Presumed guilty, each and every one of us

More changes proposed to appeal to that base law and order morality pack.  They have been incredibly useful tools (yep, that was intentional) for Harper's plans to silence dissenters.

The most effective way to reduce crime is to prevent it in the first place, and in order to do that, we need to stop people from choosing a life of crime to begin with.  Not all crime will be eliminated, but a hell of a lot of it will.  Instead, the ass-backwards Harper government works on the presumption that we are all potential criminals.  Look at what happened at the G20, and look at the CONs messed up push to spend billions or more prisons despite crime rates dropping.

And now, Nicholson wants to make us safe by coming down hard on prostitutes and gamblers.  I won't include drug dealers in this right now, but as I am very sure stricter laws on users are coming, I'll cover it then.

Stricter laws aren't going to make certain crime oriented types suddenly switch careers.  Addressing social issues that do little to encourage good social behaviour will.

Notice how Harper & co. attack those issues that offend the atavistic, religious sensibilities of the moral nuts.  Sex and gambling.  Does anyone seriously think those are the most important aspects of organized crime that should be addressed?  What about infiltrating government?  Coercing construction contracts?  Threatening unions?

Ah, but those don't hit that self-righteous, holier-than-though, fear of their own vices group.  Sex and gambling do.

Nor do I believe the news delivered by Nicholson has only to do with locking up organized crime bosses.  Look at what the cops will be able to do with their new powers:

(P)olice will be able to more easily obtain wiretaps and orders such as peace bonds, block bail or parole eligibility, seize assets and seek stiffer sentences. The criminal code defines as “organized” crime gangs those cases involving three or more people acting together in a criminal venture.

Three or more people acting together...the hooker, her pimp, and the guy who rents out the room...three fellas gambling...and anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity, because you know, they could be involved...like at the G20.

The CONs don't like any dissent, any opposition, any transparency because they can't fool the public as easily, so they change our systems to shut us down, then make up some bull-shit justification for it afterward.  Like unreported crimes.

So now they have not only the plans to make more room to lock people up, they are moving on changes that will enable them to spy on citizens without having to justify their actions, and reasons to scoop up a whole lot of folks at once.  Then, take their sweet-ass time sifting through the detainees at their leisure, charging some, releasing others, but reinforcing that message that we are all suspect, we have no real rights, and we had better not cross the elected government.

A few measures put through by a government can be coincidental, but when the ridiculous is used to justify such sweeping changes that threaten our rights and freedoms, we had better take notice.

Field Day - Or is that DAYzed and CONfused?

His mother would be so proud.  Doris had his name in print more than any other Canadian, today.

A few gems:

Best blog quote:

Doris' cheery crime shoppers philosophy on prisons seems to be : If you build them, they will come. (Alison at Dawg’s Blawg - great photoshop as well!) 

Must read analysis of the CONs’ strategy of inventing a crisis to create a need, then apply the results to move toward a very frightening goal.  Brilliant and chilling piece by Boris at TGB

Boris makes excellent points.  It is difficult not to laugh at Dino Doris and his foot-in-mouth disease, but what the Harperites are doing, and how they are managing to by-pass legislation and reality to do it is no laughing matter.  Those speak of a frightening, ideological, very hostile takeover of our rights and democracy.

Letters from the Ottawa Citizen, August 5, 2010:

...Mr. Day might well have borrowed from the Queen of Hearts: Minister Day: “Alice, my dear, are you ready for your sentence?” Alice: “But there has to be a verdict first.” Minister: “Sentence first, verdict afterwards!” Michael Friendly, professor of psychology, chair, quantitative methods program, York University

What Canada really needs are more unbuilt prison cells to deal with the rise in unreported crime. Because unbuilt prisons are so much cheaper than actual prisons, the Conservative government could announce twice as many new unbuilt cells and still save taxpayers money. Add imaginary prison guards and the government can deal with unemployment at virtually no cost. Then we can all go for tea down the rabbit hole. Norman Rosencwaig, Toronto

I await (the Fraser Institute’s) study supporting Stockwell Day’s contention that dinosaurs did indeed once roam the Earth with humans.  Mike Hutton, Ottawa

If Statistics Canada has numbers underscoring the declining rates of crime overall in Canada, yet we need more prisons, what is the game plan of this Conservative government in creating this wealth of new criminals?

Malcontent foreign affairs employees, dissenting board members of the Wheat Board, suspended staffers of rights and democracy agencies, outspoken RCMP officers, representatives of women’s shelters, scientists from Environment Canada speaking out on global warming, or simply the growing numbers of dissenting Canadians who are concerned about these now very transparent attacks on our democracy and rights across Canada?  Kevin Morris, Gatineau, Que.

Now, let’s hear from Dullard Doris himself:

(Day) also questioned the value of information gathered by the census, suggesting data older than a year is "untenable in today's information age."

That was two days ago when Stats Can statistics sucked and threatened the very fabric of our society, but folks, keep up with current events!

Yesterday, Doris wanted to make us all safe by spending 9 billion of our tax dollars building more prisons and revamping existing ones.  They would be needed, he warned us, because of all of those unreported criminals who have committed an alarming number of unreported (and unclassified) crimes!  OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!  Am I an unwitting victim of these faceless scum bags???!!!  Lock them up!!!!!  For doing whatever it is that has not been reported!!!!!  Hire Steve’s psychic hairdresser NOW!!!!!! 

And Stockboy knows this how?

A spokesperson for the justice minister said Day was referring to the General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada that asks individuals if they have been victims of crimes and if they reported the incidents to police.  Results of the 2009 survey conducted every five years will not be published until September, but the 2004 report does show a slight decrease, from 37 per cent to 34 per cent, of reported crimes.

Oh...Stats Can.  Totally sucks, except when it doesn’t, and only when you can leave out the parts you don’t like - the vast majority of unreported crimes aren’t reported because people don’t think they are serious enough to report.

Since Walks-With-Angels-Tony wasn’t around to rescue the floundering minister, Iceman Nicholson jumped into the maelstrom.

"If you ask, is there unreported crime in Canada, there’s unreported crime, there’s no question about it, Nicholson (said)..."I get anecdotal evidence and there are certainly some studies on that.”    

Anecdotal evidence.  I see...So we just need to sent in our cute, funny stories, the Minister of Justice will faithfully read each and every one, accord them fair, impartial weight, and develop policies accordingly.  Sort of like the wisdom of Solomon.  Hang on to your babies, ladies!

“We don’t govern on the basis of statistics,” Nicholson said. “We govern on the basis of what we hear from the public and what law enforcement agencies tell us. That has not changed in the four and a half years we’ve been in government.”

Oh?...OH???

In support of Day, Nicholson’s spokeswoman referred to the General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada that asks people if they’ve been victims of crimes and if they reported them to police.

That would be Stats Can, the department that churns out statistics...and doesn’t Stats Can tell government what the public thinks?

But wait!  Rob mentions listening to what enforcement agencies tell the Hasrperites.  So what have these agencies been saying? (emphasis mine)

Various police organizations - Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Canadian Association of Police Boards, and Canadian Police Association - have been lobbying MPs to ensure they do not support the removal of long guns from the gun registry. This has been a matter of considerable debate in Ottawa, and some members of the Liberal and New Democratic parties have said they intend to support the removal of long guns from control, which would Allow the Conservative party motion to pass.  The success of the long gun registry in preventing deaths seems overwhelming. (From Toronto Police Accountability Bulletin, No. 54, June 21, 2010.)

Whoops.  No bloody wonder Stevie the Petulant only made a three minute appearance today and took no questions.  The waters are just a bit to rough.