Our New Canada #StopBillC51

In 1933, Hitler established various policies both before and after he took absolute power. Some were:
1. Censorship
2. Gun Control
3. A Bill virtually identical to C-51 (as per Rocco Galati, Constitutional Lawyer)
4. A Bill virtually identical to the Barbaric Practices Act called the Malicious Practices Act
5. The only people considered German were those the Nazis deemed 'genetically' pure germans and German Citizenship was restricted to them.

The REAL issues facing Canadians today are C-51, C-24, the Barbaric Practices Act, the Border Security Act, (just to name a FEW) not the manufactured issues fabricated by MSM, based on flawed logic and falsified statistics like gun control, anti-smoking bigotry, anti-male bigotry, ETC.

And note, that these Bills recently passed in Canada make most of the crimes committed in this book LEGAL!

From the Shadows: Persecution Games, a fictionalized memoir by Kitty Hundal

Books: From The Shadows : a fictionalized memoir by Kitty Hundal

From The Shadows : a fictionalized memoir by Kitty Hundal

Expected publication date June, 2015.

From The Shadows is a timely fictionalized memoir highlighting the damage that can be done when a rogue Intelligence Agent with wealth and connections is able to abuse their power and engage in malicious persecution with impunity.

It's a warning to the citizens of the world about the inherent dangers of placing our civil liberties in the hands of the state without appropriate regulations and controls. It's a warning that needs to be heeded before it's too late.

The abuses this next generation will be facing will be far worse than anything I have experienced and what I experienced was horrific.

Power doesn't corrupt. Power attracts the corrupt.

Police Corruption and the State Machine

Disclaimer:

Please note that I am not ‘anti-police’, ‘anti-medicine’ or ‘anti-government’.

This article is not intended to malign these institutions as a whole. It is intended to explore the issue of individual police officers, medical and psychiatric personnel, and government bureaucrats who are corrupt and abuse their power to further career, personal or other agendas.

I don’t doubt that the vast majority of police officers, medical and psychiatric personnel, and government bureaucrats are honest, decent, hard-working people with difficult jobs to do and do them ethically and exceedingly well.

The few that are corrupt, especially those in high places can do a great deal of damage not only to the targets of their corruption but to the institutions of policing, medicine, psychiatry and government as well. So this is a matter that should be of concern to those institutions as well as every individual member of those institutions.

I’ve been writing a lot about corruption lately. Probably because it really does permeate every aspect of our society.

Here in Canada, in my opinion, it’s gone to such extremes that we are now moving in line with the third world where it’s simply accepted and a given.

The only exception to this appears to be Quebec where some standards apparently do exist and recent attempts to engage in bribery and corruption have been exposed.

Montreal doctors accused of taking bribes

Ex-Laval mayor charged with gangsterism; 36 others arrested in sweep

Abuses uncovered at Montreal 'asylum' (1999)

Whether anything substantive comes out of these exposures in Quebec or whether they will simply fizzle out, allowing the corrupt to return to business as usual, remains to be seen but at least something is happening there.

Ontario, on the other hand ….

No probe into police corruption allegations

The reality is that much of this activity is already illegal. The problem isn’t that these acts aren’t recognized as illegal and often criminal acts.

The problem is that the processes in place are abused by those that society has provided with special trust like certain individual police officers, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, government bureaucrats, politicians, intelligence agents, etc. And they are abused to further corporate, political and even personal agendas of the members of the wealthy elite and their associates, agents of influence, et al.

You and I can’t abuse these processes. We’d get caught and go to jail. But the right people with the right connections and enough money, resources to back up their demands, certainly can and have done as evidenced by the articles provided.

We are also moving in line with some of the most fascist and authoritarian states in history and the strategies they used to keep the populace from rebelling against the injustices heaped on them with impunity. Note that these strategies were also used by members of the elite to target individuals for personal reasons.

Punitive psychiatry—some debate in USA about who is and who isn't sane Or Even a paranoid has some real enemies

Concerns of Punitive Psychiatry as Government Tactic in Russia

For example, one well known and respected social activist in Toronto, has been explicitly told by a member   of the TPS that they are mentally ill. Why? Because they’re engaging in legitimate dissent. Although I’m sure the individual officer making that vile claim won’t give that as the explanation. Irrespective how they rationalize it, such claims effectively take the position that it’s ‘delusional’ to think that we have some serious problems in the political and social system we live in that are crying out to be resolved.

I don’t doubt that those particular members of the TPS who advocate this fascist and rather authoritarian position would love to do the following and we may yet see that happen in Canada, if it hasn’t happened already without our knowledge:

Kazakhstan Journalist at Risk of Forcible Psychiatric Treatment

A new psychiatric disorder has even been invented to deal with the ‘problem’ of social activists engaging in legitimate dissent, called Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

No doubt that anyone who disputes a police officer’s testimony in a court room must be delusional or mentally ill because a police officer would never perjure themselves on the stand or provide unreliable testimony for any reason now would they? And if they did we would hold them accountable for that criminal act and for betraying the special trust we’ve provided to them wouldn’t we?

Peel officers who ‘lied under oath’ won’t face criminal charges

According to this article, yes some police officers do lie under oath and no we don't always hold them accountable.

A police officer would never threaten citizens with frame-ups and false arrests now would they?

Police officer threatens to beat up man and plant cocaine on him, video shows

Apparently they would and no doubt this has actually happened to others by police officers who were lucky enough not to have been exposed on video.

