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OTTAWA — Parliament passed a ban on wearing masks at riots that punishes violations with up to 10 years behind bars in a bid to crack down on radical groups. The measure, adopted 153 to 126 on the Halloween holiday that sees revelers walk the streets in masks and costumed, aims to target the "growing threat" of vandalism and violence, said Parliamentarian Blake Richards, who sponsored the bill.

Lawmakers are especially targeting the Black Bloc anarchist group, whose members dress in black, their faces hidden by glasses, scarves and hoods. They have sometimes showed violence during massive student protests against plans to raise university tuition costs in Quebec. The bill sets 10 years in prison for people who wear a mask during a riot without legitimate excuses, and five years if it is an illegal protest.

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Originally posted by Niki2:

And lastly, to return to my first point, I don't think there's much comparison between the things you listed, and I think there is a far better chance of stopping people who are smashing windows and burning cars than there ever will be in stopping hedge-fund managers from stealing people's money. Just sayin'

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Democracy can only exist among people who have nearly equivalent power. All else is myth. We live in a society controlled by a few unaccountable individuals. They determine the means and form of our existence. Yet we persist in denying this since to confront this situation we would have to face these individuals in a confrontational mode and they hold all the power. So rather we behave as if we had some form of control over our environment ourselves. We pretend that we can change this situation by changing our behavior since we are terrified of what we really have to do and that is to change the behavior of those who actually do control our world.

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This readiness to assume the guilt for the threats to our environment is deceptively reassuring: We like to be guilty since, if we are guilty, it all depends on us. We pull the strings of the catastrophe, so we can also save ourselves simply by changing our lives. What is really hard for us (at least in the West) to accept is that we are reduced to the role of a passive observer who sits and watches what our fate will be. To avoid this impotence, we engage in frantic, obsessive activities. We recycle old paper, we buy organic food, we install long-lasting light bulbs—whatever just so we can be sure that we are doing something. We make our individual contribution like the soccer fan who supports his team in front of a TV screen at home, shouting and jumping from his seat, in the belief that this will somehow influence the game's outcome.”

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Posted by Frem:

Our forefathers understood this themselves, there's a reason your vote is private, or at least intended to be, that "mask" exists for the same damn reason.

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I'm afraid I don't equate the financials having bombed the world economy, the military-industrial complex having pre-deployed dirty bombs everywhere in the world as actually relating to the idea of demonstrators not being able to wear masks

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nor do I consider such as "total surveillance"

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nor do I relate the wearing of masks (in America, largely because the person wearing it intends to do ILLEGAL DAMAGE) to the millions of somebodies out there who object to the clusterfuck that has become our society.

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Our forefathers understood this themselves, there's a reason your vote is private, or at least intended to be, that "mask" exists for the same damn reason.

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...you see some asshats in masks doing that, start looking for standard issue police footwear.

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Originally posted by HKCavalier:
Ya see, Signy: there's your silver lining. Since it's always the police dressed as Black Bloc doing the violence, now that it's illegal to wear masks, they're kinda fucked. Oh, the irony warms my heart, it does.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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It does make the ubiquitous cell phone very handy.

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Apple has patented a piece of technology which would allow government and police to block transmission of information, including video and photographs, from any public gathering or venue they deem “sensitive”, and “protected from externalities.” ­In other words, these powers will have control over what can and cannot be documented on wireless devices during any public event.

And while the company says the affected sites are to be mostly cinemas, theaters, concert grounds and similar locations, Apple Inc. also says “covert police or government operations may require complete ‘blackout’ conditions.”

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