Editor's note: Due to technical difficulties, J's Wednesday column wasn't posted on-line until Thursday morning — and if you missed it, you missed a good one. To catch up, just scroll down; it's under this morning's column. —HH

Live, from Calgary, it's a 6.27.02 G8 update from Beldar

Here are some random, rather incoherent thoughts on our immersion in the G-8 phenomena. The Calgary Herald and the Globe and Mail this morning had a picture of eight men in suits standing against a panoramic shot of the stunning Kananaskis mountain range under a blue sky. There was something incongruous about the photo. The big guys out of their usual cocoons.

Any doubt that there is a need to deliver some sharp information to the big eight? None at all. Let's list a few areas of concern: third world poverty and hunger, IMF and World Bank policies, first world arms manufacturing, AIDS, corporate global exploitation and criminal behavior, support of corrupt totalitarian regimes, and one could go on at length. You document the list on a daily basis.

We attended a number of the protest events. We went to the G6B summit at the University, and we attended a number of the protest rallies. The estimates were that there were upwards of 3000 participants at some of the events. Despite a major police presence there have not been any violent incidents. Give credit to the Calgary Police Service, supplemented by the RCMP, and by representatives of other police forces from across the country. They were absolutely non-confrontational and at times invisible. The frontline troops were on bicycles, did not wear face shields or carry batons. They were focused and professional. No pepper spray, no charges to clear the streets. Today I noticed that the senior brass of the local police were all in dress uniform walking through the crowds unarmed. Local downtown workers mingled with the protestors and although there was a huge cultural gap between them, I did not notice any overt hostility. It wasn't a love in but I have noticed more tension at a late night Stampede bar close down.

What did the protestors look like? There was some diversity in age (The Raging Grannies- a Canadian phenomena) but to my eye it could have been Haight Ashbury circa 1968 without the overt drugs and sex. The long hair, the tie dye clothes, the preponderance of tattoos, the piercings, the no shower, in your face 'I am deliberately not going to dress Gap, Banana Republic' message. The chants: The G-8 sucks, They take the mountains we take the streets, The people united will never be defeated, and other simplistic slogans. There in lies a major part of the problem for me. We are not talking Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Lewis Lapham, Noam Chomsky. No leadership, no articulate message. No way you can envisage the planet in the hands of this 3000. The cause requires something much bigger and sharper edged than what I observed. Now admittedly, we are talking Calgary...I suspect the Class D league of Global protest movements.

It was invigorating for Primat and myself. Even though I may not have wanted the protestors to take over the home planet, I liked their enthusiasm, irreverence and alignment with truth.

Dubwit just flew by with his 'copter entourage heading for Calgary International and the understated comfort of Air Force One. I loved his comment about the forest fires in Arizona when he stopped at Slow Down' [Show Low]??on his way up. "This is and evil event but I want you all to know that good can come out of evil". You betcha!!!

  —Beldar, Power to the People

• Red, White and Ever More Blue : America's Psyche Slips Into a Deepening Funk: "This is the most unsettling of times. Institutions are disintegrating like 401(k)s, just as hearts are pounding with 'dirty bomb' anxieties. The national fight or flight response is ever-heightened. To apply the Tom Ridge standard to the American psyche, the republic appears teetering in a Code Red." A time for leadership, and we have the likes of Pantload and his minions:

• Ashcroft fires bankruptcy administrator: "The Utility Reform Network cited Stanley's attempt to appoint a committee to represent rate payers in the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. bankruptcy case, as well as her challenges to some of PG&E's legal and professional fees in the case, which now total $46 million. She also unsuccessfully challenged bonuses PG&E paid its top executives after the bankruptcy filing 14 months ago." Sounds like a reasonable person protecting consumers from Bush, Inc . . . no wonder she was fired by Ashcroft, the Attorney General who is simply doing his duty for the Homeland. He probably thinks Ms. Stanley is a terrorist, has breasts, and goes to a different church.

