Toronto Radio Time Machine; Live Aid 1985

QUEEN ~ "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS";




THE WHO ~ "LOVE REIGN OVER ME";


37 years ago this week on July 13 1985; Live Aid, a benefit concert for the people of Ethiopia then suffering through a terrible famine and the largest benefit concert in the world at the time, took place with two simultaneous shows in London and Philadelphia as well as being broadcast worldwide in TV. Smaller concerts were also held in the Soviet Union, Canada, Japan, Yugoslavia, Austria, Australia and West Germany and parts of these shows were also aired.

DIRE STRAITS & STING ~ "MONEY FOR NOTHING";


Best known now (musically at least) for sets by Queen (that kicked off their comeback), a Black Sabbath reunion with Ozzy, a Led Zeppelin reunion (with Phill Collins), a Who reunion, Dire Straits (with Sting) and U2. The sets by U2, Dire Straits and Simple Minds helped make them major stadium stars, although in the case of Simple Minds it would not last. In checking out the line-up I see there were several last minute additions not on the poster including Black Sabbath (with Ozzy), Tom Petty, Madonna, The Hooters, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Four Tops, RUN DMC, George Thorogood w/Bo Diddly & Albert Collins, BB King (via satellite from Holland) Prince (ditto), Loudness (from Tokyo), Autograph (from Russia), Kool & The Gang (from a studio), Pat Metheny, CSNY, The Beach Boys, Joan Baez, Teddy Pendergrast (in his first appearance aftr being paralyzed in a car accident) and Dylan with Keith Richards & Ron Wood closing the show. Most acts did from one to three songs bout a few got slightly longer sets. Phill Collins actually played both shows as he palyed London then hopped on the Concorde and flew to America to play with Zeppelin. As I recall the set with Dylan, Keith Richard and Ron Wood was a complete trainwreck as was the Zeppelin set as it was obvious none of them had bothered to rehearse.

U2 ~ "SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY";


The concert was a by-product of the "Do They Know It's Christmas" single the previous year arranged by Bob Geldoff and Midge Ure and the following singles in America ("We Are The World") and Canada "Tears Are No Enough"). I was too young to have actually seen any of these bands but as a New Wave kid watching on TV I was primarily there for U2, Simple Minds, Pretenders, Ultravox and Adam Ant in that order.

SIMPLE MINDS ~ "DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME";


In Toronto one oddity was that the only radio station that simulcast the entire concert was the tiny campus station CKLN (rival CIUT did not go on air until the next year) using their cable feed. CKLN had been on air since 1981 and was by this point known as a station which played underground and avant garde music and most of the bill was totally mainstream but among the New Wave acts who had been on the CKLN/campus charts only a few years earlier; U2, Simple Minds, the Pretenders, Ultravox, the Boomtown Rats, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Style Council, Adam Ant, Sting (in the Police), the Cars, Alison Moyet (in Yazoo), Paul Young (in the Q-Tips), Tears For Fears (including as the Graduates), Run DMC and Judas Priest plus Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Paul Simon's "Graceland" & Neil Young's "Trans" albums. Although by 1985 some of these acts certainly still got some airplay on CKLN along with other campus stations that were less aggressively avant garde than CKLN.

THE PRETENDERS ~ "MIDDLE OF THE ROAD";




By contrast here are the actual CKLN Charts for July/85; The Jesus & Mary Chain (and it's early wall-of-feedback era too, Hell Yeah!), Nick Cave, Black Flag, the Barracudas, Deja Voodoo, REM, Talking Heads (their last decent album), Discharge, Robert Fripp, Jah Wobble, Psychic TV, Rain Parade, Primal Scream, A Certain Ratio, Del Amitri, the Redskins (best name for a Marxist Mod band ever), Slaughter (the Toronto Thrash band not the later US Hair Metal band), Living Proof, Suzanne Vega, Roy Orbison's comeback album and the soundtracks for "Repo Man" & "Return Of The Living Dead". About the only bands here that could have possibly been asked to play Live Aid would have been Talking Heads if they had not essentially stopped touring by that point and maybe Robert Fripp with King Crimson who also were not touring. I could possibly see Suzanne Vega doing "Luka" in a studio via satellite. REM had not yet made the jump to stadium status by that point. Mind you it would have been cool if early Jesus & Mary Chain and Deja Voodoo had played. And by cool I mean a glorious clusterfuck of historic proportions. I don't think the TV audience was ready for that.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN ~ "NEVER UNDERSTAND";


