What Really Happened at the Montréal May Day Protest?
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
TheIntelHub.com
May 3, 2012
On May 1, 2012, thousands of students and other protesters took to the streets for the Anti-Capitalist rally in downtown Montréal.
I attended the protest with a couple friends, and having read the “news” emanating from the “stenographers of power” (the mainstream media), it’s important to set the record straight about what happened here in Montréal.
The Montreal Gazette reported the events with the headline, “Police respond as May Day anti-capitalist protesters turn violent in Montreal.”
This exact story and headline were carried across the English-speaking media fresh for the morning’s papers: with the Vancouver Sun, the Province, the Calgary Herald, the Regina Leader-Post, the Edmonton Journal, and the Ottawa Citizen.
The story, as they tell is, goes like this: it started peacefully just after 5 p.m. (this part is true!), and then it “was declared illegal by police at two minutes after 6 p.m. following violent clashes.”
A police spokesperson (who apparently is the only person the media chose to interview for their article) said that, “injuries to a citizen, police officers and vandalism on cars and property were the reasons for declaring the march illegal.”
The article then blamed “black-clad youth [who] were seen hurling rocks at store windows,” after which the police began to launch flash grenades, and the riot police moved in after 6 p.m. “using batons to disperse the crowd.”
At 7:10 p.m., “a full hour after declaring the demonstration illegal, police announced that anyone who refused to leave would be arrested.”
The CBC went with the headline, “More than 100 arrests in Montreal May Day riot.” CTV reported that of the 100+ arrests that took place, “75 were for unlawful assembly, while the remaining 34 were for criminal acts.”
So, arrested for “unlawful assembly”: what does that mean? It means that when the police unilaterally declare a protest to be “illegal,” everyone who is there is “unlawfully assembling,” and thus, mass and indiscriminate arrests can be made.
In Part 1, Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is stated that “[e]veryone has the following fundamental freedoms”: conscience, religion, thought, belief, expression, media, communication, association, and “freedom of peaceful assembly.”
Having been at the protest from its beginning, I can say that it was a peaceful march. While there were individual acts of vandalism (the worst I saw was drawing on a bank’s window with a black marker), if police action were to be taken, it should be to arrest the specific vandal. Instead, they implemented collective punishment for exercising our “fundamental freedoms.”
The protest began in the Old Port of the city of Montréal, and made it’s way down rue Notre-Dame, up St-Laurent, and down to the financial district. The mood was good, people were in high spirits, with music, drums, the occasional fire cracker, young and old alike.
The march had been successfully split, and the small factions were then being isolated and surrounded. Suddenly, riot police were everywhere, marching up the street like storm troopers, police cars, vans, horses, motorcycles, and trucks were flying by.
As one faction of the protest continued down another street, the riot police followed behind, while another massive onslaught of riot police went around to block off the protesters from the other side.
When the police first charged, I had lost one of my friends simply by looking away for a moment. After having found each other up the street, we watched as the protest which descended down the street was surrounded by police from nearly every side. It was then that we saw flash grenades and tear gas being launched at the crowd of people. There was a notable smell that filled the air.
As we stood, shocked and disturbed by what had just happened, we made our way toward McGill to see where other protesters were headed when we saw a group of riot police “escort” three young protesters whom they had arrested behind a police barricade at the HSBC (protecting the banks, of course!).
Up the street, and across from McGill, one protester who had run to get on the bus was chased down by several riot police who then threw him face-first onto the pavement, and as a crowd quickly gathered around (of both protesters and pedestrian onlookers), the police formed a circle around the man and told everyone to “get back!” and then they began marching toward us, forcing the crowd of onlookers to scatter as well.
The police then took the young man over to where the other protesters were being “collected” at the HSBC.
There was one young girl, with the notable red square patch on her jacket (the symbol of the Québec student movement) who had to be taken away on a stretcher into an ambulance. We don’t know what happened to her.
As more and more police gathered, we decided it was time to leave, walking down the street through which the police had chased the protesters, remnants of signs, red patches, and other debris spilled across the streets; the remains of a peaceful protest ended with police violence.
This has become all too common in Montréal and across Québec, as the student protest enters its twelfth week, having had over 160 protests, an average of 2-3 per day.
As the demonstrations take place, the police have used obscure and unconstitutional city by-laws in both Montréal and Québec City which are so vague in their descriptions that any peaceful assembly or march can be declared illegal. Those who are indiscriminately arrested are fined $500, and if arrested again, are charged between $3,500 and $10,500.
