I love Thunderf00t’s videos – OK, most of Thunderfoot’s videos.
He is really intelligent and articulate. And, he has a large following of really intelligent and articulate people who watch his videos on YouTube. His YouTube -and, I am sure, non-online achievements (he is, after all, a scientist) – have earned him the opportunity to interview Richard Dawkins.
Disclosure: I like Thunderf00t and what he says WAY more than I like Richard Dawkins and his message. Still, we are talking ‘celebrity access’ here – earned in the best way possible.
Which is why I was happy to see Thunderf00t post a video about ‘Tolerance and the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’.
What made me even happier was to see that he had felt obliged to put up ‘Part 2’ to it – so many of those who love and respect Thunderf00t (and follow him in his fight for freedom of speech) simply missed the salient and important points in the original video. OK – it’s not that they ‘missed’ the point that is so great: what IS awesome is that someone as intelligent and eloquent as Thunderf00t explained it to them.
It is this explanation that completely and clearly explains the reasoning behind the opposition to this ‘we-have-conquered-America’ landmark which is something every single person who thinks (or says – those are not necessarily congruent) that those who are opposeing the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ are intolerant bigots or some such thing ought to see and listen – really listen – to!
First, the original message:
And then, the explanation:
If you still have any questions, ask yourself: what would George Carlin say?
The August 28th protest in front of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office drew quite a crowd – as well as relatively heavy police presence.
At the first protest, held July 17th (photos here), there were 2 squad cars, with 2 cops each.
At the second protest, which was not held at Dalton’s McGuinty’s constituency office but at Bob Chiarelli’s (he is the Ontario Government’s Minister of Communications), there was no visible police presence at all. (Photos/write-up are here and here.)
At this third protest, the police were highly visible. Like at the first one, there were 2 squad cars with 2 officers each. However, in addition to these, there was also a paddy-wagon – just in case any protesters did not obey the rules and regulations….
Perhaps the presence of the paddy-wagon was anticipated, because this crowd is so very disruptive and destructive…. Leaving the last protest, I actually saw one of the protesters stop and pick up pieces of trash (an old pop-can, I think) which he saw on the ground on his way back to his car – oh, yes, these people are a menace to a neighbourhood!
Suzanne, from BigBlueWave, was at the protest and kindly sent me a link to the video she took of Debbie Jodoin speaking about the intimidation:
Permit me to put this into context:
Imagine that the Prime Minster’s Executive Assistant took it upon himself to send an email to your work – yourself, your co-workers and your employer(!), directed to you, advising you to remember the parking bylaws on your street…and even admonishing you to to ‘be mindful of your neighbours and their inconvenience, if you park in a way that might inconvenience them!
Then, that same Exacutive Assistant from the Prime Minister’s office went door-to-door, talking to your neighbours, asking them if you and your parking habits are inconveniencing them.
And to top it off, when you got home, imagine that there were a couple of cops – with a paddy-wagon ready to drag you off in, watching all your moves, where you parked, how you parked, how long you parked for….
Would that not be intimidating?
Well, Dalton McGuinty and his EA have about as much jurisdiction over this protest as the Prime Minister and his EA have over parking bylaws: neither the leader of the Provincial Government nor the leader of the Federal Government have any jurisdiction over municipal bylaws!
They are not responsible for them to be enforced – and it is certainly not their place to ‘remind’ law-abiding citizens to be good little slaves and obey them!
If the above comparison does not demonstrate just how intimidating this action is, think about it in these terms:
WHEN is it not intimidating for a political leader (or his EA, with the official ‘from the office of’ thingy) to send your employer an email in which he admonishes you not to break the law?
And that does not even address the content of the letter…which demands that we all agree that our unalienable right to free speech is a ‘privilege’!
But, I have already ranted on that…
One more thing: the ‘request’ from ‘above’ was that we do not go on the road (duh!), or the lane in front of the mall, or any of the sidewalks – because that would ‘block traffic’ and interfere with the businesses livelihood. In other words, we were to stand on the ‘lawn’.
Do you know what the ‘lawn’ at Dalton McGuinty’s office is composed of?
100% RAGWEED!
