Possibly the best G20 related thing I’ve seen yet… God I love Calvin and Hobbes.
Well, we all know how Saturday turned out for Toronto. But do we really know what happened leading up to it?
Media reported that lines were overrun and that led to police having to abandon their cars. Well, I was there and have a different version of the events.
Here’s how it built up to the breaking point…
Protest marches were going well and mostly uneventful. At Queen, a line (indicated by the blue) of police officers on bikes were funneling the protesters North, which all protesters complied with. The dark thick line is where Riot Police were stationed. No protesters made it anywhere near them and were following the path set out by police.
Here’s an image of the police line guiding protesters without incident.
Randomly, for no reason at all, (considering more than half of the protest had already gone North on Spadina) the police broke their line and moved back to the West side of Spadina. Allowing protesters access to move south a block right into the line of Riot Police. Weird strategy #1.
And here’s the image of them moving off their line that was holding.
Protesters that had followed the planned route realized they’d lost half their group and turned back going south on Spadina to where the police on bikes had broken their line. Peaceful protests were here for roughly an hour before the chaos erupted.
In a very strange move by Police, they moved 2 squad cars into the middle of protests. (The only squad cars I saw ever were behind the fence… 99.99% of the time, they used their Dodge Caravans to move around.) Now, here’s where it get’s a little more sketchy.
Police in riot gear secured the cars after the initial attack. They held a line in front of the two squad cars. They could have gotten back into the cars, backed them down the street.
Instead, they decided to abandon them. Leave them for the the violent protesters to play with. Weird Strategy #2.
Someone said that they heard over police radio “They are decoy cars. Keeps them away from the fence.” Now, if this is in fact true, that’s like throwing gas onto a fire hoping it won’t spread.
Now lastly, what happened afterwards… well, we all saw. 15,000 police allowed 100-500 (based on who you ask) people using Black Bloc tactics to take over this city.
Let me get this straight, just so I understand… 15,000 officers, trained in security, with padding that made them look like robotic soldiers, with shields, batons, tear gas, pepper spray, tasers, LRADs, gas masks, face shields and specialized group training were what…. afraid?
No. When there is a crime being committed, it’s the police responsibility to act. Had they arrested a few extra people who may have been peaceful on Saturday, there wouldn’t have been such an outcry like there is now because the streets were in chaos.
I truly believe that police WANTED and ALLOWED black bloc agents to destroy our city. Why? To justify the 1.2B security budget. To let the world’s media show the iconic video of a burning police cruiser. To make protesters as a whole, look like villains.
I was there. This is what I saw. I don’t ask you to take my opinion, but I do encourage you to think for yourself. Pretend your David Caruso putting together a crime scene. What makes the most sense? (And don’t forget to put on those sunglasses when you’re done!)
I’m not condoning the persons using Black Bloc tactics, but, when you hand the city over to a few people hellbent on destruction, what do you expect to happen?
Here’s some more pictures and video for you to look at. Tell me what you think? Do I sound like a conspiracy theorist nut job? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are you shocked? Please let me know.
Well, we all know how Saturday turned out for Toronto. But do we really know what happened leading up to it?
Media reported that lines were overrun and that led to police having to abandon their cars. Well, I was there and have a different version of the events.
Here’s how it built up to the breaking point…
Protest marches were going well and mostly uneventful. At Queen, a line (indicated by the blue) of police officers on bikes were funneling the protesters North, which all protesters complied with. The dark thick line is where Riot Police were stationed. No protesters made it anywhere near them and were following the path set out by police.
Here’s an image of the police line guiding protesters without incident.
Randomly, for no reason at all, (considering more than half of the protest had already gone North on Spadina) the police broke their line and moved back to the West side of Spadina. Allowing protesters access to move south a block right into the line of Riot Police. Weird strategy #1.
And here’s the image of them moving off their line that was holding.
Protesters that had followed the planned route realized they’d lost half their group and turned back going south on Spadina to where the police on bikes had broken their line. Peaceful protests were here for roughly an hour before the chaos erupted.
In a very strange move by Police, they moved 2 squad cars into the middle of protests. (The only squad cars I saw ever were behind the fence… 99.99% of the time, they used their Dodge Caravans to move around.) Now, here’s where it get’s a little more sketchy.
Police in riot gear secured the cars after the initial attack. They held a line in front of the two squad cars. They could have gotten back into the cars, backed them down the street.
