# Anybody remember this guy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328 "2015-08-20T07:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/1 "2015-08-20T07:47:07Z")
Back in about 2009 or so, we had a member here on the SDMB–sorry but I cannot remember his username–who had “organized” the panhandlers of Ottawa into a union somehow affiliated with the IWW. So you can imagine my surprise when I read in the news that somebody is now in Windsor and trying to “organize” the panhandlers of Windsor into the IWW. From the [National Post](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/windsors-panhandlers-and-street-performers-unionize-for-rights-everyone-else-has): > [@](#): > > “We are a real union,” organizer Andrew Nellis said… > > Nellis was the voice of the Ottawa Panhandlers’ Union until 2011 before moving to Windsor, where he works as a tarot card reader… > > The street people are being asked to sign membership cards with the International Workers of the World — a radical labour union formed in 1905 that promotes grassroots democracy and does not require members to be employed. It’s the Ottawa connection and “organizing panhandlers” that makes me wonder. But I’m not sure if it’s the same guy we had posting here. What say you, Dopers? Is this the same guy who posted here for a while back in about 2009 or so? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/2 "2015-08-20T09:00:38Z")
God help me for having a memory for all things trivial but can’t remember my cellphone number. You’re thinking of **SmashTheState** , aren’t you? The banned member as seen in this [Ask the Guy Who Organized the Ottowa Panhandlers’ Union](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526595) thread. So that’d be a “yes,” they’re the same guy, assuming STS was being truthful. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/3 "2015-08-20T12:41:03Z")
A card reader in Windsor. Enough said! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/4 "2015-08-20T17:19:17Z")
**SmashTheState**! Yes, that was the username. Thanks, **Choie**! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/5 "2015-08-20T17:25:19Z")
Heh. > [@Some person in the comments section on that page](#): > > What will they do when they go on strike? > > Find a job? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/6 "2015-08-20T17:44:23Z")
What if the bosses play hardball and bring in scabs who’ll pester me and annoy me and demand money for far less pay? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-remember-this-guy/728328/7 "2015-08-20T19:59:44Z")
He was banned because he threatened to sue the board after several posters, tongues firmly in cheek, accused him of [donating Ottawa Panhandlers Union funds to Paul Watson & Sea Shepherd](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=528164). Apparently letting statements by **Giraffe, billfish876, & Don’t Call Me Shirley** stand on a public message board would irreparably harm the OPU.