Dying of laughter, send help

Career asshole Ezra Levant of Rebel Media infamy apparently requested a press pass to join the United Nation’s Conference of the Parties (COP 22) and was denied on the grounds that he didn’t count as a reporter. Now he’s written a lengthy diatribe appealing to the Prime Minister to get him in on the grounds of free speech, accusing the UN of censoring his odious enterprise because it “dissents” from the scientific consensus on climate change.

Rewind with me back to 2008 and you’ll see the irony apparent when Levant attempted to defend himself from a libel lawsuit by claiming he wasn’t ever a reporter.

And yet Mr. Levant, by his own admission, is not a journalist. “I’m a commentator, I’m a pundit,” he explained to the judge. “I don’t think in my entire life I’ve ever called myself a reporter.”

I don’t know, Ezra. To me it sounds like the United Nations is just taking you at your word. I can’t imagine why a conference gathering specifically for the purpose of assessing the finer points of climate change policy would possibly deny access to the employees under the editorial thumb of a chronically dishonest anti-science crank. After all, you can still lie as a secondary news source.

-Shiv

Free thought doesn’t mean every asshat is entitled to a platform

I haven’t written or even signal boosted the heightened violence occurring in Amerikkka right now, in part because my colleagues are doing a fantastic job of covering it themselves and in part because these tragedies are coming in so fast that paying attention to all of them is emotionally overwhelming.

I can’t necessarily verify that the racists hurling racist abuse in the comments of these articles are from the Slymepit, but a lot of them have a whiff of freeze peach about them which leads me to believe they’re of the same breed. They argue they should be permitted to hurl their racist abuse in our comments, that it’s not free thought if we curate the participants on our blag and cut out the noxious weeds.

What they don’t realize is that the PoCs on this network have been talking shop for a lot longer than your pastey racist ass has. The writers that live race relations, not just discuss them, could make a bingo card for your predictable bullshit. You’re peddling your ideas like you’re the Mr. Clean of original thought when in reality we can dig into the post history of PoCs and find lengthy refutations of your predictable bullshit. Your ideas are old hat. We pay them no more credence than we do creationist arguments, because they’re the same shit, over and over, and we’re tired of trying to explain to you why you’re wrong through a never ending game of racist whackamole.

Listen, I don’t debate quantum mechanics with physicists because I know very little about physics. Take my advice: You white? Your job in race relations is to shut the fuck up and listen.

-Shiv

Political roundup: Albertan values edition

In case y’all ever wonder why I hate this Province, I present a reminder: a picture of a target made in the likeness of the Albertan Premier, Rachel Notley, was posted by the organizer of an oilmen’s golf tournament yesterday afternoon:

An organizer of a golf tournament says he’s not sorry for putting up a target displaying a photo of Premier Rachel Notley’s face on a golf course.

Ernest Bothi, president of the Brooks Big Country Oilmen’s Association, said the sign was displayed at a tournament held Friday at the Brooks Golf Club.

He said the photo of Notley was placed intentionally and was meant to be a target. Although he said no one actually hit the display, Bothi defended his right to have it there.

Oh Dog, not another one. Get yer bingo cards!

It’s called freedom of speech.

*stamps freeze peach*

“I’m the president of the organization. I take full responsibility for it. And I did it because I see a lot of frustrated people out there,” Bothi said.

*stamps psychological projection*

“The picture was just a headshot. It wasn’t anything of a lewd nature. We just went out, everybody played 18 holes. That was it.”

*stamps Mansplaining*

Bothi said that the group members of the Brooks Big Country Oilmen’s Association playing in the tournament are “fed up” with people being out of work and the increased cost of living.

*stamps misattribution error*

“This has nothing to do with a physical attack. We didn’t burn her in effigy or anything like that. We just wanted to release some steam,” Bothi said. “It’s just, enough’s enough.”

*stamps denialism*

Important observation: Bothi has exactly zero pending criminal charges laid against him. He is free to be a fucking asshat, just as we are free to call him one. Seriously, stop misusing the term freedom of fuck mothering speech.

Implying violent acts through the use of an identifiable target is pretty much always tasteless. Doubly tasteless right now, considering a British MP was recently assassinated for her policy. Triply tasteless, because violence against women is still epidemic in the West. I’m not sure what part of “haha, I blow off steam by fantasizing about violence against you” is funny.

Derek Fildebrandt, the Dickweed Wildrose MLA who apologized for getting caught endorsing a transphobic & homophobic comment without reading it, responds:

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