• A World of hurt: "We can reregulate 'til we're blue in the face (though if we hold our breaths waiting for reforms, we'll turn blue sooner). But until global capitalism makes room for a different kind of accounting altogether — one that incorporates moral values and social costs and benefits into business decisions big and small — scandals big and small will keep right on happening." And just how are things going in the Bush, Inc, corporate world?

• Bush Urges Congress on Debt Limit: "In a tart response, Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., replied, 'I am not interested in a deal where Republicans must agree to massive amounts of new discretionary spending and job-killing tax increases in exchange for Democratic support for an increase in the debt ceiling.'" No, this GOP fascist wants economy killing tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, Pantload is using the one size fits all war on terra to take the nation deeper into debt and recession. And what happened to the "R" word anyway?

• March 15, 2001: Bush sought cuts in wildfire prevention funds: "Bush's budget for next year would eliminate $600 million in fire fighting costs from the Department of Agriculture and $385 million from a similar program in the Department of the Interior. Laverty said approximately $142 million also would be cut from a program to clear out brush that fuels fires." But those red states just love the pantload: Colorado, Arizona, Utah. He's for the people and the environment. And for nonstop lying, read this:

• Bush, Inc, blames fires on green groups: "The Bush administration blamed environmental groups on Tuesday for contributing to raging forest fires such as the ones in Arizona and Colorado by blocking the federal government's effort to remove dangerous underbrush." These mindless boys and girls are sociopaths. Oh, and remember, there is nothing that can be done about global warming . . . just die.

• POPULAR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR SENIORS ROSE THREE TIMES THE RATE OF INFLATION LAST YEAR: "The prices of the 50 most prescribed drugs for senior citizens rose, on average, by nearly three times the rate of inflation last year, according to a new report released today by Families USA." Wasn't it just last week that pharmaceutical supporters of the extreme right gave hundreds of thousands to Bush, Inc, for preferential treatment?

• WorldCom admits $3.8bn scandal: "'The WorldCom chief financial officer did not tell Andersen about the line cost transfers nor did he consult with Andersen about the accounting treatment,' Andersen said in a statement. 'Upon recently learning of the transfers, Andersen conferred with the WorldCom audit committee and new management, and advised the company that WorldCom's financial statements for 2001 should not be relied upon.'" You can't blame Andersen solely for this one, because there is a smoking executive, who will probably receive a firm reprimand. And people wonder why anyone would protest the benevolent, corporate sponsored, taxpayer provided, G8 get togethers?

• A Fresh Face Among the G8 Protesters: "Meredith Bragg: a 15-year-old high school student, she marched with a contingent of Calgary Youth for Human Rights . . . 'There's no transparency in their meetings — they have to tell people what's going on. Take Third-World debt. It's disgusting that billions of people are living on less then $1 (US) a day when there's these capitalist people with so much money. The distribution of wealth is disgusting. And the G8 is perpetuating that.'" Fifteen . . . maybe there is hope . . . at 15 I knew nada and cared nada about world events . . . just like most voters in the US and Canada.

• G-8 security operation-the stifling and criminalizing of dissent: "'It is now apparent to me that the government has equated these democratic acts as being a threat to security and shown that they are equating activism and terrorism. ... If they define the work we do, which is to be a watchdog on government policy, to be critical of government policy... as a security threat or borderline terrorism, then that's a real problem.'" If the G8 supports democracy, what do they have to hide? Answer: they don't and everything.

• Fears of G8 protest violence `much ado about nothing': "Victoria Raging Granny Ruth Miller, 69, said the 'obscene security' likely scared away many potential protesters. 'I don't know why the army and the police are so scared of their own citizens,' she said." Because concerned citizens, workers, consumers, could, if organized, unseat corporations and their political servants.

