GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers (opens in new tab)

I can certainly agree that humans tend to demonize the sins of the other while turning a blind eye to their own side's, but is that really what is happening here? To me it seems like this protest is of a different type.

My own image searches only turn up upside-down Canadian flags, "Fuck Trudeau" slogans, and stuff about "freedom". I'd have to think that if somebody really wanted to undermine them and had such a photo, they'd have posted it.

How bad is the reporting? I checked the NYT; https://archive.fo/Jny6X

It's not awful in any obvious way.

It does describe the protest as "mostly peaceful". As that phrase is a little notorious, I laughed a little. Since NYT staff spend a lot of time on Twitter, I imagine they know the significance. But hey, if it was peaceful and they said so, then they've done their job ok there.

The headline does have some negative connotations: The convoy "descends on Ottowa" (not, I dunno, "protesters gather to demand justice").

And there is one sentence that is incendiary enough that it really needs more context:

"Some of them carried Canadian flags upside down; at least one flag had swastikas drawn on it."

This invites the reader to draw one conclusion, but the meaning may be something else, as in my first paragraph.

So I'd have to see to be sure. But no photos are forthcoming.

There is no reason to ever allow Nazis to have any sort of freedom. We literally had a world war about this.

There's actually pretty large bounty to identify the person who was holding that nazi flag. The assertion is that this was not one of the protesters at all. Afterall the trucker convoy is quite diverse given so many truckers are Indian.

The CBC has been caught creating propaganda so many times: https://www.mississauga.com/news-story/7081133-opp-shuts-dow...

My favourite is this one: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dear-qallunaat-white-pe...

Don't worry, the CBC clears says "racism against white people does not exist" right on that page. CBC is on the record they don't hire white people anymore: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/cbc-no-caucasian

This is why I'm skeptical of the push towards unionization I see of late. I'm from a working-class neighbourhood. I first heard about this protest on social media from high school friends who went into blue-collar professions. This is as grassroots and working class a movement as I've ever seen. But because it's not endorsed by major unions that have to negotiate with major employers, it's seen as 'not legitimate'. The argument seems to be that a labour movement needs a managerial class at the top or it's not really workers uniting. Ironically, the managerial class is somewhat besieged at the moment because it's possible to automate a lot of the organisation we used to perform, such as what is needed for something like this. Whether there's Koch brothers funding behind it or not, the Freedom convoy enjoys incredible working class support, to claim otherwise because it lacks 'officialdom' is an irony I hope we can all laugh at someday.

@yesenadam, any concerns about my wording?

how would you describe it?

Not masks, but I've been banned from most of Reddit for posting CDC stats about covid vaccines, questioning their value for younger people, and recounting adverse reactions in people I know, as well as questioning lockdown measures. I don't use any other social media.

> worryingly misleading medical misinformation.

Most of that worrying misleading information is now acknowledged to be "science" now- like the fact that the original vaccine does not make a difference between likelihood of spreading Omicron. Or getting banned for ascribing the Lab Leak theory, which is pretty much accepted as the most likely cause.

> In what world is this a working class uprising? It has no meaningful ties to any labour movement, and it’s stated goal seems to be to force Trudeau to over rule provincial — not federal — mask mandates.

If it were only about mask mandates, this protest would have occurred a year ago. It's about bodily autonomy and right to work. Just because no other labor movements seem to care yet, doesn't mean this isn't a labor issue. I understand that it's a provincial issue largely, but the federal employee vaccine mandates are just that- federal.

And people have an issue with the federal guidelines, and federal pressure on provinces to fall in line. Much like the Biden admin has been "strongly encouraging" illegal federal mandates, but simply penning them and waiting for courts to challenge them. And incredibly incendiary statements blaming the pandemic on the unvaccinated instead of a host of other more relevant issues like our always-at-capacity healthcare system.

And this is just conjecture, but people do suspect federal involvement in non federal matters. Trudeau, in his recent address from his lake house, has a portion of his speech not directed at us- the general public, rather he addresses other politicians in a really creepy, dystopian tone.

> 'think long and hard about the consequences of your actions.'