Despite this reality, our Justice System, when dealing with anything from the most serious crimes to the most minor traffic infractions takes the police officer’s word as gospel when there’s a direct conflict between what the police officer says and what the defendant says.

Just like the Medical and Psychiatric system takes the word of it’s professionals as gospel when there’s a direct conflict.

Or, the government bureaucracy takes word of it’s civil servants as gospel when there’s a direct conflict.

One can argue that the defendant should have evidence to support their claims. This is true.

However, how does one defend themselves (by getting that evidence) when the police officer lies in court and the defendant is unaware that they are going to do this? Or, when Medical/Psychiatric professionals and government bureaucrats lie in Hearings and the defendant is unaware that they are going to do this?

Even if the defendant is aware that lies will be told, unless the defendant knows what lies will be told how are they to get the evidence and be properly prepared to defend themselves?

Under those circumstances, they can’t. The other side, the side that’s lying, has the unfair advantage in this system no matter which bureaucracy one is dealing with.

And since one is dealing with professionals who are lying and know the system far better than their victims, one can be sure they’ve done what they think they need to do to cover their tracks. Or, at least try to cover their tracks.

One can also argue that those professionals should also have evidence to support their claims but our system doesn’t require that they do and if they do provide evidence our system doesn’t require that it be vetted in circumstances where the word of the professional contradicts the word of the defendant.

One can hire a lawyer to ensure that evidence is provided and is vetted but even that doesn’t protect the defendant if the lawyer also doesn’t know what lies will be told and what evidence will be fabricated. The lawyer has the same disadvantage the defendant has.

As a result, it’s rare for any kind of corruption to be exposed in Canada because the state machine itself is corrupt. When it is exposed, I suspect that it’s probably because some member of the wealthy elite is ticked off at another member of the wealthy elite so out of pure spite or revenge they reveal the other’s dirty laundry. They are the only one’s who could do this and get away with it without any repercussions. Whichever one has the better connections wins. Or, a deal is negotiated behind the scenes and the scandal conveniently disappears from the air waves while the state machine looks for a way to rationalize it’s way of the situation.

Seriously. How many Canadian scandals have just disappeared into the woodwork suddenly and nothing more is heard about them? There is no follow up on how the issues were resolved assuming they were or not. This occurs no matter how irrefutable the evidence is or how strong the case is.

The solution to this sort of systemic corruption is quite simple. The professional's word should not be accepted as gospel under any circumstances. When there is a conflict in testimony there should be an automatic investigation into both the claims made by the professional and the claims made by the defendant. 

A process like this would protect everyone's rights because it would deter liars who would then also have to fabricate evidence and it would protect those telling the truth who can back up their claims. 

That won't stop evidence and witness tampering, etc. but those things would harder to set up and it would be easier for the liars to get caught in their lies when the evidence is being vetted rather than just accepted as automatically true because a police officer, doctor, mental health professional, government bureaucrat, etc. says so.

A process like this would give the ordinary citizen a fighting chance at standing up to corrupt professionals who abuse their power.

I have recently run into a personal situation where precisely the above has occurred and the entire drama is circulating around a minor traffic ticket I was issued for an offence I didn’t commit.

Details about that story in tomorrows blog.

“There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” ― Mario Savio

I'm not advocating that we shut the machine down. I still think it can be fixed. I hope I'm right.

Abuse of Power and the Corruption of Justice

There's a saying that 'power corrupts'. I don't believe that is the case. 

History has shown that people do exist who are not only not corrupt but when they attain power they respect the populace and exercise the power entrusted in them judiciously. 

This honorable aspect of human history is best enshrined by our Whistleblowers. The people who often are in positions of power, attempts are made to corrupt them or they are pressured to 'go along to get along' and they resist by exposing the corruption.

The corrupt and morally bankrupt consider those who expose their wrongdoings 'rats'.

However, the difference between the 'rat' and the whistleblower is fundamental.

A Rat is a person who is corrupt and morally bankrupt and who abuses his/her position to inflict harm where no wrongdoing has occurred. Their 'exposures' are most often lies intended to blackmail or bully others into silence or submission or create smokescreens that divert attention from the real issue.

A Whistleblower is a person who has ethical standards and will expose wrongdoing often at their own expense because the Rats are then called on to attack the Whistleblower and create a smokescreen to cover up and divert attention from the wrongdoing.

The reality is that the corrupt and morally bankrupt are attracted to positions of power because their intent from the start is to abuse their power.

The only way this can succeed is if the other halls of power like the Justice system has also been corrupted and allows them to engage in these abuses of power with impunity.

We've seen this partnership of the corrupt with the corrupted justice system and how it operates first hand in the way that the legal cases involving Julian Assange, Aaron Schwartz, Jeremy Hammond, and Bradley Manning are playing out and the impact that these abuses have had on their personal lives.

We've also seen the silence of the traditional media in the face of the outrageous violations of the civil rights of each and every one of these people.

The only way that these injustices can be stopped is by those who are ethical taking our power back.

This can be done in various ways.

Assange is running for election in Australia. Make sure he gets elected.

Don't vote for parties or politicians with a lot of money backing them who have obviously been corrupted. No the deals aren't written down. That would be illegal. The agreements are implicit and acknowledged by both sides.

Pay attention to the courts and judiciary and what they are doing. Require that all proceedings be televised and monitored so that back door injustices are reduced.

There are unethical members of the Psychiatric and Psychology communities who are starting to promote fabricated mental illnesses like 'oppositional defiance disorder' or intentionally misdiagnosing social activists as 'mentally ill'. Pay attention to this development. 

