EYE ON A CRAZY PLANET
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Death threats received over my support for Rob Ford
On two separate occasions in the last week, women have threatened to kill me because of my support for Toronto's persecuted mayor, Rob Ford.
They aren't the usual types you'd expect to menace someone over political expression. One of them is a middle-aged suburban housewife, the mother of two daughters, who hasn't done a day of real (i.e. paid) work in fifteen years. The other, younger, is an extremely, almost exaggeratedly, feminine single High School Art teacher. Making it even more surprising was that, in both cases, the discussion about Rob Ford was initiated by them. I learned long ago not to raise the subject of Ford with people whose outlook may differ from mine, since his name evokes seething hysteria from some people.
But still, I thought threatening to kill me was a bit much.
In all fairness, the threats, made by the two women with whom I have been friends for many years, but to my knowledge have never met each other, were not meant literally. At least, so I hope.
The irrational, hyper-emotionalism that Rob Ford sometimes inspires is a remarkable phenomenon. But there are, as far as I've observed, consistent patterns to it. The people subject to it tend to be moderately intelligent but not exceptionally so, and tend to be highly susceptible to the opinions of others. Such people also only read certain, select media and accept it uncritically.
Intriguingly, not only the death threats, but responses to questions I posed to these very different women were almost identical.
When I asked the women how they could be so certain of what they considered Ford's malfeasance, and how 'terrible' a mayor he was, the response from both was that it was because of things they read in The Toronto Star. As it was, their opinion about Ford was shaped by Star editorials as much as by that newspaper's slanted reporting.
My response that The Star wasn't really a credible source about Ford and that it had printed demonstrable lies about him just agitated them further.
A big part of their anger was that Ford was a so-called "embarrassment" and "Toronto has become a laughing stock." Unfortunately, I've encountered that reaction from a number of people before and it's borne of a particular type of bizarre insecurity. Sure, Ford's alleged "crack" scandal has made the news in North America and beyond. But does anyone who isn't prey to this weird pathology really think people in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo are dwelling on anything going on in Toronto, let alone what's its mayor may or may not be doing?
Pointing out to them that their lives haven't been genuinely altered by that perception not only didn't seem to alleviate their anger, but made it worse.
But let's look at another example. Yesterday, news broke that Montreal's mayor was arrested on charges related to fraud and civic corruption. Contrast that with the unproven allegations about Rob Ford made by unnamed sources related entirely to his personal behavior outside of his work as mayor.
Are Montrealers, other than a few sad, chronic whiners, going about saying how "ashamed" they are to be from that city? Of course not. If anything, it's the opposite.
Whether there's something about Quebec culture that's superior to Ontario's and gives them enough security to not continually obsess over what others think of them, I couldn't say. But it does highlight a pathetic trait of far too many Torontonians who do.
When railing against what a terrible mayor Ford was, I asked a simple question to the two women, both of whom are financially comfortable. The question infuriated them.
"Name one thing that Ford has done or is responsible for, something that you've seen with your own eyes or has involved you personally, that has in any tangible way affected you negatively?"
That really got them flustered. They both have "heard of things" that they couldn't actually verify and "knew" how Ford was "destroying Toronto" without being able to factually identify how.
So stymied, both of them, these two lovely, normally kind women, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday, said I can't say anything more about Rob Ford or they would kill me.
Maybe it's a woman thing. After the second instance on Monday, I spoke about it to my most recent ex-girlfriend, who lives just outside Toronto and with whom I am still on very friendly terms.
"Hey, L*** just threatened to kill me!" I complained on the phone.
In a blatant display of victim-blaming, my ex responded, "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything! I was just saying nice things about Rob Ford and she threatened to kill me!"
"It was probably your fault."
"What do you mean it was my fault!? I don't go around being violent or threatening anyone. I just explained how Rob Ford is a good mayor who is being unfairly maligned and she threatened to kill me! So did another woman I know on Saturday for the same reason!"
"It was still probably your fault."
That's what things are like these days. You can be innocently walking around the city and some nut case will pelt an orange slushie at you, or sitting on a restaurant patio discussing urban affairs and the next thing you know, your companion is threatening to murder you. And only because you support a municipal politician committed to a small government that is responsible to taxpayers
It's a good thing I don't believe in stereotypes or conspiracies. Because if I did, I'd think this is all down to a bunch of women who like spending money and are out to eliminate people who believe in fiscal accountability.
