August 15, 2012, carnegie newsletter

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DOWNTOWN

EASTSIDE AUGUST 2012

2012

*45*

•

TIMEPIECE Reactive energy, slow down, pick up the pace, dodging, detouring, debating, misdirections, contemplating, debating, dishevelled perimeters, parameters, boundaries, searching aimlessly for beacons of light. Stop signs, streetlights, searchlights, yawning, waving, intersections, flashlights, unending, whatever. Go, Stop,yield, beware, share space, don't move, stand still, walk don't run, for a pill, take a break, trying hard to chill. Where's this, who's that, don't fit one bit, lie back, hit the beach, holy Grail, I'm lost, tough travails, get away, go astray, can't stay here! No way, just gotta play, no fear, snag a bus if in a rush. What's the deal?! Don't know where I'm going to who knows where, feeling bounced around and in much despair but what's my hurry, I've got time to spare. Have you got the time, like what day is this lost track long ago, I didn't seem to care, what's going on that's really important!?

This time of year the sun is up & the days are long; the way it's going I can't do too much more wrong, I've gotta strong feeling coming on strong- to where it leads, I take a wild guess ... Can't say what happened, except to say my hunch was way wrong, she wasn't my type of girl fill in the blanks, cause I don't live situations twice, Where to from here: Time marches on. It must not be wasted, (so precious) it quickly tick's away and ya can't reel it back in .. it disappears in a regimental crescendo fading fast. I hate this fact of a sure shot ending, gotta get a grip cause the end is pending, to live my short life to the hilt. To stay involved in life, with the everlasting most rushingly pending.

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE

This bit is untitled, given the different perspective on time provided by Robyn. It was going to be The 26'h Anniversary of the Carnegie Newsletter (ta-da) wfth a somewhat repetitive presentation of humble beginnings "12 pages in 60 copies ... " to the current dynamic(?) of"l6-28 pages in 1200 copies, 23 times a year"(!)

Maybe it's just me; writing a birthday piece every August 15 since the I" in '87, you kind of run out of anything new and exciting. I remember one old lady saying that she very seldom agreed with what I was saying but was always delighted at the way I said it.

The cover has photocopies of the fronts of Help in the Downtown Eastside booklets, in English, French and Spanish. Help is a resource guide that lists what is out there, where it is and a bit on what is offered at each place. Information covers the five minimum necessities of food, clothing, shelter, medical aid and education; stuff involving peer support - for women, seniors, drug users, mental hea lth consumers, sex trade workers, Aboriginal peoples and others -are under headings like Legal, Advocacy, free or lowcost _ _, lD, court & jail info, recycling & moving and training for whatever.

This is the 21" year of publication and the ones pictured show #45. It's usually been revised and updated twice a year but for the last few years it's taken longer and longer to get funding. For August 2012 the Portland Hotel Society Community Services paid for the printing.

Kudos (good words) come in from government staff at Welfare offices ("we can't do our jobs without it"), hospitals (VGH, UBC, St Paul's), both provincial clinics in the DE and Native Health, shelters, psych wards and jails and the VPD. The reality that people on the front lines in these places don't control the pursestrings makes for a good amount of frustration and aggravation, but the booklets and the stuff inside are for people who need it in their daily lives, not so much to make the working situations of paid staff easier. So it goes.

Ok. [calm down] To follow my own advice, it's a necessary part of every such article to include the fact that donations are necessary to continue. Thanks.

PAULR TAYLOR

SUMMERBBQ Community Celebration Come and enjoy food, drinks, live entertainment, arts and crafts, and everyone's company at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre's third annual end-of-summer BBQ.

12-3pm, August 22 Crab Park Women and Children only Please

Applying for Income Assistance

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I) Find the local Ministry Office: www.gov.bc.ca/ *Ministry Contacts; Officers; Office listings 2) Who might not be eligible for welfare: -You are in Canada illegally; -You have a Visitor's Permit; - You have a Student Permit; -You have come to Canada o n a Temporary Work Penn it (this does not apply to Convention Refugees, persons in need of protection or refugee claimants).

or the proverbial knife in the back we should all be blessed by a sweet shower of kindness by being kind you will find that kindness comes back Despite what is said Time twice and triple tenfold sometime no one I ever seen has been like Unca Lee sez pleasure shared is Time is precious killed by kindness More when spent with loved ones blindness for sure that's a fact pleasure doubled the gift to the giver of the gift is in the giving The greatest feeling and the energy it brings back Putting all your energy in your life to be truly and wholly kind Being patient works wonders is never having any thought of reward Sometimes loved ones get on your nerves anywhere near crossing your mind • so just push it aside Be kind for kindness' sake and Make the best of whatever is a head you'll see what a difference kindness makes Love yourself Sam Yee Love the world Love Mother Earth and all animals. . Poorest in spirit and imagination.

All my relations, HEH.E "\VE ARE Bonnie E Stevens Talkin' Big talk Big bucks Noman's land Talkin' war, rumours of war At the front Today All kindsa war Smack dab in the middle/suburban Walkin' da walk, NOT Today I'm thankful for being alive Sprawl and scratch Walkin' in rna shoes NOT To see how beautiful Mother Earth is Both ends 'gainst the middle It' s mine, mine Mine & all her surroundings Some kind of meridian Gimme dat! Gimme some mo!

