Oh Canada...

[notyoueither]

I linked to no2010.com earlier.

[notyoueither]

BTW, they have a blurb up, admitting that they were doing the property damage. That is justified in their minds.

As can be seen, these are garden variety loons. They were joined by loons from other parts of North America because it's a large event and that seems to be a good time and place to break ****.

http://no2010.com/node/1348

'Criminal element' are VANOC and IOC
February 15, 2010 - 19:30 — no2010
"Criminal Element" is VANOC and IOC
ORN says state violence disproportionate to protest damage

by Moira Peters, Vancouver Media Coop, February 13, 2010

http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/2742

Police used disproportionate violence in arresting and detaining protesters during this morning's Olympics resistance "Heart Attack" march, said representatives of the Olympics Resistance Network (ORN) at a press conference this afternoon in Pigeon Park in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"We witnessed excessive and disproportionate use of state forces," said Peggy Lee, of ORN's legal committee.

She described hundreds of riot police armed with a diverse array of weapons, including AR-15 assault rifles, shields and batons, forcibly detaining unarmed protesters.

An unconfirmed 13-15 arrests were made, all against peaceful protesters who had not caused property damage, including several protesters who were arrested after the demonstration had dispersed and they were leaving the intersection of Robson and Jervis Streets, according to Lee.

A Vancouver Police Department release today described a "criminal element" that "marched among about 200 legitimate protesters... breaking windows, turning over boxes and clashing with police."

Gord Hill of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation agreed that a criminal element had infiltrated the protest.

"I'm glad you brought up the criminal element. The IOC and VANOC is the criminal element, pillaging public coffers, the effects of which we will see long after the Games," with cuts to health care, affordable housing, education and meaningful social services, he said.

"Gangs like the VPD, the RCMP, CSIS and CAF make up some of the 17,000 thugs in our streets."

Hill said he disagreed that police were reacting fairly to the damage done by protesters to buildings and buses in downtown Vancouver.

"Buildings are not made of flesh and tissue. They are made of concrete and steel." Hill said buildings were targeted because they belong to the corporations – The Hudson Bay, The Toronto-Dominion Bank – that do damage to flesh and blood humans.

Alissa Westergard-Thorpe of the ORN said compared to the violence to human beings sponsored by the state of Canada, the demonstration resulted in "minor property damage."

The march today was a "successful disruption of the messaging of the Olympics," according to Westergard-Thorpe.

She said the ORN is concerned police will use the property damage today as an excuse to disrupt the Women's Memorial March scheduled tomorrow. The March, in its 19th year, commemorates the 3,000 murdered and missing women in Canada since the 1970s, none of whose deaths and disappearances have been extensively investigated.

[Theben]

If they were so concerned, why did they cause the property damage?

[Asher]

They were obviously very concerned about runaway spending. Why else would you incur enormous security costs by damaging random property?

[notyoueither]

Who?

[Asher]

The Guess Who?

[notyoueither]

I always knew that Cummings guy was bad news, what with a name like that.

[Asher]

They should've had The Guess Who perform instead of Bryan Adams.

That was the first real sign of failure.

[notyoueither]

Nellie was pretty yummy. Bryan Adams was a small price to pay.

[Theben]

They should've had The Guess Who perform instead of Bryan Adams.

That was the first real sign of failure.

Failure is a natural consequence of association with Canada. Celene Dion, Bryan Adams, and Ben- all Canadian. I rest my case.

[Asher]

But you've forgot the good parts...like Zylka, Ben Mulroney, Nickelback, and Wade Belak.

[Theben]

pass, dunno, fail, dunno.

[Theben]

So, aside from the lack of snow, crappy opening, dead athlete, and constant insane protests, how are the Olympics going?

Aside from others have added:

A different kind of Olympic drama: Foreclosure

By Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, CNBC.com 8 hours, 42 minutes ago

The Whistler-Blackcombe resort, where the Alpine events such as snowboarding and ski-jumping are being held, could go into foreclosure this week, smack dab in the middle of the Olympics, and be owned in part by the now defunct Lehman Brothers, one of its creditors.

Whistler Blackcombe is one of several ski resort properties owned by Intrawest. Others include Steamboat and Stratton. The company is in deep financial straits and missed a debt payment of more than $500 million in December. The lenders have given Intrawest a deadline of this Friday to come up with the money, or they say they will foreclose.

Intrawest is owned by Fortress Investments, a well known, private equity firm and hedge fund, which bought Intrawest in a leveraged buyout in 2006 for $2.8 billion. The rationale for the investment was that condo sales slopeside would provide cash to pay back the $1.7 billion in debt they took on as a result of the deal. Then the real estate market collapsed.

The CEO of Fortress, Dan Mudd, was on CNBC and acknowledged Intrawest is having a tough time with the real estate sales, but that the on-slope operations of the business – lift tickets, etc. – are doing better. He says they want to manage their way through the crisis and realize the full value of the investment. He said negotiations are ongoing right now with the creditors.

Resort investments have been particularly hard hit in the economic downturn. On Tuesday, East West Resort Development, owner of various luxury ski resorts and a Jack Nicklaus golf course near Lake Tahoe, filed for bankruptcy.

[notyoueither]

That's really reaching now.

[Ben Kenobi]

Celine Dion?

Man that's the most hurtful comparison ever. I can't believe you would stoop so low, Tehban.