They aren't the usual types you'd expect to menace someone over political expression. One of them is a middle-aged suburban housewife, the mother of two daughters, who hasn't done a day of real (i.e. paid) work in fifteen years. The other, younger, is an extremely, almost exaggeratedly, feminine single High School Art teacher. Making it even more surprising was that, in both cases, the discussion about Rob Ford was initiated by them. I learned long ago not to raise the subject of Ford with people whose outlook may differ from mine, since his name evokes seething hysteria from some people.
But still, I thought threatening to kill me was a bit much.
In all fairness, the threats, made by the two women with whom I have been friends for many years, but to my knowledge have never met each other, were not meant literally. At least, so I hope.
 |
| How could anyone not like this guy? |
Intriguingly, not only the death threats, but responses to questions I posed to these very different women were almost identical.
When I asked the women how they could be so certain of what they considered Ford's malfeasance, and how 'terrible' a mayor he was, the response from both was that it was because of things they read in The Toronto Star. As it was, their opinion about Ford was shaped by Star editorials as much as by that newspaper's slanted reporting.
My response that The Star wasn't really a credible source about Ford and that it had printed demonstrable lies about him just agitated them further.
A big part of their anger was that Ford was a so-called "embarrassment" and "Toronto has become a laughing stock." Unfortunately, I've encountered that reaction from a number of people before and it's borne of a particular type of bizarre insecurity. Sure, Ford's alleged "crack" scandal has made the news in North America and beyond. But does anyone who isn't prey to this weird pathology really think people in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo are dwelling on anything going on in Toronto, let alone what's its mayor may or may not be doing?
Pointing out to them that their lives haven't been genuinely altered by that perception not only didn't seem to alleviate their anger, but made it worse.
But let's look at another example. Yesterday, news broke that Montreal's mayor was arrested on charges related to fraud and civic corruption. Contrast that with the unproven allegations about Rob Ford made by unnamed sources related entirely to his personal behavior outside of his work as mayor.
Are Montrealers, other than a few sad, chronic whiners, going about saying how "ashamed" they are to be from that city? Of course not. If anything, it's the opposite.
Whether there's something about Quebec culture that's superior to Ontario's and gives them enough security to not continually obsess over what others think of them, I couldn't say. But it does highlight a pathetic trait of far too many Torontonians who do.
When railing against what a terrible mayor Ford was, I asked a simple question to the two women, both of whom are financially comfortable. The question infuriated them.
"Name one thing that Ford has done or is responsible for, something that you've seen with your own eyes or has involved you personally, that has in any tangible way affected you negatively?"
That really got them flustered. They both have "heard of things" that they couldn't actually verify and "knew" how Ford was "destroying Toronto" without being able to factually identify how.
So stymied, both of them, these two lovely, normally kind women, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday, said I can't say anything more about Rob Ford or they would kill me.
Maybe it's a woman thing. After the second instance on Monday, I spoke about it to my most recent ex-girlfriend, who lives just outside Toronto and with whom I am still on very friendly terms.
"Hey, L*** just threatened to kill me!" I complained on the phone.
In a blatant display of victim-blaming, my ex responded, "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything! I was just saying nice things about Rob Ford and she threatened to kill me!"
"It was probably your fault."
"What do you mean it was my fault!? I don't go around being violent or threatening anyone. I just explained how Rob Ford is a good mayor who is being unfairly maligned and she threatened to kill me! So did another woman I know on Saturday for the same reason!"
"It was still probably your fault."
That's what things are like these days. You can be innocently walking around the city and some nut case will pelt an orange slushie at you, or sitting on a restaurant patio discussing urban affairs and the next thing you know, your companion is threatening to murder you. And only because you support a municipal politician committed to a small government that is responsible to taxpayers
It's a good thing I don't believe in stereotypes or conspiracies. Because if I did, I'd think this is all down to a bunch of women who like spending money and are out to eliminate people who believe in fiscal accountability.
Monday, June 17, 2013
More on the Slushie Girl who attacked Rob Ford
More background here at The Toronto Sun
“She said she was sorry and she didn’t mean to do it,” Ford said. “She didn’t seem like she was in her right mind at the time.”
Undercover Kitty's guide to the cretinous history of the violent, Marxist, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
OCAP and John Clarke are affiliated with an number of groups including the New Socialists who John Clarke described as OCAP’s “Sein Feinn”, plus the Communist Party of Canada, No One Is Illegal Toronto and other groups such as the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations.