• Robert Fisk: I wonder why Bush doesn't let Sharon run his press office: "In other words, the United States will be Israel's spokesman in any negotiations. A growing number of Americans know they are being suckered by their own government and their own press, that their country's foreign policy is being manipulated to give maximum support to one - and only one - country in the Middle East." Obviously, Smirk likes the cut of Sharon's jib, but aside from the adulation of the American corporate press, no one else seems to find the breathlessly awaited ME speech to be on point:

• A Speech To End All Peace: "Few speeches could be considered to be as destructive as today's address from the American president. The primary message Bush sent was that his 'vision' of the Palestinian future did not include Yasir Arafat. Surely, the message is not lost on Ariel Sharon, who has made clear his hatred of Arafat, to the extent that he has even expressed his regret at not killing him during the Lebanon invasion twenty years ago." And,

• George W's bloody folly: "This is a foreign policy failure for George Bush. If he were a Democrat, both the Washington press corps and Congress would already be racking it up alongside the unextinguished threat from al-Qaida and the continued freedom from captivity of Osama bin Laden. Those failures, and now the guarantee of further slaughter in the Middle East, should be prompting hard questions about Bush and his war on terror." And,

• Meet Dubya, Arafat campaign manager: Hardly-elected U.S. pres tries to 'shape up' other democracies: "That's why he didn't see how odd it looks for him to demand that the Palestinians get rid of Yasser Arafat. Arafat got 88 percent of the vote in an election in which 80 percent of the voters turned out. The election was monitored by international observers, among them Jimmy Carter, who found fewer irregularities than later turned up in Florida." And,

• A defiant Hamas challenges Arafat: "Analysts say Hamas would get about 20 percent of the votes if national elections were held today, making it the leading opposition force to Arafat's Fatah movement. And with its experience in running local institutions and a reputation among Palestinians as untainted by corruption, it could win municipal elections, says Avraham Sela, a leading Israeli analyst." As the saying goes, Smirk, "Be careful what you wish for." And,

• Public spat over Arafat widens Blair and Bush rift: "The tensions between the US and Europe were on display in Canada yesterday. Both leaders looked distinctly uncomfortable and Mr Bush shifted in his seat as the prime minister said: 'It's for the Palestinians to choose the people they choose to elect. It's not a question of saying we are going to tell people who they will elect or not.'" Tony was uncomfortable, because he was stepping out of his sock puppet role. Smirk was uneasy, because free elections are a foreign policy for Bush, Inc. Finally,

• Arafat Calls for Democratic Elections in the United States — World Reaction is Mixed: "Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat stunned the world yesterday by demanding that the United States hold democratic elections for a new Chief Executive before it attempts to continue in its role as broker between Israel and Palestine." Katherine Harris came to the defense of American elections, telling Arafat, "I'd like to see you get elected here . . . you look like an ex-felon to me!"

• Bush Overplays the Terror Card: "Has the war on terrorism become the modern equivalent of the Roman Circus, drawing the people's attention away from the failures of those who rule them? Corporate America is a shambles because deregulation, the mantra of our President and his party, has proved to be a license to steal. Yet to question our leaders' stewardship of the economy has been made to seem unpatriotic." When you don't have a full deck, and there are only four cards, terra card, tax cut card, anti-environment card, destroy the Constitution card, what're you gonna do?

A G8 report from friends, Beldar and Primat, in Calgary:

We attended the Sunday anti-G8 rally. There were over 3000 who participated in the walk from Eau Claire to the Olympic Plaza. Now that is 3000 out of a population in the Calgary Area of about a million. From looking the protestors over, I suspect that 2875 were not from Calgary. Everyone we talk to is either hostile about the protest possibility or apathetic. The media has been similar to a rabid group of dogs in their venom toward outsiders coming into disrupt the consumer driven, corporate nirvana that is Calgary.

The G-8 Chateaux Generals who picked Kananaskis and Calgary as a setting for this Summit, at this point, look brilliant. There are few places in the world... well maybe not ...think Wichita, Des Moines, Birmingham, that would be as receptive to the G-8 agenda. Calgary burghers in June are interested in golf, barbecuing cow or pig, shopping till they drop, driving their SUV's, or tending to their grass. Drilling in the Antarctic, Alaska, national parks....bring it on. Problems in Africa? Yawn. Destruction of the Planet? Unsubstantiated hype. Police fascism? Bring on the dogs. I took my Honda in for servicing this morning and their "service advisor" opens with, " Those goddamn protestors need to meet some German shepherds face on."