It is clear that the State has decided – unilaterally – that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly do not confirm to their specific “by-laws,” and are clamping down on students and protesters in order to quiet and crush the student strike and the emerging social movement which is being referred to as the ‘Maple Spring’.
The national media, for its part, has decided to demonize the students, the protesters, and the people; taking the word of a “police spokesperson” over everyone else. Having been at the protest, however, I must question whether these so-called “journalists” were at the same event, because we witnessed two entirely different scenarios.
We entered the march in good spirits, and the police ended it in violence and repression, leaving us standing still, scattered, and disturbed; but our spirits are not crushed, our resolve is only growing stronger, and for each act of violence the police and State impose upon the people, we begin to see them for what they truly are, and thus, what is truly at stake: our very freedom, itself!
Andrew Gavin Marshall is an independent researcher and writer based in Montreal, Canada, writing on a number of social, political, economic, and historical issues. He is also Project Manager of The People’s Book Project. He also hosts a weekly podcast show, “Empire, Power, and People,” onBoilingFrogsPost.com.
Human genes engineered into experimental GMO rice being grown in Kansas
by Ethan A. Huff
Natural News
May 2, 2012
(NaturalNews) Unless the rice you buy is certified organic, or comes specifically from a farm that tests its rice crops for genetically modified (GM) traits, you could be eating rice tainted with actual human genes. The only known GMO with inbred human traits in cultivation today, a GM rice product made by biotechnology company Ventria Bioscience is currently being grown on 3,200 acres in Junction City, Kansas — and possibly elsewhere — and most people have no idea about it.
Since about 2006, Ventria has been quietly cultivating rice that has been genetically modified (GM) with genes from the human liver for the purpose of taking the artificial proteins produced by this “Frankenrice” and using them in pharmaceuticals. With approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ventria has taken one of the most widely cultivated grain crops in the world today, and essentially turned it into a catalyst for producing new drugs.
Originally, the cultivation of this GM rice, which comes in three approved varieties (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/biotech_ea_permits.html), was limited to the laboratory setting. But in 2007, Ventria decided to bring the rice outdoors. The company initially tried to plant the crops in Missouri, but met resistance from Anheuser-Busch and others, which threatened to boycott all rice from the state in the event that Ventria began planting its rice within state borders (http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com).
So Ventria‘s GM rice eventually ended up in Kansas, where it is presumably still being grown for the purpose of manufacturing drugs on 3,200 acres in Junction City. And while this GM rice with added human traits has never been approved for human consumption, it is now being cultivated in open fields where the potential for unrestrained contamination and spread of its unwanted, dangerous GM traits is virtually a given.
“This is not a product that everyone would want to consume,” said Jane Rissler from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to the Washington Post back in 2007. “It is unwise to produce drugs in plants outdoors.”
Though receiving tens of thousands of public comments of opposition, many rightly concerned about the spread of GM traits, the USDA approved open cultivation of Ventria‘s GM rice anyway. This, of course, occurred after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had refused approval for Ventria‘s GM rice back in 2003 (http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/publications/PharmaRice.pdf).
GM ‘pharmaceutical’ rice could cause more disease, suggests report
Besides the threat of contamination and wild spread, Ventria‘s GM rice, which is purportedly being grown to help third-world children overcome chronic diarrhea, may conversely cause other chronic diseases.
“These genetically engineered drugs could exacerbate certain infections, or cause dangerous allergic or immune system reactions,” said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety (CFS), who published a report back in 2007 about the dangers of Ventria‘s GM rice.
You can view that report here:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
Sources for this article include:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/humangene042505.cfm
Russia warns of pre-emptive strike on AMD if NATO goes ahead [video]
Russia Today
May 3, 2012
Russia warns it could make a pre-emptive strike against NATO’s anti-missile defense shield planned for Europe – if the US persists in going ahead, ignoring the Kremlin’s opposition. Moscow says the system threatens its national security – and is detailing its concerns at an international conference in the Russian capital – with representatives from over 50 nations. RT’s Anissa Naouai has more.
