Dave Gray-Donald
@dgrdon.bsky.social
Publisher and editor of The Grind in Toronto.
Saw Palestine 36 today at TIFF. Really powerful film about the Arab Revolts against British rule and Zionist colonization in the '30s. It's a bit like The Battle of Algiers. A film like this should have come out decades ago, but it's here now. @thegrindto.bsky.social will have a review.
September 5, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Saw Palestine 36 today at TIFF. Really powerful film about the Arab Revolts against British rule and Zionist colonization in the '30s. It's a bit like The Battle of Algiers. A film like this should have come out decades ago, but it's here now. @thegrindto.bsky.social will have a review.
The tent encampment / occupation / sit-in on the grounds behind Queen's Park went through the night. Indigenous people are protesting Bill 5, which tramples over Indigenous rights. About 10 tent up, a couple dozen people around the sacred fire (not pictured).
June 5, 2025 at 12:58 PM
The tent encampment / occupation / sit-in on the grounds behind Queen's Park went through the night. Indigenous people are protesting Bill 5, which tramples over Indigenous rights. About 10 tent up, a couple dozen people around the sacred fire (not pictured).
Different view of police pushing someone down onto her bike. Vids via praxis_archives on IG.
May 31, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Different view of police pushing someone down onto her bike. Vids via praxis_archives on IG.
Toronto police threw someone down and arrested them after the person asked "What laws are we breaking?" while police pushed the crowd on a sidewalk.
This was across from Casa Loma on Tuesday while Israel's former ambassador to the UN was a special guest at a gala inside.
This was across from Casa Loma on Tuesday while Israel's former ambassador to the UN was a special guest at a gala inside.
May 31, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Toronto police threw someone down and arrested them after the person asked "What laws are we breaking?" while police pushed the crowd on a sidewalk.
This was across from Casa Loma on Tuesday while Israel's former ambassador to the UN was a special guest at a gala inside.
This was across from Casa Loma on Tuesday while Israel's former ambassador to the UN was a special guest at a gala inside.
A former or current IDF soldier is also scheduled to be there. Mordechai Shenwald was in the 401 tank brigade that invaded Gaza and was injured there. He will be playing violin at the AGPI event.
May 24, 2025 at 1:27 PM
A former or current IDF soldier is also scheduled to be there. Mordechai Shenwald was in the 401 tank brigade that invaded Gaza and was injured there. He will be playing violin at the AGPI event.
Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, is scheduled to speak in Toronto at Casa Loma on Tuesday, May 27, at the Crystal Ball Gala fundraiser for the pro-Israel charity the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.
May 24, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, is scheduled to speak in Toronto at Casa Loma on Tuesday, May 27, at the Crystal Ball Gala fundraiser for the pro-Israel charity the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.
Soon after Brady's show, Warmington publishes this in the Toronto Sun.
The article acknowledges that the kid was okay and that Toronto Paramedic Services didn't see a major issue, but Warmington doesn't find that response satisfactory.
The article acknowledges that the kid was okay and that Toronto Paramedic Services didn't see a major issue, but Warmington doesn't find that response satisfactory.
May 21, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Soon after Brady's show, Warmington publishes this in the Toronto Sun.
The article acknowledges that the kid was okay and that Toronto Paramedic Services didn't see a major issue, but Warmington doesn't find that response satisfactory.
The article acknowledges that the kid was okay and that Toronto Paramedic Services didn't see a major issue, but Warmington doesn't find that response satisfactory.
Every major outlet covered this. But the analyst CBC had on treated it as a minor footnote. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
May 15, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Every major outlet covered this. But the analyst CBC had on treated it as a minor footnote. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Dunno if this was reported on, but looks like Hot Docs' former executive director was making somewhere between $250K to $300K, based on latest CRA filing. I wonder what the new ED makes. Wasn't discussed in the new Globe article. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/ar...
May 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Dunno if this was reported on, but looks like Hot Docs' former executive director was making somewhere between $250K to $300K, based on latest CRA filing. I wonder what the new ED makes. Wasn't discussed in the new Globe article. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/ar...
These seven Toronto core ridings are realistically Liberal vs. NDP contests.
Conservatives rarely break 15% to 20% here.
Conservatives rarely break 15% to 20% here.
April 27, 2025 at 1:43 PM
These seven Toronto core ridings are realistically Liberal vs. NDP contests.
Conservatives rarely break 15% to 20% here.
Conservatives rarely break 15% to 20% here.
Dr. Goldman also tweeted (and at least deleted) the following, as per @readthemaple.bsky.social.
April 24, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Dr. Goldman also tweeted (and at least deleted) the following, as per @readthemaple.bsky.social.
He also shared a thread with lots of disinfo, framing it as credible:
April 24, 2025 at 5:31 PM
He also shared a thread with lots of disinfo, framing it as credible:
Dr. Goldman spread Israeli disinfo on Twitter in fall 2023, for example claiming Hamas bases were in/around hospitals and insinuating this is why Israel was bombing hospitals. The bases claim was not established at the time and has now been debunked. x.com/NightShiftMD...
