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Summer demo season begins
Jun. 25th, 2011 08:29 pmI went to this today. The Star gives an estimate of "hundreds," which was probably accurate; it was a pretty small demo, consisting of a whole bunch of people I hadn't seen in awhile. I didn't actually get near the demo proper because I just kept running into folks I knew and having conversations. Brigette DePape, Rogue Page, was adorable; in general, there were better speakers than usual, though significantly worse music.
There are good bands out there who write political songs, even in Toronto. If they can't or won't play demos, perhaps we shouldn't have musical interludes at all. It would be better than hastily-written songs that don't scan.
At one point, a conspiracy theorist decided that I should read his pamphlets. This was probably not wise, as I immediately got excited and asked about lizard people. He avoided the question in favour of a convoluted theory involving ice cream and the Rothschilds and One World Government. I then got even more excited and told him that, what a coincidence, I was part of said conspiracy, and that I figured that if there was going to be a One World Government, I should get in on that. He became visibly upset and asked, plaintively, "BUT DON'T YOU KNOW ABOUT BIOMETRICS?" I replied that of course I did and I couldn't wait for them to come out with new ones.
I am a bad person.
Later, I mused aloud on where these conspiracy theorists, particularly the Truthers (who sent one representative with a full-colour placard, t-shirts, DVDs, and so on) got all their funding from, as it costs money to produce DVDs and they were handing them out for free.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sphinctourist suggested that they might be funded by the Bilderberg Group.
Anyway, it was great being out in the nice weather and catching up with friends. I am increasingly dispirited about the prospects of any significant progress coming out of the whole debacle last year. There is no peaceful, legal way to hold the police accountable for beating people and ruining lives, no real restitution for the people who were jailed, lost their jobs, lost their relationships, and continue to suffer PTSD. I think the Star has actually been doing an awesome job at nailing down the worst offenders and highlighting the stories of activists who suffered the worst brutality, but when it comes down to it, the vast majority of people in this city and country seem to feel that it doesn't matter all that much or that it couldn't happen to them, and are increasingly inured to abuse of power. Maybe they even like it, I don't know. No one trusts the cops anymore but no one has proposed any sort of solution either.
In related news, the NDP have been awesome, holding a 39-hour filibuster to stop back-to-work legislation against the locked-out postal workers, but CPAC is now reporting that the bill passed despite their best efforts.
There are good bands out there who write political songs, even in Toronto. If they can't or won't play demos, perhaps we shouldn't have musical interludes at all. It would be better than hastily-written songs that don't scan.
At one point, a conspiracy theorist decided that I should read his pamphlets. This was probably not wise, as I immediately got excited and asked about lizard people. He avoided the question in favour of a convoluted theory involving ice cream and the Rothschilds and One World Government. I then got even more excited and told him that, what a coincidence, I was part of said conspiracy, and that I figured that if there was going to be a One World Government, I should get in on that. He became visibly upset and asked, plaintively, "BUT DON'T YOU KNOW ABOUT BIOMETRICS?" I replied that of course I did and I couldn't wait for them to come out with new ones.
I am a bad person.
Later, I mused aloud on where these conspiracy theorists, particularly the Truthers (who sent one representative with a full-colour placard, t-shirts, DVDs, and so on) got all their funding from, as it costs money to produce DVDs and they were handing them out for free.
sphinctourist suggested that they might be funded by the Bilderberg Group.Anyway, it was great being out in the nice weather and catching up with friends. I am increasingly dispirited about the prospects of any significant progress coming out of the whole debacle last year. There is no peaceful, legal way to hold the police accountable for beating people and ruining lives, no real restitution for the people who were jailed, lost their jobs, lost their relationships, and continue to suffer PTSD. I think the Star has actually been doing an awesome job at nailing down the worst offenders and highlighting the stories of activists who suffered the worst brutality, but when it comes down to it, the vast majority of people in this city and country seem to feel that it doesn't matter all that much or that it couldn't happen to them, and are increasingly inured to abuse of power. Maybe they even like it, I don't know. No one trusts the cops anymore but no one has proposed any sort of solution either.
In related news, the NDP have been awesome, holding a 39-hour filibuster to stop back-to-work legislation against the locked-out postal workers, but CPAC is now reporting that the bill passed despite their best efforts.
