issues behind the protests but also a large chuck of the blame can be placed on the protesters too. The protesters themselves didn't seem to have any clear agenda other than to show up and march, they didn't communicate directly with the media and didn't clearly explain their issues. All the protests were so ineffectual I wondered why they bothered at all.

Instead the media's attention was focused on a group of #@@holes who just wanted to cause a little destruction to make themselves feel powerful. The world leaders had their meetings and spent a billion of Canadian taxpayer dollars. And people with possibly legitimate concerns and issues never got heard. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure the last part of your post was the major cause of the first part. If people weren't burning cars the protesters might have got some media coverage. Someone holding a sign peacefully vs. police car burning and tear gas canisters being fired, mainstream media knows what sells.

I am surprised that this event costs a billion dollars, that seems outrageous for a meeting over a few days.
 
The protesters like to blame the police for over reaction, but the protesters seem to forget the police wouldn't have been more proactive if the *minority* groups such as the Black Bloc didn't go trashing downtown. As a consequence, innocent protesters got arrested.

The police are an easy target to criticize, instead of the real criminals.

The police showed great restrained on Saturday and I'm glad as a tax paying citizen that the streets remained safe on Monday to continue life as usual. The $1 billion price tag may have been excessive, sure. However, peaceful protests were allowed to happen, which is all good and fine.

The Black Bloc and other elements over shadowed the legitimate messages from the protesters. The protesters against the police actions at college and yonge this monday evening should be targetting Black Bloc instead who over shadowed the weekend events, negatively.
 
Stella said:
The Black Bloc and other elements over shadowed the legitimate messages from the protesters. The protesters against the police actions at college and yonge this monday evening should be targetting Black Bloc instead who over shadowed the weekend events, negatively.
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Very true. I don't necessarily agree with the police tactics used at Queen and Spadina on Sunday night, but it seems the protesters don't want to reflect on the actions of some in their ranks.


Zombie Acorn said:
Im pretty sure the last part of your post was the major cause of the first part. If people weren't burning cars the protesters might have got some media coverage. Someone holding a sign peacefully vs. police car burning and tear gas canisters being fired, mainstream media knows what sells.

I am surprised that this event costs a billion dollars, that seems outrageous for a meeting over a few days.
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The media is part of the problem, but the violent events of a few wasn't the deciding factor in my attention to the events of the G20 (to be honest it had more to do with my proximity to those events). :eek: The cost though was really outrageous and probably could have been done cheaper and with less disruption to businesses and residents if it had been held at Exhibition Place (south-west of downtown by the lake). The feds apparently didn't like the idea (I'm guessing it was the lack of security-zone hotel space maybe) and that was that.
 
I'm not trying to downplay the events in Toronto this past weekend, but I like living in a country where the torching of a couple cop cars, and the smashing of a dozen store windows is considered a national crisis. Compare that to the riots in past years of Paris and the UK, and Greece where entire buildings and city blocks were torched, people seriously injured, and lives lost. We are truly blessed in this country.

The black bloc are not protesters, they are thugs who rationalize what they have done. After they get caught they cloak themselves in some issue or another. But if they never got caught, we would never know what it was that they were supposedly protesting.

It would have been much more valuable to the effort if those tens of thousands of peaceful protesters had been able to have a day of protest, and not a single cop had been needed for anything more than traffic duty. It would have shown how excessive the $Billion security budget was, and made the G20 organizers look paranoid. Now, thanks to the black bloc, Harper (Prime Minister of Canada for those of you reading from afar) can claim the budget was necessary and the money well spent.

Ironically, despite Sarkozy's claim (boy was that a diplomatic jab, eh!) to be able to spend one tenth of the money next year for their G8/G20 summit, it's pretty well certain the black bloc have ensure that money better spent on health, housing, and education, will now be spent on the police, military, and security apparatus.

Selfish black bloc - or should we call them bloc heads?
 
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