I realize I have come late to this, but after the forced shut-down of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland, I was somewhat relieved to see that Norm Stamper - the former head of the Seattle Police Department - has spoken out against the heavy-handed tactics of some police forces in dealing with the Occupy Movement.
Stamper even admitted that during the infamous "Battle of Seattle" in 1999, the use of chemical agents was a mistake, and that his actions had interfered with the legitimate democratic rights of protesters.
Check out his book: Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing.
In a November 17, 2011 Democracy Now interview, the former police chief states: "There are many compassionate, decent, competent police officers who do a terrific job day in and day out. There are other who are "bad apples." What they both have in common is that they "occupy" as it were, a system, a structure that itself is rotten. And I am talking about the paramilitary bureaucracy."
See the whole interview with Amy Goodman and others here.
i don't look at cops as being any worse than those who do any number of jobs that fuck the rest of us. The probem is the system and the people who decide what the "rules" are going to be and who they get enforced against.
At the same time, any job that gives people such violent authority over others is bound to attract people who will abuse it, or who just like the idea of having authority over others. people like us generally don't become police because to me the whole idea of being a police officer under this set of rules seems wrong.
Cops are small taters. I think it's time we proles threw out the long-time corrupt stoogeaucracy in Ottawa. That should be worth a lot more points on the video game than merely cleaning out a few bad cops. Proles gotta think bigger.
Effecting a consciousness shift in Ottawa is going to require consciousness-raising and education on a grand scale designed to even make the stooges ashamed and embarrassed at their actions. That is why I laud Norm Stamper's book, the Democracy Now interview, and even this site, this discussion, as steps in the right direction. We just need more of them.
The biometric data of everyone in Canada travelling outside the country will soon be available to every national security institution of the US. The plan constitutes an exit visa of sorts for the purpose of tracking everyone's movement, using material extracted from our own bodies.
Under ideal circumstances, this should not bother us in the least, but so long as paranoia and sheer meanness are the operative terms of our continental security apparatus, this can be worrisome indeed.
Slumberjack, very interesting moniker btw, what do you mean by this? By that I mean, details like how are they going to get our BMD, and where is any info on this?
Among the highlights of the new "Beyond the Border" plan:
- There will be enhanced tracking of travellers in both countries, and both nations will try to identify threatening people who seek to "enter the perimeter" of both countries so they can be stopped.
- An entry-exit system will be established in which both countries share information on when their citizens have crossed the border.
- Each country will obtain more information, including biometric data, from people in foreign nations seeking to come to the U.S. and Canada.
- Each country will share more information about criminals in their countries who might be seeking to cross the border.
- Police forces and security departments will work more closely to identify "radicalized" people who might become violent.
- Security officials, including armed police officers, will work as teams on either side of the border - with Canadian and American policemen venturing together into the territory of each nation.
- There will be joint screening of cargo coming from foreign countries to Canada and the U.S., so that it is screened just once for both nations.
- Some companies in either Canada or the U.S. that ship goods across the border will be given "trusted" status so that the shipment is pre-screened at the factory instead of the border.
- There will be more opportunities for Canadian travellers to obtain NEXUS cards to get faster clearance at border crossings, and governments will commit more funds to open up more lanes for quick clearance at air and land crossings.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Border+deal+seeks+security+tr...
No. American security officials will venture into Canadian territory, and Canadian security officials will stay in Canada. On paper our security forces can move across borders, but in practice the US will never accept foreign agents on their own soil.
Travellers will voluntarily provide their biometric data of course, just as they submit to body scans, strip searches, and genital fondling at airports.
Oooooooo... Kinky... I should fly more often...
And Steve will still be allowed to keep his tn visa for when making his way to Warshington to beg corporate America to rob us blind of raw materials and energy, accept marching orders for our military, and to take dictation personally with regard to Ottawa's colonial administrative tasks and duties in general.
Meh, it's no big deal. The only reason for individuals to cross the border is to drive to Mexico - cheaper and faster to fly. The only reason for businesses to cross is to buy dear and sell cheap. We should import Israel's apartheid wall, thereby terminating two fowl with one boulder.
Pay no mind to the motto of the border security services then...'god helps those who help themselves.'
If you go through US Customs pre-clearance at a Canadian airport remember that you're still in Canada; they can't detain you or search you. They might call the RCMP but you won't end up in a US prison cell. If you pass that point then keep in mind that the security clearance will be done by Canadians, not DHS/TSA goons. The TSA BS won't happen.
The problems will start when you try to return; you'll be completely under DHS/TSA control, and any thoughts you might harbour about "due process" will be quickly erased.
Good luck!
(Remember, staying in Canada is your safest vacation choice.)
And the stoogeaucracy will be tasked with informing Uncle Sam of whenever you leave Canada to visit countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Cuba, etc. The Harpers don't mind dealing away Canadians' right to privacy and sovereignt in general. But, hey, it's not like we had a real country anyway.
Aye-aye, Uncle Sam, whatever you say goes on the double-double! The Yanks must be laughing their heads off. Again!
