I wrote one of my MediaWatch stories last week covering an article written by Sandy Garossino in the Vancouver Observer. The Observer is an online newspaper that was founded by Linda Solomon, the sister of TIDES Canada’s vice-chair Joel Solomon- it is commonly known that this paper is firmly in TIDES country. So, it was no surprise that Garossino’s article put a lot of effort into promoting TIDES…
Normally, once I’ve written a article, I tend to move onto the next one- but this one kept ringing in my head since I published it. So many parts of Garossino’s article were disturbing, and I didn’t feel like I covered the whole story. Well, a week later, I have a few more things to say about it.
First, let’s cover the strange bedfellows part. Garossino put a lot of effort into trying to make TIDES look good by mentioning three of their major donors- Hewlett, Packard & Moore. What’s more interesting than the donors that Garossino covered are the ones that she didn’t- Pew Charitable Trusts & the Rockefeller Foundation.
Why are they strange bedfellows for TIDES? Well, TIDES is putting a lot of money into battling the pipeline business, and both of these organization’s money is based on oil. The Pew family made its money through oil- Joseph Newton Pew helped found Sunoco back in 1896. Basically, Pew’s money originated from an American oil robber barron.
And, how about the Rockefeller’s? Well, it is common knowledge that they were in the oil business. John D Rockefeller partnered with Henry Flagler to incorporate Standard Oil in 1870. What a lot of people aren’t familiar with is how Rockefeller was also famous for messing around with pipelines. In fact, if anyone could be credited for inventing pipeline politics, it would be Rockefeller himself.
Strange bedfellows indeed…
So, as you can see, it’s very interesting how Garossino omitted to mention these two prominent TIDES donors. This is part of why my mind has been spinning so much. Does TIDES Canada feel they have something to hide?
Equally as important, Garossino’s story was a hardcore hit piece on Vivian Krause. Krause is a high-profile blogger who has spent a lot of time exposing TIDES Canada’s connections to American billionaires- she’s done a great job exposing their hypocrisy. She’s done such a good job at it that it seems TIDES has decided to retaliate.
Garossino has put in a lot of time shilling for TIDES lately. This is how I was introduced to her, she got into a Twitter war a couple of weeks ago trying to cover-up how TIDES has funded radical environmentalists with strong ties to organizations that promote eco-terrorism.
In her story, Garossino gets nasty and personal in her attack on Krause. Her article takes a number of sucker punches at Krause. Two of her statements in-particular come to mind:
“Ms. Krause, a very engaging and rather lovely woman who looks much younger than her years, lost her employment in the fish farm industry several years back, and has not had gainful employment since.”
And
“She is prone to making huge and unsupported conceptual leaps without rigorous critique, ending up with conclusions that just make no sense at all.”
These statements are very personal indeed. One has to ask themselves how could a charitable organization, who are trying to promote themselves as saints, possibly condone such nasty personal attacks?
But, the more important question to me is how can the people of Canada accept an organization is working on our side while it is busy taking personal attacks on Canadians? The answer is that we can’t. This sort of behaviour is counter to our country’s values, and should not be accepted by anyone- no less, than by an organization funded by American billionaires.
So, now I will make my second request to Sandy Garossino- and this time, also to TIDES Canada. There are two people who deserve apologies for their bad behaviour. And, if they don’t wish to make such apologies, then they should lose their rights to have influence.
I know this sounds harsh, but people shouldn’t have to face being personally attacked for asking questions in this country. Canadians can’t accept this- if we do, it is acceptable to be done to everyone. And, that’s not a country we want to live in.
Sandy & TIDES Canada- we’re waiting for your apologies…
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Do you think the petro-dollar philanthropists might have a motivation to ensure that Cdn oil doesn’t have access to Asian market – driving up the price for Cdn resources American Oil Companies have been purchasing at discount prices for years?
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And, on the other side, the companies working to get oil to China. Canada is becoming a pawn between these two countries- hopefully we don’t become the new Belgium…
Then there is the commodities market to contend with. People like George Soros can make a lot of money on commodities speculation. Canadian oil is cheaper than OPEC oil. More of it on the market is a detrement to those who gain from the price of oil being high.
In other news. Coming soon to a pipeline near you:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19313952
Many radicals in Canada share sympathies with FARC and FLN in Colombia.
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Yep, the commodities angle just may be a big part of it. If the oil can’t be shipped to China then Canada has a smaller market, less organizations are bidding for it, and we will make less money.
Equally important to remember is how one of the most important things for any US government (Republican or Democrat) is to keep oil prices low for their consumers. Since Nixon this has been an essential. That, and it is thought to be part of national security to keep their access to oil…