To be continued ....

Corruption and the Corrupt Among Us

NOTE: This blog post is based on a lesson learned in a recent experience with corruption and where I was morally culpable and effectively complicit by remaining silent about it. In the end, the corrupt exposed themselves while falsely accusing me of exposing them and falsely accusing me of harassing them. Neither of which I did. While the impact of this was small in the scheme of things, I believe it was an important lesson for me to learn and to share with others.

We have a serious problem today with corruption that permeates every single part of our society. The only real difference between the corruption engaged in by the “little” guy and the corruption engaged in by the wealthy elite is the impact it has on numbers of people.

The “little” guy who engages in corruption will have a negative impact on a small group of individuals or a social group. Many social activist and charitable groups are targeted by elements like this. They think they can take advantage of the good intentions of the group to further personal agendas often involving fraud not only against the targets of the fraud but against participants of the social group who make the mistake of participating, based on misrepresented good intentions . The personal financial gain of the corrupt individual instigating such campaigns is usually the ultimate goal.

How many charitable agencies have been defrauded out of their incomes in recent years? Many in Canada. The British Columbia SPCA were robbed in precisely this way by one of their own, their accountant.

How many well known social activists are targeted by smear campaigns and lies by those in their own circles? Many as well. Kevin Annett is one such example.

The atheistic communities have also been targeted by corrupt elements like this in recent years. Elements whose only agenda is to fabricate false dramas upon which they can build personal careers on the backs of and financially exploit the generosity of these communities. To accomplish this much disruption and numerous smear campaigns have occurred at their hands against individuals who have merit and have won the respect of these communities through both their actions and their words.

Then there are those who are less well known and where the corrupt individuals engaging in their disruptions are less experienced but using the same bullying and harassment strategies in an effort to destroy the reputations of innocent people.

Note I have no problem with these strategies being used to destroy the corrupt who have demonstrated their corruption and it’s provable. The issue here is that they’re being used against those who are fighting corruption and are innocent. A tangled web of deceit is weaved to cover up these corrupt activities and others are drawn in to conceal making them complicit.

On a larger scale, but with the same psychology of corruption at play, are the bankers who manipulate our global economies and governments to further their personal financial gain. This is done while demanding the implementation of policies which are ensuring the destruction of our economy and social and financial oppression of the populace who are effectively being robbed to further this end. They also use the same strategies to destroy the reputations of those who stand up to them or threaten their profit driven projects in any way.

Corruption is corruption and it’s end is always the same no matter what the means. There is personal gain for someone, somewhere in the mix at the expense of others. And this corruption is firmly founded on the morally bankrupt principle that the “ends justifies the means.”

Our world has become so corrupt that not even our governments, police and other state institutions that are supposed to be there to protect the citizen and work on our behalf can be trusted to do their jobs.

That’s not to say that everyone is corrupt amongst the rich and the poor (and everyone in between) nor would it be right to say that entire governments and their agencies are corrupt. Not in my opinion anyway.

I don’t believe that’s the case. In my opinion, there are those amongst the wealthy elite who do operate on ethical values and principles much like many of us “little” people and there are those both in government and state agencies like police and intelligence agencies who take their jobs seriously; operate on ethical values and principles and are genuinely attempting to serve and protect the citizens who pay their salaries.

We just don’t hear about these people and it’s often these people who are the one’s that get targeted, bullied and harassed out of their jobs and communities by the corrupt who are being lauded to the skies and receiving merit badges, awards and other honours for the privilege of having been bought or influenced by the right corrupt side.

On top of it all, when it comes to corruption, many of us remain silent in the face of it. Why do we do that? There are a lot of reasons for that, some personal, some social. Whatever our reasons the end result is that we become complicit in the corruption and enable it to continue if we don’t take a stand against it.

The Blue Code of police officers ensured that Christopher Dorner, a whistleblower, was persecuted out of his job and ultimately murdered by his own colleagues. At least I consider it murder. No doubt that some will find that debatable. I do not.

The numerous government cover ups of unethical and often illegal criminal activity that have been exposed after years and years are also testimony to this fact that even those innocent of any actual crime are not coming forward to expose these crimes.

It’s not surprising that Whistleblowers are finding that they are not receiving any protections when they blow the whistle on corruption because it’s the corrupt who have the power, money, and resources to ensure that they are persecuted irrespective of any legal rights they may or may not have.

Even at the lowest levels of corruption like that which occurs in the small groups in society, the benefit of doubt appears to go to the liars who continuously revise their stories, misrepresent and mischaracterize events/evidence in a self-serving manner, smear using demagogic propaganda techniques like guilt by association, recruiting “enemies” as well as bullying and harassment techniques like threats and intimidations.

So, how do we, the regular “little” people who have ethical standards and values break this cycle of corruption?

We have to take a stand everywhere we see it. At the lowest levels, in our personal interactions and at the highest levels in the corporations and institutions that are supposed to serve us.

That’s the only way we’ll put an end to it. It’s too pervasive and integrated into our culture for us to do it any other way.

We also have to start demanding valid evidence, evaluate it critically and not accept anyone’s word just based on reputation or friendship or age or whatever. We can always come up with rationalizations and excuses for remaining complicit in corruption. This will expose the liars who are attempting to cover up their corruption.

And we really need to stop putting ourselves in situations where we are complicit.

Hacktivist Byron Sonne Free At Long Last!

