Friday, February 28, 2020

A Vile Image

It is good that this pathetic, disturbing attempt by Alberta energy company X-Site to incite hatred and sexual violence against Greta Thunerg is being widely denounced within Alberta. Surely, there is no place in our country or anywhere else for this kind of violent, misogynistic backlash against someone corporate Canada feels threatened by.



Rocky Mountain House, Alta., Councillor Michelle Narang summed up the revulsion all right-thinking people should feel this way:
“This company represents everything that the oil and gas industry needs to fight against,” Narang said to Global News while reading what she had posted online.

“I am absolutely sickened that X-Site Energy Services would think that the hard-working men and women in the energy industry would condone this representation of a child clearly being raped.”

“We do not rape women and girls to teach them a lesson. This is not our oilpatch,” Narang said to Global News. “We can’t have this representation of the oil patch and the oil companies and of our industry be accepted as normal. People need to start speaking out about it.

“It’s not OK.”
I guess X-Site just didn't get the memo, eh?

13 comments:

  1. I wasn't aware that someone printed stickers. I thought it was just some knuckle-dragger who photoshopped an image and posted it online. The RCMP should be able to track down who produced and paid for the printing and see them charged appropriately. This is not a "boys will be boys" moment.

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  2. CTV News Edmonton interviewed the woman who spotted the decal and posted it. She says she contacted the X-Site boss, Sparrow, and he let slip that the company knew all about it.

    "And his response was, 'She is not a minor. She's 17 now.' Then carried on by, 'That's not really what we meant.'"

    "That's not really want we meant"? Charge the bastard now.


    https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/disturbing-greta-decal-bearing-alta-oilfield-company-logo-drawing-criticism-1.4830344

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    1. Such vile, depraved conduct indeed calls for a strong, unequivocal response, Mound.

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    2. Charge him with what Mound? Besides hurting your feelings, of course.

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  3. Red Deer RCMP have decided no charges are warranted.

    https://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.com/2010/08/americas-cancerous-miltarism.html

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    1. Thanks for the link, Mound. We should all be outraged by the Red Deer decision.

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  4. .. Natural Consequences .. a term worth comprehending ..

    What are.. or will be the 'natural consequences' downstream of Mr Sparrow conceiving, executing and distributing his idea and then his response to instant outrage - 'she's not a child, she's 17' .. which certainly ended any potential legal argument or defense that the drawing represented Ms Greta Thunberg ?

    I saw his 'idea' via Twitter, early in the AM.. and rolled into my day, knowing a freight train was headed his way.. dropping from the sky at terminal velocity, as if vectoring on a laser dot spot 'painting' him in Alberta, so to speak.

    Will his Oil Service Supply company founder or be ostracized by his Alberta clients ? There's a 'consequence' !! Would that mean his employees are rapidly headed to unemployment or jobs elsewhere ? What of their families? What of his family, if any and their reputations or peer groups, fortunes. His associates or friends ?

    To be real.. the damage, fallout, consequences overall.. cannot match those of Jason Kenney, who happens to be the most senior Public Servant of Albertan taxpayers who simply makes or invents Law and is never short of glib deflection. Surely his War Room has a comment ? Mr Sparrow simply 'did' what some in Alberta appear to 'think' or 'feel'.. led by the Party in Power.. Kenney's UCP Glvernment by Consortium

    I must glance back at the recent Warren Kinsella blog posts.. re his response to Mr Sparrow's 'idea'. I want to be clear here. Mr Kinsella has never in any way veered from his total respect for women and on behalf of women, of any age or heritage. But I was taken aback by his most recent post re a 'great idea'.. That being to create a 'war room' in Toronto to defend Alberta or Albertans against what he appears to believe is a ground swell of Ontario - central Canada animosity and/or misunderstanding re Alberta.. and one assumes 'the oilpatch' (whatever that actually is) What stunned me was the group consensus to declare 'I'm in' from his commenters .. it was like seeing Simon of Montreal issuing a call to arms to his partisan commenters. Its worth a visit to his site.. I of course am banished.. 'the likes of you defaming me' was a strong hint.. (Hint from me - I take hints to heart, but still visit his site here n there without commenting.. and cannot, will not discount his many fine works or courage)

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    1. In an increasingly polarized Canada, there is plenty of blame to go around, Sal. I find myself weary of the hatred that seems to permeate the discussion of our differences. When all is said and done, I often think that Canada is not that much different from what we see in the U.S. in terms of electoral choices and mind-sets. We need look no further than our home province of Ontario to see how debased we have become.

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  5. Our politics is taking a decided turn to The Right.

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  6. What comes to mind when you think of Red Deer? I knew of it but it was James Keegstra who really brought the town/city to my attention. You will remember him as the anti-Semitic school teacher who tried to inculcate his poisoned views with his students. Then Greta.

    That led me to take a quick look at other goings on there. There was a recent controversy when a Red Deer hockey player called an opposing player a "dirty f**king indian."

    In 2018, the Red Deer Advocate ran a story about a walk by some 50 FN women in memory of the killing of Tina Fontaine at which several motorists reportedly drove into puddles of water in order to spray the women. The article suggests that racist incidents have become more commonplace since Trump became president. https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/is-racism-becoming-more-overt-lately-in-red-deer/

    Just yesterday came a report of videos making the rounds of social media showing teenagers issuing racist and sexist slurs at FN youths. https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/racist-videos-targeting-maskwacis-are-under-investigation/

    There are more but I won't pile on. It does make me wonder if Red Deer doesn't have some unaddressed problems.

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    1. Thanks for the links, Mound. Clearly, there are issues in Red Deer that need to be addressed, but it is unfortunate that such virulent hatred cannot be quarantined.

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  7. .. The term 'small radical minorities' is finding favour these days.. often seen or heard in commentary, speeches, and Main Media, relative to protest against pipelines or other petroleum related issues. Blockades and/or Hereditary Chiefs or foreign charities are of course are the poster children for use of the term. Its a fave of Jason Kenney and his War Room Chief, Ontario's very own Matt Wolf

    Hmm.. Could it be that among the uncertain numbers of Albertans outraged by Justin Trudeau et al or someone like Ms Greta Thunberg or those 'old geezer' First Nation Hereditary Chiefs.. there are also 'small minorities' of like minded Albertans just fine with X-Site and its proud owner Mr. Sparrow ? What of them, if so ??

    Again the question posed.. is that nobody exposed to Mr Sparrow's 'objective' saw fit to comment afterwards, defend their inaction or agreement with, or do a damn thing when confronted with in my view (and thought had basis in law) a hateful, threatening, suggestive, vicious perspective.. presented to them as physical undeniable fact.. and backed up during a phone call from a single outraged Albertan woman ??!!

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