April 24, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Dr. Goldman spread Israeli disinfo on Twitter in fall 2023, for example claiming Hamas bases were in/around hospitals and insinuating this is why Israel was bombing hospitals. The bases claim was not established at the time and has now been debunked. x.com/NightShiftMD...
A few years ago, Valérie Lefebvre-Faucher asked scholars of Marx about Karl's wife Jenny and their daughters. How had these women contributed to his theories? Lefebvre-Faucher quickly realized scholars hadn't seriously investigated the question. So she wrote a short book...🧵
April 18, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A few years ago, Valérie Lefebvre-Faucher asked scholars of Marx about Karl's wife Jenny and their daughters. How had these women contributed to his theories? Lefebvre-Faucher quickly realized scholars hadn't seriously investigated the question. So she wrote a short book...🧵
Wow, another update to the Therme Ontario Place scandal, this time in the NYT. Despite Therme's claims of running multiple spas around the world, it only operate one, in Romania. It benefits from being confused with a totally different company also called Therme, which runs spas in Germany.
April 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Wow, another update to the Therme Ontario Place scandal, this time in the NYT. Despite Therme's claims of running multiple spas around the world, it only operate one, in Romania. It benefits from being confused with a totally different company also called Therme, which runs spas in Germany.
Things don't need to be Israeli products. See screencap. I also see your review engaged in aspects of normalization, which I take as a reflection of the production itself (like calling the Palestinian a terrorist, focusing on Palestinian attacks, making "the conflict" seem symmetrical, etc).
![3) Normalization in the International Context
In the international arena, normalization does not operate all that differently and follows the same logic. While the BDS movement targets complicit Israeli institutions, in the case of normalization there are other nuances to consider. Generally, international supporters of BDS are asked to refrain from participating in any event that morally or politically equates the oppressor and oppressed, and presents the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis as symmetrical [5]. Such an event should be boycotted because it normalizes Israel’s colonial domination over Palestinians and ignores the power structures and relations embedded in the oppression.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rqfrlc4an773be3zaf4ymnfi/bafkreiezjowk5lp3v54mkij23lhdvrmijw6t5p3iwwnj5qclqtw3qpyhhq@jpeg)
April 11, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Things don't need to be Israeli products. See screencap. I also see your review engaged in aspects of normalization, which I take as a reflection of the production itself (like calling the Palestinian a terrorist, focusing on Palestinian attacks, making "the conflict" seem symmetrical, etc).
Scoop: Hot Docs confirms to @TheGrindTO this will be Scotiabank's last year sponsoring the festival.
Hot Docs says “Scotiabank has opted to waive its recognition benefits at this year's festival.”
It's still listed as a sponsor on the site though. Screencap from today.
Hot Docs says “Scotiabank has opted to waive its recognition benefits at this year's festival.”
It's still listed as a sponsor on the site though. Screencap from today.
March 27, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Scoop: Hot Docs confirms to @TheGrindTO this will be Scotiabank's last year sponsoring the festival.
Hot Docs says “Scotiabank has opted to waive its recognition benefits at this year's festival.”
It's still listed as a sponsor on the site though. Screencap from today.
Hot Docs says “Scotiabank has opted to waive its recognition benefits at this year's festival.”
It's still listed as a sponsor on the site though. Screencap from today.
Outside Toronto's core, the Conservatives are bigger contenders. Sometimes the NDP is stronger and sometimes the Liberals are. For example, in Scarborough Southwest in 2022, it was an NDP-Conservative contest, but just north in Scarborough Centre it was a 3-way race.
February 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Outside Toronto's core, the Conservatives are bigger contenders. Sometimes the NDP is stronger and sometimes the Liberals are. For example, in Scarborough Southwest in 2022, it was an NDP-Conservative contest, but just north in Scarborough Centre it was a 3-way race.
For example, in Toronto Centre, the Conservative got only 12% of the vote in 2022.
February 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
For example, in Toronto Centre, the Conservative got only 12% of the vote in 2022.
LOL. So a loud chorus (e.g. Rachel Notley, Postmedia & Globe pundits) has been saying Canada should revive the Energy East pipeline (AB to QC/NB) and you're a traitor if you disagree. Then the pipeline company who proposed then ditched the project in 2017 says "actually it's a bad idea."
February 15, 2025 at 11:10 PM
LOL. So a loud chorus (e.g. Rachel Notley, Postmedia & Globe pundits) has been saying Canada should revive the Energy East pipeline (AB to QC/NB) and you're a traitor if you disagree. Then the pipeline company who proposed then ditched the project in 2017 says "actually it's a bad idea."
Yikes, what a messy correction in the Globe article about the Giller Prize and Scotiabank parting ways. It blends an older correction which introduces a new false claim (that HESEG gives scholarships only to orphans?!?) and then a slightly better, still not very good correction.
February 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Yikes, what a messy correction in the Globe article about the Giller Prize and Scotiabank parting ways. It blends an older correction which introduces a new false claim (that HESEG gives scholarships only to orphans?!?) and then a slightly better, still not very good correction.
Today I ran into Loblaws' CEO Per Bank in the No Frills parking lot and asked about the $22 million he was paid last year.
December 20, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Today I ran into Loblaws' CEO Per Bank in the No Frills parking lot and asked about the $22 million he was paid last year.