This certainly has to be seen as an unintended consequence of the rise of the surveillance state. It's doubtful this era of heightened watch over the population was ever meant to reveal the everyday brutality of the police and their accompanying lies and cover-ups.
Great article, Slumberjack. Of course not everyone has the advantage of being an endocrinologist and having a video recording of the police assault. I hope he sues their asses off.
And in less cheery news, aka, the "Duh, Of Course" department:
Minorities more likely to be frisked by police: New York City. OMG stop the presses.
UK Terrorism Act: Over 100,000 stops and searches result in no arrests for "terrorism". Lovely. But we knew that already.
The UN's rather useless tome on the topic (pdf). It's good for a laugh. Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF): Working Group on Protecting Human Rights while Countering Terrorism
Ha ha ha! Those UN task force peeps are hilarious!
I didn't keep the link, but this morning I read a post on Facebook that said the Occupy protestors are suing the cities that evicted them (in the USA) claiming their rights to free speech (and other rights) had been violated.
US Military Dictatorship to Designate Americans as Enemies During Collapse Ron Paul
Saboteur
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/12/saboteur/#more-40690
"An interview with a domestic insurgent.."
Not necessarily. Many officers honestly believe they are doing us a favour by stopping the "bad guys," and I once watched a police dog demonstration where the officer putting on the demonstration said that using the police dog to find one missing senior citizen feels better for him than finding several bad guys.
but 'Befehl ist Befehl'...
Remember G20 Toronto
Remember Mandy Hiscocks, and remember the enemy's [Toronto Sun] write up of her jailing.
From Hiscocks's excellent statement in court:
Andrew Gavin Marshall on the High-Tech Police State (and audio)
http://www.corbettreport.com/interview-451-andrew-gavin-marshall-on-the-...
"Discusses the police state, the technologies that undergird it, and how the police state spreads across borders to become an international phenomenon. We talk about methods and techniques of control, and how they serve the interests of the social engineers.."
Ontario's top police complaints watchdog has concluded five officers involved in the now infamous arrest of G20 protester Adam Nobody should be charged with misconduct for using unnecessary force and for discreditable conduct, CBC News has learned.
CBC News has obtained a report produced by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) on Nobody's violent takedown on the lawn of Queen's Park in Toronto on June 26, 2010.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/01/19/toronto-g20-adam-...
Came across this, this morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME_uUd2I4uo&feature=share
http://charlesotherpersonality.blogspot.com/
http://oldmaison.blogspot.com/
First I've heard of Charles Leblanc. Not sure what the 'defamation' was, but it seems from looking he's just a pain in the butt-- the kind that should be welcomed, and at worst, tollerated in a democracy. Maybe some east coast babblers know more about him.
Anyway, it puts me in mind of something that's been a theme with me for a couple of years. When we talk about the 'police state' we most often focus our ire and attention and our protests against the front line cops. And that's not wrong when they are wrong.
But as long as our focus stops there, nothing will be done. We really need to go after Crown Attourney's who selectively prosecute. We need to tackle "plea bargains" which are nothing more than a device to keep poor people going to jail, and rich people out of jail.
And we need to start focusing on J.P.'s and Judges who rubber stamp police requests for search warrants.
These people are fascilitators, and they are the ones who give the crooked cops the cue on when, and against who, they are allowed to be crooked.
It's the whole rotting corpse that we refer to as the state; that people keep trying to resuscitate using a variety of methods including mouth to mouth electioneering, which begs for our indifference and a proper burial.
Charles is well-known in NB as a burr in the side of authority. As you can tell from the comments section on this CBC news story, opinions about him are divided.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/01/20/nb-blogger-...
How about these nifty new gadgets? Coming soon to a city near you (although you may never know it).
Full-Body Scan Technology Deployed In Street-Roving Vans
Deep Police State Surveillance and the Death of Democracy - by Tom Burghardt
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30079
"...When President Obama signed the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) into law on December 31, he did more than simply facilitate on multi-billion dollar boondoggles for the current fiscal year, he set the stage for what journalist Christopher Ketchum called 'The Last Roundup,' and what James Bamford's source described as our approaching 'turnkey totalitarian state'..."
Brits To Pay $3 B To Be Spied Upon: Web, Email, Text
http://rt.com/news/uk-government-spy-law-082/
"UK taypayers will have to pay billions of dollars to have their web-surfing, email exchange, text-messaging and even Skype calls, monitored. In addition to the hefty price-tag, innocent Brits risk being misidentified as terrorists. However, the above figures are based on 2009 estimates, which mean the actual price, if it were estimated now, would be higher still.
British security agencies are pushing for a law, which would allow police to gain access to who you are calling, what sites you surf and how you play video games..."
our fences are moved ever closer
[url=Canada">http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/canada-s-jewish-community-establishe...'s Jewish community establishes citizen security service to thwart anti-Semitic threats[/url]
This doesn't fit neatly here, but I find it troubling.
