LOCAL NEWS:

WESTBORO LUNATICS CLAIM "PHANTOM DEMONSTRATION":

As previously reported here at Molly's Blog young Tim McLean was laid peacefully to rest last Saturday as hundreds of citizens and dozens of police officers ringed the site to prevent any disruption on the part of the insane anti-gay cult, the Westboro Baptist Church. Members of the cult did indeed manage to sneak into Canada, but they were no shows here in Winnipeg, as well as in Toronto and Red Deer Alberta where they had also threatened to disrupt other events.

The spokeswoman for the Church, Shirley Phelps-Roper, claimed that the group held a "brief rally" some blocks away from the site of the funeral. As she called it, "a good, safe distance away". Just to make it safer they didn't display any of their signs. Such a display would probably have resulted in a massive traffic jam as people abandoned their cars to each get a few kicks in on the crew. As it was the "demonstration", which was supposedly held on the corner of Sturgeon Road and Portage Ave. , would have been indistinguishable from any other group of mentally challenged layabouts loitering on a corner with no useful purpose in mind. Considering the degree of inbreeding amongst the cult one hopes that they spent their time productively in twisting their tiny brains around such perennial riddle favourites as "how can I be my sister's grandmother ?".

But there again, considering the fact that the cult thinks that only things connected with sex can be sins, it is entirely possible that the whole bizarre corner loitering scenario is a figment of their imaginations. Lying, in the view of such people is not a sin.

LOCAL NEWS:

WINNIPEG'S 'ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION' (EOC)- GATE TO REDUCING PUBLIC SERVICES:

Conceived by Mayor Sam Katz, and produced by a panel consisting of business representatives, Winnipeg's Economic Opportunity Commission, has proposed to eliminate $55 million from city revenues by abolishing the business tax. This commission, which produced its report without any public consultation, claimed that the lost tax revenue could be recouped by increasing participation of the City in public-private partnerships (PPPs), amongst other reductions of civic services. The Manitoba Federation of Labour has an article on this subject that is a gateway to other valuable sources critical of this plan. The MFL has also arranged a series of public meetings on the subject so that the public can actually have some input into what is planned for our city. The callout for the meetings follows below...

Winnipeg: Public not Private

Can we afford to lose $56 million?

The Economic Opportunity Commission wants to cut $56m in business taxes. The EOC report proposes to close, reduce, contract out or privatize city services (recreation centres, libraries, health inspections, snow removal, etc.) and you will have to pay more for what you get.

What Can You Do? Learn about what is planned. Find out how you will be affected. Attend one of the Public Meetings being organized by the Winnipeg Labour Council and the Canadian Labour Congress.

*Saturday Feb. 23, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Melrose Park C.C., 480 Kimberly Ave.

*Monday Feb. 25, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Silver Heights C.C., 2080 Ness Ave.

*Wednesday Feb. 27, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Sinclair Park C.C., 490 Sinclair St.

*Wednesday Feb. 27, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, River Osborne C.C., 101 Pembina Hwy.

*Thursday Feb. 28, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Northwood C.C., 1415 Burrows Ave.

*Thursday Feb. 28, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Orioles C.C., 448 Burnell St.

* Saturday March 1, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Oxford Heights C.C., 359 Dowling Ave E

*Monday March 3, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Winakwa C.C., 980 Winakwa Road

Further information is available at 942-0522 or at www.winnipeglabour.ca

LOCAL MATTERS:

WINNIPEG INDYMEDIA ONCE MORE:

Molly has blogged on the state of the Winnipeg Indymedia site before. To make a long story short the "open publishing" policy of many indymedias across the world has made them an easy prey to the neo-Nazis who have little else to do than sit in their parents' basements and jerk off to pictures of the Nuremberg rallies. "Zionist-this" and "Zionist-that" come to dominate the boards and drive away those who might want such sites to serve a useful, rather than psycho therapeutic, function. Many have been shut down. The site here in Winnipeg was for awhile, but then it was reopened with NO reform whatsoever. There are literally no local stories on the site, and posts from the commies and the insane come as a blessed relief from the daily drivel of the evils of the Zionists and their conspiracies and those who want to argue with these nuts. Like the Bourbons Winnipeg Indymedia has forgotten nothing and learned nothing. Their latest incarnation is just as disgusting as it has been for years.

Speaking of "forgetting nothing and learning nothing", Molly was astonished to see that a recent post of hers about 'This Site' was deleted, presumably by the editors. The "editor" won't forget that I have criticized the site before.But they still won't learn from the fact that nobody feels iot is worthwhile to post local news to this playpen anymore.She found that it was indeed deleted by doing a Google search which showed that it had be killed while some of the comments on it remained. It was unfindable by searching the Winnipeg Indymedia site itself. She has reposted another comment tonight titled "I Cannot Believe It', and we'll see how long THIS post lasts there. THIS, of course, on a site that allows a post from a "pro-Zionist" to show up a total of sixty-four times, one after the other. Not that the Zionist defenders are the only offenders. The neo-Nazis have employed the same tactic on said site before.

Yeah, I challenged the "editors" (or is it one person only) to show a little courage and get rid of this nonsense. I guess that this was "offensive". Well, my later post is much more offensive, and I hope that the posting on this blog will be even more so. If the so-called 'editor" of Winnipeg Indymedia is so mindless as to let his efforts be a platform for Nazism then such a site doesn't deserve to exist. If he is also mindless enough to cheer on attempts by misguided leftists to physically attempt to shut down not just Nazis but ordinary rightwing nutbars to speak in public- using nothing but their own efforts and money- then all that I can say is that he should be a poster boy for the fact that many leftists have the minds of a chicken (in the neurological rather than courage sense). If the so-called "editor" of Winnipeg Indymedia cannot see what is wrong in presenting a platform solely devoted to Nazis and those who want to argue with them then I suggest he take a class in tying shoelaces and putting his gotch on right side out.

Yeah, I'm pissed. One of my favourite memories is one of my mother backing an old fart member of the SS across a farmyard, feeding him bullshit about how she was Jewish,and chilling his foul rotten soul about how she was going to report him to immigration. For the record my mother's family (she was born in Russia) had no Jewish connections, but we hate Nazis as much as any Jew can(yeah,really!!). I really cannot stand those who mindlessly give a platform for the juvenile imitators of that particular band of murderers.

So, check out the Winnipeg Indymedia site referenced above and see what you think.