FREE
- donallons
accepted.
JULY 15, 1994. 401 Main St .• Vancouver
V6A 2T7 (604)665-2289
Let's call a halt to the traffic in killer drugs.
re Carrall St. Photo by Margaret P.
People are dying from overdoses and people are being murdered Most people in the neighbourhood fear for their lives on the streets.
Come to the DERA meeting at the Carnegie Centre, Thursday, July 21 at . 1pm. Help plan; there is no other community in this city where this drug epidemic is tolerated
Editor I do not think it is appropriate for our Canada Day observances to be used to try to influence public opinion on a controversial issue. But that is what happened at Canada Place on July I. Many celebrants, myself included, were approached by a band of paid canvassers and asked to sign a petition in favour of the Seaport Centre project. It seems Seaport Centre was one of the corporate "sponsors" of the event. The canvassers did not mention that the project includes aLas Vegas-style casino on the waterfront. Italked to one woman who signed, an American tourist. She said she had no idea it was for a casino. When Itold her that the community was against this project because it would create homelessness on our streets, she immediately scratched her name off the petition. The Vancouver Sun reported (July 2) that Seaport Centre is spending an estimated $30,000 to $50,000 a month to try to influence our thinking. This campaign includes sponsorship of Canada Day, expensive slic mailings, dubious phone polls and full-page ads in newspapers. Meanwhile the other side has to make do with pocket money and volunteers. In my opinion, this issue istoo important to be decided m the basis of who has the most money to throw around. There should be .a limit on the amount of propaganda we are to be subjected to and some sense of propriety on the part of Seaport Centre sponsors. (Princess) Margaret
FEAR Fear is an obstacle we as humans always have to deal with. The funny thing about it is that we are usually fearful of things that can't really hurt us. When Ithink about the wasted time I've spent worrying about what others would think of my actions, or what Isay or think, Irealize how much fear has crippled me. Also we face many fears of failure, often programming ourselves for failure before we even begin. Now once we recognize these fears for what they are we are faced with changing them. This is where things get really difficult. Often even though these fears and the behavioural attitudes are detrimental to us and others we are uncomfortable with them, so we come full circle back to.fear again., We are comfortable with our behaviour and change is fearful but change we must. Now the only way to do this is to face them. For me going back to school is facing a fear I've had for fifteen years; I've been experiencing a real release from this bondage and now feel Iam able to learn. By MICHAEL DA VIES
Headline: Paris "Green Feathers Rage In Fashion" ... Everyone who wanted to Get Rich Quick went out searching for green feathers The God was asked if we should sell green feathers to the whiteman He had a dream where his Master showed him a chemical That made a bird's feathers fall out But afterwards they all grew back again He told us to find that chemical We looked everywhere, Couldn't find it
HASTINGS & PAIN The storefronts, they look like the rotted hulls of old sailing ships left out of the water too long., Buckled and warping into a semidry, puffed, sponge appearance. Water, once having claimed some of the mass, now relinquishing its grubstake to the air. It seems framed , in a black and white, depression-era photo, without the features of a human subject for reference. "All boarded up!" The words echo. The words echo from some other context, some other continuum, or conscious place-ofbeing. Another, yes, time.
The God said obviously this chemical Didn't exist in nature So we shouldn't sell feathers to the whiteman
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Some people thought he was bullshitting them They went out & killed A green bird & laid it at the God's feet. He cried for three days Then He said "You are the first of many green birds to die" Then He left us We never saw the God after that & so to this day there are no green birds in the whiteman's land. TORA They echo from stories of summer cabins being opened and closed, closed and opened in the subject dance of families at breakfast. They echo in rattle-bites, of storm-shutter security - three blanket shoulders wrapped tight against a January blast. Folded in the repetition, in the blanket layers, othe~ .. textures, like superstitions, like prohibitions and legal notice. Of someone whom you respect mystifying the moment, giving i~~ girth and shadow by uttering the admomnon: "Not to be so nosy." Or sometimes, more threatening ... "There are questions one shouldn't ask, and subjects not to be discussed." As if the secrecy could somehow protect from the hinted-at horror, rising like dew in the minds of the impressionists.
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"An boarded up!" There's a natural, lay-of-the-land obscene symmetry to the way money has shaped this place. If money is the lifeblood of a business community, this is the palliative care ward: Lower East Side, Hastings & pain. The land dipping lower to sea level as the number of smashed buildings increases; like a frightening, Frankensteinian medical device would measure a life essence, its vitality. The street slopes downward, waiting for the magic wand or a magic bullet, or a magic anything to give it a reason to get up. I speak of horror, and monsters, and other "Hollywood" things, and oddly enough you can find Hollywood everywhere. Camera crews use this heavily. The dust bowl photo comes to life, but only in movies ...Only in movies, and then it's lights out...The grain and yellowing reappear. The ambulances and ambulance drivers , the paramedics talking to the fallen on a first name basis. The elderly Asian woman in the
Blue Eagle with the calm "I've seen it all" resignation, and yet not to despair. The injured, and the odd, the woman with the bodyguard, the teenager hookers, the middleage hookers, the dealers, the hustlers, the wise-acre uptown boys down for a look at the other side of the world. It comes in waves ..... In pulses, from an almost audible command-to-be' DESPITE yes, despite. In your face, up y~ur arm, do~ your throat, over your shoulder, everywhere. Dinero's, middle age raging bull, grown punch-drunk and groggy. But not without the' dignifying nobility born of paying one's dues. The scars are worn like veterans' medallions on Remembrance Day, a remembrance day that knows no calendar. It's always there, ready at a moment's notice or a usurper's challenge, real or imagined. Pride, like a dulled knife, a broken shaft, with a battle residue still perceptible to a science of compassionate forensics, that is, of the heart. By MARK OAKLEY
Social programs give 'Canadian companies competitive edge Business people who are pressuring Canadian governments to cut social programs are endangering their own competitiveness .. That's the conclusion of a recent study released by the George Morris Centre, a research institute at the U niversity of Guelph. According to the study, Canada's publicly funded social programs-especially Medicare-help give Canadian firms an advantage over their competitors in the United States.