BLACK FLAG ~ "NOTHING LEFT INSIDE";


BLACK FLAG ~ "LOOSE NUT";


DISCHARGE ~ "NEVER AGAIN";


THE BARRACUDAS ~ "SUMMER FUN";


THE REDSKINS ~ "KEEP ON KEEPING ON";


A CERTAIN RATIO ~ "SHACK UP";


DEJA VOODOO;




DEJA VOODOO ~ "STRANGE";


DEJA VOODOO ~ "CEMETARY";


BLACK SABBATH ~ "WICKED WORLD";

BLACK SABBATH ~ "THE WRIT";


BLACK SABBATH ~ "WARNING";


BLACK SABBATH ~ "F/X";

Raging On Behalf Of The Machine

By now we've all enjoyed the story about the radio station in Vancouver, Canada (KISS FM) which laid off it's staff so in protest someone has been playing Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name Of" ever since 4AM. "Rolling Stone" covered it followed by other international news and news even reached Rage's Tom Morrello who Twitter posted about it. I hate to be a killjoy because I'd dearly love for this to be true but it's fake. Oh they've been playing Rage alright, in fact I checked the feed and as of late last night they still were although they aren’t now (more on that in a bit), but this is no protest.

I've worked in radio for over twenty years so here's the deal; Is it possible for the host to lock himself in the studio and play Rage over and over again? Well yes up to a point, and if it started overnight they might even get away with for a few hours before anybody noticed and rushed down to the station but once they did the fun & games would be over. There is no way management wouldn't have keys to the studio or that if they somehow didn't security couldn't and wouldn't just bust down the door and drag him off. It's obvious that hosts are in fact there because they keep taking calls on the air and bantering with callers.

Also there is something called a "dump button" that will take the station off the air. There is one in the booth but there is also at least one more in the separate EQ closet where they keep the servers and relays plus another at the transmitter tower any one of which would have been pressed by now ending the feed and then they would replace it with a prerecorded one. I don’t know if KISS FM has more than one studio but since it’s owned by Rogers (Canada’s largest radio and TV conglomerate) I assume so and they could cut also the feed from one and transfer to another. Management doesn't even need access to the on-air studio to do so. This sort of thing actually where someone hijacks the booth has happened before in Canada more than once (I can personally think of at least a half dozen times times, all but one at campus stations), and it never goes on this long even if this were some understaffed campus station let alone a corporate one owned by Rogers which this is because it simply would not happen.

I looked into this and and the story about Rogers laying off the "entire staff" is wrong. They did layoff two hosts of a morning show but not everybody and again there were clearly hosts in there taking calls. Both former hosts have since posted on Twitter with anodyne "looking forward to new projects" type posts with no sign of any protests. In fact the real story appears to be that the station, which has had a soft rock & pop hits format, is changing to a Rock Alternative format and by this morning (after thirty hours) they had indeed pulled down their original page and live feed and replaced it with a new one in which they have rebranded themselves as “Sonic; The New Alternative” with the new website obviously ready to go along with new social media pages. Note that regardless of the classic episode of the beloved “WKRP”, stations in Canada at least can not just abruptly change formats without informing the CRTC (our equivalent of the FCC) although for their purposes this would be considered a minor change, so this has been in the works for weeks if not months.

Finally I listened in and it's revealing that the version of "Killing In The Name Of" which they were playing was the censored radio-friendly no profanity version. A real protest would proudly play the "Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me" version. A corporate PR stunt that didn't want to piss-off the CRTC would not.

This is what is known as "stunting". It's not a cool protest giving the finger to our corporate bosses. I truly wish it was, seriously, that would fucking rule. But it's actually a PR stunt FROM our corporate masters. Sorry, really, but it isn't just Rage that's getting played, you are.

The World According to Tankies

Recently I spotted a Facebook post about the Russia-Ukraine War that seems to be floating around and it's such a perfect (if poorly written) example of the sort of revisonist propaganda put out by Russian reactionaries and their useful idiots here that I couldn't pass up the chance to respond. Also I had free time.

