Comments regarding the military’s conduct in the War of Terror and white poppies found an unfriendly audience among ICUC’s legion of censors around the world.
Quoting previous comment: ” ‘ You might not support the mission, but you have to support the troops.’ Not if they’re committing war crimes we don’t. That’s why Chretien shut down the Canadian Airborne Regiment.” (3 likes) November 11, 2015.
A lament for the Canadian Airborne
By Robert Smol special to , CBC NewsPosted: Mar 03, 2010
…It was in this environment, in early March 1993 that a group of airborne troops set a trap for local teens who were stealing from the base, shooting and killing one in the process. Then, a week or so later, another Somali teen, Shidane Arone, was found hiding in a base latrine.
Pte. Kyle Brown during his court martial hearing in Petawawa in March 1994. He was convicted and sentenced to five years for his role in the death of Somali teenager Shidane Arone. The other soldier involved, Clayton Matchlee, was deemed unfit to stand trial following a failed suicide attempt. (Canadian Press)
His torture and beating death at the hands of two Airborne soldiers, who took trophy photos along the way, became the ultimate symbol of what Canada’s involvement there was all about, at least on the home front…
“Are u.s. and other ‘allied’ troops still guarding poppy fields in Afghanistan and shipping the finished product home? I’m wearing a white poppy. I’m done with this crap.” (2 likes). November 11, 2015.
Bryan Denton for The New York TimesIn April, Afghan and American soldiers patrolled through poppy fields in the village of Barakzai, in the Sangesar area of the Zhare district. (c) New York Times 2012White poppy lapels. (c) Peace Pledge Union
White poppies are hard to come by in Canada. You can order yours in time for next Remembrance Day from the Peace Pledge Union in London. http://www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/. They cost approximately C$20 (including shipping to Canada) for a package of ten.
From the Peace Pledge Union:
The White Poppy symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts and embodies values that reject killing fellow human beings for whatever reason. Our work, primarily educational, draws attention to many of our social values and habits which make continuing violence a likely outcome.
From economic reliance on arms sales (Britain is the world’s second largest arms exporter) to maintaining manifestly useless nuclear weapons Britain contributes significantly to international instability. The outcome of the recent military adventures highlights their ineffectiveness and grim consequences.
Now nearly 100 years after the end of the ‘war to end all wars’ we still have a long way to go to put an end to a social institution, which in even in the last decade contributed to the killing of millions.
My wife is into Facebook. I am not. However, she was saying a “Facebook friend” in Keswick, Ontario (some fifty miles north of Toronto) was bemoaning the number of people walking around town with white poppies instead of the traditional red ones, as sold, franchised, copyrighted, trademarked and enforced by the Royal Canadian Legion, a nationwide chain of drinking halls in Canada. If somebody up there in Keswick, Newmarket or the environs of York Region is taking the time (and expense) to distribute the Peace Pledge Union’s white poppies, I would personally like to thank you. Whoever you are.
Sorry, Royal Canadian Legion. But the red poppy has become synonymous with war and glorification. It has gone beyond remembering the war dead and the brave sacrifice (as I was taught as a boy) to a call to continue throwing our young men (and even women now) into the meat grinder of the u.s. War of Terror. And any suggestion that we might stop this fraudulent war is met with howls of protest and indignation of all the young people who will have died in vain.
Cenotaph at Arlington National Cemetery’s Canadian War section, Arlington, Virginia, March 27, 2014 (LettersToTheBeast)Canadian war section at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, March 27, 2014 (LettersToTheBeast)
I couldn’t help but notice that, beyond last week’s blurb on CBC.ca/news the fact that Arthur Topham’s trial was getting under way in Quesnel, B.C., there has been complete silence from the b.s. media (CBC included).
Arthur Topham outside the court house in Quesnel, B.C. (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
I don’t suppose it’s possible there are some very uncomfortable subjects being discussed in that court room that you would rather not reach the outside world, lest the masses get ideas in their little heads?
