Short Range Poetic Device

"Communication" as violence - Police bring tha noise to the G20

2010-06-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

OTTAWA — Canadian police unveiled Thursday an arsenal for keeping protestors at bay at the upcoming G8 and G20 summits in the Toronto area, including sonic guns.

A demonstration of police firepower was held for media to let area residents know what to expect during the back-to-back June 25-27 summits in Huntsville, Ontario and Toronto.

Thousands of federal, provincial and municipal police will be deployed on horseback, in riot gear and on motorcycles escorting dignitaries. Special weapons attack teams (SWAT) and police snipers will be on standby, authorities told reporters.

A section of the downtown Toronto core will be fenced off with a three-meter (nine-foot) high metal fence and monitored by closed-circuit cameras.

Police also purchased four Long Range Acoustic Devices, also known as sound cannons, for crowd control.

The devices can emit ear-splitting pitches so loud -- up to 150 decibels -- that can affect people from more than 200 meters (650 feet) away. They can be heard several kilometers (miles) away.

Police insisted at a press conference they will not use the controversial devices as weapons, but merely as "communication tools" with protestors.

Similar devices were used for the first time in North America at last year's G20 summit in Pittsburgh.

Security costs for the Huntsville-Toronto summits are estimated to reach almost one billion dollars.

Autonomy, Self-Organization, Radio

2010-05-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

An interview with Sheila Nopper and Ron Sakolsky about the new book, Islands of Resistance: Pirate Radio In Canada.

Upcoming launches:

Montreal – Wednesday, May 26th, 5-7pm, in conjunction with the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, Insoumise Librarie Anarchiste, 2033 St Laurent, Montreal
Nanaimo – Friday, June 11, 7.30pm, at the Corner Lounge, 121 Bastion St, Nanaimo. Radio Theatre – Desire & Machines: Auralizing Community AND Live Music – Tongue and Groove
Victoria – Saturday, June 12, 7.30pm at Camas Books, 2590 Quadra St, Victoria
Vancouver – Friday, June 25, 7pm, at Pulp Fiction, 2422 Main Street, Vancouver
Denman Island – Saturday, July 3, 7.30pm, at the Back Hall, Denman Island

Transmission 6

2010-02-25T12:20:00.000-08:00

SRPD is finished, for now. We may be back.

Many thanks to VIVO. Major props to Alex Muir and Brian Beaudry.

Solid,
-SRPD

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Transmission 5

2010-02-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 24th 7pm: Cecily Nicholson & Naava Smolash

Transmission 4

2010-02-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Nazis had their Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda; we have our very own Industry Canada-VANOC Communications Police.

Who knew?

Cheyanne Turions and Emilio Rojas on how VIVO's transmitter was shut down (among other interesting things).

From Art Threat.

Transmission 3

2010-02-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

Next up: Clint Burnham and Rita Wong, Feb 23rd @ 9:00 pm

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Transmission 2

2010-02-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

SRPD will be available here at 7:00pm Pacific Time tonight.

Transmission 1

2010-02-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

The Short Range Poetic Device, thanks to the good people at VIVO Media Arts in Vancouver, will project itself into the media-scape on Tuesday February 16th at 7:00 pm.

Readings and discussion as follows:

Tuesday Feb 16 7 pm: Steve Collis, Roger Farr, and Donato Mancini
Wednesday 17th 2pm: Jeff Derksen, Kim Duff, Reg Johanson
Tuesday 23rd 9pm: Clint Burnham and Rita Wong
Wednesday 24th 7pm: Cecily Nicholson & Naava Smolash

Note: in their ongoing efforts to standardize and commodify our acoustic environment, the popo has shut down VIVO's transmitter, so for now we may be confined to a web stream.

More on that shortly.

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