First here's the original post;
"A Finnish blogger surprised Facebook when she posted this article:
Half of Europe and part of Asia got their state condition in the hands of Russia.
Let's remember who exactly:
- *Finland* in 1802 and 1918.. (until 1802 it never had a state of its own).
- *Letonia* in 1918 (until 1918 it never had its own state).
- *Estonia* in 1918 (until 1918 it never had a state of its own).
- *Lithuania* restored the state in 1918 thanks to Russia.
- *Poland* restored the state with the help of Russia twice, in 1918 and 1944. *Poland division between USSR and Germany is just a short period! *
- *Romania* was born as a result of the Russian-Turkish wars and became sovereign by the will of *Russia* in 1877-1878.
- *Moldavia* as a state was born within the USSR.
- *Bulgaria* liberated itself from the oppression of the Ottoman Empire and restored its independence as a result of the victory of Russian weapons in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which had this objective. As a thank you, the state of *Bulgaria* participated in two world wars as part of the anti-Russian coalitions. *Bulgaria* is now a member of NATO and has American bases on its territory. After 1945, there was not a single Russian soldier in their territory...
-As a result of this war, *Serbia* was born as a sovereign state.
- *Azerbaijan* as a state formed for the first time as part of the USSR.
- *Armenia* has been physically preserved and revitalized as a state only within the USSR.
- *Georgia* has been physically preserved and revitalized as a state thanks to the Russian Empire.
- *Turkmenistan* has never had a state and formed it only as part of the USSR.
- *Kyrguistan* never had the state condition and formed it only as part of the USSR.
- *Kazajstan* never had the state condition and formed it only as part of the USSR.
- *Mongolia* never had a state and formed it only with the help of the USSR.
- *Belarus and Ukraine* also got the state condition for the first time as a result of the Great October Revolution within the USSR republics. And it wasn't until 1991 (also from Russia) that they gained total independence.
The role of Russia-US in the birth and formation of states such as China, Vietnam, North Korea, India, Greece (in 1821, Russia recovered it from the Turks), Algeria, Cuba, Israel, Angola, Mozambique, etc. it's also worth considering.
* Such a strange "aggression" has historically been manifested by the Russians! * With the important contribution of this country, Switzerland has achieved even the independence of France. In better words, thanks to Suvorov (217 years ago), Switzerland never (! ) has fought since;
The following was also carried out:
- the liberation of Austria from the Third Reich in 1945;
- liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Third Reich in 1945;
- Catalina II's position in 1780 with the creation of the League of Armed Neutrality and the real support of the United States of America in the fight for its independence from Britain. Russia has granted independence to most European states twice in the last 2 centuries after destroying Hitler and Napoleon;
- Stalin's position in negotiations with the United States and England, which gave Germany a chance to maintain its state condition after the defeat in 1945;
- the position of Gorbachov, which made it possible to unite the two Germans in 1990 without too much difficulty;
- Soviet aid to Egypt, after which it was able to resist and consolidate its independence in the war with Israel, Britain and France in 1956-57.
- The USSR intervention in 1967, which stopped the war between Israel and Egypt (it actually saved the Arabs from defeat in two wars in 1967-74).
- The crucial role of the Union secured Angola's independence in 1975. And finally the main thing. It was the USSR that, after winning the Second World War, played a key role in ensuring the independence of most Western European colonies in the global decolonization process initiated by the Union. Russia's history suggests that within any power and system, it has been constant in defending the principles of independence and self-determination of nations and nations. She was the one who, in every possible way, helped create a multipolar world at any time and at all times.
Unfortunately, he often sacrificed his own interests at the same time, and if Mother Russia’s politics, although a fraction, were similar to Britain, half of the world would now be part of the Russian imperial Commonwealth. and the Russian people would bathe in luxury, like the sheikhs of Saudi Arabia, at the expense of states, countries and their capitals freed from other colonialists. Now, more than ever, it is fundamental to do everything possible to make the world never forget this, always remember how the Soviet people contributed to the liberation of Europe from fascism.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And now my response;
This is the most frankly jawdropping revisionist propaganda I've seen since the days of Pravda that completely denies the histories of other countries and there is no way anyone from Eastern or Central Europe would not find this ahistorical whitewash of Russia's historical, well documented and often brutal imperialism deeply delusional and offensive.
Finland; As a province and Duchy of Sweden they were conquered by Peter The Great in the early 1700's. Although they were first promised their local autonomy as a Duchy would be preserved under Russian rule, under the policy of Russification the Finnish nobility and intellectuals were banished and the Finnish language was essentially banned while Russian practices of serfdom, censorship and conscription were imposed over Finnish resistance. During the Russian Revolution and Civil War Finland declared it's independence which Lenin had little choice but accept as he was busy fighting a civil war but soon thereafter sponsored a coup attempt to install a puppet government which failed. In 1940 Stalin invaded which resulted in the famous Winter War in which the Soviet Army were repeatedly humiliated by the much smaller Finnish Army which this blogger "forgets" to mention. I can understand why Russians would want to forget getting their asses handed to them by a much smaller neighbour in a war of aggression they started but everyone else remembers it.