We must be kind to all the creatures Some kind of mean on Mother Earth's home Boss, coz ah loves How low can YQ!! go Treat her body with great respect.

To be patronized Limbo some mo'.

Loves to be tha Do not pollute or litter Object of condescension We will always have the natural beauty New style pimping Every thing fo sale, baby So Boss Man So my dear frie nds Livin' off the 'vails ofthe poor Tell I da answer, hokay?

Enjoy each day we share with her.

Poor in many ways See ya later, afta while All my relations, Poor in property, spirit and health Bonnie E Stevens Wilhelmina Miles

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Statement Celebrating 25 Years of Co-Operative Housing at Four Sisters Co-Op To Be Recognized as a Vancouver Heritage Foundation "Place That Matters" VANCOUVER- Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan released the following statement: "The Four Sisters Housing Co-op, located in the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant constituency, celebrates their milestone 251h anniversary this weekend . First opened in August 1987, Four Sisters began in response to the need for affordable housing and for dealing with the impacts of Expo '86 displacement. 150 units of housing were allocated for the Downtown Eastside, with 50 units each meant for First United Church, DERA and the Chinese Benevolent Association. These three organizations worked to hav~ these units combined into a single building for the speedy approval and construction of Four Sisters, which was purpose-built to ensure that women, families and children had affordable homes in the Downtown Eastside.

"A quarter of a century later, Four Sisters offers many reasons for celebration. It was a controversial project at the time of its construction , but it has proven to be groundbreaking. Four Sisters stands as an award-winning example of how residents from across the spectrum -families, seniors, singles, couples, low-income earners, and professionals alike- can reside together and co-manage a major housing project. Urban planners now recognize the importance of making space for children and families in the downtown core.

"The Vancouver Heritage Foundation is recognizing Four Sisters as a "Place That Matters" because the building incorporates a former Vancouver City Hall site. The heritage character of the Co-op is yet another valuable aspect of this development.

"In 2012, the Internati onal Year of the Co-Op, we're reminded that the non-profit, self-governed housing model is viable and vital.

"And in this time when housing affordability is a priority concern for people in Vancouver, and across British Columbia, Four Sisters offers a positive model of a great affordable housing development. I invite everyone to join in recognizing the successes of Four Sisters and to offer best wishes for many more years of enjoying a happy home."

-30Media Inquiries: Megan Mills 778-679-7373 For more information on Four Sisters, contact: President Brie Koniczek 604-783-2743 For more information on the Vancouver Heritage Foundation's "Places That Matter" Program, contact: Jessica Quan, VHF Special Project Coordinator, 778-828-5264

be nice...

In San Francisco they said "We won't move."

The City had been convinced (bougbt&sold) by a developer's wet dream to bulldoze the low income area known by the locals as South of Market; named Skid Row by everybody else. Local residents were categorized as "bums and winos standing in the way of progress." They fought back, fonning a residents' association and a corporation of their own- the Tenants and Owners Development Corporation (TODCO).

They struggled to keep the housing stock, to build housing, to force owners of sl um housing to follow bylaws and standards of maintenance.

Replace South of Market with the Downtown Eastside. TODCO began in the early 70's and went toe-totoe with the market forces striving to gentri fy the entire neigbbourbood. Think ofDERA and, more recently, the Portland Hotel Society, Main&Hastings Community Development Society, First United Church Housing, StJames Housing and now the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Counci l.. Parallels between TODCO and the Downtown Eastside community are many, but they achieved something in San Francisco in 1979 that is still to be a reality in Vancouver.

The city government there passed an anti-conversion bylaw regulating the ability of property and hotel owners to change the use of their buildings from housing low income, long-term tenants to the more lucrative business of tourist and backpacker rooms.

Displacing and making homeless the poor is a consequence that such owners and developers refuse to be held accountable for, but an obscene example woke people up in San Francisco.

This is not j ust a history lesson. While people were agitating for conversion controls a slum land lord tried to evict a few hundred seniors from an area that was to be part of a 'redevelopment' scheme. They got to the final day and over a hundred seniors were carried out and deposited on the sidewalk with their belong-

ings strewn around them. Scores of arrests were made BUT there were over 15,000 people there. It was one of the biggest demonstrations of solidarity since the antiwar movement. There was a binding referendum on the next election ballot and this bylaw was in.

The Carnegie Community Action Project got established to do research on housing issues, to counter the gentrification and market pressures of local and offshore property owners and to work with housing and tenant groups to establish decent housing and measures to increase ass istance incomes in the Downtown Eastside. It was through CCAP that the Local Area Planning Program was made real, but the real design vis-a-vis power to decide is still a thorn sticking in the City/Developer side. The thing being pushed against and not taken as a fait accompli is what the vested (monied) interests want- no restrictions on making another Yaletown ghetto out of the entire downtown of Vancouver. Representatives of this mindset, both working in City Planning & Management and in the development industry, were invited to Carnegie for a public meeting billed as "Stop The Evictions"; not one came.