A Place of Vision
The study was done for the Canadian Agri-Food Competitiveness Council, which represents food producers, processors, retailers and consumers. Larry Martin, who chairs the council, said that governments that respond to business pressure to cut social programs "may end up throwing the baby out with the bath water." He noted that the argument used by corporations that favour cuts in social spending is that they have to pay higher taxes and social security contributions than their American counterparts. But the study says that argument is only partly right. Once privately funded benefits, particularly health care, are thrown into the mix, the total cost of benefits borne by V.S. companies is from
megadeveloment and expensive stores. 5. Some businessmen from Hong Kong asked us for directions as we waited for our bus and they stayed and talked with us until it arrived. I told Alicia I almost invited them for dinner and she said] should have followed my intuition .. That evening was pretty hectic as there was a bingo and a gong show. The gong show was a riot, especially when Tony did his rendition ofMarilyn Monroe, accompanied by Joanne on the piano. The last day had Gertrud and I walking in the woods. It was so peaceful in the woods listening to the birds singing instead of the roar of traffic. Many thanks to the camp director and her wonderful crew for allowing us to share such a beautiful spot. Pat hails from Saskatoon and I meet so many people from there I wonder if there is anyone left in that particular province.
three to five times higher, the study concluded. "Health care is the major reason for the results of our study," said Martin. "As long as a company in the States is paying for employees' health benefits, which most do, then the results are going to be the same. Our study shows that, while V.S. tax rates are substantially lower, V.S. costs for health insurance and workers' compensation are far higher. "We can only conclude," he added, "that Canadian firms get more for their money when it comes to social prograins. The differences are so great that they suggest Canada's social programs provide a competitive advantage rather than a barrier." .:.
SMOKE Smoke smoke that cigarette .••
Gays and Lesbians and Friends You are invited to an open discussion. Topic: Homophobia at Carnegie
Centre Come join us, we welcome your support!
Thursday, 21 July, 3-5 pm in the Pottery Room at Carnegie We are the participants in the Gay and Lesbian Drop-in. We have info about the gay community in Vancouver, including the latest issues of Angles and Xtra West. We have watched a movie occasionally, most recently Fried Green Tomatoes. At some meetin zs we enjoy games together, like Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly, or you can suggest your favourite game. We share information about where to have fun in town , where we have been and what we have found. We make coffee and sometimes a small snack. We do not violate each other's privacy; the only requirement for our meetings is a gay, friendly attitude. Come join the fun. We meet the first and third Thursday or each month in the pottery room at Camegie, from 3-5 pm.
That's the first line of an old swing tune and one of those tunes that we won't be singing on the first floor any more. Yes. After much delay (and several visits from the Vancouver Health Department), we are moving forward with creating more space in the building that is non-smoking. . As of August I st the entire first floor will be a non-smoking floor. In the Spring of 1995 I will consider making part or all of the lane level non-smoking as well. During July and August we will be organizing sessions on "how to quit smoking" and "the hazards of 2nd-hand smoke". I know that for some we are moving too slowly with this, and for ¡others we are cutting out the last . refuge in the city where you can have a quiet smoke and chat with your friends. I certainly understand the importance of cigarettes to many people who use the Centre. At the same time I really hear the people who say that it is intolerable that, with the number of people in this community with health problems (particularly lung and heart problems), we still allow people to fill the air with smoke. I'm sure I'll be hearing from some of you out there whichever side of the debate you come down on. Thanks. Donald MacPherson, Acting Director
* The
ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK The corner of Main and Hastings has always been a busy place. It's going to get busier before too long if and when the new "community bank" opens in the old Bank of Montreal building across from Carnegie. Lore Krill, a Downtown Eastside resident, has her name as a contact person at the end of a letter from "Participants in the Community Banking Initiative". Excerpts "The need for the services that this institution will provide are more than obvious. Crime, violence, exorbitant service fees and humiliation are only too commonplace to those poorly serviced by existing banks. "Not only welfare recipients but many lowerincome peoples have been denied adequate facilities to assist them with the management of their finances, primarily because they are unable to met the service charge and identification requirements to open a standard bank account. "Many existing banks require a minimum deposit for a term to establish an account holder. Five dollars can mean two or three days food to someone at the end of their monthly income." Some other points made by the writer of the "participants" letter and by Tim Gal.la.gher, communications manager for the mimstry of Employment and Investment, excerpted from long letters to the Newsletter: * The bank aims at serving the downtown area, including Downtown South (Granville Street), with the emphasis on service. for lowincome people, rather than geographical location.