The Baltic States; Saying they "never had their own state" is false as Lithuania and Latvia did exist as states into the late middle ages when Latvia and Estonia became Swedish provinces while Lithuania was part of a unified Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom all of which was conquered by Peter The Great (yes him again) when they were also subject to the same policy of repressive forced Russification. Saying they got their independence "Thanks to Russia" is only true if if you think Russia losing WW1 and being too preoccupied by their own Civil War to stop them from declaring independence until Stalin (yes him again) conquered them again in 1940 worthy of thanks but I doubt they would agree.
Poland; "Restored with the help of Russia"? Are you fucking kidding me? Poland was an independent state going back to Medieval times when Russia was Mongol tributary losing its independence after being invaded and partitioned in the 18th century between Russia, Prussia and Austria under Catherine The Great whereupon Poland was subject to the same Russification policies. If by saying Poland was "restored with the help of Russia in 1918" you mean Russia lost WW1 then failed in their 1920 invasion then sure. Nice job. But breezing past the 1939 Hitler-Stalin Pact and subsequent Soviet invasion and repartitioning of Poland with the well documented genocide of Polish leadership, educated and middle-classes as "Just a short period!" (with an added exclamation point to show he's serious) is nothing short of Holocaust denial. The fucking nerve. This is going to be quite a slog isn't it?
Romania; Saying they were "born as a result of the Russian-Turkish Wars" willfully ignores the existence of the Wallachian State which had existed since Medieval times and had been fighting the Turks since the days of Vlad The Impaler (he's kind of famous you know). Yes they were allied with Russia in the 1877 war which the Turks lost and had to recognize their already de-facto independence (they had their own army and ruling class but paying taxes to the Ottomans) but to say that they "became sovereign by the will of Russia" is exactly the kind of patronizing arrogance that make Russians so beloved in Central and Eastern Europe. As for Moldavia, saying it was "born within the USSR" is a funny way of saying "annexed by force from Romania in 1940 by Stalin" (yes him again).
Bulgaria; "Liberated itself from the oppression of the Ottoman Empire''. Hey look at you actually giving credit to a smaller nation for its own independence. That's nice. Wonder how long that will last. This is basically the same story as Romania, a small de-facto independent state allied to Russia in the 1877 war after which Russia expected to impose a king of their choosing and make it a client state only to be kicked out by the Bulgarians who among other things resented Russian favoritism towards their other client state Serbia who they were at war with in 1885. However to say that Bulgaria "As a thank you" participated in "two world wars against Russia" is misleading to the point of falsehood. It's true that Bulgaria allied with Germany in WW1 but they spent the war attacking their old rivals Serbia and Greece, they did not declare war on Russia. In WW2 Bulgaria was bullied by Hitler into allowing German troops to pass through the country but refused to send any troops to fight Russia or help deport Jews. Once again no Bulgarian troops saw action in Russia. In 1944 they kicked out the retreating Germans and declared neutrality but Stalin (yes him again) invaded anyway and imposed a communist dictatorship.
Georgia; An independent state with its own king since ancient times, Georgia is actually older than Russia and was an ally against Turkey and Persia until the Russians simply annexed it during the reign of Alexander 1 in the 1800's after which it underwent the same policy of Russification as Finland and the Baltics. Like them Georgia declared their independence in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution but unlike them they were unable to resist being reconquered soon thereafter by the Soviets. I don't know how you can call this being "preserved and revitalized as a state thanks to the Russian Empire" but thanks I guess? But at least you are now admitting it was indeed an "Empire". Baby steps.
Armenia; Another ancient kingdom much older than Russia that also declared independence in 1918 only to be reconquered by the Soviets. So thanks again.
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan; I don't know what you think "never had the state condition" means but they had existed as Islamic Khanates as long as Russia had before being conquered by Catherine The Great in the 1700's. Russians may not recognize that as being a "State Condition" but I imagine that they have other thoughts on the matter. BTW you spelled all these countries wrong and you forgot Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan.
Mongolia; "Never had a state". Wow. Just wow. I could almost forgive a westerner for not knowing shit about Uzbekistan but have you seriously never heard of Genghis Khan? I mean really. Russia was actually a Mongol client tributary state for a few centuries. The Mongols literally had the world's largest empire. It's pretty well documented. What books have you been reading anyway?