Wendy Pedersen (CCAP) gave a brief history of SRO (Single Room Occupancy) housing. Ivan Drury and Jean Swanson really piss the local Vision politicians off because they use their facts and figures, their reports and the laws and bylaws already on the books to make our 'case'. In 1980 there were over 13,000 units of SRO housing; the Collier Report (commissioned by the City of Vancouver) released last decade shows less than 8,000 in 2000 and barely 5000 in 2012, and an average of 800 being lost every year; some through demolition & fire, but most due to conversion to back packer, student & tourist use. The latter is accomplished by evicting long term, low income tenants.

This bleak outcome has been thrown down in front of several Councillors and especially the current Mayor, Gregor Robinson, with sadly predictable results.

Robinson chooses what facts to believe .. or so he'd have us believe. The inherent stupidity of saying that the number of new units being built more than makes up for those lost is just that- stupid. In the Downtown Eastside and Downtown South hotel after hotel evicts everybody and starts charging by the day or week. If new housing is for seniors or families or non-poor singles, those who were evicted from these SROs have no chance of getting apartments or rooms. Robinson and proxies like the shill who peddled Woodwards condos and Marc Williams (of Pantages fame) would have us believe that he doesn't understand this, or that he knows that enacting an anti-conversion bylaw with teeth would somehow increase homelessness and we refuse to see it. The seedier reality is that Robinson's bosses- the corporate landlords and key owners- have simply said no to such controls or regulation and Gregor (if nothing else) obeys.

Again a book on the struggle in San Francisco gave decent and worthwhile views of what the author and the many other community activists have been up against for the last 20 years. "Landlords lie. They don't report.. or just make it up. If you rent by the month you get certain rights, so they only rent for 28 days at a time. Slumlords will do anything and everything to get around or disobey basic laws. There are illegal conversions and blatant disregard for bylaws, but the anti-conversion regulations have helped us keep about half of the 30,000 units that were there for low incoine tenants in the 70's."

He spoke of learning to be effective against landlords who would insist they would shut down whole buildings rather than do essential repairs. SROs are the housing路 last resort- "short of the sidewalk" -yet even the successes they've had came in the midst of such things as a convention centre and the ensuing loss of a few thousand rooms. [This is very similar to what was planned/hoped for with the Woodwards redevelopment: In Diane Wood's work entitled The Ripple Effects of Woodwards, she lists I. Land values increase 2. More real estate speculation 3. Hotel rents increase 4. Hotels close for renovictions or sale 5. More evictions & homelessness 6. Stores serving low-income residents are forced out

or

7. Yuppie stores move in 8. More security guards & police harassment 9. C ity subs idy for Woodwards' chain stores I 0. Community assets will be lost Jean, Ivan and Wendy made no bones about not having a magic wand or some secret for getting hous ing, and that in itself was refreshing. Grim humour is the only way to put a light side to California's [and now our] biggest SRO boom in decades - "They're building prisons."

At a City Hall meeting residents again pressed Council with the city's facts & figures and Geoff Meggs just lied. When he was caught the psychiatric blank, Kerry Jang, said "I'll never back an anti-conversion bylaw! You're just wrong."

Maybe the statement made by Larry Beasley, when he was the Assistant Director of Central Planning for Vancouver, that "The voters of Vancouver could easily live with 25,000 homeless people and not even notice," is the idea that Jang and fellow nutbars and the money running the Vision Vancouver monopoly at City Hall repeat to each other. Look as well at the efforts to criminalise the activities of poor people music on the street, panhandling- and to disperse the denizens of the Downtown Eastside and have them (and their reps) say thank you. There is the need to diversify and to engage in economic development.

This, to me, makes a lot of sense. Predictably, when the obligatory anti-NDP rhetoric in the daily media (as well as the now known trumped-up charade "catching" Glen Clark for TV) managed to convince the majority of voters and residents that anyone else was better, the government money coming into the DE dried up within days of a Liberal victory. Much of the housing now going in is with provincial money, like it was in Ontario, but Gord Campbell and his Fraser Institute cohorts made the hatchet job ofHarris in that province look like a Sunday picnic compared to what they did in the name of ''correcting the NDP's mistakes.' here.

We need to have a say and a hand in promoting and developing enterprises and endeavours that will benefit local residents and keep this community as livable and dynamic a neighbourhood as its history deserves.

This direction cannot rely solely on going before authority figures- like politicians and developers' public hearings - and asking/lobbying/pleading for them to "be nice" .

By PAULR TAYLOR

Poli Sci 101

The Humanities 101 Community Programme is now going into its 141h year, and we'd like you to be part of planning for the Programme's FUTURE! We hope you can join in this gathering that will focus Humanities 10 I grads' and supporters' knowledge and expertise to think about what we want, together.

This planning process will take place over two days in mid-August. We'll be talking about what Hum is (our mission) and asking: What would we li ke for Hum's future, what are our hopes and asp irations (o ur visions), and how wi ll we realize them?

We' ll be led throug h this process by an experienced faci litator who is one of our new Hum I 0 l/20 1 First Nations teachers, Don Ahnahns isi Mcintyre, who was at our last Steering Committee meeting.

WHEN: Friday A ugust 17 and Saturday Aug 18, between I 0:30am and 5 pm.

It':; not necessary to be there for the whole two daysplease let us know if you can come for part or all of the time.

WHERE: Aboriginal Friendship Centre, C hief Simon Baker Room (main floor), 1607 E Hastings St. (just west of Commerc ial Drive), Van, V5L IS9.

Feel free to wr ite or phone the Hum office if you have any questions or suggestions!

tel. 604-822-0028 fax. 604-822-6096 Programme Office: #270 Buchanan E, 1866 Main Mall University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z1 Website: http://humanities101.arts.ubc.ca/

7

The war is on, on and on and on The real neo-nazis won the war back in '45 the world war keeps on going on, gimmee five in 15 different countries at the same time It's U.S. and Them, whoever "they" may be for sure they a in't fat & white like U.S. baby they have something U.S. wants, so we take it so it's all in the right, enit boy? ask the bombed out children screaming a lone at night back in Hanoi the Blackhawks shooting families from 5 miles away in Afganistan it's U.S. or Them is all they say you understand man?

No, I never took Poli Sci 101 never fired an M-16 or even held a g un but when I hear that chopper damn right I'll run The Man in the Right is holding the Big Gun and he's ready to kill damn near everyone.

This country we know and call our home will soon be stripped right down to the bone and you know it ain' t no surprise they never wait to see the white of their eyes Te ll you WE ate always right but we know it's a pack of lies on TV every night They keep you in fear your whole damn life keep you busy with poverty and strife Make you afraid to go out your front door give you diseases without any cure Step outta line you' ll be gone for sure it's U.S. and Them in an endless war Carlos Ruiz

MISSING: Jose Rosales Cascante ¡ ~ 45 yearold Hispanic male, 6 feet, 185 lbs.

Athletic build, dark brown eyes, shaved head. Usually wears baseball cap. Last seen July 5fh 2012 at Carnegie Centre. If you've seen Jose or know anything, please call

P:~::.:~~:~~ :::~:~: :~~:-:::~ ~1 0

War Isn't Enterminment and

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N ine Nobel Peace Laureates on Monday joined a growing chorus of critics calling on NBC entertainment to cancel the new " reality'' show- "Stars Earn Stripes"-saying that "war isn't entertainment" and challenged NBC's promotional line that such a television program would be "pay[ing] homage to the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and our first-line responder services."

The show, co-hosted by retired US General Wesley Clark and promoted heavily by NBC during its Summer Olympics telecast is scheduled to begin Monday night and stars actor Dean Cain, "The Biggest Loser" trainer Dolvett Quince, former WWE champion Eva Torres, former boxer Laila Ali, singer Nick Lachey, former Olympic gold medallist Picabo Street, actor Terri Crews, and Sarah Palin's husband Todd.

The laureates-who include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams and President Oscar Arias Sanchezissued an open letter to the Chairman of NBC Entertainment, as well as General Wesley Clark and others involved in what other critics of the show's concept have billed as "war-o-tainment." • The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, all of whom won their prizes for their contributions to ending violence and creating more peaceful and democratic societies, note that real war is "down in the dirt deadly," and should not be sanitized for a " reality" TV show.

Other anti-war groups, including Peace Action West and RootsAction, previously initiated an online petition drive to draw attention to the new show and a lso called on NBC executives to cancel the series.

"In the United States," said RootsAction in statement, "our tax dollars are spent by the billions each year marketing the idea that war is a sport and associating the military with sporting events. Media companies like NBC are compli cit in the propaganda.

The group also pointed out that sanitizing war for a primetime cable show is a profitable business for at least one of NBC's parent companies, General Electric . "GE is a big weapons manufacturer," the group said, and having "a retired general hosting a war-o-tainment show is another step in the normalization of permanent war."

Peace Action West was incredulous when they learned of the program, asking "How could a major network have a " reality" show glorifyi ng war, engaging "stars" with vete rans in military "games" for fun, while a war that has been going on for over ten years marches on in Afghanistan?"

Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald comments that overall the show is "so sleazy, repulsive and propagandistic" as to be self-evident, but does find one redeeming aspect as it relates to NBC, saying "here we have a major television network finally being relatively candid about the fact that they view war and mil itarism, first and foremost, as a source of entertainment and profit."

War Isn't Entertainment and Shouldn't Be Treated Like It Is An Open Letter to Mr. Robert Greenblatt, Chairman ofNBC Entertainment, General Wesley Clark (ret.), Producer Mark Burnett and others involved in "Stars Earn Stripes": During the Olympics, touted as a time for comity and peace among nations, millions first learned that NBC would be premiering a new "reality" TV show. The commercials announcing " Stars Earn Stripes" were shown seemingly endlessly throughout the athletic competition, noting that its premier would be Monday, August 13, following the end of the Olympic games.

That might seem innocuous since spectacular, high budget sporting events of all types are regular venues for airing new products, television's shows and movies. But "Stars Earn Stripes" is not just another reality show.

Hosted by retired four-star general Wesley Clark, the program pairs minor celebrities with US mili tary personnel and puts them through simulated military training, including some li ve tire drills and helicopter drops. The official NBC website for the show touts "the fast-paced competition" as "pay[ing] homage to the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and our first-responder services."