He bloody told us to go stand in ragweed! (I still have the blisters on my feet to prove it – oh, and this picture of the ‘lawn’.)
Because, this is how much the businesses were ‘blocked’ and ‘inconvenienced’ by the protesters:
I actually went into that little corner store to buy a bottle of water – it was hot! The lady at the cash did not bother to get off the phone while serving me….and made it a point NOT to meet my eyes. I am an Aspie – and rather aware of these things (as they are not ‘natural’ to me and I do not want to give offense – so I try WAY harder at them than most people – she had to work very hard indeed to avoid meeting my eyes). But, she made up for it in rude brusqueness, tossing my change onto the counter contemptuously and turning her back to me.
If this is how they treat their paying customers, no wonder this business is not seeing much traffic.
At least the water was nice!
As you see – people tried their best not to stand on the pavement.
Shirley Mosley
Nick Vandergragt spoke well and pationately:
He pointed out how wonderful and tolerant a country we live in – even though this is a protest against Premier McGuinty and his policies, the young man sent from his office to monitor and record us was given the best, front-row spot and could record unmolested: and so it SHOULD be!
That is what our veterans like Bert fought for!
But, Mr. Vandergragt had a very important point: the problem with the McGuinty Government (or, as some people call it, the McGuilty Gang) and their ilk is not just the individual scandals – it is their whole mindset t hat is deeply flawed! And, put into practice, their ideas are destructive beyond imagination!
I concur.
Perhaps you would like to ear the words of Bert, a 94-year-old veteran who tells it like it is (as recorded by VideoManOttawa):
The cops remained vigilant:
But the firefighters driving by gave us a thumbs up! (I do not use the term ‘firefighter’ because I am politically correct, but because to me ‘fireman’ will always be someone who burns books – blame Ray Bradbury!)
VideoManOttawa was there with his trusty video camera and he has posted the videos on YouTube. They are here, here, here, here, here,here, here,also here and here (including speeches by the municipal election candidates), here (Nick Vandergragt), here,here, and here.
This is an email sent by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s EA to Debbie Jodoin, one of the organizers of the Ottawa anti-Eco-Tax (Eco-fees) protests. Not only was it sent to her, but also to all her co-workers and her employer…
From: Fraser_John <jfraser@liberal.ola.org>
To: Clarke, Rob – M.P.
Cc: Clarke, Rob – Assistant 1; Clarke, Rob – Assistant 2; Clarke, Rob – Assistant 3
Sent: Fri Aug 27 15:12:22 2010
Subject: Attention Debbie Jodoin – My apologies if anyone receives this email in error.
Ms. Jodoin ,
It has been brought to my attention that you are organizing a rally/protest outside our constituency office tomorrow. I think we can agree that free speech and the right to assemble are both a privilege and a cornerstone of our democracy. I am sending you this note to ensure you aware of the concerns of our neighbours.
As the organizer of the rally/protest I am sure that you have made arrangements to ensure a safe event for everyone involved. I do want to encourage you and the citizens participating in your rally/protest to have respect for our neighbours at the Kilborn Plaza. Our neighbours are small business owners who depend on parking and easy access for their customers, many of whom are seniors.
Out of respect for our neighbours, I would ask that you urge the participants to:
Avoid using the parking directly in the lane directly in front of the store fronts. There is parking on the side and back of the mall that is easily accessed.
Understand the mall’s businesses depend on a smooth flow on both the sidewalk and lane directly in front of the stores.
Ensure that the entrances to the mall are not blocked so the mall’s customers can have easy access to parking.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
John Fraser
Executive Assistant
Office of Dalton McGuinty, MPP
Yes, the official communication from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty states, clearly and unequivocally – and expect us to agree – that:
I think we can agree that free speech and the right to assemble are both a privilege and a cornerstone of our democracy.
No, Mr. Fraser!
No, Mr. McGuinty!
WE WILL NEVER PERMIT YOU TO TREAT OUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AS ‘PRIVILEGES’!