Calgary is pretty interesting these days with G8 and G6B (held at the University of Calgary for the 6 Billion people left out of the G8 talks). The fear factor is amazing. 300 million dollars has been spent for security, mostly because of American demands, and rumor has it that George Bush is staying in Montana.

Merchants are actually boarding up windows; surveillance helicopters fly low over the city. There are rocket launchers and missiles set up throughout Kananaskis country, plus a military camp that sleeps 2,800. One must pass through 9 check points to drive into Kananaskis! City police, Mounties and the army are everywhere.

Beldar and I went to the protest march Sunday afternoon. It was an amazing assortment of 3000 people, not many in a city of one million, and it felt like the 60's. There were lots of babies, seniors (older than us) tie dye and punk hair do's -the raging grannies, Greenpeace, many unions, few anarchists or politicians. The police were terrific. Most were on bicycles and kept to the sidelines but the helicopter buzzed overhead like an angry mosquito.

We've concluded that Calgarians are too corporate and focused on their own lives to really get into the issues. Man-on-the-street interviews focus on "Those activists better not make me late for work" rather than in contemplation about why some people have their knickers in a knot over the activities and philosophy of the G8.

George Bush's rugged individualist style (no team player him), his unilateral peace plan for the Middle East, his monomania for terrorism and his tariffs on steel and softwood lumber, in the context of monetary support for American farmers, seems designed to overshadow Chretien's agenda that includes help for Africa (misguided as he may be.)

The G8 is saying that the approach to Africa is wrong, that HIV needs attention because sick people can't be successful businessmen and women. Plus, there's lots of evidence to suggest that the IMF approach is wrong. Compare the disaster (crime, greed, poverty) in Russia with the success of China. China has refused to become democratic overnight and has not accepted loans, along with all the rules, from the IMF. Human rights are a disaster in both countries.

The Globe reviewed a book called "Globalization and its Discontents" by Joseph Stiglitz former chief economist of the World Bank that says the tax reducing, loan providing, democracy demanding stance has not worked in Africa or Asia etc...

A sign at the protest: "They take the mountains; we'll take the streets."

Dubya just flew by the condo. He was in Marine One, a helicopter. Surrounded by eight, count them, accompanying helicopters on their way from Calgary International to the Kananaskis site. I was able to control my excitement. Hope he has his bear bell with him. It's dangerous in the Rockies.

We just got back from a bike ride to the U of C's G6B alternative to the G8 conference. Listened to the Canadian Foreign Minister, Bill Graham, defend Canada's international record. Then caught a session with victims of landmines. 26,000 civilians each year lose a limb or more. Only Russia and the U.S., of the major countries in the world, do not support the treaty banning them.

The apathy of Calgary University students is only equaled by the rest of the population here.

Got to love Martha Stewart.

• An Alberta G8 activist's diary: "Canada claims to be democracy's greatest defender on the global stage. And indeed, the G8 claims one of its primary goals is to promote democracy. But here in Canada, on behalf of the G8, protesters' freedom to peacefully assemble and freedom of expression have been severely undermined. One must wonder just what kind of democracy is being promoted." One that will soon mirror the kind of "democracy" Pantload is promoting. The following supports this:

• All roads lead to Calgary: "Scary stuff, but whom does it threaten? Well, the schools are scared, thanks to presentations by the police and Department of Foreign Affairs representatives. One elementary school near the University has hired a security guard to watch the front entrance while G6B is in session. And a special letter from the principal asked parents to, 'Remind students to avoid standing and watching or participating in gatherings of any kind.'" "Step away from the windows, class, who knows what harm will befall you if you see democracy in action? Here, step over to the TV and watch Mr. Bush telling an elected leader, Mr. Arafat, he has to step down." Well, Calgary had its moment of glory during the '88 Olympics. Now, it has its moment of shame.

• Arms deals hinder war on terror, says Amnesty, of G8: "G8 governments are undermining their 'war on terror' and their claims to want to end armed conflict by supplying massive numbers of weapons to developing countries, an Amnesty International report will warn today." As they sip cocktails, sharing profound moments of bullshit, it's fair to say they'll do a little bidness on the side in the beautiful Kananaskis wilderness.

