What were they expecting? Kumbaya?

While I cannot condone violence in any way, one say to say that this past weekend's events were unavoidable and indeed entirely predictable.   Surely "Steve" should have known that there's something wrong when a summit which should be an intimate gathering of leaders and their closest advisors turns instead into a massive mostly "white guys in suits potlatch" with 600 delegates from each of the 19 countries involved plus the European Union.    At our expense.   And of course, the fact several reporters were roughed up by the police, and one even claims she was raped while under arrest in Toronto's temporary gulag (I heard this on the radio earlier but haven't seen a link yet).

Set aside the fact Mainland China, Saudi Arabia and Russia aren't even democracies (and shouldn't even be allowed into the group).

Or the fact that over the weekend, while the world's eyes were on Toronto, another three banks failed in the United States.

Or that around the world, 72,000 children died from easily preventable childhood diseases.

Or that the 18 "other" countries did not, or will not, insist that the United States finally give up its sole and absolute veto over the IMF and the World Bank.

And to think I was in a church yesterday, at the invitation of some "friends" and the minister actually appeared (from my view) to condone the police actions.

What kind of country are we living in, when due process doesn't mean anything anymore ... where habeas corpus is seen as an impediment, an inconvenience?

Oh, and the real insult -- the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, says he can do next year's event in his home country for about €80 million, or USD 100 million; about a tenth of what we paid.

Next time we have our turn, let's just have it on a military base, say Cold Lake.    Easier to secure, and  way less expensive.   Not to mention, far fewer civil rights violations will happen.

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