It is our belief that this program pays homage to no one anywhere and continues and expands on an inglorious tradition of glorifying war and armed violence. Military training is not to be compared, subtly o r otherwise, with athletic competition by s howing commercials throughout the Olympics. Preparing for war is neither amusing nor entertaining.

Real war is down in the dirt dead ly. People-military and civilians-die in ways that are anything but entertaining. Communities and societies are ripped apart in armed conflict; the aftermath can be as deadly as the war itself as simmering animosities are unleashed in horrific spirals of violence. War, whether relatively short-lived or going on for decades as in many parts of the world, leaves deep scars that can take generations to overcome - if ever.

Trying to somehow sanitize war by likening it to an athletic competition further calls into question the morality and ethics of linking the military anywhere with the entertainment industry in barely veiled efforts to make war and its multitudinous costs more palatable to the public. ( The long history of collabo ration between militaries and civilian media and eptertainment- and not j ust in the United States-appears to be getting murkier and in many ways more threatening to efforts to resolve our com/ mon problems through nonviolent means. Active-duty soldiers already perform in Hollywood movies, "embedded" media ride with soldiers in combat situations, and now NBC is working with the military to attempt to turn deadly military training into a sanitized " reality" TV show that reveals absolutely nothing of the reality of being a soldier in war o r the consequences of war. What is next?

As people who have seen too many faces of armed conflict and violence and who have worked fo r decades to try to stop the seemingly unending march toward the increased militarization of soc ieties and the desensitization of people to the realities and consequences of war, we add our voices and o ur s upport to those protesting "Stars Earn Stripes." We too call upon NBC: Stop ai ring this program that pays homage to no one, and is a massive disservice to those who li ve and die in armed conflict and suffer its consequences long after the g uns of war fall s ilent. \

Sincerely, Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize, 1997 Rigoberta Menchu Tum, 1992 Mairead Maguire, Nobel P eace Prize, 1977 Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize, 2003

/

I /

~ (ÂŁ~1

President Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize, 1996 Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize, 1980 President Oscar Arias Sanchez, Nobel Peace Prize, 1987 Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize, 1984

Conservatives Try to money their way out of Election Fraud Convictions

'7-M~s ~~' l)aeku

turtles I'd buy her everytime I came back she'd wait, biting her lip, 'whadja bring me?'

Guess! I'd tease .. 'A turtle I betcha' Blackstone, green-jade bl~ckjade too . obsidian black Alaskan D1amond turqumse wood, clay, steel and silver all the stone I could give her her tiny bedside shelf full up with treasure to prove how much her Daddy loves her even tho he' s always gone ... too long One day 01' Ma couldn't cover the rent Out the door with the Bailiff her collection went all the money spent.. all the love sent out the door 'cause of unpaid rent So later, at 18, she gets a tattoo under her tit, atop her heart a turtle in blue This is one they can' t steal offa my breast like they stole all the rest So last month, got over 39 years of shame time in jail, covered up too a sea turtle to be solid with her Something they can never take from us our turtles!

AI

.....-----------------:--7"1 The Carnegie Patio will be closed for a

Event Spec.Jal ~rolunteer V' 3-6pm on Wednesday, August 22"d.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Just minutes ago, I heard from Steven Shrybman, lawyer for the nine Canadians who have fi led these applications, following a case conference earlier.

Lav.'Yers for the Conservative Party MPs in the 7 rid,ings being challenged have filed motions asking that the applicants file security for the Conservative MPs' costs for a total amount of$250,000! Today we learned that this motion will now be heard by the Federal Court of Canada on September 18th.

Essentially, this Conservative Party motion asks the Federal Court to require that the applicants pay this amount in full and upfront "-before the fu ll hearings get underway this fall- as a security deposit should the applications fail and the Court award costs to the Conservative Party MPs. These latest motions are outrageous and represent a new low in the Conservative Party MPs' attempts to throw every obstacle in the path of these cases to prevent the full evidence from being heard by the Court.

Today's news comes on the heels of attempts last week by Conservative Party lawyers to frustrate efforts by the applicants to obtain evidence from Elections Canada abqut the extent of voter suppression and election fraud.

Unfortunately, Elections Canada has declined to provide that evidence. lristead, it will ask the Court to decide whether it should be disclosed. This is good news in that it may result in the disclosure of vita l information about fraud dur ing the May 20 II federal election that has never been made pub lic. That decision is also expected in September.

While these relentless obstructions by the Conservative Party continue to dri ve up legal costs, they will not dampen our resolve to defend democracy and restore voters' ri ghts. These cases must be heard and these nine individuals need the support of the Canadian public .

The Conservative Party MPs are expected to til e their evidence in the legal challenges any time now. As a valued Council of Canadians supporter, rest assu red I will keep you informed in coming days on the latest developments.