I'm not going to repeat the comments that everyone is making about the injustice that Byron Sonne was subjected to. So let's just say that the Judge at his trial ruled that he was innocent.

Here are links to some articles with excerpts from  one that provide details of the history of this case and good commentary and analysis of what occurred.

Congratulations, Byron!

The Verdict Is In ~ Byron Sonne is free by Laurel Russwurm

"Now that there isn’t a publication ban . . .

It’s safe to talk about things I learned at Byron’s preliminary hearing.

CSIS has what they call the “Open Source” program, which doesn’t mean software which allows users to access the source code (the usual meaning) but rather this is a program to spy on Canadians online.  The officer testifying about this program stressed that they only spy on citizens in the “public” parts of the internet, so while they may be reading your Facebook status, he claimed they don’t delve into our “private messages” without a warrant, although he gave the impression that they could if they wanted to.

Still, I find this warrantless invasion of the privacy of private citizens in a democracy more than a little bit creepy.  When they pass C-30 they will be legally allowed to take the next step into our private communications, also without a warrant.

Something else bothered me even more, something said by one of the law enforcement witnesses.  I’m not sure if he was from CSIS or had just worked with them to find information about Byron,  but he testified that CSIS had been unable to crack the TrueCrypt encryption on one of Byron’s computers.  Because of this, he testified, Byron would always be a person of interest to CSIS — even if Byron was acquitted.

I couldn’t write anything about that then, because of the publication ban, but that attitude makes a mockery of our  justice system.   After facing everything that law enforcement could throw at him, Byron has been cleared.  The Crown spent nearly two years trying to prove Byron guilty, spending untold tax dollars trying to transform speculation into evidence, and failed.

I am happy that Byron is now free to rebuild his life.  It was great to hear that his CISSP certification was restored in record time.  And I’m happy that this is the last time I need to write about Byron, so that I can spend more time writing about fictional characters.   I expect I won’t need to write about Byron again until it’s time to plug the book about this mess he plans to co-author with Denise Balkissoon."

*   *   *

"It was the only reasonable legal outcome, but the idea that CSIS or the police might continue to harass Byron Sonne is of serious concern.   Byron Sonne is no longer only presumed innocent, he is now legally innocent.  And innocent Canadians should not have to worry that Big Brother is looking over their shoulder.

MacLeans “Byron Sonne cleared of all charges” by Jesse Brown
Open File: “Byron Sonne, found not guilty on all charges, has plans for the future” by Denise Balkissoon
Chris Olah’s Trial Notes: Byron’s Trial, Verdict
Toronto Star: Byron Sonne not guilty on G20 explosives charges
The Grid: Judgement day for Byron Sonne ~ Nearly two years after he was first arrested on G20-related explosives charges, the Forest Hill resident was freed today following a tense, two-hour hearing.
Security Memetics: Parody song (to the tune of “Sesame Street) “In celebration of #freebyron”"

Creative Commons licence

Hactivist Byron Sonne: Comment by a friend

Kevin Brown, posted the following response to my previous blog, Hactivist Byron Sonne: Justice Delayed, on the Facebook page set up by friends of Byron Sonne: Free Byron Sonne. 

It was so good that I asked and received permission to copy and publish it to my blog. 

Thanks Kevin for your very insightful comments.

Kevin Brown:

"Regarding the incredible issue of bail being denied for 330 days, I would add, as an example of just how unprecedented this is, the case of Vakhtang Makhniashvili (Mariam's father).

Vakhtang stabbed his neighbor with a kitchen knife (came very close to killing him) on a Friday and was released on bail the following Monday! Bail amount for the attempted murderer was $50,000 (compare that to the $250,000 Bail Byron had to post ! for his crime of uploading video's of the convention centre to YouTube!)

There can be absolutely no justification or basis in law for a judge to deny Byron bail within day's of his arrest. The judge who denied bail request was corrupt - plain and simple! She was just doing favors for the police and crown without any regard for the rule of law. The judge has no integrity and she should not be sitting on the bench but she doesn't have to worry, judges are never held to account in Canada. Unlike the U.S. where the media are not afraid to criticize judges, in Canada the media consider judges to be above reproach.

In the attempted murder case above where the suspect received bail within days - his Lawyer was the former top crown prosecutor - Calvin Berry. Berry has many friends on the police force, the crown and the bench and you can see how his cozy connections ensured that his client was given as smooth a ride as possible! (he would go on to stab two more people while out on bail awaiting trial!).

If the judges involved were doing their jobs why wasn't the entire case thrown out after the preliminary hearing? Most of the charges were thrown out but the judge left in a few bogus charges , again doing a favor to the police and prosecutors, a face-saving measure so that they are not left with egg in on their face.

As for the latest charade, where the police made a huge spectacle out of recovering a harmless chemical buried in a back yard - if the judge was doing her job she would have cited the participants for contempt of court. This was not only a harmless chemical (used in high school chemistry labs) we have PROOF that the Police KNEW it was harmless because we can see (in videos) that the officers that lowered the canister into their special "hopper" wore NO protective equipment whatsoever (save for Oakley sunglasses).

Despite the FACT that police KNEW this material was completely harmless they went to great lengths to stage this elaborate theater in an effort to influence the decision of a judge.

If this happened in the U.S. , where they take the law more seriously, I have no doubt that senior police officials (Tam Bui?) would be facing contempt of court charges!

Cases like this remind me why we need to get camera's in our courtrooms. Somehow I think that if the actions of the players inside our courtrooms were to be held up to scrutiny we would see far less corrupt conduct.