[hat tip: Friends of Syria]
Chaos, clashes & religious tension: Fruits of Egypt revolution [video]
Russia Today
May 3, 2012
The worst violence Egypt has seen in months is stoking political tensions in the country, ahead of the Presidential election. At least 11 people were killed and around 100 injured, when a group of unknown assailants attacked protesters early on Wednesday, sparking further fierce clashes. The protesters were staging a sit-in near the country’s Ministry of Defense, voicing their anger at the banning of an Islamist candidate from the election. Various political forces have rushed to blame the ruling military for the bloodshed. While the generals say they’ll hand over power to civilians if the outcome of the Presidential vote is decided in the first round, many fear that it will do little to quell the chaos, or lead to prompt democratic reforms. RT’s Sara Firth reports.
Red Ice Radio – Jay Weidner – Hr 1 – Kubrick’s Odyssey: How Stanley Faked the Moon Landings [audio]
Red Ice Radio
April 27, 2012
Jay Weidner is an author, filmmaker and hermetic scholar, considered to be a “modern-day Indiana Jones” for his ongoing worldwide quests to find clues to mankind’s spiritual destiny. He returns to Red Ice to talk about his film, Kubrick’s Odyssey. Jay presents compelling evidence of how Stanley Kubrick directed the Apollo moon landings. He reveals that the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey was not only a retelling of Arthur C. Clarke and Kubrick’s novel, but also a research and development project that assisted Kubrick in the creation of the Apollo moon footage. Weidner also tells how Kubrick’s film, The Shining is the story of Kubrick’s personal travails as he secretly worked on the Apollo footage for NASA.
5/2/2012 — Severe Outbreak = ND SD NE KS MN WI IA OK TX LA AR MS TN AL KY PA NY [video included]
ＤＵＴＣＨＳＩＮＳＥ = ＳＩＮＣＥＤＵＴＣＨ
May 2, 2012
watch the video update here:
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UPDATE 956pm CDT — 5/2/2012:
Updated screenshot of activity nationwide:
UPDATE 950pm CDT — 5/2/2012:
Possible tornado south of Birmingham Alabama heading north.. Damaging winds over South Mississippi, and New Orleans Louisiana…also Hail heading northwest towards Tennessee
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UPDATE 837pm CDT — 5/2/2012:
Possible tornadoes heading towards downtown New York City:
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Here is the website post with the most recent forecast (and confirmations of being hit) ..
Also links you can use to monitor severe weather are here:
Stay AWARE on this ! These cells are popping up rapidly — have a severe weather plan ready — make sure outside animals, property, and items should be also prepared for strong damaging winds, hail, and possible tornadoes to be with these cells.
currently under some form of severe weather or will be shortly:
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New York…
Future areas to watch will be Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia, and possibly South Carolina/Georgia .
Student Left In DEA Holding Cell Forced To Drink Urine To Survive [video included]
by Johnny Green
The Weed Blog
May 2, 2012
Student Was Detained By The DEA After Attending A 4/20 Party
Daniel Chong is a 23 year old student at UC San Diego. Chong was at a friend’s 4/20 celebration in University City, California when the DEA raided the party. The DEA took Chong to their office in Kearny Mesa. According to NBC, “He said agents questioned him, and then told him he could go home. One agent even offered him a ride, Chong said. No criminal charges were filed against him.”
Seems like a straight forward case right? Far from it. Instead of being sent home, Daniel Chong was placed in a 5 by 10 foot holding cell for five days without food and water. The DEA agents placed him in a holding cell and forgot about him. “They never came back, ignored all my cries and I still don’t know what happened,” Chong told NBC. “I’m not sure how they could forget me.”
In Chong’s desperation, he said he was forced to drink his own urine. “I had to do what I had to do to survive….I hallucinated by the third day,” Chong said. “I was completely insane.” After Chong was finally discovered, the DEA gave him a ride to the hospital and paid for the bill. However, still to this day they have yet to issue an apology.
By the time Chong got to the hospital his kidneys were failing, there were signs that he was completely insane, and signs that he tried to take his own life while in his delusional state. When I first red this story, I thought there was no way this could be true. How is this possible in America? Sadly, it is all true. I hope Mr. Chong sues the pants off of the DEA.
Is this what we want our tax dollars going to? To raiding 4/20 parties and treating the participants like terrorists at a torture center? There should be people protesting outside of the DEA center in Kearny Mesa 24 hours a day. Daniel Chong, I don’t even know what to say brother. I’m sorry that you had to go through that, and I hope that you make those jerks pay out the nose.
