My reader Chris Erb has assembled a collection of editorial cartoons related to the student strike – the Grève général illimitée.
Updates from May, 2012 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Police have put up pictures of a small group of young people they suspect in Thursday morning’s metro-crippling smoke bomb attacks.
Weren’t several attacks carried out at the same time? One small group can’t have done all of them.
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Kevin
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Benoit
There are pictures of the other suspects on the SPVM’s site: http://www.spvm.qc.ca/fr/documentation/3_1_4_persrecherchees.asp
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Spock
This is ridiculous. These students have gone too far.
For what? I measly $250-300/yr… Do the value added math. They spurn $30-$40-$50k starting salaries with a university degree all to complain about a couple of thousand more in education costs over 3 years.
Sad really.
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Tweets at this moment are saying the metro’s orange and blue lines are down, cause unknown as yet.
Later note: Smoke bombs again. La Presse notes.
8:50: Got a Twitter reply saying “NOPE WHOLE FUCKING SYSTEM” in response to my headline “Orange and blue lines are down”. Radio-Canada notes a shortage of buses at the end of rush hour: “La Société de transport de Montréal (STM) invite donc les usagers à marcher jusqu’à leur destination.”
9:15: Bixi announces two bike reception depots downtown, one at King and de la Commune and another at St-Alexandre and Sainte-Catherine in the Gesù parking lot. Bravo to them for being so responsive.
Tweets are saying there’s smoke but it’s apparently not toxic and nobody’s had to be treated for a bad reaction to it.
I’m hearing sirens up here in Villeray. Might not be related.
photo of bus lineup on Wellington in Verdun and general reports of transit chaos.
9:34: Bixi adds depots at Place d’Armes and Victoria Square.
9:57: Tweets suggest orange and blue lines coming back up, Jean-Talon station reopening.
10:12: Tweets say metro is back except green line from Berri to Beaugrand.
Bixi continues to open new bike reception depots, one at Stanley and de Maisonneuve, another at Bleury and de Maisonneuve.
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Adam
“La Société de transport de Montréal (STM) invite donc les usagers à marcher jusqu’à leur destination.”
I think this is one of those times that silence would have been golden.
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mdblog
It’s times like this that it’s blissfully clear that the anarchists, activists, protesters, and revolutionaries are not fighting any problem or injustice. They in fact ARE the the problem. Their selfish acts are not justifiable in any way.
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Kate
It’s the theatre of showing us how precarious our society really is. Attacking public transit is a pretty stupid gesture, though, whoever did it.
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Adam
Apparently someone phoned in to CJAD to say that Charest should call in the army. I know it’s only one caller, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a growing minority that feels that way. It’s scary just how eager many people are to throw away their freedoms due to what is, in the end, a mild-to-moderate inconvenience. I suppose it has more to do with “getting” whoever is responsible than the actual problem itself.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/smoke-bombs-cripple-montreal-subway-system-during-morning-132907046.html
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qatzelok
It’s so easy for MONEY to stage these kinds of events – both the smoke bomb and the “public” reaction. This is why we have no real freedom. False-flag terror tactics are the favored tool of the oligarchy. It feeds into the “the 99% are savages” narrative that makes them feel special and entitled.
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paul
@qatzelok: do you have any sources for those quotes?
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mdblog
@qatzelok, I don’t think you need money to pull this off. Besides, even if this is some sort of capitalist conspiracy, don’t you think that they have better and easier ways of keeping everyone in line than disrupting the Metro? You’re reading waaaay too much Alex Jones. Remember, at the end of the day, ultimate damnation is equal to ultimate salvation.
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qatzelok
mdblog, I don’t watch Alex Jones at all. But I have been boycotting Hollywood/TV for a decade, so I may have lost my faith in commerce. I now believe that money has turned our societies into organized crime. Do you really have faith in capitalism? Do you really think BIG MONEY doesn’t stoop to lies and propaganda?
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Adam
“I now believe that money has turned our societies into organized crime.”
If you’d like to shun money and only engage in barter, please, be my guest.