Hopefully in making her decision this judge will follow the rule of the law and will not be swayed to find some wrongdoing (however minor) just so the police and crown are not left with egg on their face."

Hactivist, Byron Sonne: Justice Delayed

Will it also be Justice Denied? We won't know until sometime in May. The trial ended in March.

The entire case of Byron Sonne has been an injustice from start to finish.

However, that’s not what I find shocking. We know injustices like this occur. What shocks me is that there is very little moral outrage that it occurred.

Have we become so desensitized to corruption, abuse of process and abuse of power that we either no longer recognize it or simply don’t care? Is it really okay with our government, the media and the public at large to have our Justice system undermined in this way?

Let’s look at the facts:

1. Byron Sonne was the only person arrested during the G8/G20 Summit who was held without bail for over 300 days despite the fact that he committed no violent crime.

This includes people who actually committed violent acts like the fire-bombings of the Royal Bank of Canada and the vandalism in downtown Toronto.

Clement, one of the firebombers, and the only one of the three arrested who was held without bail, went to trial in December, 2010, less than 6 months after his June arrest. Pflug-Back was alleged to have committed thousands of dollars worth of vandalism and was released on bail.

Why was Byron treated in this discriminatory manner? What exactly did he do to deserve this “special” treatment?

2. The case against Sonne consisted of:

a. “guilt by association” claims based on his reading material and email lists he was following;

b. speculation about legal chemicals and other materials he had on his property, some of which were for geek experiments that he was able to demonstrate he was working on;

c. his open and public admission of blackbox testing G8/G20 security.

None of which are criminal acts as far as I know.

In contrast. The cases against Clement, Pflug-Back and some others included video evidence of what appeared to be them actually committing the crimes. 

And yet they weren't held without bail for over 300 days.

Where is the actual evidence against Sonne to support the charges? If there was none, why were the charges not dropped in their entirety? What is the standard required to legitimately arrest and charge someone? Was this standard actually met here or was it ignored by both the Detective Tam Bui, the lead investigator, and the Crown?

3. An appearance of extreme bias on the part of Detective Tam Bui occurred both in the interview tapes and with the dramatic street theatre associated with the potassium chlorate recently dug up in Byron's yard. The dig occurred based on information that wasn't a secret and the police presumably should have known long before this. Although they claim that they found out from the Defense Closing remarks. Whether that is true or not doesn't really matter. 

What matters is that the drama was quite unnecessary.

Perhaps I'm wrong but it seems patently obvious to me that the police and the HazMat team knew the compound wasn’t explosive otherwise why would they have burned it in an open fire? They did this immediately after they created a huge drama by stopping traffic all over the city as the truck took the compound to the dump to be disposed of. 

In other words, publicly treating it as though it was an explosive even though they had determined that it wasn't and didn't treat it as an explosive when they disposed of it.

The Judge was initially writing her decision based on the fact that Sonne didn’t make a bomb. Now, with what appear to be deceptive tactics, the Judge has presumably been left with the false impression that he did. An impression which could have an impact on the outcome of the case if the Judge doesn’t research this new issue carefully or register the nuances.

Whether Mr. Sonne is declared Guilty or not when this Judgement is handed in, I certainly hope that not just for his sake but for the sake of all Torontonians he will sue everyone involved in meting out this injustice.

There is no Justice without Accountability and those who engage in corruption, abuse of process or abuse of power to further agendas of personal bias must be held accountable. Especially those in positions of special trust like civil servants.

If they're not held accountable, they'll do it over and over again and every citizen will be placed at risk of becoming vulnerable to this abuse.

And I'm not assuming that this kind of abuse hasn't already occurred to others.

It has.

Happy New Year 2012

2011 ended on an exciting note.

The Occupy Movement was discovering it’s wings. WikiLeaks and Anonymous were maturing and coming into their own as critical components of this new, dynamic social movement that was inspired by the Arab Spring.

While everyone is still working on finding their way and their focus there’s a sense of excitement and hope in the air from those of us who have tired of the rank corruption, abuse of power, and culture of impunity that has been allowed free reign in our respective countries.

What we need is focus.

What we need is Transparency, Accountability and Justice with an end to the “reconciliation” approach that permeates our system in Canada and which allows criminals to walk freely among us without being held accountable for their crimes.

My hopes?

I hope the move by Americans to recall the politicians who voted for the NDAA picks up even more steam in the US. The ball has started to roll and this is an important one for Canadians and Americans alike. It’s important for Canadians because what happens in the US impacts us. The NDAA could certainly have an impact on the current Border Security Agreement being negotiated by the US and Canada.

The fact that these negotiations are secret when they should be transparent is another serious concern. Our governments should not be allowed to arbitrarily determine what can be kept a secret from the citizens who elected them. And we citizens should have input into a process that could have such a deep. long-lasting impact on our relationship with the US and our ability to travel freely between countries.

Ironically, no-one should know this better than the Conservatives whose roots were in the Reform movement in the 1980s and whose movement grew out of an opposition to corruption, greed and abuse of power. It was the Reformers who were demanding transparency and the ability to recall politicians. And now, we are seeing them return to the same corrupt politics that has permeated Canada’s political system historically.

This is precisely why Canadians also need the right to recall politicians, that is, the right to representative recall. The only place in Canada that allows this currently is BC. We cannot do this in any other province or federally.

Calling for the right to representative recall is something the federal Conservatives would be hard pressed to refuse or ignore given that it was the Reform Party, their root organization, that initiated this demand. And if they did so, their hypocrisy would be exposed.