Is it possible that Topham is on trial for engaging in legitimate criticism of a foreign government? Accurately quoting religious mythology? Is it possible the government, prodded along by known provacateur and SLAPP-suiter Richard Warman (in addition to Harry Abrams) is carrying out a show trial?
Is it possible that Mr. Topham is not coming off as a nutjob like Ernst Zundel did (yes, I’m old enough to remember that circus). Is it possible that Mr. Topham is coming to court in a suit and tie, and is leaving his hard-hat at home?
Ernst Zundel in 1983, wearing his trade-mark construction hard hat.
I sure would have liked to have known what Gilad Atzmon had to say? Or is it the fact Atzmon was testifying for THE DEFENSE the problem?
Gilad Atzmon (from RadicalPress).
So, what is it? If you are going to report a trial is under way, I want to know what is going on in that trial. That’s what I pay you for.
Feel free to respond to me by e-mail. Or at my own website, LettersToTheBeast, where you can find a copy of this letter.
CBC’s censors at Viafoura and ICUC running interference for Hillary Clinton
We are way, way past the tinfoil hat realm here (1 like)What a hideous looking old hag that woman is.“We came, we saw, he died! Ha! Ha! Ha!” Re-posted after the previous comment was deleted. This comment was NOT deleted.It’s a shame the “Whitewater hearings” spent so much time concentrating on a real estate scame and a stained blue dress while completely overlooking a little town called Mena, Arkansas. And its municipal airport. (1 like)“We came, we saw, he died! Ha! Ha! Ha!” (2 likes)What a hideous looking old hag that woman is.
I was just wondering, among other blatant examples of your ICUC/Viafoura comments section censorship and memory holing, where quoting the former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton violates CBC’s Code of Conduct? Specifically, quoting her from 2011 when she said, “We came, we saw, he died! Ha ha ha!” I mean, it’s not as if I point out that Khadaffi was sodomized before his death and cut open with a knife during and after his death. While he was on his way to surrender to the U.S-backed conquerors.
I guess that falls under the obscure “Violates the moderator’s political sensitivities” section.
Also, in articles dealing with gun violence, why do comments referring to the type of medication the shooter (any shooter, any incident) may have been on get “disabled?” Is it a case of CBC protecting its Big Pharma sponsors, or ICUC acting in its capacity of “on-line reputation management” for its Big Pharma clients.
Referring to BBC’s reporting on the collapse of Building Seven on September 11, 2001 (specifically where Jane Staneley reported the building had collapsed into a pile of rubble while it was still standing visible on live television outside the window of her studio / hotel room? Oh, yeah. “Content Disabled.”
It really makes no difference, you know. I just take all of my comments you people have censored and put them up on my own website, http://www.LettersToTheBeast.com, to show the world how petty you and your legion of censors worldwide really are. You ought the read the comments I get! And, by the way, spam excepted, I don’t “disable” mine.
There are other websites collecting censored CBC comments as well. Censored for no other reason than they obviously offend the censor personally. On a political level.
You do realize I own part of CBC, don’t you? As does virtually everybody else who participates in the comments forum?
U.S. Abandoning Goal of Building New Syria Rebel Force
Relax. Read the comments. We’re winning. And these are just the comments that aren’t memory-holed by ICUC. The neocons are in a panic because Russia is exposing this hoax. (3 likes).
ISIS Figures Killed in Iraq Air Strike; Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Not Believed Among Them
I’m no shill. I do live in Canada. And I do have a brain. I also read the CBC’s reports about CSIS agent Mohammed al-Rashad smuggling teen British girls into Syria to “fight” for “ISIS. And I know about John McCain meeting with al-Baghdadi. And John McCain ISIS selfies. I know “we” have been air dropping supplies and materiel on ISIS positions in Syria. And even giving them a fleet of Toyota pick-up trucks. The Russians have accomplished in Syria what “we” couldn’t do in two years. (2 likes).John McCain prefers to listen to ISIS, too. So does CSIS (See Mohammed al-Rashad)
What Happens if Harper Wins the Most Seats But Not for a Majority?