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mdblog
qatzelok, I think everyone from the very rich to the very poor stoops to lies and propaganda when it suits their needs, but then again, I am a cynic. :)
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Kevin
@qatzelok
Enjoy living in your bubble. -
Tux
All things considered, this wasn’t so bad. I was an hour late for work. I spent the extra time reading with a coffee while I waited for the metro to show. Also, I was quite surprised that the STM actually announced that it was a smoke bomb over the PA system, usually they just refer to everything as an “incident” and everything from “burning paper bag” to “major electrical fire” as “degagement de fumée” The honesty and actual information were a nice surprise.
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qatzelok
@Kevin: “your bubble”
Yes, so while we are learning that our government and media are in bed with the mafia, most consumers/viewers insist on believing the media to report on the government and mafia…. and I’M THE ONE living in a bubble? Why isn’t the mafia a suspect in any of these events?
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Dhomas
@Tux wrote: “All things considered, this wasn’t so bad. I was an hour late for work. I spent the extra time reading with a coffee while I waited for the metro to show.”
I’m glad you got to enjoy it. I made the mistake of taking the “Service Provisoire” bus and got stuck in a very cramped space, where everyone who was sitting down refused to open any windows for fear of getting a drop of rain on them. Meanwhile, the whole bus was a sauna. I couldn’t even see where I was through the window because they were fogged up, and it took about an hour to get from Pie-IX to Berri, at which point I got out and walked the rest of the way to Square-Victoria. If only I hadn’t left my Bixi key with my wife today!
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Spock
It was the students and not people with money.
I am not surprised that there is a lot of leftists opinions here. Explains why Quebec is the most heavily taxed district in NA and, even, internationally and also explains why we are so screwed economically. Just like other leftist districts worldwide.
Viva el socialisme
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Tony Accurso has managed to reorganize his businesses to avoid paying a lot of tax.
I’m beginning to think Accurso ought to run for public office. Imagine if he ran this city or province with the canny skill he uses on his businesses. “Quebec – we make you an offer you can’t refuse!”
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qatzelok
Why in the world would he run for office when he can pay cardboard mascots (our current political gangs) to take all the flack? Question: if masks at demos become illegal, will using politicians as beards also be banned?
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Toronto FC defeated the Impact Wednesday night and took it out of competition for something called the Amway Canadian Championship. I have to admit I’m a bit vague on how the MLS soccer system works, so this seems like awfully early in the season to have lost a championship competition.
A lot of U.S. media outlets have been running the story about members of the Impact doggedly learning French.
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Manolo
Hola from Toronto. The Canadian “championship” is a mini tournament among national teams, not related to the MLS. L’Impact has won it in the past. It is used to decide who represents Canada in the concacaf champions league.
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Kate
Thanks for the clarification!
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Michèle Ouimet looks at the phenomenon of universities spinning off satellite campuses. Is this kind of uncontrolled extension and competition the best use of their money?
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paul
I can’t speak for the ‘uncontrolled extension and competition’, but I do know that building new is far cheaper than restoring old buildings in an institutional setting. It also allows universities to accept more students (i.e. be more accessible).
That being said, I am sure that the economics of the situation often get lost in the orgy of spending – resulting in busted budgets.
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Quel Avenir talks about the scheme to build a dedicated elevated train to the airport, noting among other things that not one single North American city has a downtown link to its airport that doesn’t serve any other purpose.
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David Tighe
It is nice to know that someone somewhere is talking sense.
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Police shot a man early Thursday at the corner of Jean-Talon and d’Iberville. He had threatened them with a knife. The SQ is investigating.
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Michel
Man brings a knife to a fight, cops bring a gun. It’s the Montreal way.
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Kate
Makes me wonder why they still don’t have better means of stopping someone who’s not equipped with a firearm. Shouldn’t technology have provided them with something better by now than making a hole in a guy with a bullet?
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Kevin
You can try a tazer, but that can be deadly and is only moderately effective.
You can try hitting them with a stick, but that means getting close enough to be killed with a knife. -
Kate
They seem willing to use rubber bullets and other subduing technology on students. But there ought to be other means of stopping someone short of using a potentially lethal method.
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Ian
I find it difficult to believe that 2 fully trained, fully equipped police officers are incapable of subduing a potential attacker without resorting to firearms risking innocent bystanders like Patrick Limoges.
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Kate
You’re right, Ian – we’d do well not to let the memory of Patrick Limoges fade away. He should remain a reminder of how easily this kind of policing method can go wrong.
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Yes, those are pictures of 4 suspects in the Lionel Groux attack