Want to know why Pearson Airport is such a shit-show?

A seasoned traveler I know explained to me recently why Pearson is in such utter chaos these days, and it has little to do with vaccine mandates.

Apparently, as the pandemic took hold and fewer and fewer people were flying, one of the responses from Air Canada (and other airlines) was to cancel convenient direct flights and simply route everyone through Pearson. As examples, she mentioned cancelled direct flights from Boston to Ottawa, and Ottawa to Winnipeg.

Now, while the above makes financial sense, it means that as soon as air travel picks up again, you kind of have to add those direct flights back because, if you don't, well, what you get is what's happening at Pearson right now -- far too many people and planes being funneled through a single airport until those direct flights are reinstated.

So can we please stop shrieking about vaccine mandates?

Chronicles of Ezra: Only $257 in fundraiser until the next installment.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, to incentivize y'all to chip in at the "Kick Ezra Levant's pasty grifter ass in court" fundraiser, I will post a new installment for every $500 kicked in. To make it easy to keep track, I'll publish the installments whenever the amount in the fundraiser hits a multiple of $500, so we need only $257 (now only $232) for the next installment to happen.

This one will relate to Ezra's baffling decision to "match" donations to his 2016 Indiegogo fundraiser by fronting a huge amount -- $96,000 -- on, of all things, his personal American Express card, and what consequences that would have had for the transfer, and how much actually made it to the Red Cross, and a bunch of other stuff that I've never written about related to this.

So if you want to know what that's all about, well, you know what to do. 

JUXTAPOSE!

Canadian hard-right loons who are all suddenly experts on constitutional law when it comes to the Emergencies Act simultaneously unable to comprehend something as straightforward as Pat King's bail conditions.

JUXTAPOSE!

Pat King: "I'm willing to go to jail for my beliefs!!!"

Pat King: "Jail is hard."

JUXTAPOSE, PART DEUX:

"Well, Andrew, have you read the ruling justifying continued incarceration?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

A simple suggestion for Rebel News and The Democracy Fund.

To no one's surprise, Rebel News' Ezra Levant sympathises with the lawbreaker:

As many have pointed out (and as Ezra so carefully does not disclose), King's problem is that he has yet to find a lawyer willing to represent him, and yet ... and yet ... oddly, neither Ezra nor the secretive bagmen at The Democracy Fund have established a "Save Pastor Pat" fundraiser.

Weird.

Oh, look ... the consequences of my actions.

 

JUXTAPOSE!

Die-hard MAGAts and Trumpists currently dumping on Liz Cheney because of perceived nepotism:

Please don't make me have to explain that.

Today is World Gin Day.

So ... fix yourself a martini. Not shaken. Not stirred. Just painfully cold right out of the freezer, with a twist of lemon rind, or a blue cheese-stuffed olive.

Drink responsibly. Or not. Your call.

And along those lines ...

 

Would you like Stephen Taylor to get off of social media so he can spend more time with his Stephen Harper blow-up doll with realistic orifices?

Chronicles of Ezra: How Ezra Levant screwed the Red Cross out of $121,842.

Of all the posts in this series leading up to my trial related to Ezra Levant's meritless defamation action against me, this might be the most depressingly sad-making, as it documents (inarguably and indisputably) how Ezra -- consumed by his own overwhelming vanity and ego -- inserted himself into the collection process for the Fort McMurray Red Cross in 2016 and, in doing so, utterly screwed the Red Cross out of over $120,000.

As with previous posts in this series, I've written extensively about this before so I suggest that you go read those posts from back in January of 2019:

• Part 1
• Part 2

then come back so that we can summarize what you just saw, and I will have two -- not one but two -- bounties related to Ezra and this issue. Take your time, I'll wait right here ...