(Context: The current story is not being pre-moderated because it is after hours)
It’s not early where the censors live (1 like)
Stephen Harper Seeks to Tap Into Ford Nation Base
Yeah, good luck with that, Steve. And BTW, I donated to Ford’s campaign. I did not (and do not) live in Toronto. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know Ford was a pathological liar and a drug addict and had a personal and family criminal history. I repudiated my previous support of Stephen Harper (circa 2006) and quickly repudiated my support for Ford when I learned I had been had AGAIN. Too bad there are so many simple-minded neocons that just can admit they have been had, too. (1 like).
Yeah, beheaded, that’s the ticket. They all showed up in Rita Katz movies. 2 likes. September 12, 2015.Unless you live in a certain area of Calgary, you are not voting for Harper. You are voting for the Conservative (In Name Only) candidate who has pledged to support Steve no matter what. I, on the other hand, have a rare privilege. I live in Niagara Falls. I get to vote against Rob Nicholson, the author of nine years of fascist legislation, the police state and overseas war crimes (including Syria) Even if, by some miracle, Steve pulls this election off, Nicholson is not going to be there. He’s done in this town. 2 likes. September 12, 2015.
I would like to thank the two people each that “liked” my comments before the censors at CBC, Viafoura and ICUC disappeared them.
Not to defend Harper, but the job of the prime minister is no job for a “kid.” September 9, 2015. I made a comment yesterday about how the Liberals “should have gone with the space man” (i.e. Marc Garneau) That’s the problem with “moderating” comments using people around the world not proficient in or familiar with Canadian history, politics, or idiosyncrasies. I stated in my comment Garneau would have a clear winner. I would be proud to have my country led by a man of such education and intelligence. The man is truly a hero. And I’m not even a Liberal. September 9, 2015. So let me get this straight. The Conservative In Name Only Party has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in a years-long campaign to convince Canadians Justin Trudeau “just isn’t ready.” And we, the good people of Canada, have said, “You know what, Steve? You’re absolutely right. That Mulcair guy really deserves a serious look.” Gotta love it. Note to Liberals. You should have gone with the space man. And you shouldn’t have supported C-51.” 1 like. September 6, 2015.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): Fair Use / Editorial Response
UPDATE ( MARCH 17, 2023): This article has become somewhat of an informal repository of other CBC viewers who have seen their comments replaced by the notorious pink CONTENT DISABLED. One of the most prolific contributors has been “F. Yeue.” I would like to thank “F” and everyone else who has visited and reposted their comments.
Every time there has been a mass-shooting and “everyone” is calling for guns to be banned, I have brought up the fact that in EVERY INSTANCE, the purported shooter’s mind has been fried by various psychiatric medications. Often the kind seen on U.S. network television news commercial breaks.
Here’s a peek at what The C.B.C.’s its commenting service Viafoura and its moderator (censor) ICUC found so objectionable:
Charleston slayings lead to changing attitude on Confederate flag Just curious, as a service to the clients of its reputation management services, are Viafoura and ICUC still blocking comments that ask about the kinds of prescription drugs Dyllan Roof was taking? Or does using the term “SSRIs” still earn me a “content disabled?” I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
While all other comments were being posted immediately, this comment had enough keywords in it to flag it for “review” by the moderator (censor). It was deleted within minutes.
A few minutes later…
Charleston slayings lead to changing attitude on Confederate flag @joseph Arlington Virginia And they also just happen to have their brains fried by prescription drugs. Should be ban the process of doctors handing out psychiatric medication like candy, earning Big Pharma, Big Media and the doctors themselves billions of dollars annually? No, no, no. Let’s all ban the guns. (oooh, here it comes: content disabled – I mentioned the SSRI thing)
I then taunted the moderator, posting the word “SSRIs” ten times in rapid succession. Each actually got a “like” before being removed within three minutes.
ICUC Moderation’s (http://www.icucmoderation.com/) job is to provide a “reputation management” service for its clients, which obviously include Big Pharma.