John Ronald Clarke, who likes the humble title of OCAP organiser, but is their defacto leader and owner. Born May 16, 1954. (Some reports claim he was born on May 26) John emigrated to Canada from England as a sponsored immigrant by his sister. He worked from 1976 to 1982 at the London Westinghouse Plant (Ontario)when he was laid off. His labor union which he was quite active in, hated him would not support him. He subsequently formed the Union of Unemployed Workers and in 1989 created the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. John Clarke was a worker factory, laid off in 1982. After losing his job, he helped form a union of the unemployed. In 1990, this organization helped out in the campaign that led to the formation of OCAP. In the autumn of 1990, the founding conference of OCAP took place. After some debate, it set a course for the organization that committed it to mobilizing poor and homeless people to fight back through militant, direct action
Part 2 is HERE
OCAP's imbeciles in action:
Ronald McDonald executed, obesity threat greatly weakened!
From The People's Cube:The people's enemy Ronald McDonald was executed shortly after his capture as a result of a raid on his compound by special forces. his heavy red shoe of oppression has forever been lifted off of the people and their children allowing them to now freely make better eating decisions. Ronald McDonald's regime has been in power for nearly 50 years where McDonald had an unchecked amount of power and influence over the masses.
Updates from behind the juicy knoll
 |
SHANNON EVERETT WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AFTER ALLEGEDLY THROWING A DRINK AT TORONTO MAYOR ROB FORD |
TORONTO -- An eyewitness says the juice-tossing assault on Mayor Rob Ford in Little Italy on Saturday has been blown out of proportion.
East-end resident Melissa Dwyer said the mayor acted "like nothing ever happened" when a cup of juice or a Slushie was thrown at him during the Taste of Italy festival.
Dwyer, who was at the event to celebrate Father's Day with her family, said the mayor talked to a woman who threw a cup of liquid at him.
"You could tell he definitely felt a little sad inside, but that didn't stop him from continuing with the rest of his day," Dwyer said.
Both the mayor and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, joked about ordeal on their weekly talk show Sunday afternoon, calling it a "little shower."
Dwyer said even when Ford and his assistant caught the woman, they weren't angry and appeared calm.
"They caught her and asked her, 'Why would you do this?' but nobody got angry at her. Everyone was very pleasant about the entire situation," Dwyer said.
More: Even the Ford hating NOW magazine reported how Toronto's mayor was adored by the downtown crowd
Palestinians to Canada: We condemn you!.. Now give us more charity!
Checking in on my twitter feed this morning, I couldn't help get a chuckle out of back-to-back tweets from CBC Top Stories. The first had Derek Stoffel reporting that Canada had committed $25 million in new funds (on top of the $300 million already committed) to the Palestinian Authority.
The second had Sasa Petricic reporting that the Foreign Minister of that same Palestinian Authority was condemning Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for siding with Israel by having a meeting in the Israeli capitol.
I'm still waiting for the CBC tweet that says the Palestinians are so offended that they are going to turn down the handout from Canada's taxpayers.
The second had Sasa Petricic reporting that the Foreign Minister of that same Palestinian Authority was condemning Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for siding with Israel by having a meeting in the Israeli capitol.
I'm still waiting for the CBC tweet that says the Palestinians are so offended that they are going to turn down the handout from Canada's taxpayers.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
More bad news for Ford Haters
Rob Ford was not the target in Project Traveller.
He wasn’t even a target.
The Toronto mayor is a footnote to this investigation from a police perspective.
Toronto Police launched the project about a year ago. The controversy involving Ford came much later.
Police listening in on wiretaps never heard Ford speak.
What they heard was people they were targeting talk about Ford.
While the city remains transfixed on the possibility police have recovered the video allegedly showing Ford smoking crack — which Ford has denied doing — Project Traveller started like any other for the Gun and Gang Task Force.
It had nothing to do with Ford, but with combating drugs, guns and violence
 |
| Shannon Everett via twitter |
Update: Toronto's "hated" mayor being swarmed by fans in the middle of hipster downtown Little Italy
(h/t The Hammer):
Douglas Murray discusses his new e-book "Islamophilia"
Douglas Murray and James Delingpole discuss Murray's new e-book Islamophilia, which notes the ridiculous, appeasing fawning over Islam in the contemporary west.You can hear the interview HERE
Buy it here at Amazon.com
h/t Small Dead Animals
This will piss off the anti-Israel clowns...