Instead, they decided to abandon them. Leave them for the the violent protesters to play with. Weird Strategy #2.
Someone said that they heard over police radio “They are decoy cars. Keeps them away from the fence.” Now, if this is in fact true, that’s like throwing gas onto a fire hoping it won’t spread.
Now lastly, what happened afterwards… well, we all saw. 15,000 police allowed 100-500 (based on who you ask) people using Black Bloc tactics to take over this city.
Let me get this straight, just so I understand… 15,000 officers, trained in security, with padding that made them look like robotic soldiers, with shields, batons, tear gas, pepper spray, tasers, LRADs, gas masks, face shields and specialized group training were what…. afraid?
No. When there is a crime being committed, it’s the police responsibility to act. Had they arrested a few extra people who may have been peaceful on Saturday, there wouldn’t have been such an outcry like there is now because the streets were in chaos.
I truly believe that police WANTED and ALLOWED black bloc agents to destroy our city. Why? To justify the 1.2B security budget. To let the world’s media show the iconic video of a burning police cruiser. To make protesters as a whole, look like villains.
I was there. This is what I saw. I don’t ask you to take my opinion, but I do encourage you to think for yourself. Pretend your David Caruso putting together a crime scene. What makes the most sense? (And don’t forget to put on those sunglasses when you’re done!)
I’m not condoning the persons using Black Bloc tactics, but, when you hand the city over to a few people hellbent on destruction, what do you expect to happen?
Here’s some more pictures and video for you to look at. Tell me what you think? Do I sound like a conspiracy theorist nut job? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are you shocked? Please let me know.
Here you go… some stuff to look at!
Found this cool group from Chicago on Youtube. They’ve got a really cool style that will appeal to many. Their other tracks pull on all sorts of different genre’s and ultimately have a really fun vibe. Check em out!
Found this cool group from Chicago on Youtube. They’ve got a really cool style that will appeal to many. Their other tracks pull on all sorts of different genre’s and ultimately have a really fun vibe. Check em out!
Besides Leno being a douchebag and no one would go on it… Drake was on tonight performing “Fine Your Love”.
If you want to continue your career Drake… don’t perform this song live.
So the G20 is here on Saturday, but the official police security starts today. Take a walk downtown and you’ll see 4-40 police on every street corner. Private security at every building. Police trucks drive by, police on horses, police cars etc etc. Nothing but police and fencing.
Now, I completely expected this. It’s been long reported that 10,000 security personnel will be used for the G20. I also expected things to be highly tense.
Regardless I went down today to get some photos, to walk around the fence and to experience it all first hand. I’ve talked to many people who’ve been to protests, some of who were in Pittsburgh last year and they told me “leading up to it is like a war zone, just stay away.”
Wish I had taken that advice. Well… maybe.
Today I was detained by police after taking a photo of the fence and group of police that were standing beside it. Hell, how couldn’t I? They had riot helmets attached to their belts, coloured cuffs.. the whole deal.
Two officers approached me, asked me what I was doing. I told them I was taking a photo. It wasn’t everyday this happens in Toronto. They asked me to walk with them over to the side of a building.
I complied.
They asked for my name. I gave it to them. Again they asked what I was taking photos for. I told them again, “It’s interesting.”
At this point, I was starting to shake. I was intimidated. I had spoken to lawyers beforehand because I knew this was a possibility and I’d rehearsed things to say. In that time, I forgot them all.
To be honest, in that 20 – 30 minutes, all I was thinking was all of the worst possible cases. Would they take me to some underground bunker and beat me? Was I about to be put in jail, perhaps until this thing was over? All sorts of stupid ideas that I know now wouldn’t happen, but that’s what took over my mind.
So I sat there, waiting for some kind of sign. I asked them if I was free to go, they said no. I didn’t think to get the officers names, didn’t think to get their badge numbers… nothing. I just continued to sit. I figured I was going to be arrested for something. (I’d draw them, but you can see, I doubt it would help identify the officers.)
Then, a female cop came up and politely said “oh… you can go now.”
What? Really? You mean I’m not about to get waterboarded?
So I walked away, shook. Nervous. Wow… that was scary. Then I realized… wait, was that just a timeout? Did they forget about me sitting there waiting for some kind of sign I could go? What just happened!?!