bank will have an It-member board appointed by the provincial government. Three members will be nominated by an 7. advisory committee. Five of the seven members of the advisory committee will be elected by the depositors, one vote per person, no matter how large their deposit. * The government is looking into using direct deposit of welfare cheques into the bank , but no decision has been made yet. There won't be a picture ID system, nor direct administration of cheques. * The bank will help reduce time spent on lineups, but can't eliminate it entirely. There is no limit on the number of accounts the bank will open. * lfthe government changes, that could effect the bank, just like any other crown corporation. * The long-term goal of the bank is to help finance community projects, such as housing, but that will have to wait until the board of directors decides it's financially viable. * The bank will lend out money subject to "prudent investment policies." Loan policy will be determined by the board of directors
with advice of the advisory committee and approval of the government. . * Hiring and training of local residents to work in the bank is strongly supported by the government. '" There is no connection between the bank proposal and the VLClMirage casino scheme for the waterfront. Planning meetings for the bank are open.to all members of the community. For more information, call Lore Krill at 682-1948. By Muggs Sigurgeirson
'To the Editor, the Vancouver Sun I can't help but respond to the latest salvo of vitriolic abuse directed at The Board of Directors ofD.E.R.A. (June 30) by Elizabeth Aird on behalf of the advocates of The Main&Hastings bank project. Firstly, I have volunteered in community development initiatives in various capacities for over 10 years. [ will not apologize to anyone for the quality of the effort I've contributed, and I will not be "summoned" by anyone to any meeting I feel uncomfortable in attending. No one on the DERA Board has ever accused the participants ofthis project of being self-serving or attempting to foster any future personal gain through their involvement. yet we endure continued sniping from individuals who claim that our employees are disingenuous. Secondly, Ms. Aird should know that we can scarcely be held accountable for the content of the editorials featured in her paper. As for the "Klein't-isms set forward, which suggest that people will "do for themselves" if they
only pick themselves up by their broken shoelaces, I wish to point out that every component of the so-called "help industry" that we have been devoted to for 20 years is delivered with dignity, compassion, and a strong sense of enduring responsibility. We have asked for and received, in timely fashion, very helpful information from government officials connected with this project. We have never been rudely received or insulted by them as has too often been the case in these"community" sessions. This neighbourhood continues to be savaged by unconstrained megadevelopments at every turn and I will continue my efforts to work tow~rd community revitalization in a reasoned and comprehensive manner the best way I know how, and I will not take the low road by indulging in petty back-biting at a time when this community needs everybody pulling together to save this neighbourhood from imminent dissolution. For the Board of Directors: lan MacRae, Vice-President.
Elder's Gathering
Housing and Employment Project A report on the ongoing activities was received and participants, at their June 20 meeting, moved towards starting a Community Development Society. This would "bring together the related initiatives and projects currently either using the premises or proposing to do so. These include the Community Health Plan, the Community Financial Institution and The Binners." Following this "the need to get accurate and current information out ..(found) existing media vehicles were inadequate. In response, the project will publish a newsletter dealing specifically with concerns surrounding the Main & Hastings site." "Catch up" meetings dealing with general project issues will be convened on August 4 (day) & 5 (night) and Aug.ll (day) & 12 (n). A general community meeting will be held on August 20th. All meetings will happen at 390 Main St. with times posted (in the windows?) However.. "the public are welcome and encouraged to attend." (Editor's note: This report was unsigned but had previously been submitted by Mark Hierlihy .. Mark went to great lengths to trash DERA in a letter to the editor of the Vancouver Sun on how right-on Elizabeth Aird was to similarly trash- Dera Ian Mackae's letter gives a response to Aird. This is mentioned only because the report was unsigned for the first time. Wonder why?)
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Twenty members of Carnegies Seniors Support Group left Vancouver at 7:15am on July 5th. We arrived at the ferry and were able to get on the 9am ferry to Nanaimo. We had nice lunches, thanks to the kitchen folks. Thanks especially to Joseph Phaneuf for making sandwiches as well as driving the van. Fred Gordon also drove with several passengers and most of our gear. Among our Elders on the trip were Basel' (Deadman's Creek Band), Virginia Sinclair (Metis), Eva Spence (Haida), as well as many younger seniors. I won't mention all names here but many nations were represented. We arrived and headed up the island, eventually entering the Nimpkish Valley and leaving behind the more tourist centred area. Throughout the valley were logging sites, ranging from fresh cuts to places re-planted maybe 25 -years ago. Many among us spotted eagles and animals along the way. Finally we neared Port Hardy around 7:30 and, after registration at the community hall, went to the three homes that we shared during the event. The gathering opened on Wednesday with Chief Simon Baker of the Squamish Nation saying the opening prayers. Welcoming dances were performed and altogether there were about 1000 people registered for this gathering. A note on the site - there were many big trees and numerous eagles! On the second day there was a huge salmon barbecue and workshops on various health issues & stress were given. Many First Nations' artists displayed their work for sale. Many of us enjoyed long walks on the seashore and everyone on the trip expressed their enjoyment of the entire Elders' Gathering. As a wrap-up to our participation
v in this year's event, Norman Mark, President of the Carnegie Seniors, presented our donation of $200. Lorelei Hawkins was our Elder and Basel Deneau presented an honour gift to the outgoing king & queen and congratulated the new king & queen from Merritt. We had a wonderful brunch at Roberts Lake on our way home on Saturday and were lucky enough to catch the 3pm ferry to arrive back at Carnegie by 6pm. Some of our adventurous group continued on to the Mission PowWow! Next year the Elders' Gathering will be held at Merritt, BC, which is a lot closer. Submitted by Alicia Mercurio
