Hacklab nerd caught in G20 security sweep

[Ken Burtch]

I have had a brief exposure to security issues while taking my Masters at 
Queens University, having a guest lecturer who had high security clearance 
and worked for the government.  Although I don't always agree with their
tactics, they are tasked with taking all threats as worst-case scenarios. 
They do not operate in the same world as most Canadians do.

If Clifford believes they wouldn't arrest people without proof, I 
think he's living in the movies.  These guys will arrest as many people as 
required to ensure the safety of people, and will be happy to write out 
apologies after they release you from jail when the conference is over.

Keep in mind that this list is publically accessible and that this list 
must be  monitored right now.   I would suggest you defer this thread 
until things quiet down and we have more information.

Ken B.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken O. Burtch                                       Phone/Fax: 905-562-0848
   "Linux Shell Scripting with Bash"                  Email: ken-8VyUGRzHQ8IsA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org
                                     Blog: http://www.pegasoft.ca/coder.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Fri, 25 Jun 2010, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:

> | From: Thomas Milne <tbrucemilne-TcoXwbchSccMMYnvST3LeUB+6BGkLq7r at public.gmane.org>
>
> | I don't think I'm 'enraged' that he is being prosecuted, nor am I
> | surprised. I can't speak for anyone else, but the point is that the
> | police are not supposed to act like pit bulls.
> |
> | To me it's pretty clear that the police, as they usually do, are
> | taking this personally. They're made the choice to arrest Byron's
> | wife, which is common in cases where the police wish to intimidate
> | their target, in this case Byron, into pleading guilty and not making
> | an issue out of the ridiculous charges, as I hope he does.
> |
> | For some reason, a lot of people seem to have accepted the canard that
> | we are under constant threat of terrorist violence, and that this
> | should allow the police to have absolute and unfettered power. It's
> | almost become 'uncool' to even speak out against the police, as you're
> | immediately branded as some kind of nutjob to even think ill of them.
> |
> | That's what is surprising to me, and yes a bit alarming.
> |
> | I'm thankful there are people like Byron who know they're going to
> | take a hit and forge ahead anyway.
>
> I mostly agree with what you and most others in this list have said.
>
> We don't know enough to be sure of what is going on.  Maybe we are
> jumping to conclusions.
>
> The sad thing is that most of what I know about police is from US TV
> dramas.  That is quite polarizing and makes me distrust the police
> (and all sorts of bad guys too).  But drama and reality are
> dramatically different.
>
> I do sort-of know some "factual" things about police from news
> stories.  In general, they put the police in a bad light (otherwise
> they wouldn't be news).
>
> Systemically, there is at least one problem.  Police are taught that
> they must dominate any situation to keep it under control.  The tools
> they have to dominate make me quite uncomfortable and are not really
> consistent with a democratic society.
>
> Siting this conference in downtown Toronto sure looks like a big
> mistake.  Rough guess: a half-billion dollar mistake.
>
> But I have to admit a bias: I don't give the Harper government too
> much benefit of the doubt.
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
>
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists