Andrew Nellis

Andrew Nellis (born February 23, 1969) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is a Canadian anarcho-syndicalist, writer, CG artist, and an organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World. He advocates the dissolution of all present forms of government through direct action and the introduction of anarchist ideals. He is an alumnus of Lisgar Collegiate and Algonquin College. He currently lives in the Vanier neighbourhood of Ottawa.

Heroes and Influences

Andrew has many heroes from many differing fields of thought including psychology, philosophy, politics.

One of his political heroes is Nestor Makhno, a Ukranian anarchist who raised an army and fought against the Bolshevik Red Army between 1918 and 1919.

He also admires Henry David Thoreau and believes strongly in the tactic of civil disobedience.

In the field of psychology Andrew admires both Sigmund Freud and Karl Jung. One of his hobbies includes psychoanalysis and the psychoanalysis of his friends and colleagues. He also speaks frequently about the collective unconsciousness and Jungian archetypes and their relationship to political leaders. He frequently identifies George W Bush as being the Shadow archetype.

Andrew In The News

Andrew has appeared on various talk shows and news segments, generally on radio, with a few appearances on television. His television appearances included one on Rogers Community Television 22 in Ottawa and a segment on the CHRO news. Andrew has spoken on both of Ottawa's university's radio stations: CKCU and CHUO.

On July 22nd 2005 Andrew was featured on the cover of the Ottawa Metro, a free daily newspaper available in Ottawa. The picture featured Andrew in a confrontation with a member of the Ottawa Police after Andrew had written anti-war slogans on a wall with chalk. The incident ended without arrest. The cover of the newspaper from that day can be viewed here: Andrew is confronted by the Ottawa Police

Most recently Andrew has been involved with organizing panhandlers in Ottawa, encouraging them to unionize. The Panhandlers Union is a modest success and has received coverage in the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun. The Panhandler's Union has also been mentioned as a human interest story in many of CanWest Global's other newspapers including the Winnipeg Tribune.

Jane Scharf is a former organizer for the Ottawa Panhandlers Union. She unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Ottawa in the 2006 municipal election.

Personal life

Andrew identifies his religion as Buddhist, but he tends to call himself an Anarcho-Mystic.

During his leisure time, Andrew can be found chatting on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). One IRC network he is known to frequent is Dalnet where he uses the nickname PoisonPen. One of the channels he frequents is an anarchist community channel called #Politicssucks. The channel operates by consensus and is a prototype for the type of anarchist community Andrew would want to live in.

Andrew also enjoys writing as a hobby. His website, under the pen name of "Poison Pen", along with a guide for amateur writers, can be found at http://web.ncf.ca/bs904/

Personal Quotes

Andrew is known for his colourful rants against capitalists, Christians, conservatives and Americans. Here are just a few:

"Ayn Rand is the curdled remains of a black, bitter, shrivelled apple from the tree of hypocrisy growing under the outhouse in the deepest pit of Hell. She couldn't grope her way out of her own rectum with a flashlight and a copy of Gray's Anatomy. Her entire rancid philosophy could have been killed if anyone had been brave or desperate enough to stick their penis into that frigid arctic pucker of her twat."

"I have sworn an oath before God that I will dance on Mike Harris's grave. In the long, dark hours of the night when my hatred of Mike Harris burns like anthracite, I bank the flames which burn my heart with the knowledge that I will dance on his grave."

"The Pledge of Allegiance is a travesty of nationalist psychosis. It's no wonder America is the seething pit of hysterical, xenophobic fascism that it is."