I've always been curious about who exactly funds Ezra Levant's grotesque hate mongering site The Rebel.
Because as you know the grubby Rebel Commander spends at least half his time begging for money.
And since I've always had trouble believing that his depraved but tiny core readership could support Levant, his gang of bigots, and their increasingly extravagant lifestyle.
Or that the site's cheap ads or cheap swag could possibly pay the bills.
Like the blogger Balbulican at Dr Dawg's blog, I too wondered who is paying for this garbage?
Hmm. No real advertisers, no prospect of real advertisers, and a small pool of aging donors. So where does the money come from?
Like him I also wondered whether Levant was getting a helping hand from his friends at Big Oil.
So I asked, clearly, but politely, who was paying for Ezra’s anti-NDP, anti-Liberal, pro-oil tour (and thus its subsequent exhaustive and exhausting coverage on the Rebel). It seemed a fair and relevant question: I have no problem with oil industry advertising and advocacy, but I think readers/viewers should be told if they’re watching a paid infomercial hosted by a lobbyist pretending to be a journalist.
I received no answer, and shortly afterward, I was banned from asking questions or posting at the Rebel site.
But Balbulican couldn't prove anything one way or the other. And neither could I.
And then I saw this story or podcast by Levant's hapless sidekick Brian "The Fish" Lilley...
And when I looked up, I saw the ad that went with it...
And it's what I would call a smoking gun.
Now I'm not going to link to Lilley's story or podcast. Because too much of the The Fish's fumes can make you feel nauseous...
Or make you feel like you're drowning in ignorance.
And of course it is all bullshit.
Preliminary February and early March temperatures are in, and it’s now abundantly clear: warming is going into overdrive. As of 3 March, it appears that average temperatures across the northern hemisphere breached 2°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time in recorded history, and probably the first time since human civilisation began thousands of years ago.
But what I will say is that if Big Oil is funding that collection of climate change deniers and bigots, its actions need to be exposed.
And if TransCanada thinks that supporting The Rebel will help it build any pipelines anywhere, they've got another thought coming.
For the opposite will be the case, and all they are going to be is publicly embarrassed.
No decent person or company should be funding that bigot site.
Any company that does should be boycotted.
The Rebel should be driven out of business.
And of course, and as always.
For his filthy hate mongering, the Rebel Commander should be jailed...
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odious tapeworm levant was schooled and supported by American extreme right wing pimps, the Koch suckers.
ReplyDeletehi anon...yes, that appalling bigot is a graduate of the Koch Summer Fellow Program. And his teachers must be proud of him for exceeding all expectations, and plumbing the depths of depravity.
DeleteKatanga: It looks a lot like Canada doesn't it.
ReplyDeleteHarper and his western seperatistas would love to emulate it too.
hi anon...yes, I studied the life and death of Patrice Lumumba when I was in school. And no doubt Harper and his firewall gang would love to turn Alberta and Saskatchewan into our Katanga. And the prairie dog Brad Wall is sounding a lot like our Tshombe. They are screwing with the national unity of this country, and there will be a day of reckoning...
DeleteThat is why it is so easy to be a right wing idiot, it pays well.
ReplyDeletehi Steve...yes, when I read the adoring comments of some of Levant's supporters I can only think that there is a sucker born every day. They think he's some kind of hero, when all he's doing is fleecing them as only a Con artist could....
DeleteI think it is clear that Big Oil (the Petrocracy) is using him for messaging that they don't want to provide themselves. He can also be sacrificed any time.
ReplyDeleteNot that petrocrats are particularly anti-Muslim; they are all in bed with Saudi Arabia, and many with Daesh. But they want to portray "Western" oil as democratic, and even feminist.
Happy 8th of March, by the way: https://www.google.ca/search?q=one+day+I+will+google
hi lagatta....I really can't understand why Big Oil or any other business organization would want to associate themselves with a bigot like Levant. He is after all preaching to the converted, and will do them no good with all the others they are trying to brainwash into swallowing their oily message. But I guess like all the oil pimps they must be desperate. And thank you, happy International Women's Day to you....
DeleteLike the Saudi foreign minister said, they can bleed the losses of low oil, so tar sands and shales, get out! Any 60 cents (Canadaian dollar) we put into the cess pool called the west is a ridiculous waste of tax money. As we know, tax payers rule, according to the cons. But in reality, it's not really tax payers of today that will pay, it is future generations with not only their taxes but with their health.
ReplyDeleteTS
hi TS...yes, the saudis are playing a dirty game. Driving the price down to try to drive their competitors out of business, while also trying to discourage the development of cleaner greener energy. Wherever there is oil it brings war and corruption. We need to forget our oily obsession and concentrate on the energy sources of the future, for even China is leaving us in the dust....
DeleteWell given how effective Ezra's sterling performance with Ethical Oil I am a bit surprised he is still getting funding but there is good reason to think that oil/coal/gas executives around the world are in panic mode.