Saturday, August 28th 2010, there was a rally in front of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s constituency office in Ottawa to protest the crushing tax burden, the illegal eco-taxes (which the McGuinty’s Liberals have partially pulled and are re-thinking, finding another way to impose them which could not be as blatantly unconstitutional). The pictures from this protest are here and here (coming).
This is the third protest in the series organized by Debbie Jodoin and Shirley Mosely – two feisty ladies who are simply fed up with the contempt with which the Ontario government is treating us, Ontarians. In fact, Debbie Jodoin is so fed up, she has decided to seek the nomination by the Conservative Party of Ontario to run against Premier Dalton McGuinty ( in his riding) during the next Provincial election!
Debbie and Shirley have taken out all the proper permits for each and every one of the three demonstrations (and I expect the pattern to follow for the next protest, which will be held at Jim Watson’s office on September 18th, 12 noon to 2 p.m.). There was no problem at either of the first two protest rallies – with the police (who had a presence at the first protest, 2 squad cars with 2 cops each – watching and making sure we did not block traffic or break any other rules, but who were absolutely invisible at the second protest – the one where an MPP and the media cameras were present) or with the businesses.
At this third protest rally, there was a police presence. Not only were there 2 squad cars (with two cops apiece), there was also a police paddy-wagon!
I suppose all of us regular citizens protesting the illegal taxation the McGuinty Liberals are imposing on us are likely to be in need of being dragged off by the police!
But, that is not all.
Debbie Jodoin – and each and every one of her co-workers, including her employer – received an intimidating letter in the vein of the A. Houle letter to Ann Coulter before her speech at Ottawa University!
In a private email to me, Debbie Jodoin has described (she was in a rush – she is going out of town on a business trip) the concerns leading up to the protest:
“It was Dalton EA that sent the email message . Point is we had our first ECO TAX rally there a few weeks back with 500 people and the police and businesses there had no complaints . Point is we always get a city permit and they have the instructions on it and I will send it to you via email as well.
One business even let us use his washroom! I took it upon myself to phone this gentleman and thank him and once again ask for use of his washroom and perhaps give him 25 dollars for some electricity to run our sound systemThe gentleman had no problem that I believe was on a Tuesday with the call coming from my workplace on my lunch hour.
On Friday morning this business owner phoned my work and told the staff that we could use his washrooms but could not use any power as he did not want to get involved in this.In this ! one now asks why would he say that, until I recieved the email that was sent to me and all my co-workers at our place or work to give me instructions on how to behave there etc through his email.
So now the scenario fits ..Mr Fraser the EA took it upon himself to speak to all these businesses or I should assume he did to ask them how concerned they were about another rally gearing up outside their business and stirred the pot . This is typical of Dalton and the gang.
Brendan McGuinty was not there …the first Rally DAVID McGuinty sat in his car and watched the rally ..then they had David Suzki write and article on how wrong we are to fight the ECO TAX.. 2nd rally at Chiarelli’s office we had a call the friday before from a MP ;s office in the same bldg of Chiarellies that was being called and asked us to show respect to the businesses in the mall and not to block there business.And then whamo we get this phone call and email from McGunity’s office.”
So, what was in this email? The email that was sent to Debbie Jodoin, each and every one of her co-workers as well as her employer?
Here is the full wording of the email:
From: Fraser_John <jfraser@liberal.ola.org>
To: Clarke, Rob – M.P.
Cc: Clarke, Rob – Assistant 1; Clarke, Rob – Assistant 2; Clarke, Rob – Assistant 3
Sent: Fri Aug 27 15:12:22 2010
Subject: Attention Debbie Jodoin – My apologies if anyone receives this email in error.
Ms. Jodoin ,
It has been brought to my attention that you are organizing a rally/protest outside our constituency office tomorrow. I think we can agree that free speech and the right to assemble are both a privilege and a cornerstone of our democracy. I am sending you this note to ensure you aware of the concerns of our neighbours.
As the organizer of the rally/protest I am sure that you have made arrangements to ensure a safe event for everyone involved. I do want to encourage you and the citizens participating in your rally/protest to have respect for our neighbours at the Kilborn Plaza. Our neighbours are small business owners who depend on parking and easy access for their customers, many of whom are seniors.
