genuinewitty.com – Page 35 – Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger

Apr 16

[UPDATED] Anarchists, Unionists, Mennonites & Porter Airlines Strikers: It’s About Israel, Stupid! (feat. Barrick Gold)

By grenouf in Anarchist Ashley, Marxism, Mennonites, NDP, No One Is Illegal, Occupy Toronto, Porter Airlines, Rabble.ca, Student Unions, Unions, Violence

Porter striker supporters at last night’s protest…

Update: Shortly after I published this article I found a meeting has been announced at OISE on Friday protesting the Jewish National Fund- here’s the link.

Update 2: It appears that Porter Airlines is now suing COPE…

Update 3: Two days after publishing this article Megan Kinch of the anarchist-led Media Co-Op publishes a very curious story. For the first time during the strike the protesters have begun using images of a Porter executive- this time, Robert Deluce (and not Tanenbaum or Carty). Kinch is most well-known for her unforgettable interview with a con artist who was waving around cow bones telling her they were from a mass grave on the Six Nations reserve- she doesn’t ask a single critical question, swallows it hook, line & sinker.

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Last year Porter Airlines’s refuelling staff joined a union. It was a curious choice of a union, the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE) is mostly a union for people who work for unions. They represent staff from CUPE, CUPW, Canadian Association of University Teachers, United Steel Workers, a number of district labour councils, and employees of the federal and Quebec NDP. (And, curiously, COPE Local 81 represents workers at Bombardier’s train manufacturing operations in Thunder Bay- Porter recently signed a contract with Bombardier Aerospace for new jets.)

There are only 22 Porter workers involved in the strike, but they’ve had an extraordinary amount of support. Not only have people from other unions joined in on the protests, but so too have members of Toronto’s anarchist community. There were some familiar names in attendance including the now world famous Vanja Krajina, Alex “Flagpole” Balch, Mark Brill of OCAP, and anarchist schoolteacher Ashleigh Ingle. There were also some high-profile union leaders and politicians including Sid Ryan of the Ontario Federation of Labour, Tony Depaulo of the Steelworkers, and anarchist aficionado MPP Cheri DiNovo.

The question is, outside of supporting the strikers, why have so many radicals gravitated towards supporting this strike? This was a mystery to me until this week, but after some research it has become apparent- it’s about Israel, stupid! (I’m directing the ‘stupid’ at myself, wish I’d researched this earlier.)

Apr 13

[UPDATED] Mathew Kagis: Will Vancouver-West End Voters Support A Cop-Baiting Clown?

By grenouf in Occupy Vancouver, Politics, Vancouver, VPD

Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F’tang-F’tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel: Silly Party

Update: It appears that Kagis doesn’t like this article- his response has been to ask someone to commit a crime (which is a crime in itself). Classy- can you believe that Sandy Garossino associates with these people? (Remember that next time she’s on the ballot Vancouver…)

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British Columbia’s having a provincial election on May 14th. And, like all elections, there’s no shortage of clowns in the competition. While most candidates don’t actually admit they’re clowns- in the case of the Work Less Party there seems to be an exception this year. Mathew Kagis, their candidate for Vancouver-West flies his clown flag with great pride.

The BC Work Less Party was founded in 2003 as a spin-off the World Naked Bike Ride. They’re mostly a single-issue party, pushing for BC to reduce the work week from 40 to 32 hours- they wish to legislate that people must work less so that we have less money to spend on consumer goods. The party has also been used to promote the causes of some Activistocrat environmentalists including Betty Krawczyk and pipeline protester Ben West.

Considering their history of never having a candidate win a seat, it’s hard perceive take Work Less as a serious party- in fact, the Silly Party tends to attract a higher percentage of the electorate. Kagis’ nomination for Vancouver-West End probably won’t help with this problem- but, he’ll most certainly contribute to his new the party’s silliness quotient.

Apr 13

Derek Soberal: The Infamous Cop-Baiter Who Thinks He’s An Accredited Journalist (feat. Doug Hatlem Johnson)

By grenouf in Derrick Soberal, Mennonites, Occupy Bay Street, Occupy Canada

Derek Soberal (right) losing his temper…

For lovers of bedlam, there’s no shortage of entertainment to be seen in the activist community- sometimes there are more clowns to than you can shake a stick at. But, of all the idiocy to be observed, few individuals stand-out as much as Derek Soberal. And it’s hard to miss Derek, if there’s a TV camera to be seen, he’s likely to be planting himself in front of it.