ReplyDeleteSomeone (i.e.representatives of the Chinese Gov't) seem to have told them that much of their industry is becoming redundant if everyone does what China is trying to do http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/base-load-power-a-myth-used-to-defend-the-fossil-fuel-industry-96007.
. Despite prodding by leading oil industry commentator Daniel Yergin, the chairman of State Grid Liu Zhenya reportedly said the “fundamental solution was to accelerate clean energy, with the aim of replacing coal and oil.”
However, at least in the near run, this is a straight-forward political decision and clearly the Canadian oil sands industry does not want to hear about it or have the October(?) chief ministers' meeting endorse such a move.
On the American scene, the Koch Brothers and their cabal are reported in the New York Times to be planning to spend $889US in the upcoming US election.
Presumably TranCanada and other Canadian oil/coal/gas anywhere near as detached from reality as the GOP in the USA, they may have to settle for people like Ezra.
hi jrkrideau...I too find it hard to believe that Big oil still thinks Ezra is worth supporting after the "Ethical Oil" fiasco. But I think you're right. They are desperate and must believe that they can brainwash us if they spend enough money. And thanks for the link to that story. For as I was telling TS, China is working to green their economy faster than we are doing as are so many other countries. And if we don't get our act together, we are going to have to play catch up later....
DeleteYah, the Rebel's money begging sure reminds me of The Tyee and The Rabble.
ReplyDeletehi anon...you can't compare the Tyee and Rabble to The Rebel. For while they both do ask for donations, they are not as strident as the beggar Levant. And they are both respectable publications, unlike the bigot rag the Rebel...
DeleteAfter reading your blog I tried to answer the question of why would anyone invest 15 plus billion dollars on an economically and environmentally risky pipeline venture to export 1 million barrels a day of high production cost, low quality bitumen into an over supplied world market.Perhaps oil will soon return to $100 per barrel and the project will be rolling in the money leaving only the nasty and eventually very expensive legacy issues. Heck when the existing section of line is converted perhaps Ontario and Quebec won't mind the supply loss of abundant affordable clean natural gas the heats their homes and powers industries.They can always get more once the supply is squeezed and the price goes high enough!
ReplyDeleteWho would take these business and environmental risks? The answer is.... It's US... " we have met the enemy and he is us". TransCanada is a publicly traded company with most of the Canadian banks, mutual funds and TSX exchange traded funds as shareholders. Chances are anyone with a retirement fund or some savings in the bank have a small piece of TransCanada.The irony is should any of the inherent risks materialize we are guaranteed to be left holding the bag either as investors, savers or as tax payers. Who benefits... the financial executives with huge bonuses, stock options and the fast money that will be long gone before the trouble starts.Full steam ahead,Ponzi would be proud.
RT
hi RT...you ask so many good questions, that I simply can't answer. I wonder if anyone can. The planet is burning, sooner rather than later we will need to adapt or face environmental catastrophe. But still the oil pimps are out there trying to make us believe that pipelines are the road to salvation, when of course they are exactly the opposite. But when oil wars leave entire societies in ruins why should we be surprised? It is absolute madness...
DeleteSo let me get this straight.Ezra or someone that disagrees with your liberal progressive views should be put in jail? From what I understand they do that sort of thing in North Korea and in China. Saying that someone should be in jail for expressing opinions that you disagree is activating for a 1984 Orwellian style society.Freedom of speech is something people died for and if it's taken away then our rights as human beings are taken away as well. Just to let you know that if government controls freedom of speech then you would be censored too or put in jail. Would you actually give up you're civil liberties and you're own personal freedom for people like Ezra to be put in jail just because they have a different ideology than you? Would you give that up Montreal Simon? And should I be put in jail for defending Ezra Levant? To be honest I don't agree with a lot of his issues and can be a little annoying sometimes but I don't wish for him to be sent to jail. I even disagree with a lot of you're views in your blog even though just you have different opinion than mine. Do i say that Montreal Simon should be sent to prison for expressing your progressive views of course not. I believe in freedom of speech for all no matter how offensive it is and no matter what your political views are.
ReplyDeletehi anon...I believe in freedom of speech, but not the freedom to hate monger or whip up violent feelings which is all Levant does. There is a difference between robust political exchanges and hate mongering, and The Rebel crosses the line. I mean look at it. That's not passionate political discourse, that's political pornography. If he lived in Britain he would have been charged long ago, and would probably be serving time in jail. Whipping up hatred in a society as diverse as ours, is a recipe for catastrophe...
DeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteBelieve it or not there are hate speech laws in Canada. Ezra's rants about the Roma probably should have brought him a criminal charge.
Montreal Simon hasn't quite answered my question on whether he would give up his freedom for government censorship. Why would anyone allow the state to throw people in jail for jokes or speaking out their mind? Montreal Simon should realize that no one is safe from the threat of authoritarian censorship and the eroding of our freedoms. Why would you advocate such a thing? wouldn't that scare any of you? And BTW I did look at the UK hate speech law and it's not right! http://reason.com/blog/2015/01/02/katie-hopkins-illegal-tweeting.
ReplyDelete