black on grey to donald bond "poor soul" the receptionist says when Iask for you steam & clouds making shadows in this still & sterile room & you don't recognize an old friend as Icall your name & your eyes begin closing so I shout & my voice feels evil & a gasp from plastic tubing startles me swollen & scarred a hand floats toward nothing divine lightning saved an old man a mugging but minutes later the avenging thief returned for you & crushed your skull with a wooden club silencing your wild laughter & huge indignations & now your eyes open & the right one moves not the one blinded red & raw in the car crash that years ago started it all downhill for an "adonis" with a woman you loved & a job you wanted not scar tissue growing over steel plates making the thought of a drink an endless drunk you're only 40 years old & your shaved head sprouts tiny hairs like splinters driven-in instead of the black blaze of curls you wore with pride searching for life I see a machine breathing you & a machine tracing heartbeat in measurable waves & lines & dots like your eye traces me traces nothing ice cubes melting shift where a suction tray is constructed causing explosion in this steam silent room your blistered lips collapse together writhe once in awhile & Ihear a distant intercom-
muzak subdued laughter of nurses & suddenly panic wiping your sweat from my fingertips afraid of you whom l've embraced many times disoriented shadows tear the room apart a black glance reflects on gray television glass & Ihave hoped as all who come to see you say they do that one of us - the lucky one will bring you back because our lives are torments & we want to mean something vital & you ridicule our fantasies more than any painted corpse helpless I want to kill you • I retch get angry & making my face a mask walk into the hallway where a nurse notices ~ the room I leave & when our eyes lock our embarrassment is horrifying the sky outside is roaring blue wind bright autumn sun a falling leaf I bust into tears
& want to say it's for you alone I feel deep sadness but these tears belong to me who 11. desires to call 'liars' doctors who say vegetables & 1 want to deny that anyone who speaks as you have of the strong spirit love is & of a yearning to make well all which is ill can ever be degraded like this though some people claim you brought it on yourself & others implicate survivors who failed you but we only know you spent your last days laughing complaining & sharing what you had drinking cheap wine & sleeping in abandoned automobiles or on the riverbank & eating . from garbage cans walking shoeless banned from agencies becoming one less human to threaten anyone's holy resume "you're not going to fuck up my referrals!" a social worker explained kicking you out of a detox for the last time into the street where as you often said: • "you can't wear out the sidewalks" BUDOSBORN
History Is What We Remember Vancouver Is A C.P.R. Town - Part 1 Gassy (because he talked a lot) Jack Deighton wandered over to Burrard Inlet from New Westminster in 1867, and built a log cabin saloon twelve feet by twenty feet at what is now the intersection ofCarral1 and Water streets. His customers were the loggers and sawmill workers on Burrard Inlet. A small settlement called Gassy's town, or Gastown, grew up around this place, and in the government survey of 1869 it was officially named GranviJIe after a member of the British aristocracy. Granville was a small village with a few hundred people in the early 1880's. Port Moody, at the eastern end of the Burrard Inlet , attracted more interest. It was scheduled to be the western terminus of the c.P.R. transcontinental railway, and land speculators concentrated their efforts there. A sneaky game of land dealings was going on in back rooms, however, about which Port Moody real estate speculators and the ordinary ci izens of Granville were unaware. At the same time as c.P.R. officials were saying that Port Moody would be the end of the transcontinental railway, they were negotiating secretly with W.M. Smithe, Premier of British Columbia, for a huge tract of land south of Coal Harbour as payment for extending the railway fourteen miles from Port Moody to Granville. Now the land around the western end of Burrard Inlet had been held by the Government of Canada, although it had never
been transferred from First Nations' ownership by treaty. When Port Moody had supposedly been established as the end of the c.P.R. railway, this land was handed over to the provincial government. In its secret negotiations, the c.P.R. asked that the provincial government give it 11,000 acres of the land that the province had just received from the federal government. These 11,000 acres would be payment for extending the railway to Granville. Premier Smithe made a counter offer of 6,000 acres from False Creek south to the slopes above the Fraser River, between what is now Main and MacDonald Streets. District Lot 541, which included most of today's central business district, was thrown into the pot along with most of the waterfront from Stanley Park to Gore Avenue. All major land speculators around the village of Granville, like Powel1 and Oppenheimer, had to donate one-third of their holdings to the railway. The c.P.R. accepted this deal. In other words, to induce the c.P.R. to do what it would have done anyway (Granville was a superior harbour to Port Moody, and the c.P.R. had no flat land around Port Moody), the provincial government gave the railway company approximately one-quarter of what is now the City of Vancouver.
When the official announcement that Granville would be the terminus of the transcontinental railway was made in ] 885, the village began to grow like Jack's magic beanstalk. As for the Port Moody land speculators, they .tried every legal trick they knew to prevent the c.P.R. from extending the track another four-teen miles. They couldn't stop it, though, and on May 23, 1887, the first passenger train arrived in Vancouver (formerly Granville) from Montreal. By SANDY CAMERON (to be continued) t
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FISHY BUSINESS OF SEAPORT CENTRE
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There is some '<fishy business" going on in the central waterfront. Clearly, there will be negative and heavy environmental impacts from the proposed Seaport Centre rnegaproject. Barges would likely be used to drop any new landfill in the area, instead of trucks. The use. of barges would cause siltation that would cause the destruction of marine habitat. The marine habitat is relatively healthy now and' does have a variety of marine life. It is also '<fishy business" regarding the new, proposed landfill and the dangers of landfill liquefaction. Liquefaction would occur down to a depth of 25 metres or 75 feet. Buildings could get sucked down into the liquefied landfill to a depth of six stories. Liquefaction also increases the dest~cti.ve power and impact of a quake. Thus buildings would have more structural damage and potential loss of life, due to liquefaction of
landfill.