Ukraine; Another weird "Got the state condition" reference again. Russians hate to admit this but Ukraine is actually older than Russia. In fact Kiev was the capital of the Eastern Orthodox Slavs in the Medieval period and was one of the richest cities in Europe while Moscow was a muddy Viking trading post paying tribute to Kiev and St Petersburg was a tiny fishing village in a swamp. Kiev was destroyed by the Mongols (remember them?) which is the only reason Russia was able to rise in it's place as the Eastern Slavic capital and that's only after they bought the Mongols off by paying tribute and acting as mercenaries for a couple hundred years. Saying they "got the state condition as a result of the Great October Revolution '' is a funny way of saying that like Georgia and Armenia they declared independence during the 1918 Russian Revolution only to be reconquered. Under the Soviets literally millions of people died in forced famines and mass deportations in what was one of the worst genocides of modern times which this blogger once again "forgets" about. In Ukraine they even have a name for this. It's called the Holodomor. You should google it. In Russia they apparently call this "Getting The State Condition".
Belarus; OK unlike the others Belarus was never previously independent, I mean except for a brief independent republic after WW1 until it was crushed by Lenin (yes him again) if that counts which you probably think it doesn't. So I guess I'll sorta give you that one but so what? Other colonized nations never had a "State Condition" either until they did. Ireland comes to mind. Or Bosnia. Or Slovakia. Or Namibia. Don't they have that right? Why is that your call to make?
Next we have a mixed bag of states that Russia's "role in the birth and formation of" which "must be considered". Must it really though? Some of these are just countries the USSR sent weapons to during the Cold War sometimes getting bases in return. It's true that Russia did play a role in Greek liberation from Turkey in 1821 but so did Britain which also guaranteed Greek independence along with other European powers. Adding China in is funny since Russia was one of the major Imperial powers grabbing huge swathes of territory in Manchuria in the 1890's until getting their asses kicked by Japan in the 1904-05 War. The USSR played no role at all in India's independence while Tsarist Russia had actually made abortive attempts to seize Indian territory via Afghanistan, a nation which this blogger "forgets" to mention at all. That's odd. I mean it was in the news recently. The USSR also played no role in Israeli independence either except for recognizing it, thereafter they were firm allies of enemies like Syria. On the other hand Tsarist Russia was known for it's violent Anti-Semitic pogroms which created thousands of Jewish refugees that would settle there so perhaps that's what you mean. Saying Russia's role in Angola's independence was "crucial" denies the real credit where it's due. The USSR sent weapons but it was the Cubans who did the actual fighting along with the Angolans themselves. They're quite proud of it too. As for North Korea, you can have that one. Congrats.
The "Liberation of Czechoslovakia"; Well yes I'm sure we all agree defeating the Nazis was good thing but leaving Soviet troops there to create a puppet state dictatorship can hardly be called "liberation". That's certainly what the Czechs thought which led to a Soviet invasion in 1968 you again "forget" to mention.
We're getting wildly off topic now as you switch to talking about Catherine The Great backing American independence from Britain which has a grain of truth but is wildly exaggerated. Yes she did recognize American independence but did not send any "real support" as you claim, unlike France which did send troops, money and ships. Also Swiss independence as a result of the defeat of Napoleon which a few other countries also played a role in. You may have heard of Lords Nelson and Wellington and the Battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo. Really, you can google this stuff you know.
And we're back to WW2 again and Germany. Did you proofread this? I mean just for narrative structure if nothing else. Yes, Stalin agreed to have Germany "maintain its state condition" after WW2 but given that Western and Southern Germany and Austria were also then occupied by Allied troops he had little choice. And that's only assuming you would call the puppet state of East Germany truly independent. The Germans didn't and you know who else didn't? The Soviets who sent in tanks to crush a revolt in 1953 which you again "forget" about.
Now we're back to the Middle East so you can brag about Soviet support for Egypt and Syria which is kind of strange as it directly contradicts your claims about the USSR supporting Israel but whatever. BTW Sadat later kicked the Soviets out of Egypt so he could make peace with Israel which leaves you with Assad in Syria as your only friend and I wouldn't brag about that if I were you. And lastly we have some over-the-top boilerplate praise for the endless benevolence of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union which I don't need to belabour but I did enjoy your claim that if Russia were a real empire they would "Bathe in luxury like the sheikhs of Saudi Arabia". That anybody could say that with a presumably straight face after seeing the "yachts" the size of aircraft carriers owned by Russian oligarchs and multiple sprawling dacha estates where they keep their mistresses shows a level of willful delusion that is downright surreal. It may be true that the "Russian People" may not have benefitted very much from all this stolen wealth but that's not how imperialism works whether you choose to call it that or not. Note to Tankies; It's not only Imperialism if it's done by countries you don't like.
Note; I don't know who the original blogger was. It popped up in my feed as reposted by a Russian dude who in turn reposted from some guy with a Spanish name. It's worth noting the blogger is named as being not Russian but Finnish, a nation that was a victim of Russian imperialism and had to fight a bloody war after being invaded in 1940, something every Finn would know by heart. Just shows how much this blatantly self-serving nonsense has been absorbed by some in the west either by the cynical Fascist right like Steve Bannon, Steven Miller, Tucker Carlson and Ron Paul or by far left Tankies like Jimmy Dore, Jill Stein the Greyzone and whatever the Hell Tulsi Gabbard and Glenn Greenwald are supposed to be. Judging by the writing and some of the countries mentioned I suspect this writer is the latter.