My immediate reaction was “Violated all sorts of my rights right there.” And in reality, without knowing all the particulars and just reading my 140 character tweets, it’s reasonable to think the same.
But the trip home was a slow one and gave me time to think. Believe it or not… right now, I’m partially okay with what happened. I’m crazy right? Haha.
No, but hear me out… I wasn’t just going about my daily life. I was there specifically to experience the security presence. I got a first class experience at that! They didn’t single me out because I looked like an anarchist with a shirt that said “Fuck the Police” or “Go to hell G20″ or anything like that (I was wearing shorts and a Polo shirt). But it was that among people in business suits and shirts with key cards attached to belts, I casually looked out of place.
No real reason to suspect me… well until you looked at my walking behaviour… While walking, I admit was indecisive. I’d want to go one way and all of a sudden I’d change to another way. I was moving strangely. These are all things I realize now add to the suspicion.
I was looking around a lot. Like when you look around for your parents as a kid when stealing a cookie. The excitement had taken over and made me look anxious.
So…. in reality, they were doing their due diligence. They inconvenienced me for 30 minutes. That’s the tough reality we live in I guess. I get it…
As I said, my first reaction was disgust. Felt violated. Felt attacked. And I tweeted right away how I felt. But, I took deep breathes and said “Was there anything I was doing that made me stand out as doing something potentially wrong?” and I determined that there was.
I don’t think I’m a victim really. I don’t think this ‘Police State’ is permanent.
I would have appreciated being kept in the loop as to how long I needed to stay there, I would have liked to have been thanked for my cooperation… But I get it. Police are watching for suspicious activity and are being indoctrinated to believe that anyone out of place may be there for malicious intent for the duration of these meeting.
Tensions are high and it’s easy to forget things. I’m a prime example… all my lawyer drawn up scripts I completely forgot.
So this is a direct action request to the various Police forces that have invaded our streets… remember we are your fellow Canadian citizens (for the most part). We deliver your mail, teach your kids, stock the grocery shelves, handle your finances, fix your cars. We are not your enemies. Don’t treat us like we are until you have sufficient evidence that we are a threat.
Doing your due diligence is fine. As I said, I’m strangely okay with the fact you held me for 30 minutes. What I’m not okay with was the lack of communication. I didn’t know what was going on and in my mind I started to hate you because of it.
Just treat us like you’d want other officers to treat your family if they were down there. With a soft touch until proven otherwise.
If you need somewhere to watch the games, check out Boston Pizza Yonge-Sheppard. Giveaway Jerseys, Flags and more. Special Breakfast menu. $3.99 pints. And 15% off your meal if you tell them I sent you.
Today’s Games
VS 
8:00 – Portugal-North Korea
VS 
10:00 – Chile-Switzerland
VS 
2:30 – Spain-Honduras
Portugal. North Korea. Any contest? No.
Portugal tied with Ivory Coast last week, so they’ll be coming out swinging against the North Koreans. The reason they tied with Ivory Coast was their ability to frustrate Portugal, North Korea won’t be able to mimic this. Hugo Almeida will be the key to victory, if he doesn’t score this game will be a theoretical loss. Maybe they win on paper, but just like Brazil, winning is sometimes losing.
North Korea shocked the world holding Brazil to only 2 goals and managing to get 1 of their own last match. This accounted to two things, one, they were able to bug the Brazilians and more so, two, the Brazilians weren’t playing their style of fluidic offense. North Korea will need some wild creativity to have any chance, and Jong Tae-Se will need to score.
North Koreans don’t stand a chance unfortunately. They won’t be able to hold back this offense. It’s going to be a Germany style blowout 3-0.
Chile. Switzerland. Entertainment coming.
Chile are the only offensive team really this World Cup. They come out firing and play many forwards. I love it. They lost unfortunately to Honduras, but I think they should stick with the same gameplan. Watch Alexis Sanchez to be a crucial player on offense. His creativity and experience will be required.
Switzerland managed to upset Spain last game and will take that confidence and experience into this one. Chile’s attack is far more focused than the balanced team Spain plays, so they’ll need to adapt to this by playing a stronger defense and then counter attacking fast. Stephan Lichsteiner on defense is required to play as great as he did against Spain. Last game he made Iniesta invisible.
Should be a great match. Chile, if they focus on scoring goals with their offense then scoring pretty will win. If they try to score pretty there will be a tie. Personally, I think it’s going to be 2-1 Chile.