La da dee da da I miss the rains back in Africa ... ah, you're back. So let's summarize, just to make sure you understand that, unbelievably, what you just read is what you think you read:

• In May of 2016, pursuant to the Fort Mac wildfires, the Red Cross began fundraising to support the victims of those wildfires.
• Ezra Levant, driven by his own narcissism and obsessive self-interest, rather than work with the Red Cross as everyone else was doing, registered an entirely independent Indiegogo fundraiser without the Red Cross' knowledge or permission (more about that in a future post as I have the emails showing the Red Cross being taken somewhat aback upon first learning of Ezra's Indiegogo page).
• Two days later, both the federal government and Alberta provincial government announced "matching" of donations, as long as those donations were physically received by the Red Cross by the non-negotiable deadline of May 31, 2016.
• In the face of relentless questioning for the entire month of May, Ezra continued to insist that all donations to his fundraiser would be matched in their entirety, despite knowing full well that he was not allowed to withdraw those funds in time to make the non-negotiable deadline.
• Only at the effective end of his fundraiser, on June 1 2016, did Ezra -- for the very first time -- suddenly disclose that he managed to achieve "a" matching transfer using some unidentified "financing", while never explaining the details of that financing or admitting that what he turned over fell far short of the full amount collected.

To this day, Ezra -- even while constantly bragging about how much he collected for the Red Cross -- has never, ever, ever admitted publicly how much he actually cost them through the use of his personal vanity Indiegogo fundraiser, which brings us to the two bounties you are invited to try to collect.

Bounty the first: Even after it was painfully obvious that Ezra could not withdraw any of the money from his Indiegogo fundraiser in time for it to be matched, he continued to assure everyone it would be done, while refusing to explain how. Only at the very end of the fundraiser (on June 1, 2016) did Ezra surprisingly disclose that it was due to some mysterious "financing" that he had arranged. If Ezra had simply explained that during the month of May, that would have avoided a lot of controversy but, to the best of my knowledge, he never -- even once -- bothered informing people of that, preferring instead to play childish, "gotcha" games, which brings us to the first bounty.

I will pay the sum of $250 (e-transfer) to the first person who can provide evidence that Ezra actually disclosed his "financing" scheme at any time during the month of May, 2016. I am nothing but a fair man, and if Ezra actually published that he was going to solve the matching dilemma by, say, fronting the money himself to make the deadline, I want to know about it. I have looked for such a disclosure and have never found it, but that does not mean it does not exist, so there's the first bounty.

Bounty the second: Even after depriving the Red Cross of over $120,000, for months afterwards, Ezra (and others at Rebel Media) crowed incessantly about their humanitarianism, without actually admitting the spectacular shortfall in what they handed over. To this day, I am unaware that Ezra has ever publicly admitted to (or taken responsibility for) shorting the Red Cross of that amount, and there is your second bounty.

I will pay $250 (again, e-transfer) to anyone who can produce an actual admission and apology from Ezra as to how his ego-driven interference in the Fort Mac donations process ended up costing the Red Cross over $120,000 as I have described above. All I've ever seen is Ezra patting himself on the back for the money he raised, while never adding the part of how he made such a mess of things, so if anyone can produce such a disclosure and apology from Ezra, the money's yours.

Finally, as always, if you think it's worth standing up to the harassment and intimidation of meritless SLAPP suits from professional litigator and smear merchant Ezra Levant, well, I have a fundraiser. And as incentive, here's the deal.

For every $500 in donations, I will publish the next post in the series. So if you want even more crunchy goodness regarding this action, well, you have to pay for it. I think that's a pretty fair deal, no?

Until next time, when the issue of Ezra putting $96,000 on his personal(?) American Express card becomes a slightly bigger deal than you might have suspected.

And there will be further bounties. Count on it.

BONUS TRACK: Given what I've described above -- how Ezra's ham-handed, self-serving interference in the Red Cross donations process clearly deprived that organization of well over $100,000 -- there's more than a little irony in the final page of Ezra Levant's 2016 Statement of Claim, where he insists he is entitled to additional punitive damages because ... oh, just read it:

Yes, you read that correctly -- Ezra is demanding punitive damages because my pointing out the financial irregularities and deception in his Indiegogo fundraiser ... deprived the citizens of Fort McMurray of money.

Let me put that another way that makes it sound even stupider: Ezra claims my actions injured the citizens of Fort Mac financially, so he is suggesting that the proper recourse is for the Court to take money from me and give it to ... him.

Make of that what you wish.

JUXTAPOSE!

Rebel News, who openly and relentlessly encouraged employees to defy vaccine mandates knowing those employees would consequently be dismissed, now gleefully blaming the government for chaos caused by staff shortages due to all of those employees being dismissed because they listened to Rebel News.

Do I have that about right?

JUXTAPOSE!