Soberal was arrested at an OCAP protest back on March 7th. A few others were arrested that day, but he was the only person to actually be taken into custody. The police allege that Derek got into a struggle with the cops while he was being led away and, while handcuffed, he shoved his way away from them. He was let free at 2:30 the next morning- charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer, and one charge of breaching a peace bond. Friday was his first appearance in court. (And, despite Macdonald Scott’s promises, there was no lawyer to help.)

Apr 10

[UPDATED] Sandy Garossino Needs To Resign From The Red Hood Anti-Bullying Project (feat. Raffi, Rachel Goodine & Gena Thompson)

By grenouf in Sandy Garossino

Sandy Garossino- The cognitive dissonance queen…

Update: Sandy Garossino was on her regular spot on Bill Good’s show on CKNW today. I’ve been on the Bill Good show before, so thought I’d call in and ask Garossino to explain herself. She responded by saying that I’ve been “stalking” her on Twitter. In total, since November 2011, I’ve sent a total of 24 messages that included the @garossino Twitter address- all of them polite and respectful.

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Children’s entertainer Raffi Cavoukian has a big problem on his hands. He’s one of the two founding partners of the Red Hood Project– an anti-bullying campaign that’s campaigning to make the Internet a safer place for kids. Raffi’s problem isn’t with his cause, or the public will to back it (that said, they need to better explain their expectations on age verification). The real problem is Raffi’s partner- he couldn’t have chose a worse role model than Sandy Garossino.

Garossino has, time and again, shown herself to be a bully. Her internalized anger comes out when she disagrees strongly with someone on a political issue- particularly when people criticise TIDES Canada. Garossino has had outbursts with a wide range of people including reporters, politicians, and just ordinary citizens. Today Sandy Garossino, a self-professed guardian of our children, went even a step further- participating in an online swarming against your’s truly. And, to make things worse- some of the people she’s swarming with are those who are closely linked to anarchist street violence.

Sandy Garossino has, indeed, outdone herself this time… (And that’s quite an accomplishment!)

Apr 09

Kevin Annett & William Annett: Two Generations Of Fraud…

By grenouf in Uncategorized

Kevin Annett: Keep him away from your kids

Kevin Annett is one of the most despicable people I’ve run across in my research- he even makes David Eby look like @MotherTheresaBC. He’s a defrocked priest who has been running con-games against indigenous communities for many years now. He started-off simply using them as a platform to garner donations from unsuspecting members of the public, then graduated to claiming fake mass graves on First Nations reservations.

It all culminated with his fooling them into digging on the Six Nations site in Brantford Ontario. After months of “waiting for the results” of some bones that he “found” there, it turns out they were only animal bones. It’s tragic really, many people were given false hopes and people are only just starting to heal from the pain. Even worse- some people still believe him…

How does a man sink so low as to do such things? Didn’t his parents teach him right from wrong? Well, it appears his father taught him a lesson or two about life. From a con-man’s perspective that is…

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Apr 07

[Updated] A Gatecrasher’s Report On Saturday’s Faux Liberal Convention (feat. UndercoverKity, Justin & Zombie Trudeau)

By grenouf in Joyce Murray, Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party of Canada, Politics, Toronto, Uncategorized

It was mostly about the TV cameras with a bit of smoke and mirrors…

Update: The man I recognized in Joyce Murray’s cheering squad has been identified as Chai Kalevar. Not only does he show up to NDP and Liberal events- but he’s also run as a candidate for the Canadian Action Party, and once for the National Party of Canada. He was also at the ‘Battle of Seattle’ WTO meeting, and at the Summit of Americas– both anarchist heavy protests. The story gets curiouser and curiouser…

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Yesterday the Liberal Party of Canada held what they call a “national showcase” of their leadership. The best way to describe the event would be to call it a “pre-convention”- an opportunity for the Liberals to test run before the real convention while at the same time building up some pre game glee. And, considering the number of media in the room, it was also a great opportunity to get some coverage.