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Piledriving could not be done to a depth of 25 metres, and the one method of structurally improving a building is lost. . The central waterfront of Vancouver IS not the safest place for Seaport Centre. The liability and insurance costs to the Provincial and Federal taxpayer would be astronomical, if Seaport Centre were to go ahead at the central waterfront location. The Seaport Centre megaproject indeed smells like '<fishy business." Don Larson (** A geotechnical study commissioned by the Vancouver Port Corporation confirms the probability of liquefaction and the above foreseen consequences. **)
The myth of the child-hero is one that occurs in the psychedelic experience with considerable frequency, This motif is often relived in terms of historical and mythological analogues-Jesus, Moses, Heraeles -and then is taken up by the subject in a more personal manner to suggest his rebirth experienced in terms of a newborn divine child emerging from the darkness of the womb and undergoing extraordinary dangers in order to begin a life of great promise. The figure of the childhero becomes for the psychedelic subject a personification of the most profound aspects of his striving towards self-realization." We do not have here, we believe, just a simple regression to an infantile state which presents the subject with an opportunity to "begin all over again." Rather, this appears to be a phenomenon of profound engage-:/; ment in a potent and potentiating universal drama from which the person emerges with a sense of having been redeemed, transformed, and as some subjects have put it, "transfigured." In the following case we ~J have an example of the child-hero motif as "lived out" during the (J course of a psychedelic session. I
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5-4, a businessman in his early forties (LSD: 100 micrograms), came to his session feeling that bis very considerable business success had been purchased at the expense of an atrophied inner life, so that now he experienced himself as hollow and exhausted and had, for the past year, been strenuously attempting to remedy this condition. Neither a flirtation with Eastern mysticism .nor a period of psychoanalysis had proved effective and he was left with serious doubts concerning his "spiritual worth." . S now obviously stood at a forking of the psychedelic road, with breakthrough one possibility, the other a circular self-reinforcing depression that would be both unrewarding and painful. To avoid this latter possibility, S was urged to lie back and close his eyes and was told (note close surface relation of images): "Perhaps instead of thinlcing of a desert, you will find it possible to think of a void. Think now of a void, a black, silent void. A void beyond life, beyond existence, beyond you, . beyond me, beyond everything. Now there is a light coming faintly into this void. A light that is beginning to dimly illuminate the landscape. Tell,
_!f!!!!!!!!!!!i!!!!#~ utterances as they were recorded by the guide. The story is tol~ in terse ~ sentences comprising a polyglot mythology of the child-hero with whom the subject identified. The actual (symbolic level) "ineamational" sequence took about forty minutes to unfold:
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"Yes, the light is coming up. I see a woman lying on top of a mountain .... She is struck by a thunderbolt ... and out of this union . I am born. A race of ugly dwarfs seek to destroy my mother and me . so she hurries down the mountain ... hides me in a swamp A serpent with great jaws flicks out his tongue ... draws me into his mouth .... I am swallowed .... I am passing down inside the snake. This is horrible. Incredible demons line the shores of the snake's insides. Each tries to destroy me as I Boat by.... I reach the end of the tail and kick my way out ... raining very hard in the swamp ... I am drowning No .... I am caught in a net ... being pulled out of the water An old fisherman has caught me in his net The serpent rises out of the water ... grown into a huge sea monster opens its jaws and snaps them shut on half of the fisherman's boat. With the next bite it will swallow both of us. A thunderbolt comes out of the sky and smashes the boat in two, leaving half of it stuck in the monster's gullet. The fisherman takes me in his arms and swims with me towards shore .... The sea monster pursues us.... Just as we reach the shore it snaps off the fisherman's leg. The fisherman continues to hold me and crawls with me in his arms to a nearby hut. His wife is there. She nurses her husband and puts me into a cradle. I am raised by this couple as their own son. They are very kind to me ... tell me I must be very special seeing as how I was drawn from the water .... They call me Aquarion. The years pass. I am DOW four years old but already I am tremendously strong and powerful .... Also, I mow the language of birds and flowers ... talk to the animals and plants and learn many strange things. They tell me I must avenge myself OD the sea monster who tried to destroy me and bit off my fisher-father's leg. !dite into the water to go and find the sea monster .... For many hours I swim around and finally I find it. It is swimming towards me at tremendous speed. It has grown gargantuan and horrible ugly ... opens its jaws to consume me but I evade them and get a strangle hold on its throat. For many days we battle together .... The sea is crimson with our blood Great waves are created by our combat ... I am the conqueror tear open its belly ... I slay the internal demons. . . . In its stomach I find the leg of my fisher-father. I take the leg back to land and fit it onto his stump. It instantly joins and he is whole again. My parents take me to the temple to give thanks for my victory .... We approach the high priestess with a thanks offering ... tell her my story. When she hears of it she swoons . . . . She comes to and says to me, 'My womb was quickened by the thunderbolt. You are the SOD of promise whom I hid so long ago.' She raises her hands to the heavens and ... she says ... 'Speak, 0 Lord, to this your son. Speak to his strength and his glory. He hath prevailed over the Evil One. He hath delivered the deep of its Enemy. Set your purpose upon him Lord.' A great thunderbolt shatters the air.... A thunderous voice speaks: 'Aquarion, my son, you are now your own man. Go forth into the Wasteland and bring forth fruit. Know that I shall be with you always and where once there had been drought ... wherever you pass ... there shall spring up a Green Land.' "
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Stcvcston Treasures Last month a group of hikers went to explore Steveston with Bob & Marina. Our first stop was Finn Slough, which is one of the last tidal communities on the west coast. The Finn Slough community has been a continuous presence at the southern foot of Number Four Road in Richmond since the turn of the century when it was established by Finnish fishers. The Slough has always been a special place to many people: sports fishers who use the area extensively, cyclists, walkers and equestrians who all appreciate Finn Slough's unspoiled historic appearance. Painters, photographers and film makers document this relic of BC's all too quickly vanishing coastal heritage. aturalists acknowledge and appreciate the many species of plants, birds, mammals and fish, some of them unusual or rare that are nurtured by Finn Slough and its surrounding wetlands. Now the existence of this unique wetland community is threatened. Recently the title holder of the adjacent land to Finn Slough tried to evict the residents and fishers established here. He has made it clear that he plans to build a residential development on the land.