With continuing hope and resolve, Maude Barlow The Council of Canadians

..l

around to that good old yesterday that paves our path "~"-"""'.... down the road, why does it take death to bring out ~~~~~"ÂŤ-such an abundance of love I bet your God cries his t.Jlil).t.'l1'f' tears ~re the rain that pours from above but it just questrons more answers I guess the Dead Souls are the only ones that know Do You Really Want To Know, with more t~ come and so many to go there are ch illy receptions every~here you go real life may j ust be a game after we dte that may be the beginning of the real show, no computer gadget ipod iphone leave me still alone STEEPLE of COLLAPSÂŁ Magic please tum my clock work angel backward They started to build a state of the art staircase up now my steeple of collapse can draw its own concluMount Everest today, the frozen dead will be the sions and leave any and all suspicious back in this steps keeping coming there is no reason to be afraid, Ian~ fill now full of time, like the 19th century ampempty oxygen tanks are like beer cans strewn as far utations no anaesthetics just the 5 or 6 strongest men as you dare to see, where man goes so does garbage hold the patient down saws bathed in alcohol a bad as you set up camp on a blanket of yellow s now just business but that is what makes this colourless odourless weightless length of measure that we tor waiting to melt it into blackening sea soon Starbucks some reason call time, the & McDonalds billboards will let you know how far spirit of cooperation and respect at the best ot ttmes you are from a fast food short life conglomorational is apathy and neglect the best of these days fall apart gift shop you never asked for but it's already being grow dust then lapse, my own end may be near built, like a Dali Lama fitness centre right beside though I like to think I'm the one pulling the strings Joe's Evangelical Inc (and sons) to release or relive thus I disappear as the world fall s I co-lapse with you your guilt, almost as many rehabs as coffee shops all, life is swept off the floor then gently shoved still you are at the top of your game or so you'd like down your thn1at ever try weighing a heart it is much to think, sooner rather than later there will be 5 lighter than one might want, like cannibals using continents and 5 oceans begging for a drink, the human veins for their straws food is food no stock and needle exchange break you down then concerns for a cause your future has so many flaws bring you to the steeple of collapse, yet it feels my hoe many little wrongs can make just grown alright, roses stink, now know one believes me but I was a Life is like a series of comic book panels just go ask very important man what with a ll my word of mouth Aurora Borealis for she controls every movement productions the stories I weaved stuck to so many sound and sight, like truths are just not respected any hands yet they put me on and ask me who I am I am more there are over 7 billion reasons growing on this us and we share similar traps, si lent words become circular cemetery hurry before your plot gets taken ear splitting screams who said life was good times by the over-zealously well-off dead yet still full of of smiles and fulfilled dreams this called life has lots spite, pumping out life should be a privilege not a gone on long enough do you agree whatever your right when we hit 20 billion hungry pissed off souls answer pardon me as I collapse. now you feed and house them this oracular vision is

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY just not right, I have no idea what you will say or do for I will be on top of my steeple of collapse with Aurora borealis at the controls, with 20 thousand colleagues beneath the sea of stars will mankind come to its senses I doubt it very much I really don't think so yes my answer is no, this course has no par and possibly not much further to go so many people are as useful asleep as they are awake drunks a ll

P.S. Killer cop mounty monster Robiinson got away with another murder no I think not . WE live in the coolest country and these s wreck it every time! Be careful: you or I or someone you love could be next. I've used this quote and it bears repeating: "You have the right not to be murdered, unless it's by a Policeman." Joe Strummer

Visit to the cemetery

MEN+ WOMEN

The cemetery exudes charcoals' burnt frown In the twilight creek of sacrilegious doubt A flustered raven hides in ashtrees crown His screech- staccato- anger's shout

If you have the right physique You can find a girl who has the right critique If she is talented and you are as well You can honestly make heaven out of hell

Daffodils and tulips parody mourners路 serenity Orchards premature blossoms smile at belated tears Thrusting despondent icepeak, deeper into a man's remembrance and fear Leaving behind at ivy-buried gates his curse: vanity.

You're a marvellous star and look up afar and realize that Love conquers All Even if you're a volunteer Keep looking and you' II find a dear

On broken tombstones fools ponder over heavenly atonement Betting their brittle souls on destiny or chance Impotent, redundant prayers condone guilt's facile elopement

No matter what was in the past Your true love will last.

Joyce Morgan

Absurdity's aborted leap over blame's maddening dance.

In shrubs a rodent drearily guards a nest Oblivion's efforts but a futile mental exhortation Unkindly disturbing a skeleton's weary rest And seeking in vain- faith's lurid exhaltation.

In the aftermath of catastrophe's blazing blow Eery suspension at foggy bridge's gate Swaying like an old drunk in nightmarish glow Retracing snowy tracks; turned mystic not by choice but fate Ahead ashen fields with no fixed horizon An owlet taking flight from canine threat Circles of voids forever whitening in shades Epithet to pyre - fire' s evil Red. Insipid vapours escape from smouldering debris Two weeping willows guard a child's grave Angels carved in stone cheerfully decree: You tragic men: Do not deprave.

Suffering's infernal torch will be your deliverance Let irony not dilute faith's purest gift Blindness which avoids paradox by principle: It was Socrates who set minds adrift.