In addition, the right of recall should be established as a Constitutional change so that it cannot be arbitrarily denied on a whim.

In fact, we should consider a complete rewrite of the Charter of Rights and the elimination of the “notwithstanding clauses” which effectively limit our rights to the whim of the government or state at any given time.

Rights are and should be legally established as inviolable. Only a few should be allowed to be restricted and only under exceptional or extreme circumstances limited in the most minimal way. Personally, I would like to see a republican style Constitution.

The Canadian Medical and Psychiatric system is wide open to corruption and abuse and the only reason that the corrupt haven’t been caught is because it is so wide open. Medical and Psychiatric Doctors and other personnel are given a free pass on the unwarranted and baseless assumption that they have the best interests of the patient at heart.

This is demonstrably not true and our experience in Ontario under the current Liberal regime is evidence of this sad fact. We need Patients Rights legislation and tighter Psychiatric Patients Rights legislation to protect patients from this rank systemic corruption which includes but is not limited to extreme and gross medical neglect potentially resulting in medical murder as well as incompetent mental health evaluations by GPs which can have a huge and seriously negative impact on an individual’s life.

In the sick and twisted minds of some medical “professionals” in Ontario, objecting to negligent medical care is an indication of mental illness. Sure it is, when the medical “professionals” are corrupt and want to cover up their gross and sometimes intentional negligence inflicted on a patient under who knows what bizarre rationale.

Our police services should not available for hire by private corporations and private individuals. Allowing this removes the fine line between who is acting on whose behalf and enables corruption.

On a personal note, I would like to see serious criminal legislation in place to deal with the crime of Stalking. The Criminal Harassment legislation does not even come close to describing and dealing with this crime. January is National Stalking Awareness month. Keep an eye on my blog. There will be lots of information on this topic this year, including an analysis of employer, community and organizational participation in this crime and the serious impact it has on a victims life.

And last but not least we need ideas to build a stronger participatory Democracy whether that means changing our parliamentary system to a republic or something else.

Just some thoughts to start out the new year.

Happy New Year!

Democracy by Leonard Cohen.

Occupy Toronto: RCMP: Integrity or Corruption

RCMP officers and employees have slowly been coming forward in greater numbers in recent days to talk about some of the abuse that they are subjected to and corruption that they see, on the job and from senior officers and/or co-workers.

I have to say that it takes a huge amount of courage for a member of the RCMP or any other Police, Intelligence and Military agency to do this and these officers should be commended and supported by Canadians. They certainly have my personal respect and admiration.

I’m referring to both the women who were sexually harassed in a way that can only be described as both vicious and malicious and to the men who were bullied and abused likely for no other reason than they disagreed with the wrong person or objected to some unethical behaviour.

The fact is that it is these members of the RCMP who are coming forward to bring these issues out in the open that are the ones who actually care about the integrity of the RCMP.

Those who cover up the abuse, enable and promote the abusers and enforce silence on those who object, are the ones who are undermining the integrity of Canada’s largest police force and destroying it’s professional reputation.

Why should the treatment of Police, Intelligence and Military employees matter to Canadians outside of those agencies?

For two reasons:

1. First and foremost, Charter Rights apply to every Canadian. There should be no exceptions under any circumstances. 
2. The same employees that are corrupt and abusing their power against their co-workers are also going to be abusing their power against Canadians outside of those agencies. The only way to end the Culture of Impunity and Secrecy that protects the abusers is to support the abused as well as demand a Culture of Transparency. The abused are the ones courageously standing up to defend the integrity of their agency and they are the ones that can ensure that integrity is maintained for all Canadians as well as themselves and their co-workers.

And hopefully members of other agencies like other Police Departments (Provincial and Municipal) and CSIS as well as our Military complex will also come forward so that we can deal with the entire problem and resolve it for everyone, not just one segment at a time.

This particular issue impacts all of us.

Occupy Toronto: To The CEOs

I caught a small part of a CBC Interview yesterday with a representative of an association that represents Canadian CEOs.

The CEO representative, when asked what he thought about the Occupy movement responded, a little defensively, that the democratic/capitalist model is the best one human beings have come up with because it’s the one that has been demonstrated to work.

He appeared to be implying that the Occupy Toronto movement was about eliminating capitalism.

In the interests of clarification, let me point out that the Occupy movement is about giving everyone a voice.

Not everyone is a communist, or even a leftist. A few are. Most are not.

Red-baiting is a strategy intended to discredit by using the logical fallacy of Guilt By Association. It’s a well-established form of Disinformation Propaganda.

I’m not saying that this CEO representative was engaging in the sleazy tactic of Red-baiting but his comments amounted to that, intentional or not.

Speaking for myself, I agree with the CEO representative that the democratic/capitalist model is the best one humanity has come up with and the most workable one.

That doesn’t mean that it can’t be undermined and corrupted and doesn’t need to be fixed.

This is the problem, in my opinion. It needs fixing and each and every one of us is going to have either the same or different opinions on what the fixes need to be.

In my opinion, when a few members of the wealthy elite hold an inordinate amount of power and influence over democratic policy making which is supposed to benefit all Canadians not just the wealthy elite then our democratic processes and our financial system are being undermined by that wealthy elite.

This opens the door for wide-scale corruption and abuse of power.

This is something we’ve been seeing in Canada for years now and which has never been seriously addressed other than having the occasional scandal where someone gets ousted from a political position.

