Generation Inspired - Let Capitalism Fail

No comment required.

However, I cannot help but comment as I watch this and think about how we are supposed to react to the international response to the economic crisis and the measures being taken to save capitalism from collapse. What is happening is exactly what Karl Marx predicted except that he did nor foresee the use of a form of socialism for the rich to save capitalism. As governments world wide use austerity measures against workers to bail out the banks and corporations that have exploited them for years we are supposed to sit back and take it because there is no alternative.

But, there is an alternative. Let history happen. Let capitalism fail and build a new society from the ashes of the old.

Has Wikileaks Gone Off Track

If I recall correctly, it seems to me, that the original idea of Wikileaks was to provide an outlet for whistle-blowers who wanted to draw attention to government wrongdoing by releasing the documents that prove it.

Now it seems that the idea is that no information, whether government or corporate, should be confidential and that they will publish anything and everything leaked to them regardless of the motives or consequences.

And many seem to believe that they deserve the unquestioning support of all progressives. I'm not so sure about that.

Blue Wall of Pork Circles The Wagons

As Ottawa Police come under attack for repeated acts of brutality, rather than condemning the perpetrators, the Ottawa Police Association goes after the judges who have condemned the atrocities.

As the Ottawa Citizen reports:

The association is now looking at the possibility of filing a complaint into the comments made by Justice Richard Lajoie, who brought attention to officers’ mistreatment of suspects and prisoners when he dismissed criminal charges against Stacy Bonds, who had been charged with assaulting police.

Lajoie considered video recordings of Bonds being manhandled and strip-searched in the cellblocks at Ottawa’s downtown police station, and said he didn’t want to play any part in the “travesty” of the case against her. He called her treatment “an indignity towards a human being.”

Boucher wrote in the e-mail to his members that Lajoie’s comments drove a wedge between the police and the community. He wrote that the union leadership is consulting with its lawyers; it’s not clear to whom a complaint would be filed.

It is actions like these, the brutality by police officers themselves and their association attacking the judges who speak up against police brutality, that drives "a wedge between the police and the community", not the judges standing up for innocent members of the public. This "circle the wagons" Blue Wall of Silence is what that alienates the public from the police that should be protecting them, not brutalizing them.

What is Really Scary is ...

Some people will support the police whatever they do. When I saw the recent CBC poll I was disturbed, but then when I saw the CFRA poll I was disgusted.

CBC Poll - Did the Ottawa police officers go too far in their dealings with Stacy Bonds?

Yes 88.99%

No 8.93%

Undecided 2.08%

CFRA Poll - Should Ontario’s Attorney General resign after the province said it supports the decision made by crown prosecutors to proceed with a case against Stacey Bonds?

Yes, it’s an injustice and a travesty that the case went ahead in spite of how she was treated by police 60.3%

No, just because Bonds was not convicted doesn’t mean the decision to proceed was wrong 36.3%

Other 3.27%

Ottawa Citizen story


What I realized is that, indeed, some people will support the police no matter what they do. These are people who think the courts are too soft and that the police never arrest anyone that isn't guilty. These people think that if someone is beat up by the police they probably have it coming to them.

These are the same type of people who supported the right wing law and order blame the scapegoats German equivalent of the Tea Party in the 1930s.

These people are very scary and they are growing in numbers, egged on by people like Glenn Beck and Lowell Green. We must speak up against them.