Laila Biergans I watched those survivors in aurora forgive the poor coward even before they left the hospital, so many examples of the undeniable courage of the human spirit in the face of horror that the rest of the population can only guess at, oh, what a species... terry munroe

-~-:~:=~-----------颅 1M ~~

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I don't know when or how or why l first picked up the thread I only know I've never dropped it since.

It' s just too hard most of the time, though, to keep the information all connected in my mind, or toremember l believe what it all implies.

A small price, considering I hold the secret no one would believe if I shared it anyway : (that) Adrianel 's thread is the optic nerve.

Stephen Belkin see !

If you feel the world's against you, it probably will be If you're down on yourselfyou'd better look up If you don' t think there's a Higher Power you will likely cower But, within, you can build a tower of strength and vitality Your behavior can be one of morality And, furthermore, some good spirituality never hurt anyone.

Conversation and physical exercise are healthy facets of Carnegie's; a wonderful community atmosphere I have said before, and I'll say it again: Carnegie Centre is the best place in the whole world. To me it's a home I love dearly.

Thank you all, from a person who had a severe mental illness whom you have made glad.

With love & devotion, Joyce Morgan

Carnegie C NEvVSLETTER

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. fndeed , it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade

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THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

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POVERTY HOMELESSNESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TOTALITARIAN CAPlTALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR

American Society. (366. P22r). Secret societies are pictured in this guide as sinister cults that use hooded albinos to menace truth-seekers, but j ust decades ago one out of every three Americans belonged to a secret society. Some conspiracy books claim that fraternal orders are the work of serpentine aliens and interbred humans wl:!o wish to supplant earth of its energy, and later, its very existence. On the other side of the coin, books by high-ranked Freemasons sceptical in tone but no less partisan in approach protect their organizaSubmitted bv Sam Snobelen tion's public image by denying the existence of its most contentious ideas.

If you have ever thought of making a run for it this book may be the one fo r you: Great Escapes, Alcatraz, the Berlin Wall, Colditz, Devil's Island and 20 other stories of daring, audacity and ingenuity. (3 65.

64C94g). Not exactly the holiday escape you may have been thinking of but very compelling just the same. Read what prisoners endured and the miraculous escapes ofheroic individuals. Vividly re-told and drawing on many firs thand accounts. Bringing together extraordinary stories of daring escapes from prison, POW camps, and other places of incarceration and confinement, this collection draws from every period of history and from every corner of the ~~~~~~~ wor.ld. This c~lebration of human ingenuity and daredevtl courage offers the reader an exhilarating and unforgettable sequence of escape stories.

Again, looks like another lazy summer day read but far from it. Visit Sunny Chernobyl and other adThe library has lots of new books to offer to you this ventures in the world's most polluted places. month. All of the chosen titles are full of exciting and (363.73 B63v) Is not exactly the travel guide you may unusual content. be looking for?

Well take a peek, as the back cover This first book is Conspiracies and Secret Societies. says, 'everyone wants to visit sunny Chernobyl' . AnThe Complete Dossier. (366.S81 c I). The authors drew Blackwell embraces a different kind of travel, Brad and Sherry Steiger have pulled together a wealth taking a jaunt through the most gruesomely polluted of allegations based on hundreds of individuals and places on Earth.

From the hidden bars and convenorganizations where official claims and explanations ience stores of a radioactive wilderness to the sacred of events or happenings remain shrouded in mystery. but reeking waters of India, Equal parts travelogue, The book examines the most common subjects among expose, environmental memoir, and faux guidebook, conspiracy theorists, from historical topics such as the Blackwell careens through a rogue's gallery of envitrue relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, ronmental disaster areas in search of the worst the the Roswell UFO crash, and the assassinations of world has to offer- and approaches a deeper underJohn F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. to more standing of what's really happening to our planet in current issues such as the death of Princess Diana, 路 the process.

FEMA's response following hurricane Katrina, and Megan, your librarian the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Another book in the same zone is Ritual America Secret Brotherhoods and Their influence on The Canadian Medical Association has reported that "physicians are finding it 'particularly worrisome ' that a widening gap in health status appears to be separating Canadians in different income brackets."

Polling company Ipsos Reid discovered that 39% of respondents whose income is less than $30,000 per year said that their health is excellent or very good.

On the other hand, 68% of those earning $60,000 or more said that their health was very good or excellent.

News From The LibrarY

IT'S A CONSPIRACY ...

"They" "them" "those blanks" and a litany of colourful adjectives, usually sexually (or at least physically) derogatory, follows. It's a conspiracy! ... and people generally stop listening or just nod I've been reading this book called Harvest o[Rage. It talks about all the stuff that's been going on in the USA over the past decade and more that has alienated hundreds of thousands of people in the rural communities.

Almost everything comes to the loss of Family farms through foreclosures. People work for years, generations, and all they do is get deeper in debt as large companies get monopolies on fertilizer, seed, equipment, transportation and insurance, and are there waiting as often the sole buyer, processor and market for any and all farm products. The banks are arm-in-arm with the corporations, charging exorbitant interest to force closure and then helping a corporation buy the whole thing, land and all, at rates below what the farmer was being squeezed for. The conclusion is two-fold: inwarddirected violence making suicide the leading cause of death- five times higher than accidents, the i 1d leading cause - and outward-directed violence, as evidenced by pipe bombs, executions of bankers, government agents and corporate executives, and bombings.