I honestly thought CBC was past this, as very few of its stories are “pre-moderated” now. In the past, ALL comments were reviewed before being posted. But I suppose when you mess with the advertisers, you’re going to get smacked down.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is a wholly-owned agency of the government of Canada, receiving over one billion dollars in subsidies from the taxpayers.
I’m putting my comments and your censorship on my website, LettersToTheBeast, where you can’t take them down.
I win.
You lose.
…Is still there. For now.
I have a message for the CBC, Viafoura and especially ICUC: I will be posting EVERY comment you delete on LettersToTheBeast from now on as a means of demonstrating your pettiness. ICUC, you may claim to be able to “manage” (ie censor) social media and the larger internet.
Here’s an-email I sent to a couple of alternative media activists with copies to the usual suspects in Canada’s Harper Regime.
Of course, the letter is somewhat dated now as the whole thing has proved to be a hoax. Or a lie, if you will. Much like everything else about Gillian (Jill or Gill) Rosenberg.
Rosenberg is referred to in b.s. media reports as an “Israeli-Canadian.”
“Israeli-Canadian.” Such a cumbersome title. Doesn’t quite roll off your tongue, does it? The word “jew” works much better. (Hint: just for fun, type “jew” into a google search and see the apology at the end of the first page:
We’re disturbed about these results as well. Please read our note here.
Israel. Rosenberg. israeli occupation forces. Even convicted criminal and ex-con (she ripped off old people; yet another heroic tribesman…woman).
Sure ticks all the Mossad boxes if you ask me. Interestingly, Toronto’s National Post newspaper said she “tried and failed” to join the Mossad. I’m not certain how they would come by this knowledge either way.
I like how it was reported that she was “abducted in Syria while” fighting for the Kurds against John McCain, sorry, ISIS. Uh, yeah. If there’s one thing those Muslims love, it’s a) jews and b) women.
syrianfreepress.wordpress.com
Since Gill is phonetically similar to Jill in Rosenberg’s case, can we call her “Jewhadi Gill?”
I’ll bet Rita Katz Studios are working on their next production as we speak. “Gill’s Head On A Stick.” “We’ve done American israelis. We’ve done British israelis. Now it’s time for a Canadian israeli. “ I can see it now. I really wish R.K.S. would perfect their special effects techniques. The whole blurring and shaky camera thing right at the good part is so Blair Witch. Entertaining 15 years ago. But come on! This is 2014! And when they try and cover up their inability to depict a real decapitation of a live person by simulating “technical problems” by inserting multi-colored squares…what’s up with that?
Montage from The Omen (1976)
If I could talk to Rita Katz, I would tell her that her “videos” would have a lot more realism if, when the antagonists in her movies held up the severed head, it had a look of terror on it. When the bad guy held up that priest’s head in that two-fer video, and the head had blank stare on it, I knew that was so fake. If somebody cut my head off with a steak knife, I would be screaming until I became unconscious. And my final expression would reflect that. My mouth would be wide open. My eyes would be bugged out. Rita really needs to depict her protagonists more accurately if she wants to be taken seriously by the film community. Remember flying plate glass scene in Omen I? Remember the expression on his face? Now that was a decapitation scene you could hang your hat on.
Yes. They are real human beings. Yes, their heads were cut off. But no, they weren’t alive when it happened. When you look at the videos and look at the brutality and savagery with which their heads were separated from the rest of their bodies, their final expressions don’t reflect the torture they were supposedly enduring. No matter how brave and how stoic you are, there is no way you are going to suffer this with a stiff upper lip. These poor fools look like they died in their sleep.
Even the New World Order’s own organs called out the Haines video as fake.
Ronny Cox’s “Cohagen” wasn’t decapitated in Total Recall. But this is probably a better approximation of one’s physical reaction to beheading-by-Ginsu than the stuff Rita Katz passes off as real.
If Rosenberg does indeed show up in a SITE movie trailer in the future, the first question I will have is: “I wonder how she died before her corpse ended up in this production.”
Well, that’s just great. A (jewish) princess.