Republicans who insist there was nothing untoward about hundreds of heavily-armed and camouflaged Trump supporters descending on the Capitol and screaming "Hang Mike Pence!" are currently mortified about one armed individual seen near Brett Kavanaugh's house, and demand immediate action.

JUXTAPOSE!

Republicans who, for six years, howled about how Hillary Clinton should be "locked up" despite having no evidence that she committed any crime, are currently livid -- LIVID, I TELL YOU!!! -- over GOPer Peter Navarro being arrested for actually breaking the law.

JUXTAPOSE!

Neo-Nazi memorabilia aficionado Keean "Beaker" Bexte: "It's vital that Canadians stand up to any sort of foreign influence, and fight back against the WEF, and the WHO, and the UN, because nothing -- NOTHING!!! -- is more important than our national sovereignty, and the guarantee that Canadians, and only Canadians, determine the direction of this country, without even the slightest hint of foreign interference in our affairs!"

Also Keean "Beaker" Bexte: "It's critically important to note what Ohio thinks of us."

BONUS TRACK: Don't forget to stop by tomorrow morning, when I explain in excruciating, painstaking, thigh-sucking detail how Rebel News' Ezra Levant screwed the Fort McMurray Red Cross out of over $120,000 back in 2016.

There will be cash bounties. You don't want to miss that.

Chronicles of Ezra: When is 100% not really 100%, and how you can earn some cash.

As part of my ongoing series in bringing folks up to speed on my meticulous preparations for going to trial against Rebel News' Ezra Levant, we're going to cover what was easily one of Ezra's most mendacious and breathtaking falsehoods related to his 2016 Indiegogo fundraiser for Fort McMurray -- his claim that the full "100%" of all donations to his fundraiser would be turned over to the Red Cross. And you should read right to the end since, at the end, I'm giving one lucky reader the chance to earn some actual cash for doing some detective work. For now, to business.

To set the stage, it was back in 2016 that Ezra Levant assured one and all that they should send their donations on behalf of Fort Mac, not to the Red Cross directly, but to him, and he gave the unequivocal and unambiguous assurance that he would subsequently turn over "100%" of those donations, fully and completely, to the Red Cross. I could go on but, once upon a time, I wrote up this incident in excruciating detail, and you can read all of that here:

• Part 1
• Part 2

but make sure you come back here afterwards for your chance to win valuable prizes. I'll wait.

Dum de dum dum ...

OK, so let's recap what (beyond any doubt) happened back in 2016, shall we?

• Ezra Levant assured everyone that the full "100%" of donations to his Indiegogo fundraiser would be turned over to the Red Cross.
• Throughout the entire month of May, 2016 (and perpetually afterwards), Ezra stuck to his guns over this claim, even as countless people pointed out he was clearly full of Sheila.
• Only after the end of the fundraiser did Ezra concede (privately in his Statement of Claim) that what he had claimed all that time was not true.

None of the above is even remotely arguable, but here's where the valuable cash prize comes in. Because I am a scrupulously fair man, I have always entertained the possibility that, somewhere, Ezra issued a public retraction and correction of his claim of "100%", and I just never noticed it. Trust me, I've looked, and have never found such a thing, but in the interests of fairness, I am always willing to be corrected so here's the deal:

I will pay the bounty of $100 -- no, let's be generous and make it $250 -- to the first person who can leave in the comments section proof that, at some point during the month of May, 2016, Ezra Levant published an admission that his claim of 100% was, in fact, deceptive and misleading and was based on him bragging about his initial $10,000 "donation", only to take it back and use it as a slush fund to make up for the 5% lost to Indiegogo's processing fee. It's not necessary that Ezra use those words; all it will take to collect the bounty is to point to an admission by Ezra as to what was really happening. (And, unlike Ezra, if someone succeeds, I will actually hand over the money.) As I said, I have looked high, low and askance for such an example and, to this day, have never found one, so if you can produce one, the money is yours.

Finally, as always, if you think it's a good cause to stand up to Ezra Levant and refuse to be intimidated by his never-ending stream of idiotic, meritless, whiny SLAPP suits, well, I have a fundraiser.