This was the kind of stuff the old Reform Party used to talk about until they became the Conservative Party and appear to have changed their priorities.

I’m not saying that I agreed with the old Reform Party but I will say that they made some good points when criticizing the traditional political parties.

This is also the stuff that Michael Ignatieff has recently started talking about as well.

It’s probably a good thing for Ignatieff that he’s not leading the Liberal Party given the fact that the vast majority of corruption and abuse of power scandals that I am aware of, many of which were financial in nature, occurred when the Liberals were in power both Federally and Provincially.

Ignatieff is probably too ethical for the Liberals. They seem to prefer two-faced lying sleazeballs like Bob Rae (has anyone forgotten the hell he put Ontario through?)

Anyway, the Occupy movement has and is accomplishing one very important thing, amongst others:

The discussion of what is wrong and how it can be fixed is happening.

And that's what most of us want.

It’s a start.

We Are The Majority and We Have A Voice!

Watch live streaming video from occupytoronto at livestream.com

Bring Back Michael Ignatief and Dump Bob Rae! 

Occupy Toronto: Protest Government Corruption and Abuse of Power

Occupy Toronto: Declaration of the Occupy New York General Assembly

Note to the traditional media which is claiming that the Occupy Movement is only about "financial" corruption. As you can see below it isn't. It's about ALL corruption including the corruption the traditional media itself is infested with when they try to misrepresent and misdirect with misinformation, what is actually going on here.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

Posted on September 30, 2011 by NYCGA

This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on september 29, 2011

Translations: French, Slovak, Spanish, German, Italian

---

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments.

We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

Occupy Toronto: A Pumps and Brogues Movement

“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.” – John Lennon, before his murder by Mark David Chapman 

Why do some people find these occupations so incomprehensible?

One person was asked in a media interview, “what are you protesting? what do you want?” His response was, “if you have to ask you’ve got to much money.”

This is partially true but doesn’t quite nail it. It’s also about the complete disconnect that some have about the world we live in.

Call it naivete or gullibility or sheer stupidity or willful and self-serving ignorance. It exists. It’s a fact. And anyone who doesn’t get the Occupy movement suffers from this disease.

I got it right away. No-one had to tell me that the Occupy movement is about having a true Democracy. That was the point of the Arab Spring. It was a Democracy movement. That is also the point of the North American Autumn.

And no, many of us aren’t buying the deceptive delusion, the snake oil, that we’re being sold by the big media, big government which represents big corporate interests, the wealthy, etc. that we have a democracy, that we have rights, that those rights are protected.

We don’t have any of things. We have them on paper. We don’t have them in reality. If we did, there would be no need for an Occupy movement to push the envelope for a true Democracy. One that doesn’t just exist on paper. One that exists for each and every ordinary Citizen in reality.

The Occupy movement includes but is not limited to:

1. the rights of the ordinary Citizen to have an effective say in our society.
2. the economic protection of the wealthy and the economic abuse of the rest of us through the misuse and abuse of the tax dollars of those ordinary Citizens whose voices have been silenced.
3. the rank moral bankruptcy and corruption that infests our governments, corporations, institutions, professional associations, etc. today.
4. impunity of big corporations and the wealthy from being held accountable for criminal acts when they commit them.
5. impunity of police, intelligence and other security agencies from being held accountable for enabling the rogue agents in their midst and their abuses of power, misappropriations of government funds, etc. by turning a blind eye to their abuses and criminal acts.
6. the rights of ordinary Citizens that are violated with impunity regularly and those who are paid by ordinary Citizens through our tax dollars refusal to protect us from those violations or provide us with what we need to protect ourselves or criminally collude in those violations of the rights of ordinary Citizens.
7. the silencing, marginalizing, smearing, harassing, malicious persecution, and other extreme and systematic abuses of ordinary Citizens who speak out against these criminal acts, this moral bankruptcy, abuse of power, etc. as well as innocent ordinary Citizens who are subjected to these abuses for no other reason than they can be.

Amongst other things ….

Just ask anyone who is there.

Most importantly, it's about giving the voiceless a voice which has an impact on our world.

I'm a Web and Software Developer and I'm unemployed. 

I'll be there in my Business Casual suit, office pumps and briefcase.

If I'm going to get arrested for peacefully protesting, that's the image I want the world to see.

Mammoliti’s Red Scare and Red-Baiting

“McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of Republican U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts. The term is also now used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries.” –Wikipedia on McCarthyism

Now, frankly, I have to seriously question the sanity of any person who thinks that communism is a threat to anyone in this modern era. Particularly given the fact that it’s failed around the world and there are very few people who consider it a serious alternative to anything, never mind an actual solution to society’s problems.

I know I don’t take communism or communists seriously and I don’t know of very many people who do. Including those in and around left wing circles. Communism and communists have essentially become toothless, basically advocating social safety net policies within the existing capitalist system. Other than the usual empty rhetoric that most don't buy, including many of their own members, they are effectively no different than any other social activist organization.

Now, I don't doubt there are a few aging dinosaurs in their 70s and 80s who are still living in the Cold War era because of their dementia and others stupid enough to buy their rather insane paranoid delusions but for the most part no-one cares about the communists or communism in modern day politics. They've become quite irrelevant.

No, there isn't a red under every bed.

So, giving Mammoliti, the benefit of the doubt, and going on the assumption that he isn’t insane (which may be a stretch), one can only wonder what he hopes to gain by introducing Red Scare politics and Red-Baiting into Toronto Municipal politics in 2011.