Spain. Honduras. Click click… GOOOAALLLLL!
Spain were totally embarrassed last game. They’ll want some retribution and to show the world why they have the best odds at winning the World Cup. They need their shots to be more accurate. Put them on the goal and goals will be theirs. Xabi Alonso’s playmaking will be necessary if they want to come out victorious. He hit the crossbar last game, expect him not to make the same mistake twice.
Honduras ended in the same scoreline as Spain, so in terms of points, they both have none. I’m not sure how they plan on stepping up against Spain, I’m not sure they have the ability to. My guess is they play tight and hope for a rare mistake, or that Spain’s shots hit in the same area they did last game. Wilson Palacios will need to play better today if they want to win.
I somehow don’t see Spain losing twice. So unless Honduras has some secret amazing play, I’m pretty sure they’re going to be outgunned. 3-0 Spain.
If you need somewhere to watch the games, check out Boston Pizza Yonge-Sheppard. Giveaway Jerseys, Flags and more. Special Breakfast menu. $3.99 pints. And 15% off your meal if you tell them I sent you.
I’ll be there at 10 tomorrow with a bunch of people, so come by, have a drink and say hello!
Today’s Games
VS 
8:00 – Slovakia-Paraguay
VS 
10:00 – Italy-New Zealand
VS 
2:30 – England-Algeria
Slovakia. Paraguay. Two Fighters, One Result.
Slovakia were embarrassed last game where they tied with New Zealand. They had aspirations of giving them a serious whipping. If they lose today, they’ll be done in this tournament as they face Italy next week. I said it last game and I’ll say it again, Martin Skrtel is important to victory. He played poorly last game and needs to step it up.
Paraguay tied with Italy, a shocker for sure if you ask me! They stuck with their plan and did a great job at frustrating my Italian squad and thus were able to score and hold Italy to the one goal. Their offense was working well, so they won’t have any issues keeping the pressure on Slovakia. I was a little surprised to see Roque Santa Cruz off the bench last game, but expect him to start and be counted on today!
Creativity will win this game. The Paraguay squad will edge out Slovakia and take advantage of some mistakes on defense to win this game 1-0.
Italy. New Zealand. Time to make a Statement!
Italy did look solid last game! They seemed to be in good shape, the chemistry was there… they just missed some playmaking – which can be attributed to missing Pirlo, who will be out atleast another week. Sadly it looks like Gianluigi’s Buffon’s World Cup is over. He has a back injury. Very big loss. Marchetti will replace him. But this team has the ability to play the majority of the game on offense. Key will be Montolivo, who’ll take over for Pirlo.
New Zealand have to thank defender Winston Ried! Their first ever point in the World Cup! New Zealand didn’t have any expectations coming in, so they’ve already over-performed. This confidence from getting that point is sure to inspire the team to play better than they normally would. If they can get on offense and get lucky (Italian defense is strong), they may have a chance. Ryan Nelsen and his experience are required in order to hold off the Italian offense.
Italy will be looking to make a statement. They showed moments of what they can be against Paraguay and will use this game to fine tune and launch their game. They win this 2-0.
Brazil. Ivory Coast. Grrrrrrr. Dogfight.
What happened to Brazil? Winning 2-1 against North Korea is no victory. Perhaps they shouldn’t have left Ronaldinho off the roster. The usual fluid Brazilians lacked that last game. They win because they are so fluid. Playing like a bunch of rocks won’t win games easy. Robinho played really well last game and they’ll need him to do the same against a much tougher opponent.
The Ivory Coast opened their campaign in a draw with Portugal. They were able to shut down Ronaldo and will need to do the same to several Brazilians. They’ve got the talent to keep up and blow by Brazil. Though Drogba is still unlikely to start, but can you blame him? Kolo Toure is going to have a tough time with the Brazilians if they recapture their fluid offense, so he’ll need to be on the tip of his toes to hold them off.
Grawwwrrrrr. Both sides have teeth. Both sides will fight gritty. And both sides will render the other ineffective. 1-1 final.
Lol, I had to post this… Ron Artest’s new rap single… Champions.
Am I an asshole I don’t hate it? Lol.
Enjoy.
I was searching for a list of people who’ve gotten yellow/red cards, but wasn’t able to find any… so I’m making one myself! This if for World Cup 2010 obviously to count yellow and red cards. These are active counts, meaning once they serve their suspensions, their card totals will be whipped clean.
