There are many things money can buy and, to no one's great surprise, one of them is an election.

As the Occupy Vancouver protest enters its second month, the dynamics of the occupation and the city's response are on the verge of a major change. First, by the time this blog is posted, the B.C. Supreme Court may have ruled on the city's hoped for injunction against the camp. Depending on the outcome, the city may choose to launch a clearance of the site. The riot police have been training for this scenario for at least a week and a hard response is hardly unlikely given the recent events in other cities, including against the original occupy site at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan.

It is one thing to know that politicians lie. As the old joke has it: "How do you know a politician is lying? His/her lips are moving."

Innately, we all know that many politicians do, and do so much of the time. It is quite another thing to watch one do it to your face. Case in point, Mayor Gregor Robertson's sickening performance at a press conference on the side of the Art Gallery on Hornby Street on Saturday night. Roberston earned his spot in that special place in hell reserved for lying politicians as he placed the blame for the death of the young homeless woman at Occupy Vancouver (OV) on the protest camp itself.

On Saturday Oct. 8, OccupyVancouver's first general meeting was held in the Woodward building's atrium. Organizers had originally planned to hold the meeting in the basement conference room, but as more and more people filled the room and staircase, it became clear that a larger space would be needed. I don't know how many people came and went during the meeting, but it was certainly in the hundreds.

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests are rapidly growing and spreading from New York to other cities in America and Canada. Vancouver will join the list with a protest scheduled for Oct. 15 at the Art Gallery.

You've got to give the folks at City Hall credit: they run true to form. FOI releases occur on Fridays, usually late enough to make sure they won't get into the news until Monday.

The latest FOI release on the Stanley Cup riot, the "Third Proactive Record Release," came out on Friday, September 23, at 10:59 a.m.

These releases are in response to various queries about how the City of Vancouver did, or didn't, prepare for a potential riot.

The questions asked by various reporters, including me, are actually quite simple. In order:

Why is it so hard to get a straight answer from Vancouver City Hall? There are some really simple questions whose answers the public has a right to know. First, did the city approve Chief Constable Jim Chu's request for almost $1.3 million for Stanley Cup policing, yes or no? Second, if yes, when did they approve it?

We now learn from an administrative report dated September 1, 2011 that Penny Ballem, the city manager, recommended that Vancouver city council "approve $1,000,000 from the Contingency Fund to cover those expenses that cannot be absorbed by City departments related to the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Live Site activation, policing of the public realm, and the incremental costs associated with the riot that took place on June 15, 2011."

Last Friday, the City of Vancouver released the first batch of documents requested about the city's preparations for the Stanley Cup playoffs and the ensuing June 15 Stanley Cup riot after the final game. These documents were released in response to Freedom of Information requests that various persons, including me, submitted after June 15. This first release (one more will follow in late September) can be found at: City of Vancouver FOI page or the Information Releases section of the City Notices and Publications page.

The whole event has run the gamut from spectacle to pathetic farce: Vancouver Police Department chief Jim Chu and Vancouver's Gregor Robertson desperately trying to shift blame for the Stanley Cup riot away from their own culpability onto the backs of others. First, the riot was blamed on "anarchists." Alas for Chu and Robertson, some of the normally tame media are having trouble understanding exactly how anarchist mind control of drunks is supposed to work.

Now Chu is going after Robert Whitelaw, one of the contributors to the report on the 1994 report on that year's riot. Chu seems to be hoping that by slagging Whitelaw's contributions to the 1994 report, his own lack of any back up plan will be sidelined.

This just in: an unofficial transcript leaked to rabble.ca. In it, Vancouver City Manager, Penny Ballem strategizes with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Premier Christy Clark, and VPD Chief Jim Chu about how to manage the fallout from the Stanley Cup riot.

The meeting seems to have happened on Wednesday night as the riot was still underway.

"PB: OK, we've got a situation here...and it's not good because we all look like we were totally unprepared for the riot. Bunch of drunken teenagers going berserkers and we let it happen. We need some options, and quickly!

GR: We could blame someone...

CC: I know! I know! Commies!