Either way, people are sick of the lockdowns and government overreach, none of which has been particularly effective, while simultaneously being detrimental, especially to those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. Not everyone has the privilege of working from home.

I see it as a working class uprising. Trudeau called them a 'fringe minority' but such a minority also requires the military to remove them? They also need their funds frozen?

>and it’s stated goal seems to be to force Trudeau to over rule provincial — not federal — mask mandates. All because this disorganized, disruptive and aimless rabble believe wearing a piece of cloth on your face is the deeply offensive and tyrannical.

Mask manadates have been ongoing for 2 years. What's new is that on Jan 15th Canada's federal government made vaccination mandatory for truckers. Provinces are powerless here, CBSA is entirely federal. CBSA will be enforcing this rule mostly at the border.

So truckers who never even cross the border are still potentially subject to proving they are vaccinated. Though that's far less probable and on top of that a high percentage of truckers are fully vax.

It's a problem that is suspiciously one-sided, at least as far as 404ing/disabling the linked page, locking the account, and pausing donations while being resolved.

There are clear definitions, regulations, and penalties for operating as a dollar holding/ transferring financial institution.

Especially since the percentage paid as a fee makes it essentially a defaulted account, or at least a service not provided and funds not returned.

These types of donation accounts have a long history at brick banks of helping those in need (while taking a hefty percentage off the top). It's not a new idea.

I suspect it's more likely this isn't lack of regulation, so much as a loophole or stretched legal definition. Maybe someone here is familiar with their regulatory classification. You don't launch something like this without reasonably ensuring the feds aren't coming after you.

Edit: link: https://rumble.com/vtz6fg-freedom-convoy-2022-press-conferen... starts around 5:00

Expressing yourself is fine, disturbing public life because you don't get your will isn't. That's not how civilized societies resolve issues. This is now apparently a controversial take on multiple political sides.

Sounds awesome until I come to your place banging pots and pans all night and blocking your driveway, for an extended period.

As long as someone else is paying the price, standing on principle is easy.

And generally arresting looters and rioters seems quite popular on both sides of the political spectrum. They often didn't have anything to do with the protests, and were just taking advantage of the police being busy.

Edit: See my comment below for sources on homeless shelter

Ottawa, being the capital, gets two types of protests. The legal ones who get a permit have their route planned out in advance, and the police shut down the streets while the protest occurs. It's sort of like a parade. It's inconvenient and annoying, but no single street gets shut down for more than a couple of hours.

And it's not just the agreeable protests that get permits. They pretty much have to give a permit to anybody who asks for one.

For the illegal protests like the G20 occupation and when the indigenous people blocked a freeway exit, the police come in fast and hard.

> If anything, the associated violence and demands of the protest are pretty tame in comparison to what the BLM or Indian Farmers protests demanded.

Not in Canada.

edit: there's a third type of protest, the small ones. You're welcome to stand on the sidewalk with a sign and yell as long as you don't interfere with anybody.

Some level of discomfort is ok. Some is not. There is a line somewhere. Usually it involves the level of violence involved (terrorists after all are just making people very "uncomfortable" [what's more uncomfortable than being blown up] to achieve a political end.).

To make the ad absurdum argument explicit: if your argument for why this protest is ok applies to 9/11 to the same extent that it applies to this protest, maybe its a bad argument. That doesn't mean that this protest is neccesarily not ok, just that this is a really bad argument to use to prove the point.

I'm not saying that they should be prevented from protesting (and I strongly disagree with that protest), just answering the question as to why this might be illegal.

so because there are trillions of dollars in crypto value already and many individuals already own that crypto, they would just collect from them to their own address or smart contract. websites just become GUIs for helping that and are also optional. then if fiat is actually desired for the cause, they can call any random trade desk and do a big order for fiat and have cash in the organization's bank account. for their supporters that don't already own crypto, it would be some friction for them to acquire it, but forget about those people and don't view how it would work from their perspective as the main perspective.

This is why things like ConstituionDAO can happen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConstitutionDAO

If it’s good or not is another topic, but it is definitely possible to skip banks and other middlemen.