AMANDA HISCOCKS & MONICA PETERS OF GUELPH

O.K. it turns out I've fibbed a little bit on the timing here (it's not January 2, 2012 yet). Also the time shown for these postings is off as I haven't quite figured out how to adjust the clock yet. Today's Kitchener-Waterloo Record has the following story and pictures: "Activist: "These aren't my first criminal convictions and they won't be my last"." Ms. Hiscocks will be sentenced on January 13, 2012 for her role in organizing protests at the G20 summit in Toronto a year and a half ago. More specifically she has been convicted of counselling others to commit property damage as well as counseling others to obstruct a police officer. Interestingly there was no determination that the individuals she counselled actually did either property damage or obstructed the police. I can say that conspiracy charges, counselling charges and from personal experience Obstruction charges are overused, abused and quite frankly pathetic. There was a time when Canadians expected police to catch and charge the persons who torched police cars or broke windows. In today's political climate apparently the next best thing is to go after activists. This story was done via a question & answer exchange with Rob O'Flanagan of the Guelph Mercury. It seems apparent from many of the answers that this young woman (hey that's not sexist or ageist when you're as old as I am) believes sincerely in her causes and ideals.