This is a close kmt community in a pioneer setting. We were taken on an extensive tour of the site and decided that we would like to fight to keep it that way. One lady had a beautiful flower garden in an old boat. Next we enjoyed lunch at Garry Point. Another highlight of our trip was a tour of the Britannia Heritage Shipyard. Imagine my surprise to see our tour guide was an old friend from Vancouver South Family Place. This is the third year that Britannia, a 109 year-old former cannery and shipyard, is open to the public of all ages for either drop-in visitors or a booked tour on a year round basis. We thoroughly enjoyed going through the rustic buildings and watching the old boats being restored. For real adventure please join us for healthy exercise and learn more about the histories of local areas. By IRENE SCHMIDT
Red Shift night, for you a disorient of straw-coloured lights, incriminations limbs, homing slowly, turning gold in difficult incandescence of fright or frustration years are pulling your face down like a shade before the conflagrations only two sparks, two stars to see by giving one unbroken spectrum brilliance with a darkness inside shifted to red a pupil, a sightless glaring presence for which there is no room without its anvil of consequence
not on the highways drumming distantly in the stations closing down not by the river descending where the franchised forged in effigy stand remembering the eyes the last violences of a deluge nor room for your voice echoing through the streets like a squeezed ultimatum the strikes one's name bears like emblems, dangerous premises wrought in argument or prevarication behind this nomenclature a slight anybody leans like you through the iron spaces of gratitude and nightmare
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a word turning in its nakedness astonished by gender Dan Feeney
At the heart of existence is an oath, an irresistible and vast momentum, and every attempt to resist or evade it, to predict or
follow or ignore it, is culture, art, history, philosophy, institution, is every convulsive form of activity that takes place everywhere, an unbreakable monument made of concrete and stars and desire, casinos and poverty and language, within which we hear or do not hear, speak or do not speak, touch or do not touch, in snow or heat or exhaustion, the possibilities, which are also inevitabilities that will silence, finally, our continuous pronunciation of it. Dan Feeney
The Yoga of Social Change Seven thousand years ago a great Yogi, Sada Shiva, brought knowledge to build a civilization. Art science, music, medicine, language, social norms, and most importantly the psycho-spiritual practices of TANTRA YOGA. Literally, Tantra means "that which liberates from crudeness (ignorance)". From the original holistic science, involving physical & mental disciplines and spiritual practices, many separate schools branched off You may have heard of some of them - Hatha, Raja, Bhakti, Kundalini, etc. Each time a piece of the original tantra was 'broken off it added to the western idea that the practice of yoga means being caught up in your own self and your own lift ..to the exclusion of social issues and social change. There is much confusion and frustration around the issue of spirituality. Many people question religions, whether they mean anything or say what the founders taught. Has something been forgotten? Have the original spiritual practices become empty rituals? Has faith become superstition? Has realisation become dogma?
The need for a system of practices, physical, mental and spiritual, is not met with beliefs or theories that don't mesh with scientific discoveries or are not rational. What Tantra provides is a proven way to take one's self from ignorance to enlightenment... a revolution in consciousness. This begins with commitment to a goal and changing your life. The Way of Tantra includes meditation, physical exercises, an approach to diet and health that makes sense, a code of cardinal human values ... it involves learning about yourself and the Infinite. The ultimate end of this revolution is to attain psycho-spiritual parallelism, where there is no longer any difference between you and your goal. Tantra is a timeless science - it's relevance in today's world is no less than in the past. Modem scientific research has expressed amazement.that discoveries in all fields, including medicine, psychology and mental power, are often just repetitions of things revealed thousands of years ago. Tantra teaches that one must take an objective look at everything in life and live positively. But wait - what about "social change?" When you decide to begin spiritual practice, you have an idea that the world is not as it should or could be. You decide to become a vegetarian, because eating meat makes it harder to do meditation or physical postures; you wake up to the incredible environmental pollution and degradation involved in producing livestock for food. You decide to begin learning about learning, to clear your mind, and you begin to think about schools
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and education and teaching ...and you look at what is available for yourself and your kids (present or future) and it's not adequate. You see poverty and crime and injustice and exploitation and the politics of wealth and war and the breakdown of respect for each other and you wonder what's being done ..what you can do. Lo & behold, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. The ways needed to make for progressive change can be broken down to an essence, which can be called a theory. There are five fundamental principles to the Progressive Utilisation Theory, to Prout, listed below without elaboration right now: 1. There should be no hoarding of wealth without the permission of society. 2, There should be maximum utilisation of crude, subtle and causal resources of the universe. In addition the distribution of income and wealth should be rational. That is to say, it should satisfy minimum needs of all human beings on earth, permitting some but not excessive inequalities. 3. There should be maximum utilisation of the physical, mental & spiritual potentialities of the individual and collective organisms. 4. There should be a proper adj ustment amongst the crude, subtle and causal; utilisations. This adjustment is designed to prevent air and water and space pollution. 5. Utilisations should vary in accordance with changes in time; space and person, and should be of a progressive nature. This principle is designed to keep Prout from becoming an inflexible dogma in the future. "Dogma" is bad theory presented as truth.
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The first bond between these two parts of life individual and collective, is simple spi;itual progress and social change. Tantra has been brought out of the mists of secrecy and false teachings - and forms the base for the renewal of education, political revolutior and a true New World Order.