Mr. Mammoliti. May I take this opportunity to point out to you that the Berlin wall came down and the Cold War ended years ago.

If you’re going to look under beds for monsters, there are plenty of real ones out there that you might want to be concerned about.

Why do you appear to be ignoring these real threats to the peace and security of the citizens of Toronto, in favor of fabricating phony threats? Are organizations like the Tamil Tigers, Islamic terrorist groups, English Defense League and Jewish Defense League (a group declared terrorist and extremist in the US and on the FBI Watch List), all of whom are currently active in Toronto, acceptable to you? Why aren’t you raising the warning flag about them?

Is it because this campaign of yours is simply a self-serving attempt to discredit anyone who disagrees with you rather than any genuine concern about the influence of extremists and terrorists on Municipal politics?

Just wondering ….

My Weird Meter exploded when this story hit the news.

A more detailed take on this story by David Nickle of Inside Toronto:

Mammoliti's Strategy Isn't Pretty But It Is Effective

Bank of America using Private Intel Firms to Attack Wikileaks

Copied from Original Source: Wikileaks

2011-02-09

In a document titled "The WikiLeaks Threat" three data intelligence companies, Plantir Technologies, HBGary Federal and Berico Technologies, outline a plan to attack Wikileaks. They are acting upon a request from Hunton and Williams, a law firm working for Bank of America. The Department of Justice recommended the law firm to Bank of America according to an article in The Tech Herald.

The proposed attacks on WikiLeaks according to the slides include these actions:

• Feed the fuel between the feuding groups. Disinformation. Create messages around actions of sabotage or discredit the opposing organizations. Submit fake documents and then call out the error.
• Create concern over the security of the infrastructure. Create exposure stories. If the process is believed not to be secure they are done.
• Cyber attacks against the infrastructure to get data on document submitters. This would kill the project. Since the servers are now in Sweden and France putting a team together to get access is more straightforward.
• Media campaign to push the radial and reckless nature of WikiLeaks activities. Sustain pressure. Does nothing for the fanatics, but creates concern and doubt among moderates.
• Search for leaks. Use social media to profile and identify risky behavior of employees.

The WikiLeaks Threat: An Overview by Palanfir Technologies, HBGary Federal and Berico Technologies

Blogger's comment:

The first point sheds a whole new light on the recent misinformation published by most of Canada's traditional media incorrectly claiming that a Wikileaks document quoted ex-CSIS Director, Judd, as saying that "vigorous harassment" was occurring against Hezbollah in Canada. LOL.

I, and many others had the good sense to vet the quote against the original documents. It doesn't exist.

What Does Julian Fantino Have To Hide?

I'm guessing he has a lot to hide and cudos go to Liberal Leader Ignatieff for raising the question and demanding answers. 

Apparently the only G20 budget details now unaccounted for is the 100 million dollars spent by the OPP under Fantino's leadership as OPP Commissioner.

Since Fantino is running under the Conservative banner and has been endorsed personally by Harper, Ignatieff's concern that the Conservatives are supporting a cover up in order to ensure Fantino gets elected in the Vaughn Federal By-Election on November 29 is quite legitimate.

Why is Fantino so reluctant to have that information made public at this time if he has nothing to hide?

Why is the Conservative Party willing to risk their reputation to cover up for Fantino if he does have something to hide? 

Wouldn't it be better for the Conservatives to drop their support for Fantino before it causes them potentially major problems down the line?

This is the type of thing that could ensure that they lose the next Federal Election to the Liberals so they shouldn't make the mistake of assuming that this will blow over. 

Ignatieff is a smart man and he's not going to stop flogging this useful and timely horse. It's a gift horse for the Liberal Party.

And frankly, shouldn't the voters in Vaughn be aware of any possible corruption where taxpayers money is concerned before they elect Fantino to represent their community? Don't they have that right?

Toronto Police Services Chief Bill Blair, openly and honestly, handed over his budget and his was probably the only police service involved that came in under budget. 

He, apparently, didn't have anything to hide but then he's a police officer who is known for his integrity and honesty.

In addition to Fantino being required to hand over the details of the G20 OPP expenditures immediately, I would like the answers to the following questions:

Given the fact that the OPP under Julian Fantino's leadership infiltrated the Southern Ontario Anarchists:

1. Why was this most violent protest where vandalism was concerned, in the history of G20 protests around the world? 

2. How did these plans get past the OPP undercover officers or did they?

3. Did Fantino authorize agent provocateurs to incite Black Bloqists?

4. Did the undercover officers become Black Bloqists?

5. Where were the police when this vandalism was occurring?

Note that the old Red Squad style Dirty Tricks are now illegal in Canada.

If the OPP, under Fantino's leadership, did engage in this style of Dirty Tricks, then those who made these decisions as well as those who implemented these decisions, should be held accountable and charges laid.

And if this was done, don't the good people of Vaughn have the right to make an informed vote and not one based on a potentially serious deception?

Perhaps Fantino is afraid the budget might expose these types of expenditures?

Now I'm not a supporter or advocate of Anarchism. Frankly I don't understand it or care enough to try to understand it.

I am a defender of civil rights and am both shocked and outraged that such draconian abuses of power and  violations of citizen rights could occur in my city in 2010.

I want those responsible held accountable, no matter who they are. 

People like Fantino should not be above the law and should not be protected out of political expedience.

Not to mention the fact that if something serious is being hidden here it's going to come back to bite the Conservatives really hard.

So my question to the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Harper is:

Is Julian Fantino worth losing the next election over?