BTW; That's awfully big talk for a guy who looks like he regularly gets beaten up for his lunch moneyand stuffed in a locker.

A Day With The Flu Trux Klan In Toronto

So I went out & covered the Toronto Trailerban protest today & took photos of the registration numbers of most of the trucks in case they should be needed in that future class action lawsuit which I had planned be to pass on although to be honest it was pretty tame. Unlike in Ottawa where there have been documented threats, assaults, vandalism, smashed windows, and at least really scary arson attempt. I mean except for the guy who was arrested for throwing literal shit. At any rate I'll post them here and you can decide if you want to business with them.



First unlike Ottawa the cops here did an effective job of funneling them away from any place like Hospital Row, Queen's Park & City Hall leaving them confined to a few blocks on Bloor from Bay to Spadina and on Queen from Spadina to University and that's really it.



Also I don't know about Ottawa or Calgary but downtown Toronto is basically a confusing warren of narrow one way streets. Because Fuck You and your stupid truck that's why.



Seriously; People have broken down in tears trying to navigate or find parking downtown so if the Trailerban thought they were going to roar up & down the streets blaring their horns they were in for a rude awakening.



Apparently some of them also thought they could get around the cops by using the Gardiner Expressway. Tee-Hee. I hope you brought a lunch Jethro.



This is why we ride the subway you goobers. Also we have streetcars. And as the Ford Bros found out when they tried to scrap them we love our streetcars. We especially enjoy watching you get stuck behind one. Also Fuck You again.



All this means that I saw dozens of trucks, not hundreds and certainly not thousands. There were also a lot of SUV's & pickups and hundreds of people on foot who had to park their cars a dozen blocks away where I saw them. Enjoy the hike to Bloor.



Seriously we have bigger traffic jams during the FIFA World Cup Finals and we're not even in that. There was also a moderately large rally behind Queen's Park, but I've seen bigger turnout for Pride Week. Also tougher looking cowboys.



Later I headed down to Queen st where there were maybe a dozen more trucks & few dozen vans etc. One guy blocked a truck for several minutes giving it the finger while it blared a super loud foghorn. Seriously it was deafening and I've seen Motorhead.



Then I walked over to City Hall where I was expecting another protest and...nothing. Just the usual crowd happily using the ice rink. Not a sign in sight. Zero. Nada.



Next I strolled over to Dundas Square. There's literally always somebody protesting something at Dundas Square right? All I found was a single bored security guard. Pathetic. I don't think these people are from around here.



These People Aren't from around here pt2; Pronouncing the second "T" in Toronto. I knew it! Fucking tourists.