This article is a beginning of a 'report' on ~ week just spent at an international conference/seminar on the yoga of social change. More in coming issues.
By PAULR TA YLOR
YWCA HOMESHARING FOR SINGLE MOTHERS • Do you have a problem finding safe and affordable housing for you and your children? • Have you ever considered sharing a home with another single mother and her family?
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Homesharing for single mothers can mean: • affordable housing costs • better accommodation in a safer area • reduced living expenses • support and companionship for both children and adults • shared resources • shared household responsibilities • shared childcare Successful homesharing takes time and effort; it can be a very satisfying and rewarding way to live. The Single Mothers' Homesharing Network facilitates homesharing, networking and support for all single mothers and their children. We assist in matching compatible families in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region, The Network offers.. a specific Indo-Canadian component. For more information, please contact the YWCA VANCOUVER HOUSING REGISTRY at: 501 E. Broadway, Vancouver V5T lX4 Telephone: 873-1313 The Single Mother's Homesharing Network is a free service of the YWCA housed at the YWCA Vancouver Housing Registry. It is funded by the City of Vancouver and BC Housing. VANCOUVER
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Health industry wants trade deal to scrap "buy-local" policies A coalition of drug companies, medical equipment manufacturers and hospitals is pus~in~ th:, provinces"to get rid of all provlOclal buy-local procurement policies. The companies want unfettered access to all ten provincial markets. . The coalition, called the Canadian Health Development Foundation, has hired ex-Tory aide Paul Brown to coordinate its effortS. Judging from the draft text of the inter-provincial trade deal negotiations, it appears .che coalition is having some success. +•• Source:
Lobby Monitor.
TOBACCO It's just typical that when you give someone a bit of advice, or even if you tell someone you are striving for something, they'll do the opposite just to be perverse! Like the time I told my cousin J was a vegetarian, so naturally just before cheque day he otTers to treat me to a meal of pork chops and chicken fried rice. It is especially so with tobacco. I get something from the cafeteria on the 2nd floor of Carnegie and just as I am walking to the non-smoking lounge some blank blows a huge gray plume of tobacco smoke in my face. I really like when all these people talk of freedom yet they cannot liberate themselves from the unwholesome compulsion of smoking. Not even for a day. If tobacco could be anthropomorphized, it would turn out to be some pesky, irritating wretch who would never leave you alone, w~uld demand your attention every 20 minutes, and would follow you even if you decided to leave town. It's not a good idea for a non-smoker to pursue a romance with a smoker. You look at a heavy smoker and what you see are yellow fingers, tan teeth ...and a constant nervous swivel-headed manner in their conversations as they think of the next smoke.
You can almost time a tobacco smoker's moods as if on cue as they swerve from a brief burst of euphoria as they smoke the smoke and watch then as the smoker plunges into the angry depression of nicotine withdrawal. I do have a friend who is a tobacco smoker , but I now know that he is not smart because he smokes but rather in spite of the fact. Tobacco is the capitalist echelon's plot to enslave the weak. In economics, there is the concept of opportunity cost; the fact that one spends their last dollars on something, means that they are not spending it on something else. The opportunity cost of a pack of smokes is a vegetarian meal, or a small bag of groceries, or maybe a good second hand novel,. I quit smoking tobacco a year ago., Before that I was a moderate smoker for five years. Today my lungs no loner itch or ache. I can run farther distances, my senses of taste and smell are on full capacities, and best of aliI don't go around feeling that all is ruined unless there is some tobacco at hand. When I was a smoker these alcoholics and cocaine nuts would ask me for smokes all the time, or a paper, or a light.i.and when they would ask on the Sunday before cheque day "You gotta be out of your fucking mind! You should have thought about your tobacco habit before you blew your cheque on booze and whatnot!" Narrow the gap between rich and poor --STOP SMOKING TOBACCO NOW! Dean Ko
Children Learn wnor inev
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If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. \
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to find love in the world.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with recognition, they learn to have a goal.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves. If children live with ridicule, they lea~n to be shy.
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If children live with sharing, they learn to be generous. If children live with honesty and fairness, they learn what truth and justice are.
If children live with jealousy, they learn what envy is.
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If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty. If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If children live with friendliness, they learn that the world is a nice .place in which to live.
If children live with encouragement, they learn to be confident.
If children live with serenity, they learn to have peace of mind.
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With what are your children living? Dorothy L. NoIte
DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY
STD Clinic - Monday through Friday, lOam - 6pm- . FREE MEDICAL CLINIC - Mon, Wed, Friday, 5:30-7:30pm. NEEDLE EXCHANGE - 221 Main; every day, 9am - 5pm. Needle Exchange Van - on the street evenings, Mon-Sat. N.A. meets every Monday night at 223 Main Street.
1994 DONATIONS Bruce J.-$10 Bill 5.-$2 Paula R.-$10 Charley B.-$32 Sandy C.-$20 Kettle FS -$16 Cecile C.-$10 Hazel M.-$10 Bill B.-$16 Joy T.-$12 Lillian 11.$16 Oiane M. $16 Etienne S.-$40 Libby D.~$20 AJultLCC -$l~ CEEDS - $50 Carnegie ALC-$30 Margi S.-$5 Anonymous -$35 Sue H.-$35 lIelp
THE NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF TilE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION. Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.
in the Downtown Eastside (funding) Submission Deadline NEXT ISSUE
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NEED HELP?