Anyway, I found this picture purportedly of Rosenberg on the internet. But I can’t vouch for its authenticity.
Seriously, the propaganda is so goddamned insulting it makes me want to puke. What’s scary is the fact that millions of people (in Canada alone) believe this bullshit. If Rita Katz is planning on offering this woman – a woman who stole money from elderly people in telemarketing scams – to the New World Order as “ISIS’s” next “victim,” they have seriously fkng miscalculated.
I’ve been lied to so often and so convincingly in the past (my own memory goes back to Nayriah al-Sabah and the Kuwaiti incubators tale) that I can’t help but think of what used to be one of my favorite television programs: Malcolm in the Middle. In one episode, the youngest boy, Dewey, is telling his older brother Reese told him about what horrible, outrageous things would happen to him. The mom said, “Dewey, every word that comes out of Reese’s mouth is a giant, stinking lie.” That’s pretty much how I regard government. A stinking con artist and a dangerously violent war criminal. Just like Gillian Rosenberg. And when they open their mouths, all I see is a giant, disgusting stream of liquid excrement spewing out of a high-pressure hose.
This is your television. This is your television tuned to “the news.” Any questions?
At least we know Stephen Harper, John Baird and the rest of the regime were correct on one count: we need to be concerned about Canadians leaving Canada to participate in foreign terrorism. At least now we can put a name and a face to one of them.
Modern-day renaissance woman Gillian “Jewhadi Jill” Rosenberg. Soldier Telemarketing fraudster. Ex-con. Airline pilot. Mossad agent. Mercenary. israeli. Canadian. She could have saved herself a whole lot of trouble by skipping the whole ripping-off-the-old-people shtick and just gone to work for Goldman Sachs. She would have a Selling New York camera crew following her around multi-million dollar Manhattan condos by now.
Oh, this is precious. Just as I am typing this, I see this on the Globe and Mail newspaper website:
Canadian-Israeli fighter not captured by Islamic State, Kurds say
and even better…
The Canadian government is investigating conflicting informations about Ms. Rosenberg’s fate.
The SITE intel group, which monitors extremist online forums, said Sunday that somejihadiswere claiming Islamic State had “captured a Jewish female soldier fighting alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga in Kobani, and discussed ideas for executing her or using her for prisoner exchanges.
So goddamned sick and tired of being lied to, manipulated and stolen from.
Just for fun, here’s a flashback. I wrote this e-mail to opposition Liberal member of the Canadian knesset Wayne Easter when he expressed his concern about Canadians leaving to become “foreign fighters.”
Dear Mr. Easter: It has been reported that you have urged “Public Safety” (i.e. Safety of Government) minister Steven Blaney to study the issue of Islamic radicals returning to Canada from foreign battlefields. Apparently, you are concerned about young men going off to fight for ISIS, ISIL, IS or whatever the latest acronym is for this week’s two minutes of hate. Apparently, 80 such men have returned to Canada. It says here: CSIS and the RCMP have been reaching out to community leaders for years in an effort to discourage impressionable youths from heeding the call of radical Islamic figures. In a similar vein, I would like the regime to order the arrest of Canadian-born teenagers who have sworn an allegiance to israel and who attempt to leave Canada to fight The Apartheid State’s wars. Failing that, I would like the R.C.M.P. to apprehend them upon their return under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
I am confident that an objective investigation would find that the number of young men leaving Canada in order to shoot Arab children in Occupied Palestine, blow up their schools, engage in “double taps” (launch a small attack, wait for the crowds to gather, wait for the fire department, the ambulances and security personnel to show up and then blow them all away) and hospitals and rain white phosphorous down upon them is somewhat higher 80. As our israeli friends are fond of admonishing us when it comes to the events of 1940s German history:Never Forget. And Never Again.
Obviously, my concerns are not exactly what Mr. Easter had in mind. Liberal, Conservative. Right-wing. Left-wing. They are all israel-firsters. And it’s all bullshit.