What? Like hiring JDL thugs? Or tithing synagogue members to hire X-E/Blackwater guards? Or pushing to enact "Stand your ground" laws like in the US?
and the program is run by a serving IDF Border Police officer. I wonder what the reaction would be if Toronto's Muslim community set up their own 'security and counterintelligence service' to 'prevent Islamaphobic attacks' and employed someone from Hizbollah or Hamas to run it? I sure hope people appreciate the implications of this, but like the JDL-EDL international hate alliance, these Zionist networks and initiatives seem to get a free pass here and absolutely everything is permitted because our government loves them, our opposition are "ardent supporters in all situations and circumstances" and they're Indigenous land thieves just like we are.
more info here:
http://rabble.ca/comment/1329707
I have no doubt this operation is also designed to investigate, profile and generate intelligence on the Palestinian solidarity movement here and Anti-Zionist activists, the information to be communicated to the relevent Israeli authorities. Likely you'll find a big fat grant from the Government of Canada to run this too. Like George Galloway said: Canada has become little more than an embassy for Benjamin Netanyahu..
Someone from CSIS would likely attend the meetings to offer up free designer vests and maps of public landmarks.
People only give these people the power to infiltrate with impunity at the voting booth when they usher in the political lackeys. We have a three headed Cerberus for a political system, chained down and trained to obey a gang of opportunistic parasites.
Sexual Humiliation, A Tool to Control the Masses - by Naomi Wolf
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/10831-sexual-humiliat...
"Believe me: you don't want the state having the power to strip your clothes off. History shows the use of forced nudity in a state that is descending into fascism is powerfully effective in controlling and subduing populations.."
'US Plan Another 9/11 Style Attack?' (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235910.html
"A political analyst says that US government agencies are planning another 9/11 style attack, as the administration continues losing control of most of its citizens, Press TV has conducted an interview with Gordon Duff of Veterans Today to further discuss the issue."
750 million rounds of 40 cal. hollow-point ammo ordered by DHS. Must be planning to do one hell of a lot of shooting..
Hmm.... that's about 2.5 rounds per U.S. citizen. And what would it be costing said citizens from taxes, I wonder?
'I Was The Fall Guy': Julian Assange In His Own Words'
http://www.zcommunications.org/i-was-the-fall-guy-julian-assange-in-his-...
"..there's no longer a need to select who you intercept - you intercept everyone and you personally record the whole thing, and then if sometime in the future you become interested in someone, you have the whole archive of all their communications and you understand who they are and who their friends are. You don't even need intelligence agents to do this - there are algorithms that fan out and look at the network of people and how they're connected together. It's a kind of coming totalitarian surveillance-state.."
It's already here, but it is continuously expanding. The CSEC is moving into modern new digs at some point, to be constructed near the CSIS building, with perhaps a pedestrian tunnel between the two facilities. The Sir Leonard Tilley Building in Ottawa apparently doesn't cut it anymore. We only have to list a few of these unique monitoring institutions to suspect they'll be needing their own province before too long.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC)
Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch (DND)
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC)
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)
Royal Canadian Mounted Police - National Security Criminal Investigations (RCMP)
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
Chief of Defence Intelligence (Canada) (CDI)
Canadian Forces Information Operations Group (CFIOG)
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (COMFOSCAN)
[url=http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/09-14]Thirteen Ways Government Tracks Us[/url], by Bill Quigley
I think the STASI and KGB were prolly easier to get rid of than NSA and CIA spooks in our cell phones, emails, and social forums.
..in the late 80's the letter carriers still had there own union and this was their last strike as such. it was also a very dynamic strike.
..heard from union sources that a request was made to a friendly comrade at bc tel/telus to check if the union offices were being bugged. the answer that came back was that yes the lcuc was bugged but that cupw's office check had set off an alarm. this meant that the bug was permanent and had security features. the lcuc bug was temporary, strike duration.
..immediately following the lcuc strike, cupw went out. talking to a national officer they had created a test of planning a demo at a minister's residence. some people showed up only to find the police waiting for them.
..there was an rcmp inquirery where their was testimony by top rcmp brass that this went on a lot.
European Parliament Agrees to Send Airline Passenger Data to US
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3352378/european-parli...
"EU politicians allege their colleagues 'held to ransom' by the US authorities over controversial PNR deal.."
Canada has also agreed. With little controversy. Most probably don't even know about it.
Weaponized Data: A New Front in Global Capital's Control Grid
http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.ca/2012/04/weaponized-data-new-front...
"From driftnet surveillance to data mining and link analysis, the secret state has weaponized our data, 'criminal evidence, ready for use in a trial,' Commenting, Salon's Glenn Greenwald pointed out that the 'domestic NSA-led surveillance state which Frank Church so stridently warned about has obviously come to fruition.
The way to avoid its grip is simply to acquiesce to the nation's most powerful factions, to obediently remain within the permitted boundaries of political discourse and activism. Accepting that bargain,' Greenwald noted, 'enables one to maintain the delusion of freedom - 'he who does not move does not notice his chains,' observed Rosa Luxemburg..."
and for now anyway, that surely appears to be the Canadian way.
Good stuff Boom Boom. Pretty straight up for a C of E bible-thumper..
Also from Quebec: Manifesto for a Maple Spring
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