The research and investigation of the author show that the Oklahoma City bombing, where a federal building was blown up and 168 people were killed, is just one incident of retaliation of militant anti-government people. It links the KKK, the Christian Jdentty/fundament-

alist and the 400 active militia groups in the country to things like the inalienable rights of gun owners, supremacy of the white race, the "God-given" document known as the Constitution and the righteousness that these people feel when committing robberies, murders and anything else they feel'called upon by God' to do that will result in the final ity of a Christian Nation.

The linking of all this to religion is essential, in the minds of the perpetrators, to justify everything with quotations from the Christian Bible to legitimize gaybashing and the torture/murder of homosexuals, killing abortion doctors and bombing clinics, labeling nonwhites as subhuman, refusing to pay taxes by declaring the government illegal and evil, and seeing the entire world through xenophobic eyes that put the bogeyman antichrist as the ultimate horror behind everything. If this last is not believed by the core leadership, it is still used to give the appearance of belief so people won't question their own righteousness in being part of it all.

Okay, this is not a book report. What struck me as being close to home was the pains taken by the author to show that conspiracy theories - about the evil government, the economic screws being turned on the righteous rural farmers and other people, the global plan to make ev~ryone slaves through international trade agreements, banking and fi nancial scams to take the democratic rights of citizens away and place them under the power of the corporate elite, the passage or destruction of various laws - can be made or created to incorporate any event into 'more of the same" or "what they are doing now." The close to home stuff is that people take their percepti on of events and the urunistakable facts of power and money displayed by corporate giants, governments and stuff Iike the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (N AFT A), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the United Nations and NATO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and drugs and land and wealth and the CIA and the Jews and nuclear weapons and the Antichrist and the tribulation and Armageddon and something called the rapture and wind it and twist it and set it spinning like a top.

The close to home stuff is that there is a grain of truth behind all of this, a truth that people with narrow or selfish interests can exploit to their own ends.

It can make you pat1 of this conspiracy theory craziness, seeing government and evil everywhere with every news story just more evidence; but it only works if you ignore other stuff. If you throw up your hands and quietly bury your head in sand, getting stoned or drunk or just walled off, you're a fool. It can also wake you up to the unmistakable fact that something's going on. The corporate agenda is a fact, to roll back all gains made in the social contract over the past century. This is not the ranting of a conspiracy addict- it's stated and plain to anyone looking at the maneuverings of big business and financial institutions - but think of opposing forces. . In the Downtown Eastside it's part of the growing awareness that various interests have different ideas on the present and future of th is community . T he ~Qt-nosed yups and holier-than-thou types declaring 95% of the local residents unacceptable and our homes, activities, and rights things to be done away w ith is almost laughable. Is it a conspiracy when constant whining about an image in a mural, the use

of a building, the presence of 'unsightly' people on a tourist-only area, and any projects/services/ideas that keep or even draw low-income (low class?) individuals to the neighbourhood drives people at s hitty hall to jo in in with the criminalisation of survival techniques born out of poverty (panhandling, squeegeeing), and the concerted effort to clean up (bulldoze) the Downtown Eastside?

Is it a conspiracy when the very identification of this area as the Downtown Eastside is still a hot topic .. when c ivic propaganda has a ward system "overwhelmingly rejected again and again" when in fact the majority of voters approve it each time it comes up .. when democracy dies and the press stops as the one-party ru les unblemished and the e lite seek to carve up the neighbourhood in the never-ending pursuit of profit? "a moratorium on non-market

housing and services"??!

The dictionary defines Conspiracy: -I. Pilagreement to perform together an illegal. treacherous, or evil act.

2. A combining or acting together, as if by evil de, sign. Conspiracy refers to such a plan by a group usually intent on a bold purpose, like overthrowing a government.

Any act or idea can be woven into a conspiracy theory. Use your intuition .. subjective approach with obj ective adjustment.

Keep the faith that what you do does make a difference.

By PAULR TAYLOR

My Warrior Friend "Always" Old Bill and me were s itting as we do in Oppenheimer talking by the baseball diamond fence where we always seem to end up about important stuff old men like us have had time to mull around started off marvelling at green grass li ke how it comes back thicker and the smell of it in the early morning reminds us of grey hair, how it's a sign but doesn't grow back thi~ker anymore and how we were growing our last full head of long hair and how that's how we have looked most of our time on Earth and how we were going to go out like we'd always been just us and how mysterious it was this fine soft stuff comes out of our leather-skinned scalps

but after the joint we always seem to share when we sit there like we do got to talking how one thing all races, colours, creeds have in common some among us are greedy, like a disease we crave possessions to a point where there is no rest from the never-ending quest to always get more, even if we can't use what we have in 10 lifetimes, the world is obsessed like a cancer that grows till it kills you, but Bill he cheer me up starts laughing and I couldn't help admire what a beautiful Cree warrior my friend has always been and the way it feels in my heart when he tells me "you are a good man, we will see you again" Bill is my friend, one of the few who can talk about the mysteries of green grass, grey hair and greed Richard Loewen