These People Aren't from around here pt3; Overheard at the Royal Ontario Museum; "I think this is where they have the dinosaurs". To be fair he wasn't wrong.



Also outside the ROM; A dude yelling through a bullhorn that he has God & that's why he don't need no stinking vaccines. I should ask him about the dinosaurs. I bet he has some thoughts.



Bloor st; A line of trucks blaring horns along with an SUV with a dinky Beep-Beep horn. Hold-Renfrew's doorman yells out; "Get a louder horn loser!" Welcome to Toronto BTW.



Bay & Bloor; Trucks blocking the intersection so a twenty-something girl crosses the street by scampering UNDER the trailer. I actually yelled & reached out to grab her because even though she's a fucking moron and probably a terrible person that was damn dangerous.



I mean unless you think God gives you natural immunity from being crushed to death under the wheels of an idling semi. JFC I can't handle these fucking people.



I saw at least two rental trucks. So now we're just gonna rent a truck to join a "trucker" protest? Posers.



Kensington Market; Is easily the most left wing neighbourhood in Toronto, full of old school anarchist punks, vegan hippies, reggae shops and Chinese markets. Virtually impossible to drive through at the best of times so the residents put up barricades like it's "Les Miserables" or something. I mean assuming the ones in "Les Mis" were festooned with signs saying “Honk If You Have A Tiny Dick”, I haven't actually seen it. So some Trailerbanners got out and held a march through the street to be greeted by jeers. Honestly I’m surprised they got off so easy, even Nazi skinheads stay clear of the place. I was expecting eggs at least.

Random dude wearing a brand spanking new Infowars jacket. Dress for excess amIright?



Oh and don't have a truck? Just make your own out of a cardboard box and wear it down the street. That's cute.



Got to admit they put some work into that giant sheep on a flatbed. What are they going to do with it once they're done though? I'm picturing some sort of Wicker Man deal.



Clearly they have given some thought to messaging, I saw no Nazi or Confederate flags this time, although there were US flags, Gadsen flags & Trump flags because "Patriots".



What we do have is lots of vaccines = Communism type signs comparing Trudeau to Mao and Ceausescu and calling him a murderer. And some Holocaust signs & Yellow Stars. Nice to see the classics.



We also have a guy with a sign blaming vaccines on a Jewish Cabal. Because we certainly can't have a "Freedom Rally" without some old school conspiracy hate. Note this is not my pic but I did see him on Bloor.



He called himself Greg from New Brunswick and he's since been indentified;



I'd call this confirmation;



Also a truck with an Albanian flag. Yes I'm sure you have some deep thoughts about how Trudeau is just like Enver Hoxha. Sigh. These people are so exhausting.



What is this hippie shit?



Folks; I think he's on to me. Can he even cover up like that? What am I saying, what even are rules anyway?



Another one covering up. Does your boss know you're doing this instead of being at work?



BTW; Truckers bragging about a supportive tweet from Elon Musk, a billionaire trying to market a technology that assuming it worked would put them out of work, is peak 21st century populism.



Amidst all the "Fuck Trudeau" flags it's worth mentioning that in the last three elections the Tories won a grand total of zero seats in the entire city and it wasn't even close. These jerks do not speak for us. Here's the Toronto I know; Kensington Market. No trucks here. And Nazi Punks don't dare show up here.



And here's a Provaxx rally put on by healthcare workers at U of T which somehow the media missed.



In the interest of fairness I saw no violence and really this was just a mildly annoying Saturday afternoon that most of Toronto could easily ignore like we usually ignore you. Cry harder next time.




Note; At least one of the Trailerban didn't enjoy their trip to Toronto posting;"We were given the finger and told to fuck off more than we have in our entire lives". They should totally put that in the tourism ads.

Of Maus & Men

The attention given to the banning of "Maus" (which I have and it's brilliant) in Tennesse and hundreds of other books mostly by black & gay writers in the USA has led to some premature and superficial reactions from well meaning liberals. Saying that "Sales for Maus have skyrocketed" may be fun but misses the point that the book is still banned from schools & libraries and if the only way to get it is to buy it then only kids with the money to do so and the motivation to find it will be able to read it. People spending their own $50 to buy a few copies & donating them to the library are no doubt sincere and decent but it doesn't matter if the book becomes banned from said library anyway, which they will. I've been around long enough to remember the "Satanic Panic" against Rock & Rap music and Dungeons & Dragons in the 80's so let me tell you what comes next.