• Smirk says Arafat must go: "'Palestinian leaders don't drop from parachutes from Washington or anywhere else. Palestinian leaders are chosen by the Palestinian people,' Saeb Erekat, a leading Palestinian negotiator, said, pointing out that Mr Arafat had already called for elections by the end of the year." Good point, Arafat was selected by a popular vote, the resident was selected by the Supreme Court. It's unseemly for the resident to be pontificating about democracy, when he is doing his best to destroy one the one Poppy purchased for him.

• DYNASTIES!: '"More than a decade ago, the United States passed France to have the highest inequality ratios of any major Western nation. More and more of the country's richest clans have been setting up family offices, captive trust companies and other devices to manage and entrench their swelling fortunes. The elimination of the inheritance tax being sought by the Bush Administration will only make that entrenchment easier." How could it get any easier? Well, I guess when all of the security measures are in place, Bush, Inc, will be able to withdraw funds directly and secretly from the accounts of anyone it deems to be a terrorist or a supporter of terrorism.

• An Ashcroft Moment of Bullshit: Harper's Weekly Review: "Ashcroft argued that the hearings must be closed, even to the families of those being tried, in order to prevent terrorists from getting clues about ongoing investigations and to prevent Americans from harassing the detainees." A Christian, a compassionate conservative, a fascist, a pantload.

• War Crimes 'R Us: "Once at Camp Rhino, Lindh's guards stripped him naked, and fastened him to a stretcher with duct tape and placed him in a metal shipping container. Conditions inside the container would have tested the endurance of anyone, much less someone in Lindh's weakened condition. There was no light, heat or insulation. Two small holes provided all the ventilation. Guards taunted Lindh through the holes, threatening to spit in his food." If you read this account through, especially, the portions about the horrors at Mazar-i-Sharif, you'll understand why the Christian right doesn't want US military personnel to be held responsible for war crimes. US soldiers and spooks were at Mazar-i-Sharif. If Lindh is imprisoned, what should happen to those who oversaw the cold blooded slaughter of prisoners of war?

• EU Slams U.S. Threat to World War Crimes Court: "'The Council is particularly concerned about the current provision authorizing the President to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any person who is being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the ICC, including on the territory of EU member states.'" The US would commit war crimes to rescue people cited for war crimes.

• Security bill bars blowing whistle: "A provision in the bill seeking to create a Homeland Security Department will exempt its employees from whistleblower protection, the very law that helped expose intelligence-gathering missteps before September 11." Well, it wouldn't be the secret police without these kinds of provisions, would it?

• US cartoonists under pressure to follow the patriotic line: "'There is immense pressure [from] readers and advertisers to toe the patriotic line as they define it,' said Steve Benson, widely considered one of America's leading political cartoonists, who draws for The Arizona Republic and who syndicates his work. 'I have had editors who have pulled my syndicated cartoons because readers have marched to their offices and demanded retractions. I have had death threats, efforts to silence me, people who have compared me to traitors.'" The cartoonists will be the first to go, because Pantload is a plea for caricature and ridicule, and they oblige. So was Hitler in the early years.

• The Imperial Chief Executive Is Suddenly in the Cross Hairs: "Across the business landscape, the imperial chief executive, hailed not long ago as the savior of entire companies and the driving force behind the turnaround of the American economy, is suddenly under siege. With two prominent executives being indicted in the last month, accounting problems continuing to emerge and the stock market stuck near its lowest level in three years, executives are facing their most significant challenge in a decade or more." Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most imperial (and incompetent) CEO of all? The one who is running the US into the ground?

• Dollar slide could gather dangerous speed: "The dollar's fall has so far been benign, mainly because it has been slow. On a trade-weighted basis it is down 9.5 per cent since its peak in January. Fears are growing that the dollar could reach an inflection point at which its fall will become rapid and disruptive." When asked about this, Pantload said, "task cuts for the wealthy and bombing Iraq will solve the problem."

• Good to go on gold: "The RBC [Royal Bank of Canada] writer doesn't pull any punches: '[Gold] will more than rally; it will explode spectacularly to the upside', thanks to an accumulated short position in physical gold, overlaid by a mountain of derivatives." As a result of greed and stupidity, the economy always tanks under the fascists.

