Day 2, first impressions and such.

Alright, so the local media is all up ins this, so I have some pretty fancy links for you now:

Organizations in Attendance. Note the wide variety of groups, from hardcore Marxists to unions to environmentalists to lunatics like the Zeitgeist Movement. hell, even Palestinian support groups are out there for some reason.

Global News Interactive Map. Shows the downtown zone. Look at how close the Eaton's Center (one of the largest malls in Canada) is to the security zone. If anything happens, police will have to fight their way there. As well, note that the area in front of Provincial Legislature (Queen's Park) is a protest zone. Not bright, folks.

Watching the news, I'm getting the impression that a lot of the protesters are young, impressionable kids. All they know is G20 R BAD, and when the bike police ride past, they scream about a police state and intimidation . I'm going to refer everyone back to my post on the subject of protesters. However, after the Battle of Seattle and the riots during the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, I am concerned. We have a lot of angry people and a bunch of colossal strategic fuckups. I really hope the riot cavalry is ready.

Deschain

G20 Briefing, Day 1

Alright, so a quick overview: As it stands, there are currently a lot of pissed off people in Toronto. The citizenry is pissed because the subway and light rail hubs are cut off, so they have to fight the traffic to get into town. The businesses are pissed because they're under threat, police had to deal with shots fired last night and angry people. The anarchists are just pissed at everything. I mean, all these 'peaceful protesters' are awful short tempered. Today, they seized Queen's Part, vandalized a war memorial, protested in the rain. Luckily, I think most of the lookey-lous and and softcore types were driven off by the shitty weather. There's plenty more of the same forecast.

Whoever planned the security zone should be fired. They didn't secure all the way to the lake, so you basically have this citadel in the middle of town that's under siege. To the northeast and northwest are universities well known for their far-left sentiments. A major shopping center -an obvious looting target- is well outside the security zone. All the thousands of security guards hired are NOT riot troops. They are luckless people offered 10$/hr to provide a visual deterrent. If things go all Seattle this week, they will turn tail or get badly beaten. This is a disaster in the makings.

Deschain

So, lately I've been expanding my social circle. It's a nice change. I don't really make new friends easily, and for the last couple of weeks I've been meeting people. It's been good. Sorry I haven't been around.

So, one of the things I've been noticing is the lack of middle ground up here on the gun issue. After a couple of drunk talks with a girl at a party, I found that she believes in comin' strapped. That is to say, she believes in the ownership and use of firearms in self defense when and where legal, which is a refreshing change from GUNZ R BAD. She had been in some rough relationships, and as a result of personal experience, she's come around. Sometimes, it's the hard lessons, unfortunately. But New Friend made her chops with me. We traded stories and drinks awhile, got to know each other. Good to meet new people with roughly the same ideals as me.

That aside, a lot of the people I met have more or less the same attitudes I did at 17. Capitalism bad, guns bad, drugs good, etc. Listening to some of that shit made me realize how spoonfed it all was. The Communists lost the economic Cold War, but they kicked the ever-loving shit out of us culturally. The shit they spouted when the G20 came up...well, needless to say about half of the people I met won't be getting no Christmas cards from me. It's all a part of the system. The education system is canted towards being liberal, and if you disagree with that viewpoint, well gee, you must not be learning because the course material says that if you don't embrace the liberal views, you must not be getting the rest fo the content either. But shit, that's how things roll. You separate the chaff from the wheat. So, new friends in. When I get a place and settle in, I'ma take her shooting. That might rub an old friend the wrong way, but shit. My new friend is a big girl, she can make her own decisions. I'm really quite glad I met her, I feel less awkward with her.

Speaking of which, turns out my old friend is all anti-gun, unreasonable fear, Brady-Campaign supportin' crazy. Which is unfortunate, because that really kills any potential for a lot of stuff. She freaked out when her brother brought home his very first target. Hell, she'd flip if I took New Friend shooting. But hey. Like I said, she's a grown woman, and Old Friend needs to cowboy the fuck up and accept that she can make decisions.

Couple of days from the G20, I'll give updates when things start going down. Keep your chins up and heads down, everyone.

Deschain

Getting Ready for a Ruckus

Well, both the G8 and G20 summits are coming to town soon. Which means a security lockdown you wouldn't believe, and a conflux of such raw capitalism that hippies from across the continent are drawn to attack it. And this year, we have the full spread. We have anarchists coming in fresh from firebombing in Ottawa , labour unions pissed off because the economy's gone to shit, Pro-Palestine activists angry because they were caught trying to beat Israeli soldiers to death...the whole gamut. There's a lot of potential for this to go wrong, but what can you do? The people have a right to protest (PEACEFULLY, may I note). But there's a lot of anger out there, and a lot of grumbling, inconvenienced people.

More to follow.

Des