Read here to see why this is important!
Algeria
Yellow – Hassan Yebda
Yellow – Medhi Lacen
Argentina
Yellow – Gabriel Heinze
Yellow – Javier Mascherano
2 Yellow – Jonas Gutierrez (Miss June 22 vs Greece)
Australia
2 Yellow – Craig Moore (Miss June 23 vs Serbia)
Yellow – Lucas Neill
Yellow – Carl Valeri
Red – Harry Kewell (Miss June 23 vs Serbia)
Brazil
Yellow – Ramires
Red – Kaka (Miss June 25 vs Portugal)
Cameroon
Yellow – Nicolas N’Koulou
Yellow – Sebastien Bassong
Yellow – Stephane Mbia
Chile
Yellow – Carlos Carmona
Yellow – Matias Fernandez
Denmark
2 Yellow – Simon Kjaer (Miss June 24 vs Japan)
Yellow – Thomas Sorensen
England
Yellow – James Milner
2 Yellow – Jamie Carragher (Miss June 23 vs Slovenia)
Yellow – Steven Gerrard
France
Yellow – Patrice Evra
Yellow – Franck Ribery
Yellow – Jeremy Toulalan
Yellow – Eric Abidal
Yellow – Jeremy Toulalan
Germany
Yellow – Mesut Ozil
Yellow – Cacau
Yellow – Sami Khedira
Yellow – Bastian Schweinsteiger
Red – Miroslav Klose (Miss June 23 vs Ghana)
Yellow – Philipp Lahm
Ghana
Yellow – Prince Tagoe
Yellow – Anthony Annan
Yellow – Jonathan Mensah
Yellow – Lee Addy
Greece
Yellow – Vasilis Torosidis
Yellow – Alexandros Tziolis
Yellow – Sokratis Papastathopoulous
Yellow – Sotiris Ninis
Honduras
Yellow – Wilson Palacios
Italy
Yellow – Mauro Camoranesi
Ivory Coast
Yellow – Didier Zokora
Yellow – Guy Demel
Yellow – Ismael Tiote
Yellow – Kader Keita
Yellow – Siaka Tiene
Japan
Yellow – Yuki Abe
Mexico
Yellow – Francisco Rodriguez
Yellow – Guillermo Franco
Yellow – Hector Moreno
2 Yellow – Efrain Juarez (Miss June 22 vs Uruguay)
New Zealand
Yellow – Tony Lochhead
Yellow – Winston Reid
Yellow – Ryan Nelsen
Yellow – Rory Fallon
Yellow – Tommy Smith
Netherlands
Yellow – Nigel De Jong
Yellow – Robin Van Persie
Yellow – Gregory Van Der Wiel
Nigeria
Yellow – Lukman Haruna
Yellow – Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi
Red – Sani Kaita (Miss June 22 vs South Korea)
North Korea
Paraguay
Yellow – Victor Caceres
Yellow – Enrique Vera
Portugal
Yellow – Cristiano Ronaldo
Serbia
Yellow – Nikola Zigic
Yellow – Zdravko Kuzmanovic
Yellow – Aleksander Kolarov
Yellow – Nemanja Vidic
Yellow – Branislav Ivanovic
Yellow – Neven Subotic
Slovakia
Yellow – Zdeno Strba
Yellow – Vladimir Weiss
Yellow – Stanislav Sestak
Yellow – Jan Durica
Slovenia
Yellow – Aleksander Radosavljevic
Yellow – Andrej Komac
Yellow – Marko Suler
Yellow – Bostjan Cesar
Yellow – Bojan Jokic
Yellow – Andraz Kirm
South Africa
Yellow – Steven Pienaar
Yellow – Kagisho Dikacoi
Red – Itumeleng Khune (Miss June 22nd vs France)
South Korea
Yellow – Lee Chung Yong
Yellow Yeom Ki Hun
Spain
Switzerland
Yellow – Diego Benaglio
Yellow – Stephane Grichting
Yellow – Reto Ziegler
Yellow – Hakan Yakin
Uruguay
Yellow – Mauricio Victorino
Yellow – Diego Lugano
USA
Yellow – Steve Cherundolo
Yellow – Jay DeMerit
2 Yellow – Robbie Findley (Miss June 23 vs Algeria)