• Fear of All Sums: "As the facts about Social Security privatization gradually emerge, the general strategy of the privatizers seems to be to keep the public confused as long as possible. Indeed, Republicans are now being told to deny that personal accounts — which expose their owners to all the risks of any private investment — constitute 'privatization.' 'Do not be complicit in Democratic demagoguery,' urges one party memo. So it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, but it isn't a duck — not until after the next election. " In a way, it's fitting. The young know nothings who support Smirk are going to wind up with the retirement benefits they deserve. And the appropriate environment too:

• Senators to Subpoena White House: Documents on Air Pollution Regulations Sought: "Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members intend to subpoena the Bush administration this week for documents and e-mails related to a recent decision to relax restrictions on emissions from older coal-fired power plants and refineries." And,

• Energy Scandals and Climate Tragedies: "So while the fossil fuel industry cashes in on our climate reversal, who pays? First, the vast majority of American businesses. If the U.S. adopted a policy to internalize the climate-related costs of energy use, it would spawn a vast 'double dividend.' Redirected investments would spur employment and send new investments where they belong, in companies fueled by workers and innovation instead of dependence on foreign oil." The life blood of Bush, Inc, is foreign oil. And they'll do anything to get it.

• Oil workers strike follows execution of Colombian union leader: "Six thousand Colombian oil workers at the Barranca Bermeja and Cartagena refineries went on a two-day strike to protest the June 17 execution of Cesar Blanco Moreno, leader of the United Worker Syndicate (USO) by a right-wing paramilitary death squad." You know the CIA, US oil companies, and Bush, Inc, are involved. It's the 80s all over again.

• The Pipeline connects the dots: "As late as 1998 the US was paying the salary of every single Taliban official in Afghanistan? Isn't that strange?" . . . "1999-2000 - The Taliban became the most evil people in the world. Isn't that strange?" What is most strange is that Pantload's poll numbers indicate approval of his criminality.

• The Missing Link behind 9-11: "The Bush Administration had not only provided red carpet treatment to the alleged 'money man' behind the 9-11 attacks, it also had sought his 'cooperation' in the 'war on terrorism'. The precise terms of this 'cooperation' were agreed upon between General Mahmoud Ahmad, representing the Pakistani government and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in meetings at the State Department on September 12 and 13. In other words, the Administration decided in the immediate wake of 9-11, to seek the 'cooperation' of Pakistan's ISI in 'going after Osama', despite the fact (documented by the FBI) that the ISI was financing and abetting the 9-11 terrorists. Contradictory? One might say that it's like 'asking the Devil to go after Dracula.'" There are no missing links regarding 9-11; there are simply ignored links, hidden links.

• BUSH FAMILY — CORNERED RATS: "However, to many progressive critics of U.S. policy there seemed a frightening inevitability to recent revelations that the Bush administration had foreknowledge of the worst disaster in U.S. history. What made such a prospect frightening? A man who seized the presidency via voter suppression and fraud, who as governor of Texas executed more people than any other governor in U.S. history, who once quipped: 'it would be a lot easier if I were dictator', and whose grandparents were major benefactors of Hitler's Third Reich, would soon have to resort to desperate damage control and subterfuge to conceal his own criminal negligence — or quite possibly, an act of treason." Watch your backs!

• Daschle: Bush, Cheney Urged No Sept. 11 Inquiry: "Appearing on the NBC program 'Meet the Press,' Daschle flatly contradicted Cheney, who last week denied he had warned Daschle off an investigation. "Daschle and other Democrats favor a special commission into the official handling of pre-Sept. 11 terror warnings. Both Cheney and Bush have in recent days argued publicly against the idea, opting instead for an ongoing inquiry by the intelligence committees of Congress." To the extent he knows anything, Bush knew.

• Robert Fisk: Fatal vision: how Bush has given up on peace: "But the ideas of this US administration, however vacuous or simply laughable, continue to be treated with an almost sacred quality in the American press and on television." And that, as they say, is that.