I have left literally thousands of comments on hundreds of news stories. I am sick and tired of expecting a fifty – fifty chance of my comments seeing the light of day. I was always diligent about making sure my remarks conformed to your “community guidelines.” I didn’t make slanderous remarks. I didn’t cuss. I stayed on topic. I rarely even used capital letters. Unless of course I was talking about the CBC. In which case, I wrote it as C.B.C.
At first, it was obvious that my comments were being “disabled” for no other reason than they offended the political sensibilities of your censor. And yes, they are censors. Then I looked into Viafoura. And then I.C.U.C. I learned how I.C.U.C., in particular, was in the business of the “management” of their clients’ reputations on-line.
For comments involving mass-shootings, I would ask what medications the shooter might have been on. I would “talk” about S.S.R.I.s. I would refer to the possibility that the shooter may have been using products which are advertised on evening newscasts in the United States. Such comments, or mere references, were always deleted. I guess I.C.U.C. must count pharmaceutical companies amongst their clients.
Comments about Israel? Citizens of Israel? Members of the financial industry? Oh, you bet. Gone. Expressing my disdain for people who behave like Nazis? “Content disabled.”
Complaining about the manipulation of the stock market, or the over-representation of Goldman Sachs alumni in governments around the world were also magnets for “content disabled.”
Using the words “Peter Mansbridge?” Content disabled.
When somebody would respond to a comment making some reference to my wearing a tin-foil hat (isn’t that a violation of your community guidelines right there?) I would point out how many of the things Big Media talks about now were the domain of “conspiracy kooks” only a year ago. Such responses are routinely blocked.
So somebody can use your comments section to call me a tin-foil hat wearer. But I can’t say that maybe it’s time for the CBC to head down to Austin, Texas and interview Alex Jones. Again. Which you did, by the way.
Mentioning that Pamela Wallen and Mike Duffy used to be CBC employees? As did fellow high-flyers Michaelle Jean and Adrienne Clarkson? Zap! You people are such control freaks that I can’t even mention your former colleagues?
So when a story has 500 or 1,000 comments (or more), what is the actual number? And how many of those comments were “disabled” in order to deceive readers into believing something that isn’t true?
Upon further research, I read a Bloomberg News article about Viafoura and how my comments would end up on some laptop computer in any given far-off country. Whether it would be “approved” is at the whim of some college student in Mexico, the Philippines or Israel.
I would not be as upset if every other news outlet operated in the same way. But they don’t. I will concede that the comments section of the Toronto Sun is well suited to their readership. But the fact is the Globe and Mail and National Post have just as many challenges regarding language, libel, bullying, etc, as you do. But they don’t resort to pre-censoring comments. And they still manage to have lively debates and intelligent discourse. As an aside, I used to participate in the Sun’s comments section, but I became confused over whether I was a right-wing lunatic or a left-tard lieberal so I left them.
I’m not going to waste my time on you people any longer. I went into my PCTools setting and set up cbc.ca as a banned website in my house. While perusing Google news, this will prevent any of us from clicking on one of your stories by mistake. We do not have cable, so we’re not funding you. Of course, you still have a direct – albeit diminishing – pipeline into my paycheque. But hopefully that will change soon.
We don’t have cable so you’re not getting my money that way.
When the next round of cuts is announced, you’d better not count on people like me to rally to your support. At this point, the CBC can rot for all I care. If I can’t even leave a comment on your website that questions what medication a dead criminal is on or point out war atrocities in the middle east, you are no better than Fox News.
I have a brain so I don’t believe most of what is reported anyway. And I wasn’t afraid to express such skepticism in your comments section. Every once in a while, such sentiments actually made it past your censors.
I sure am happy Russia Today makes itself available on-line, free of charge. And they have an uncensored comments site.
The question I have to ask as a taxpayer is this: How much money is the C.B.C. spending on censoring its comments section. And how, exactly, do you think that is helping matters any? I mean, it’s not as if such information isn’t readily available elsewhere.
I’ve wasted as much time with you people as I care to. I’m done. I’m out. Good luck on the next round of lay-offs.
Letters To The Beast 