Let me explain. The G20 is in Toronto this weekend. My shop and apartment are halfway between the official protest site and the security fence. The weekend's biggest planned protest began about 3.5 hours ago and while it began peacefully, it's since degenerated into violence with looting, rioting, and a lot of destruction. I am less than 0.5 km on every side from the chaos and sitting in the eye of the proverbial storm. My street is quiet but I can hear the screaming, and a lot of sirens. I have friends who live even closer to the chaos, and one who is trying to get home from work now to care for his beasties who must be terrified by the noise that is literally on his doorstep now as militants and riot police clash. And to close the windows, I'm guessing, if tear gas is released. Which it may well be; last I'd heard, the cops had donned their gas masks and etc.
Oh, and that hospitals are in lock-down.
Live blogs of what's happening:
The Toronto Star
Torontoist
Note how much more optimistic than the Star blogger the Torontoist blogger is. I don't know what to make of that - location?
Oh, and apparently the tear gas has been used now.
The photo above is from The Toronto Star online.
7 comments:
Well, on the plus side, this sounds like the perfect opportunity to sell some Orwell and Aldous Huxley! Maybe some books on Marxism, too, who knows.
Oh my god, we're not open!! That would be foolhardy, at best.
I thought instantly of you this morning when I heard on the morning news about the protests gone bad. I hope you, your beasties, your friends and their beasties, and your shop is ok!
I'm all for peaceful protest but it seems there are those who attend these things with the sole intent to make trouble, and to what end?
Oh my. I was just on vacation with some friends who must live very near you, and it sounds like their fears about homecoming were right on target.
Stefanie: I don't know to what end. I imagine they're just thugs trying to legitimate (to themselves) their violent tendencies?
Jeanne: Yeah, it was ugly. But once the G20 was over, the ugliness disappeared pretty quickly. Hope your friends made it home alright.
I thought of you, too, when the news reported that shop windows were being smashed. Hoping you and your friends came through okay.
J.G.: We're all good. :)
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