Buckingham Palace announced Saturday that an Israeli professor is among the more than 1,000 people being presented an award by Queen Elizabeth as part of her Birthday Honours list.
Professor David Newman, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, will receive the award for his promotion of the academic partnership between Britain and Israel. He has been a leading advocate of the academic partnership between the countries, and a key campaigner against the British academic boycott of Israel.
The awards presented by the Officer of the Order of the British Empire are given for a significant achievement or service in a major local role...
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Canadian reporter for Iran's PRESS TV tries to "out" Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister with homophobic conspiracy theory
It may be inconceivable for Iranians, in whose country homosexuality is considered a grave sin and is punishable by death, that Canada affords equal rights to Gays and respects sexual orientation as a personal matter. It may surprise them further that legally and in the opinion of virtually every credible person in leadership positions in Canada, an individual's sexual orientation is immaterial to their ability to perform their job.
So it's understandable that homophobic Canadian acolytes of Iran's monstrous dictatorship would try to tie a politician's alleged sexual orientation his exercising his role in government.
That is what, Joshua Blakeney, the Canadian correspondent for Iran's propaganda service, PRESS TV has done to try to rationalize Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird's strong support for Israel.
Previously, in a typically irrational diatribe about a small, unimpressive protest against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford that Blakeney tried to magnify beyond reality, he digressed into a weird, homophobic theory. Evidently forgetting that Gays have equal rights in Canada, as opposed to the persecution they face by his Iranian paymasters, Blakeney suggested Canada's government is "replete with homosexuals" who could be targets for blackmail, thus accounting for particular national policies.
Taking it a step further, Blakeney is now naming names, Clearly quite clueless about how government works in Canada, he has attempted to explain that Canada's stalwart support for Israel is due to, Blakeney alleges, Foreign Affairs Minister Baird being Gay.
John Baird is the most principled, honorable and effective individual to hold the office of Foreign Affairs Minister in generations. He has condemned specific human rights abuses and has been outspoken against dictatorships and nations that trample on freedom, like Iran, more forcefully than any of his predecessors since Confederation.
But what irrational, uninformed people like Blakeney don't realize is that the Canadian Foreign Minister, despite the title, does not make foreign policy. The Prime Minister, with advice from Cabinet has final say on foreign policy decisions, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs would never act without that approval.
Blakeney is someone who is obsessed with conspiracy theories. An apostle of the University of Lethbridge's very weird 9-11 conspiracy theorist professor Anthony J. Hall, the pair seem virtually enraptured in their delusional, bizarre paranoia. Almost every one of Blackeney's PRESS TV reports includes an interview with Hall offering another lunatic conspiracy, like the one where he claimed the Canadian government was killing off wild salmon to subjugate aboriginals in British Columbia.
Whatever John Baird's sexual orientation is may be of import to Blakeney and his Islamist, Gay-murdering bosses in Iran, but to Canadians, the only thing that matters is that he is doing a good job of running his Ministry. And in that, Baird has excelled.
Blakeney commences his deranged report with the statement "whenever a prominent statesman prioritizes the national interest of of a foreign country over the national interest of his own country, it behooves journalists to ask uncomfortable questions."
Prime Minister Harper, like Baird, has plainly articulated the reasons for supporting Israel and they are based on common sense and common interest. Israel is a liberal democracy, like Canada, defending itself from anti-democratic, repressive, terror-supporting, totalitarian states like Iran and Syria.
It seems Blakeney, who also writes for the Holocaust denying, anti-Semitic website Veterans Today, is the Will Rogers of conspiracy theories; he never met one he didn't like.
But it doesn't take a conspiracy theory to explain where Blakeney's interests lie. A person is most likely to represent the interests of those who pay them. As Watergate journalists Woodward and Bernstein understood, to get the answer, follow the money.
John Baird is paid by the Canadian government. Joshua Blakeney is in the employ of Canada's enemy, the government of Iran.
So it's understandable that homophobic Canadian acolytes of Iran's monstrous dictatorship would try to tie a politician's alleged sexual orientation his exercising his role in government.
That is what, Joshua Blakeney, the Canadian correspondent for Iran's propaganda service, PRESS TV has done to try to rationalize Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird's strong support for Israel.
Previously, in a typically irrational diatribe about a small, unimpressive protest against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford that Blakeney tried to magnify beyond reality, he digressed into a weird, homophobic theory. Evidently forgetting that Gays have equal rights in Canada, as opposed to the persecution they face by his Iranian paymasters, Blakeney suggested Canada's government is "replete with homosexuals" who could be targets for blackmail, thus accounting for particular national policies.