28 July Thursday
The Downtown Eastslde Residents' Association can help you with: • • • • • • • •
any welfare problem Information on legal rights disputes with landlords unsafe living conditions income tax UIC problem finding housing opening a bank account
Come Into the DERA office at 9 East Hastings SI. or phone us at 682-0931.
DERA HAS BEEN SERVING THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDB FOR 20 YEARS.
I Don't Miss You So Much 1 don't miss you so much now that you're gone. It's better now that you're gone because I don't feel so lonely. PSYCHIATRISTS Somwhere, Hey! a glimpse! Now gone. There's a human in there somewhere. By gum, by garsh, behind words, Intellect, pigeon-hole parts. Somwhere. Dorothy knows. Ifs all to do with rainbows, And Alice's glass. Reflect on the past, When it goes. Somwhere. In there. A voice so still, ignored, In the fear books would instill. And even a theory to explain this "normalcy" , AS some kind of bio-being-a-biochernical Predisposes. Meanwhile, Somwhere. Everywhere, all around, the proof of humanity Keeps claiming the ground
I've stopped crying now & my stomach has an ulcer. I don't miss you so much now that you're gone. The world is mine once again; I've started to notice it contains other people Stolen by lies Inventions of clowns pressured to find! A¡ mathematics of "soul" What do they say? What do they do? When their own fragility, Shows through? Blame it on somthing an ego believes Shaped and distorted Is this silly putty? And never you question this Black magic art, There's a hole for all Thomases, To fall, In the dark, a hand, on a switch. . "Turn 'em out, turn 'em out, It's too bright to bear." Mark Oakley
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Where is the wealth? Top ten questions you will be asked .. (with possible responses ...)
1. Don't businesses claim their taxes are too high? Corporations have invested millions of dollars to convince Canadians that corporate taxes are too high, but the facts show something different. Canada has the lowest corporate tax levels as a percentage of GDP of the G-7 countries. Lower than Germany. Lower than the U.S.A.
2) Won't increasing tax on corporations reduce the number of jobs? If that were true, you'd think cutting corporate tax would increase the number of jobs. Well, it hasn't. Although more than $140 billion in corporate profits have gone un-taxed in the last 9 years, 498,000 full-time jobs have been lost in the same period. Taxing corporations less doesn't create jobs. it just adds to the revenue shortfall.
3) Why should orporations pay (more) taxes when they're the ones that create all of tbe jobs? It's not true that large profitable corporations create all jobs. Thousands of jobs are created each year by small and medium size businesses. In fact, in the last 5 years, businesses with fewer than 100 employees created 98% of new jobs while large corporations wer.e laying off thousands of Canadians. As well, hospitals, schools and
governments employ over 20 per cent of Canadians. It's important to temember that WFI"et'S create the profits that benefit companies. Taxes pay for things like education and health care that create the conditions necessary for corporations to profit. To a degree, we're all in the same boat. Only the corporations are not rowing.
4) If we raise taxes on corporations, won't they just take jobs elsewhere? A corporation's decision to locate in a particular place depends on a variety of factors, not just the level of corporate taxation. Many industries have to locate near raw materials, transportation routes, or sources of power. Others have to be near markets or in places with a specialized labour force. For many corporations, the level f corporate taxation is not the determining factor in deciding where to locate.
5) Why should companies pay taxes when taxes only go to things that individuals benefit from? Everyone - including corporations - benefits from the stability and improved social climate that comes from fairness and equality. As well, companies benefit directly from taxes in many ways. Taxes are used to provide subsidies for research and development, as well as infrastructure such as roads, airports and railways. Taxes provide an educated, healthy work force, and are used to train employees.
6) In this economic climate, is it realistic to expect companies to pay (more) taxes? In 1992, the Royal Bank made a profit of over $63 million and paid no income tax. In the same year, a Royal Bank teller in BC making $25,000 paid $5,732. Is it fair? In the current economic climate, everyone should pay their fair share of taxes. Corporations benefit as much as individuals from how taxes are spent. Corporations should contribute their fair share in bad times as well as in good, just the rest of us.
7) "Deferred taxes" means they're just putting off paying taxes. The companies pay tbe taxes eventually, don't tbey? In 1992 alone deferred corporate taxes amounted to $35 billion. The fact is that a large amount of deferred corporate tax is never paid. When you or I don't pay our taxes on timefor any reason - the government charges us interest. You would think at the very least the government should treat corporations the same way. If the government charged interest on the total amount of deferred corporate tax it would raise biJlions of dollars.
8) How much corporate taxation would be fair? It is difficult to provide a simple answer to this. What is certain is that it's not acceptable for 93,405 corporations to pay no taxes on more than $27 billion in profits. The government could ensure fairer corporate taxation by imposing a minimum corporate tax, charging interest on deferred corporate taxes, and more aggressively pursuing corporate tax avoiders.
9) Won't increasing taxes on companies just put tbose already struggling out of business? We're not talking about an companies; we're talking about the 93,405 corporations that, in 1992, made profits of over $27 billion and paid no tax. 10) Are you calling for a tax revolt? No. Like most Canadians, we don't want to give up the things that taxes pay for - roads education, health care, --these things are very important to us. We just think it's time for corporations to pay their fair share too.
The Action Canada Network 804-251 Laurier Ave. W., Ottawa, Ontario Kt P 5J6
I~ IT FOR REAL - OR IS IT JUST A MIRAGE? Decide for yoursell at the
WATERFRONT OPEN ROUSE AND ANTI·CASINO CELEBRATION Entertainment, food, kids' stuff, tours of site
SUNDAY, AUGUST, Main Events from 1-3 p.m. CRAB PARK., north foot of Main Street (parking available nearby) In£o: Carnegle Centre, 689..0397