Out of respect for our neighbours, I would ask that you urge the participants to:
Avoid using the parking directly in the lane directly in front of the store fronts. There is parking on the side and back of the mall that is easily accessed.
Understand the mall’s businesses depend on a smooth flow on both the sidewalk and lane directly in front of the stores.
Ensure that the entrances to the mall are not blocked so the mall’s customers can have easy access to parking.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.John Fraser
Executive Assistant
Office of Dalton McGuinty, MPP
All the rules and conditions that the protesters have to abide by are listed on the City of Ottawa permit, which Debbie had taken out for the protest. Therefore, she is quite familiar with them.
So, why should Dalton McGuinty’s EA take it upon himself to remind her of these?
This is between Ms. Jodoin and the City of Ottawa – who granted her the permit. The Provincial government has absolutely no jurisdiction in this. Yet, Dalton McGuinty’s EA had taken it upon himself to remind Ms. Jodoin (who is about to challenge Mr. McGuinty for his seat) as well as her employer and her co-workers of all this!
Add to this the fact that one of the merchants in the strip mall actually felt intimidated enough to not want to ‘get involved in this’ – and you will begin to get a picture how these crooks work!
Just prior to the protest, this video captures an exchange between Ms. Jodoin and a man whom I presume to be Mr. Fraser:
But, perhaps THE most important phrase in that letter is:
“I think we can agree that free speech and the right to assemble are both a privilege …”
No, Mr. Fraser, we cannot agree that freedom of speech and the right to assemble are both a privilege!
NOT AT ALL!
These are fundamental rights and freedoms, inherent to each human being and so recognized in our Constitution!
Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly ARE NOT PRIVILEGES!
The very fact that you think so – and that you seem to expect that we will agree – shows to us the depth of depravity that the McGuintyLiberal government has sunk to!
Debbie Jodoin, one of the two powerhouses behind this protest, had quite an announcement: She is so angry, she will seek the Conservative nomination to run AGAINST Dalton McGuinty in the next provincial election!
There is more: Dalton McGuinty is aware that she is seeking the nomination to run against him in his riding. Perhaps this is unrelated, perhaps not…but, Dalton McGuinty’s EA had sent Ms. Jodoin an email one day before the protest – and to her place of employment, none the less – attempting to intimidate her!
Also, Dalton McGuinty’s lackey clearly stated in the email that ‘freedom of speech’ is a PRIVILEGE she ought not abuse!!! I’ll be making a separate post dedicated to this email, including its full text as soon as I can get it written up.
Shirley Mosley reminded us that three of Dalton McGuinty’s most trusted Ministers are now seeking office in Municipal elections….and that unlike the Ottawa race, Torontonians are not buying ‘Diaper-head’ Slitherman’s bullcrap:
Bart, a WWII veteran who’s coming up to 95 years of age – and who does not like the way the McGuinty Gang are treating Ontario seniors.
Following his speech, Debbie thanked him, all our veterans – and all our members of the Armed Forces. They have always fought for our rights and freedoms – it is about time we backed them up!
Sharon, from CFRA, also had a few thoughts about the McGuinty gang… And, she took the local MPP’s to task for not showing up: this was an abdication of their responsibilities! The crowd agreed with her wholeheartedly!
Nick Vandergragt was an awesome speaker!
He, too thanked all our vets and the brave men and women of our armed forces: he gets it! He truly does! More on his message later…
Even though the provincial politicians did not show up – shame on them all – many of the candidates for Ottawa municipal elections were present.
Even Harper MacKay was there, pressing licking flesh:
There is so much more to come in part 2.
(If you’d like to receive a higher resolution version of any of the photos – or some other photos taken at the protest today, please, comment on it and I’ll be happy to email them to you.)
Where: Premier Dalton McGinty’s Ottawa office at 1795 Infanticide Kilborn Ave.
When: Saturday, 28th of August, 2010, 12 noon to 2 pm
17th of July, 2010, several hundred highly disgruntled Ontario taxpayers showed up at Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Ottawa office to show their displeasure (to put it mildly) at the illegal taxes which Premier McGuinty permitted an unelected board made up of industry members to levy directly on the Ontarians.
