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TSO cancels performance of Valentina Lisitsa


Not really. Her appearance is a form of employment under contract - free speech doesn't meant free from consequence. The only party I have pity for is the TSO in this instance and the position the organization was caught in.

AoD
 
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They weren't caught in any position; they opened the can of warms by cancelling the performance. The animosity and propaganda on this issue run very deep, and it doesn't help that our federal government is also taking sides. Such a mess.
 
They weren't caught in any position; they opened the can of warms by cancelling the performance. The animosity and propaganda on this issue run very deep, and it doesn't help that our federal government is also taking sides. Such a mess.

They would have a can of worms even if they didn't. On the second point, as much as I don't like our current government's so called sabre rattling, I'd hardly call the geopolitical moves of said northern neighbour "harmless".

AoD
 
Well, the "neo-Nazis are running Ukraine" line is just Russian propaganda. The two parties that could be called "fascist" got 2% of the vote in the presidential election and didn't even meet the 5% threshold in parliamentary elections. The extreme right is stronger in Hungary (Jobbik) than in any other European country, and they're pro-Putin. It's probably stronger in France than it is in Ukraine, and FN leader Marine Le Pen is also pro-Putin.

But does her spouting of Russian propaganda mean she should be stopped from performing? Should note she is set to play in the Prairie city of Calgary.
 
The CEO or head of TSO should be fired for this. We are a free country and the artists personal views are a form of free speech. If you don't like it or agree, then don't buy tickets. To prevent her from playing is a violation of her human rights. This is a pure political move to keep a small but powerful Ukrainian contingent happy and renewing their TSO memberships. Money talks, freedom walks.
 
The CEO or head of TSO should be fired for this. We are a free country and the artists personal views are a form of free speech. If you don't like it or agree, then don't buy tickets. To prevent her from playing is a violation of her human rights. This is a pure political move to keep a small but powerful Ukrainian contingent happy and renewing their TSO memberships. Money talks, freedom walks.

Why just artists? Try that trick in the private sector and tell me how far you'd get with this whole "free speech" argument if one's personal views - which are aired for all to see - gets public and it affects business.

AoD
 
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In this case it's a artist affected. I agree with your point that we don't have free speech in the private sector. However, this is a public institution and this decision sets a precedent. Not that it hasn't already been set by universities who have banned speakers based on their views.
 
In this case it's a artist affected. I agree with your point that we don't have free speech in the private sector. However, this is a public institution and this decision sets a precedent. Not that it hasn't already been set by universities who have banned speakers based on their views.

It's not a "public" institution - it receives partial public funding, but is for all intents a privately run organization - and it isn't offering a public service preferentially. Let me put in another way - if the institution, which isn't already in the greatest of financial shape, loses further subscriptions and funding from ticket sales, will said advocates come in with equivalent financial support?

And let's go further than these quasi-private/quasi-public organizations - the current Federal government prohibits scientists from speaking out publically about their work (and I am not talking about security related work, where there are very good reasons not to allow that to happen). Outrage? That's the reality.

AoD
 
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The CEO or head of TSO should be fired for this. We are a free country and the artists personal views are a form of free speech. If you don't like it or agree, then don't buy tickets. To prevent her from playing is a violation of her human rights. This is a pure political move to keep a small but powerful Ukrainian contingent happy and renewing their TSO memberships. Money talks, freedom walks.

Just like with Bill Cosby performing in Hamilton and Kitchener.

Haven't been convicted of any crime, so they shouldn't be barred from performing. Unless, like professional sports players, there is some sort of morality clause in their contract.
 
Just like with Bill Cosby performing in Hamilton and Kitchener.

Haven't been convicted of any crime, so they shouldn't be barred from performing. Unless, like professional sports players, there is some sort of morality clause in their contract.

Actually, they don't need a morality clause - according to the reports, they have a contractual clause that allows them to cancel. If not, I am sure we'd hear about the lawsuits by now.

AoD
 
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I cancelled my subscription following this incident. Enough vote pandering to the Ukrainian-Canadians. It's so bloody transparent to anyone who views the conflict neutrally (I have no stake in it).

Victims of Communism Memorial, TSO, Government's stance on Russia... Come on.
 
"Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."

And just what does that have to do with an artist's valid opinion of the nefarious meddling in her birth country?

The world is 50 shades of grey, not black and white as some people like to frame it as.
 
As I understand it, however, it is not so much the pro-Russia "slant" of her tweets that got her in hot water it was the insulting way she refers to Ukranians.

I have only followed this story casually but I think there is a difference between saying something like "the best thing for the future of the Ukraine is to once again come under Moscow's control" and saying something like "Ukrainians are dog sh*t"....as I believe she did.
 
I'm not sure why you want to stand up for Putin's Russia. In stark contrast to the freedom that Lisitsa enjoys in the West, ask yourself why Pussy Riot, among many others, have paid dearly for holding a differing "valid opinion" in today's Russia...

PS: I'm not Ukrainian, but can smell hypocritical BS a mile away...

Where am I standing up for Putin's Russia? Please point out a specific comment/post that I've made that can back up your accustations. Ask yourself why Edward Snowden is currently in Russia afraid to go back to the 'west'; also for toeing a different line than the state department (and exposing their nefarious actions).

Our shit does not smell any differently than Putin's sorry to say.

As I understand it, however, it is not so much the pro-Russia "slant" of her tweets that got her in hot water it was the insulting way she refers to Ukranians.

I have only followed this story casually but I think there is a difference between saying something like "the best thing for the future of the Ukraine is to once again come under Moscow's control" and saying something like "Ukrainians are dog sh*t"....as I believe she did.

She is a Ukrainian, born in that country with Russian/Ukrainian ethnic lineage. She is perfectly entitled to say whatever the hell she wants about the civil war brewing in her country. Maybe next time we won't meddle in a state's internal affairs... By now we should have learned our lesson (Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lybia, Ukraine, etc).

Btw, that tweet was completely mistranslated. This is pure propaganda coming from the Canadian-Ukrainian congress. I'm sorry but they're schooled by the same USSR Politburo brush on how to bend information and sway public opinion.
 

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