Taking it a step further, Blakeney is now naming names, Clearly quite clueless about how government works in Canada, he has attempted to explain that Canada's stalwart support for Israel is due to, Blakeney alleges, Foreign Affairs Minister Baird being Gay.
John Baird is the most principled, honorable and effective individual to hold the office of Foreign Affairs Minister in generations. He has condemned specific human rights abuses and has been outspoken against dictatorships and nations that trample on freedom, like Iran, more forcefully than any of his predecessors since Confederation.
But what irrational, uninformed people like Blakeney don't realize is that the Canadian Foreign Minister, despite the title, does not make foreign policy. The Prime Minister, with advice from Cabinet has final say on foreign policy decisions, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs would never act without that approval.
Blakeney is someone who is obsessed with conspiracy theories. An apostle of the University of Lethbridge's very weird 9-11 conspiracy theorist professor Anthony J. Hall, the pair seem virtually enraptured in their delusional, bizarre paranoia. Almost every one of Blackeney's PRESS TV reports includes an interview with Hall offering another lunatic conspiracy, like the one where he claimed the Canadian government was killing off wild salmon to subjugate aboriginals in British Columbia.
Whatever John Baird's sexual orientation is may be of import to Blakeney and his Islamist, Gay-murdering bosses in Iran, but to Canadians, the only thing that matters is that he is doing a good job of running his Ministry. And in that, Baird has excelled.
Blakeney commences his deranged report with the statement "whenever a prominent statesman prioritizes the national interest of of a foreign country over the national interest of his own country, it behooves journalists to ask uncomfortable questions."
Prime Minister Harper, like Baird, has plainly articulated the reasons for supporting Israel and they are based on common sense and common interest. Israel is a liberal democracy, like Canada, defending itself from anti-democratic, repressive, terror-supporting, totalitarian states like Iran and Syria.
It seems Blakeney, who also writes for the Holocaust denying, anti-Semitic website Veterans Today, is the Will Rogers of conspiracy theories; he never met one he didn't like.
But it doesn't take a conspiracy theory to explain where Blakeney's interests lie. A person is most likely to represent the interests of those who pay them. As Watergate journalists Woodward and Bernstein understood, to get the answer, follow the money.
John Baird is paid by the Canadian government. Joshua Blakeney is in the employ of Canada's enemy, the government of Iran.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Iran upset Canada's Foreign Minister called their sham election a "sham election"
TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has called on Canadian officials to take a “rational” and “wise” approach toward Iran.
Salehi was referring to the recent interfering comments by his Canadian counterpart John Baird on Iran’s presidential election in which he raised doubts on the credibility of the election, calling it a “sham election.”
Baird also made allegations that the Iranian government had rigged the results by banning women candidates, silencing democratic voices, and censoring the press.
A crazy Falk who is indicative of everything that is wrong with the United Nations
The UN's anti-Semitic, 9-11 conspiracy theorist Richard Falk continued to disgrace the world body by appearing on "Truth Jihad" a radio show hosted by a delusional, lunatic hatemonger named Kevin Barrett.
Barrett, who writes for the innocuously-named but virulently anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying website Veterans Today, maintains the 9-11 al Qaida terror attacks are a "false flag operation" perpetrated as an excuse to wage a world war on all Muslims, among whom he numbers himself.
Current US President Obama reversed a decision of his predecessor and allowed American participation in the UN's discredited, ironically-named "Human Rights Council" that employs Falk. The UN"s Human Rights Council includes nations which are among the worst human rights violators on Earth.
Thanks to the Obama administration's decision, Falk's salary is paid, in part, by US taxpayers whom he continues to insult.
Barrett, who writes for the innocuously-named but virulently anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying website Veterans Today, maintains the 9-11 al Qaida terror attacks are a "false flag operation" perpetrated as an excuse to wage a world war on all Muslims, among whom he numbers himself.
Current US President Obama reversed a decision of his predecessor and allowed American participation in the UN's discredited, ironically-named "Human Rights Council" that employs Falk. The UN"s Human Rights Council includes nations which are among the worst human rights violators on Earth.
Thanks to the Obama administration's decision, Falk's salary is paid, in part, by US taxpayers whom he continues to insult.
MSNBC's Martin Bashir: Being upset about the IRS scandal means you're a racist
Redefining stupid paranoia:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)