Two brave and energetic ladies organized this protest: Debbie Jodoin and Shirley Mosley. There were a few print media guys, but the only video was shot by ‘people’, not the media. I took some photos at the protest, posted here and here.
The protest was part of a greater wave of dissatisfaction with Dalton McGuinty’s disrespectful conduct towards the Ontario Taxpayers – and it was successful. Debbie and Shirley lead the vocal Ottawa faction of citizens whose patience with Mr. McGuinty’s antics had run out to another protest on August 7th, this time held in front of another (in my never-humble-opinion) crooked Ottawa politician’s office – Bob Chiarelli, who is currently McGuinty’s Minister of Communications (and, I suspect, the sleaziest, most despicable, most contemptible person in Ottawa – but my reasons for thinking this are secrets which are not mine to reveal, no matter how much I am itching to).
This second protest attracted greater attention: more media coverage (though, most TV cameras showed up early and left before most of the protesters arrived) as well as more politicians showed up, from Lisa McLeod to many candidates for the Ottawa Council. Even a young man who ran out of power (of the battery kind) came all the way from Premier McGuinty’s office to monitor and report.
Also spotted among the protesters were some card-carrying members of the Liberal Party (recognized by some of their neighbours who also attended): it seems that it is not just people who would be unlikely to vote for McGuinty, but also people who make up the core of his voters are getting fed up with McGuinty’s policies of treating Ontarians with contempt.
Curiously, unlike the first protest, the second one had no visible police presence.
Photos from the August 7th protest are here, here and here.
I have also taken the opportunity to muse on the topic – even if only ‘theoretically’. My post wondering if governments have the ‘right’ to collect taxes forcibly (as opposed to voluntary) has sparked perhaps the longest and deepest ‘comment section’ of any of my posts so far. And, I have posted a story about a man who refused to submit himself to serfdom – hoping to illustrate some of the similarities between robota – ‘serfdom’ – and the current system of mandatory taxes, where governments have usurped unto themselves the right to suspend civil liberties when it comes to collecting taxes…
The next demonstration will take place this coming Saturday, August 28th, from noon to 2 pm at Premier McGuinty’s constituency office. Circumstances permitting, I plan to be there. And, I’ll let you know how it went – perhaps even post some photos.
If you are going to be in the Ottawa area this Saturday, I hope to see you there!
Having just returned from a holiday (away from internet, phones, all news and other distractions), I have just turned my computer on and realized I have quite a backlog of comments that have piled up during my absence…and I have not yet even had the chance to find out what has been happening in the great big wide world over the last 9 or so days….
So, while I try to catch up a little, here are a few of the sights that have been healing my soul:
In a few hours, I will be going away for a little while…
Away from the internet, that is!
Our annual holiday is awesome. Every year for the past decade or so, we rent a cottage ‘up North’.
OK – perhaps it is not North of the Arctic Circle, and perhaps the closest small town can be reached in about an hour-long drive, and perhaps other cottagers are not that far away… still, it is far enough from civilization to have no internet connection. And we kind of like it that way – it shows the kids what life was like B.I. (before internet)!
And not just the internet – where we go, we have no newspapers, no TV and as we’d have to drive an hour to the nearest town to get a newspaper (and it would be in French), during our holidays, we are pretty much ‘away from it all’.
Seven years ago, coming back from our holidays, we noticed that more than a few of the traffic lights were on the flash cycle. We thought it ‘curious’, but that was about it. When we came home, we were surprised to find a couple of our friends who live in apartments sitting in our backyard, barbecuing! We thought it was a very nice thing of them to do – coming over and cooking up a meal just as we were returning from a long drive…
Apparently, they had been using our barbecue (they were close friends – we encouraged them to use the barbecue and check on our house while we had been away) to cook all the food that had defrosted in their freezers when the power had gone out…
We had had absolutely no idea anything had happened – that is how ‘away-from-it-all’ our holidays are.
The upshot of all this is that I will not be posting anything, nor moderating any comments, for the next 8-9 days. In the meantime, please, do enjoy some of the excellent blogs in the blogroll – I’ll be back before you know it!
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 