My fellow blogger UndercoverKity and I went to the Toronto Convention Centre twice on Saturday. The first time was to cover the militant unions (sprinkled with some anarchists) who were picketing on behalf of Porter Airlines strikers. They complained that the Liberal Party has negotiated discounted rates with Porter.

We came back later in the afternoon to see the Zombie Trudeau demonstration (a great show). When It finished we decided to head downstairs to the convention floor to see if we could pick-up some swag. But instead, using some ingenuity and ethical social engineering (we never lied), we found ourselves on the convention floor within spitting distance of the candidates- close enough to realize we were observing saccharinely rehearsed propaganda.

Apr 06

Zombie Trudeau Reawakens At Today’s Faux Liberal Party Convention!

By grenouf in Justin Trudeau, Politics

He was, at least, more personable than Justin. I’ll share my story about how UndercoverKity and I gate crashed the Faux Liberal convention later tonight or tomorrow. To put it briefly- it was as real as Disney World…

Canada, convention, Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party Of Canada, Liberals, LpC, Pierre Trudeau, Toronto, undead, Zombie, Zombie Trudeau
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Apr 06

Men’s Rights & Feminism At UofT- We Must Admit There Are Bigots On Both Sides…

By grenouf in Anarchist Ashley, Men's Rights Movement, Politics, Student Unions, Toronto

A good time was had by all…

Thursday night another chapter was held in men’s rights activists (MRA’s) plight to get a foothold in Canadian universities. The Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE) held its third meeting at the University of Toronto and nobody was disappointed by the lack of excitement. The usual group of anarchists, student unionists and feminists came to protest- each had their own motivations.

The festivities began about half an hour before the 7pm start time. Protesters opposed to the MRA’s gathered on the grassy knoll in front of the (appropriately chosen) zoological sciences building. A television reporter was interviewing people while the speakers denounced the MRA’s in the background. A few of the MRA’s mingled with the protesters trying to engage in debates. This didn’t work out well at first- but, as the evening progressed, there were glimmers of hope that MRA’s and feminists have the opportunity to find a common ground.

Apr 02

How The War Resisters (And Politicians) Used Deserting Soldiers As Ideological Cannon Fodder…

By grenouf in NDP, Politics

And she (unnecessarily) paid dearly for it...

And she’s (unnecessarily) paying dearly for it…

This week the War Resisters Support Campaign held a fundraiser at (what a surprise) the Steelworker’s Hall here in Toronto. They were raising money on behalf of Kimberley Rivera, an American soldier who served in Iraq in 2006 and made a conscious decision not to go back in 2007. Rivera contacted the WRSC and they helped Rivera and her husband (and two kids) flee across the border to Canada to claim refugee status.

Rivera was one of about 50 war resisters who (officially, some are hiding) came to Canada, most moved to Toronto or Vancouver- the two cities where the WRSC has the bulk of their members. It’s no coincidence that both cites are hubs for Canada’s militant left- the WRSC is led by the same community who brought us Occupy, Idle No More, and the violence at the 2010 Olympics and the G20. And, as happens often in militant left fiascos, the people they claimed to support ended-up in a whole lot of pain.

Mar 29

Eva Botton’s G20 Criminal Sentencing (And Anarchist-On-Anarchist Court Intimidation…)

By grenouf in Black Bloc, Occupy Toronto, Toronto, Toronto G20

Eva Botton, convicted to 10 months in prison...

Eva Botton, convicted to 10 months in jail…

This week saw the sentencing of one of the last people residing in Canada being tried for the violence during the Toronto G20 summit (they’re moving onto Americans now). Eva Botton was convicted on six counts of Damage over $5,000, and one last count for using a disguise. Botton was part of a Black Bloc, a violent and misguided tactic which more often than not results in a black eye for the activist community.

The sentencing began on Tuesday afternoon at 2:15. There was a group of Botton’s fellow anarchists who came ‘in support’ of her. At least, that’s how they presented themselves on the surface. Anarchists who’ve been accused of a crime can expect to get a lot of support from their peers- but, those who don’t play the game as they’re expected to may find themselves hanging out to dry.