BONUS TRACK: As I mentioned in an earlier post, I still have my own 2-hour questioning session of Ezra to be scheduled, and I can assure you I will be demanding (using Ezra's own logic against him) that he turn over copious amounts of Rebel News financial data relevant to my defense (and, yes, we will all be learning about the inner workings of The Democracy Fund, among other things). Related to this post, I will of course ask Ezra to provide any evidence that he publicly corrected the record regarding this claim, so I am nothing but fair. But I'm still giving some lucky reader the chance to collect that bounty first. Because that's just the kind of guy I am. There will be more bounties, so you might want to check back regularly.

Coming next: How Ezra misled everyone about donations being "matched", and subsequently screwed the Red Cross out of more than $120,000. You'll really want to read that one, for which I will be offering not one, but two cash bounties.

AFTERSNARK: Just to make sure there is no suspense, here is the public record of donations to Ezra's 2016 fundraiser, showing the exact amount of $162,476.00 donated:

and here is a screenshot of an email I received a few months after that fundraiser ended from the Red Cross' Susan Larkin:

showing that the full and complete amount eventually turned over by Ezra was ... $156,921.00.

Please don't make me explain the arithmetic.

Sure, it's a tragedy ...

 

... but, as they say, the only thing that stops a bad two-year-old with a gun is a good two-year-old with a gun. That's what they say, isn't it?

Conservatives, and arguing in bad faith.

Nothing really on the agenda today, so here is a delightful example of how many people (mostly right-wingers) argue in "bad faith." If that reminds you of anyone, that's not a coincidence.

In the meantime, there is still my anti-Ezra fundraiser, for which there will be another methodical and dispassionate post in a day or two.

Chronicles of Ezra: Pretty sure I never said any of that.

After my initial hissy fit related to preparing to (some day) go to trial related to Ezra Levant's meritless 2016 defamation suit against me, I will pick up where I left off and begin a series of methodical and dispassionate posts describing various aspects of this action. In fact, very little of these subsequent posts will feature any new material (at least not for a while); rather, a lot of them will repeat material I've already published openly over the last few years that some of you might have already seen. And remember, all of this is in aid of encouraging folks to donate to my anti-Ezra GoFundMe page, the idea being that I will lay out in considerable detail what is happening in this action, in exchange for people realizing this is something worth supporting. More on that toward the end but, for now, let's recap something I wrote about some time back.

In his 2016 Statement of Claim and subsequent Reply, Ezra made a number of disturbing claims about me, insisting that I had accused him specifically and publicly of a number of illegal activities, including (but not limited to) "accounting fraud", "tax evasion", "embezzling donations", "cheating donors" ... the list goes on but, rather than bore you here with that list, I am going to save time and redirect you to a piece I wrote in 2019, wherein ... oh, just go read it and come on back, where we will summarize the jaw-dropping weirdness of what you just read. I'll wait.

Dum de dum dum ...

Now, let me summarize to make sure there is no confusion about what you just read:

• Ezra Levant specifically claimed that I accused him publicly of various flavours of criminal activity.
• In order to rebut these claims, I performed a savagely comprehensive search of my own Twitter timeline, not just for those exact phrases, but for any and all reasonable variations of those words, just so I could not be accused of cherry-picking.
• I documented the results of those searches, which proved incontrovertibly that I had never, at any time, made a single one of those accusations, and I presented that evidence to the motions judge.
• The motions judge ignored every bit of that evidence completely, and "found" that I had defamed Ezra by allegedly saying all of the things I had just established were utter fabrications from beginning to end.

I will leave the above with you to ponder. There will be more pieces down the road but, for now, as always, it would be appreciated if people who are beginning to realize how thoroughly I got screwed over by the Ontario legal system would donate to the fundraiser.

There will be more posts on an occasional basis, and thanks for stopping by.

P.S. If you follow the GoFundMe page, you'll be notified when there is a new "Chronicles of Ezra" post. Or you can just drop by whenever you want. Either way works for me.

That is some serious fucking stupid.

Because telling people to pack up their hot tubs and bouncy castles and get out of town is just like slaughtering people with tanks:

Fucking retard.

Someone is getting very, very, very rich off of this.

 

And since federal vaccine mandates will unquestionably be cancelled one of these days, someone is going to have a couple million dollars just lying around, and nothing to spend it on.

That's just a guess.

P.S. Remember that, since this money is apparently being directed through the CRA-approved charity "The Democracy Fund," all donors are eligible for tax receipts, which means the rest of us are covering the cost of all that lost revenue.