The Fifth Columnist is Getting a New Camera for Christmas

My first serious camera was a Konica Autoreflex T3 35 MM SLR that I purchased in the early 1970s and used for over 25 years. It cost around $300, but I spent well over $1000 on it including lenses, the most expensive being a $500 80-200 MM zoom lens. I have always been a big lens guy shooting mainly landscape and wildlife. I also had a 2X converter that gave me a maximum focal length of 400 MM. Of course, with the large aperture required at that zoom and the lack of any form of stabilization, I could really only use the combination with a tripod on a sunny day. My daughter still has the Konica and it was her main camera till she got a digital SLR a year ago, but she still likes to shoot film occasionally. I got my first digital camera in 1999, and again I went for the big zoom. The $1,500 Sony Mavica FD-91 was one impressive looking camera for it's time. The 14X zoom on the Mavica was huge, a 35 MM equivalent of 37-518 MM and with Sony's Steady Shot image stabilization system it could be hand held at the full zoom. The camera was unique in that it used 3.5 inch floppy disks for image storage and though it was under a megapixel it produced decent 8X10 prints, even though the experts claimed that was not possible. It was a large camera but I was used to the size and feel of an SLR and preferred it over smaller digital cameras. The Mavica became my daughter's first digital camera when I upgraded. By 2005 a sub megapixel camera was pretty well considered obsolete and after 5 years I decided it was time to upgrade again. By now digital cameras were becoming serious and digital SLRs were available. However one of the main reasons I went to a digital camera with a long zoom was to avoid the hassle of changing multiple lenses and the weight and bulk of carrying them hiking. So I decided on the Panasonic Lumix FZ20 with a 12X 36-432 MM stabilized zoom lens. The FZ20, at a cost of about $1000 (with a bit more for an extra battery and memory cards), was a big improvement over the Mavica and takes great photos and I am sure it would do me well for many years to come. However with all things electronic and digital the time comes when you have to decide whether it is worthwhile to upgrade to a newer improved model with more features. After 6 years it looks like it is about time to upgrade again. This time I am looking at the Panasonic Lumix FZ100. The Lumix FZ100 is a 14 megapixel camera with a 25-600 MM 24X stabilized zoom with full HD video capability, rather than the crappy tiny Quicktime video of the FZ20. Shooting at 3 megapixels, the top of the zoom range is an effective 1200 MM lens - WOW. The awesome zoom and full HD video capability are the main features that made me decide that now is the time to upgrade, but the camera also has impressive burst shooting capabilities and a whole slew of improvements over the FZ20. The cost has gone down as well to about $550, but an extra battery and SD cards might add an extra $200 or so. So it looks like that will be under the tree for me this Christmas.

Fewer Politicians - Less Democracy

Everybody loves democracy and hates politicians. It doesn't make sense but it's a fact and it's what drives ideas like Mike Harris's "Fewer Politicians Act" which created megacities and recent proposals to reduce the size of Ottawa City Council.

But what does it really mean. Well it means less representation and more work for the people's representatives. Properly performed, a politician's job is already a 24 hour a day job. The more people a politician has to represent the less time he can spend representing each voter/taxpayer.

In municipal politics what that means is that elected representatives have to depend more on city staff for information and advice, and in Ottawa that means more power to the development industry because Ottawa's city administration is developer driven.

Hopefully our new City council will see the flaws in this proposal from the new mayor's election campaign and maintain the peoples representation on council and not give even more power to developers in running our city.

The Fifth Column Is Not Dead

I have just been a bit preoccupied with things lately. I've actually been thinking about things to blog about so once the spirit moves me I should be off and running. More to write about SMH, of course, and cycling stuff and political commentary on all sorts of things. And I've been looking at getting a new camera that I want to talk about. In the meantime I am posting short tweets and links on my twitter feed that you can follow on the right hand column of The Fifth Column.

Beautiful Calendars For Christmas Gifts

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I cannot say enough about how beautiful and unique these calendars are. We have purchased many for gifts for our friends. This is a great opportunity to give your friends unique gifts and help save Ottawa's beautiful South March Highlands. Proceeds from calendar sales go to the Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands (South March Highlands - Carp River Conservation Inc.).

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Another "Brings Tears To Your Eyes" Video - The South March Highlands

Mountain Biking and Saving the South March Highlands

Click On Images To Enlarge
The Ottawa mountain biking community in recent years has been focused on the South March Highlands Conservation Forest accepting that the rest of the South March Highlands/Kanata Lakes trails will be lost to inevitable urban development.

Personally I am starting to become very hopeful that that will not be so and that at least some, if not all, of the remaining South March Highlands lands and trails will be saved from development. This will provide the potential for the South March Highlands to become a real family destination for mountain biking with trails ranging from true beginner (Greenbelt type) level trails to the advanced trails in the Outback system.

Just last week I rode some of the old "Kanata Lakes" trails between Goulbourn Forced Road and the Hydro Cut and it was quite enjoyable. The addition of these trails back into the system would increase the intermediate (Group D type) level trails in the system.

But where I see real potential is in the land north of the existing Conservation Forest that already has a trail on it that connects to the trails within the existing Conservation Forest and provides a trail all around Heron Pond. This land is currently privately owned but zoned Environmental Protection. The potential I see there is to purposefully build a new sustainable trail network on the land further north where true beginner level trails could be built so that whole families, from Ottawa and beyond could visit, Family members could ride the trails that suit their skill level all from one central trailhead, where toilet facilities could be provided and perhaps a picnic area for families to meet up together mid day.

The same trails that form the basis for a beginner trail system could be used for a flowy race course where races could be held to further promote the South March Highlands as a mountain biking destination.

As is the current practice all these trails would be shared trails open to everyone. The only exception being the race course while actual races were being held.

The current City Council takes the first step to save all of the South March Highlands at one of it's last meetings in mid November. Urge your current councillor to support the Wilkinson-Doucet motion that starts the process of saving all of the South March Highlands. Let us all do what we can to save the South March Highlands from further urban development.