"TOO DIVISIVE"



"TOO DIVISIVE"


Once conservatives have banned their (ever growing) list of books from the schools they will target public libraries. They will take over Library Boards & impose their list of banned books, deep budget cuts, staff layoffs & reduced hours. They will claim they're "protecting children" and "cutting waste". This is already happening in the US but we shouldn't forget the Ford Bros attempt to decimate our libraries, they closed the big municipal affairs library downtown on the grounds that "only the elites use it", proposed more cuts and closings and Doug Ford actually complained that Toronto had more libraries than Tim Horton's which is of course total bullshit but that kind of "anti-elite" name calling is very effective. Only a massive public outcry forced them to back down. I testified at one of those all-night hearings and the turn out genuinely impressed and moved jaded journalists. There are more of us than there are of them and we shouldn't forget it just because they are loud and hateful.


"INSULTING TO DONALD TRUMP & TELLS GIRLS THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF SOUNDING WHITE"



"MIGHT CAUSE WHITE CHILDREN TO FEEL ASHAMED"


Having established that they are "protecting children" right wing city councilors will naturally claim that they need to do the same with private bookstores mandating that their list of books be removed from shelves where the precious innocent children might see them, starting with stores that are within several blocks of a school then expanding coverage. They will not stop at books and will expand into the comics, music and video games they have always hated. Since today there are far fewer book and music stores to target their job will be easier. Smaller towns may have only one or two such stores while big box stores who could fight back will quickly cave in to high profile pressure campaigns claiming they are selling "child porn".



"DEPICTS AMERICAN SOLDIERS AS EVIL TERRORISTS"



"TOO DIVISIVE"


Since the attempts to convict bands like Dead Kennedys, 2 Live Crew, Judas Priest, Dayglo Abortion and Ozzy all failed spectacularly they may not try that official route again (although I wouldn't put it past them) but they will instead use the latest Republican tactic; passing laws which allow private citizens to sue stores, libraries & schools and pick up a $10,000 or more bounty for every banned book they find. Again there are already several states passing such laws. Once passed you have "Concerned Parent Committees" going around to stores and libraries with their list of banned books and threatening to have them shut down if they don't comply and most will. The rest will be dragged into court where even if they win these laws specify say they will not recoup their costs. Independent stores have tiny profit margins as it is.


"PROMOTES TERRORISM";


The added panic over Critical Race Theory adds another level of paranoia and censorship. Previous censorship panics were ostensibly about juvenile crime & sex (and Satan) but the new anti-CRT laws specifically target anything that could cause white people to feel "discomfort" which has meant that pretty much any account, even clearly factual, about slavery or the Holocaust is fair game. Expect Christians to pile on targeting science books or anything they deem as "occult" as well because they never give up.


"TOO DIVISIVE"


Libertarians will say; "Big deal; kids can just go on the internet for free" but again this misses the point. The internet is a cesspool of conspiracy theories, disinformation, junk science, scammers, porn, Incels and Nazis and to expect kids to navigate their way through that swamp when frankly most adults clearly can't is a recipe for a more misinformed, radicalized, paranoid and hateful public more easily manipulated by demagogues and grifters which of course is what the right wants. There is still no substitute for a variety of good books provided by people who know the difference.


"PROMTES PREDJUDICE BASED ON RACE"


These attacks on free speech can not be won by a privileged few buying a few more books nor will they be won online. These are coordinated political attacks and can only be won through political action and that will take years of boring work. Some people will complain about "making this political" but those people are naïve. Everything is political now and you might as well admit it. In the meantime in Canada we need to keep an eye on our own far right, they don't have nearly as much power but that doesn't mean they won't try.


"TOO DIVISIVE"



"PROMOTES BLACK LIVES MATTER"


One final note about all those Free Speech Warriors who spent the last decade whining about mythical "Cancel Culture" bans of Dr Suess & Mr Potato Head or college censorship of white men or make believe "shadow bans" or the poor oppressed comedians who can't tell racist jokes anymore; I notice none of you have anything to say once real censorship happens to people you don't like. I see you and I am not surprised.


"SHOULD BE REPLACED BY THE BIBLE"





Seriously; The sign is literally true. Don't make me point to the sign.