Next Time, Let Calgary Host The Damn Thing

I'm safe in Ottawa, by the way. Wonderful city; I've dropped about $100 at bookstores I never know existed (Argosy, All About Books), and found that bar that served the wonderful raspberry beer (The Clock Tower).

Radical Commie Confronts THE MAN

Read James Laxer's subversive rantings here.

Meanwhile, Jim missed this dangerous protest, where police were forced to "don riot gear" to stop radical samba bands from playing Latin music that didn't involve Carlos Santana.

Or was it all an elaborate charade to sneak Jim through the lines where he might convince this foreign leader to fly straight and ditch a couple of the wives?

Defenders Of Democracy Need Donuts!

Another shot of the G20 security scene in downtown T.O., via Impolitical (who gets i from someone else who, presumably, works downtown. Hopefully, he doesn't get found out and busted as a terrorist).

Because Cops Need Jobs Too

Normally, on a warm summer weekend, I would spend my time cruising downtown TO's used bookstore-strips, now in tragic decline due to the Internet and a general increase in stupidity, and then reading my new-bought treasures at some local sports-bar, dressed pretty much like this guy here (except that I would be wearing one of my many, many pairs of sports sandals, because way back when when everyone wore sandals and stuck flowers in their hair was a Golden Age and you youth of today, with your green hair and nose rings and your tattoos and that shitty music.... all suck magnificently).

But not this weekend, with the G8/G20 lock-down in force. The wife and I are off to Ottawa because she's allergic to the smell of tear-gas and they've got book-stores in Ottawa and its a nice cultural center that's less than a plane-ride away. (Wish they had better restaurants, though)

Anyone around over the weekend that wants to quaff a few beers, email me at bigcitylib@hotmail.com and we'll see what might transpire. I think I've rigged up something Sunday afternoon with Balbulican, Marie Eve, and Dr. Dawg himself, who will, for a small fee, actually let you touch that crazy mustache. I won't reveal the location until later, and privately, to avoid assassins and unwanted press attention, but it will be somewhere near the market.

H/T

Yo! Mark Holland!

Kady writes:

Liberal MP Mark Holland heads back to the National Press Theatre for yet another press conference on "Conservative waste" at the G8/20 summits, although at this point, it's not clear whether he has any new tidbits to share or simply wants to keep the $1 billion security cost in the news cycle for another day.

And, as Imp notes this is the kind of security a $1,000,000,000 buys you:

1. The G8 security team moves fast! Exposed as a major security breach, a "doozy" was one word used, in reference to the Deerhurst Inn's floor plans being available online. They're still up after being on the national news last night (fast forward to 7:00 min mark). Good work security team!

I see synergy!

PS. Presumably the lake the lakeside rooms are beside is a real, and not a fake, lake.

Stockwell Day Calls RBC Bombers Terrorists

...blames them for G8/G20 security costs.

The first part of that statement I have no problem with--indeed I wonder if the gov. will actually put its money where its mouth is and charge whatever suspects are rounded-up under our terrorism laws.

The 2nd part is, of course, bullshit.

PS. BCer quantifies the exact amount of bullshit at issue. Is Stock really saying those four anarchists cost the nation an extra 800 million?

Stockwell Day: Russia Threatened Europe With Nukes Over Kyoto

Sometimes Stockwell outdoes himself. From his weekly column:

What do you do when you're sitting around a table with the world's American super-power which has been outside the deal, and the world's German hosts who says "Everybody better deal" and the world's former communist giant who says "I'll aim my nuclear rockets at your cities if you go ahead with your deal”?

The deal, it becomes apparent, is the Kyoto accord. And thank Goodness, says Stockwell, that Canada "stepped up" with a compromise. Otherwise, who knows? We were this far from Armageddon. Paris might have gone up in a ball o' fire.