May 1, 2011, carnegie newsletter

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car·negie c N E\NS L ETTER

MAY 1, 2011

carn news@vcn.bc.ca

401 Main Street, Vancouver V6A 2T7 604.665.2289

People protest, fight and die for the chance to have ONE

VOTE. We already have this cherished right.

Every vote cast brings money to your riding, but please remember:

--

'IT IS CLEARLY UNCONSCIONABLE (i.e. WRONG) TO VOTE CONSERVATIVE.' ANY VOTE FOR A CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE IS A VOTE FOR STEPHEN HARPER. In the guise of 'the right thing to do' Harper plans treason. (see editorial -)

Moe c fello11 C;madians, I have decided to suspt!nd parliament.

Agents of subversion ...

I will r emam m place as your chosen leader come hell or h1gh water 路 alter all I ha ve 3 8 掳o of the popular vot e.

posmgas representatives of t he people. tned to do the democratic thmg by votmg to oust your dear leader.

Yes. they had the nerve to gang up on me ... part of a devious s chemt! hatched by separatists iJnd sooallsts.

Rela>: belate th1s outrage I took iJ shot at IVOmen s pay equity and the right to strike.

flo /eft1es are going to t ock this boat. Befort! long Kim Jung II and Sun l 路fyung /loon w1ll be green with envy.

Stephen Harper & Conservative Shit Canada is a parliamentary democracy, and the origin of parliament dates back to IJ'h century England. Today, people are protesting and fighti ng in many countries for democratic rights, something wh ich o ur government used to uphold.

During his reign as prime minister, Stephen Harper has been high-handed and even dictatorial in silencing public servants. Linda Keen, president of the Canad ian Nuclear Safety Commission, was quickly fired by Harper because s he reported that the aging Chalk River nuclear facility was at risk I ,000 times greater than the international average and should be shut down.

Harper also fired a whi stle blower, Luc Pomerleau, a biologist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, who exposed secret government plans to weaken regulations and allow corporate food producers to conduct their own food inspections. Shortly thereafter, a listeriosis outbreak occurred that killed 17 Canadians. Harper even silenced our scientists at Environment Canada, preventing them from speaking publicly about climate change without his permission. These are just a few of many examples.

The Conservatives even allegedly broke election-

But don 't worry I 1vil/ blocJ.. th1s coup d 'etaL In Canada we havt' dt'mocracy 1wth iln e\ceptton 路

!IE.

f ledm1hile dmJ..

your beet stems and have d great season ... oh and VIVA ALBERTA eht

spend ing laws during the 2006 campaign, which first brought them to power. Four Conservatives, including two senators [made senators by Harper after the charges were laid] face charges and possible jail time.

On top of all this, the Harper government was fo und to be in contempt of parliament, not by th opposition parties but by the Speaker, Peter Miliken, h igh ly respected and the longest-serving in this country's parliamentary history.

This was the first time in the history of Canada and the hundreds of years of the British parliamentary system that any government in the Commonwealth had been found in contempt of parliament. This brought the non-confidence vote and this election ..

Regardless of your political stripe, it would be clearly unconscionable to vote Conservative.

Sandip Sandhu, Surrey [Letters, the Georgia Strait]

Last election I went to the Carnegie to vote. with my Canadian passport and my voting card. it having been mailed to my home by Elections Canada. I thought I would be allowed to vote without problems. NOT ~Q. 1 was told by some@;!%*%"& that I could not use my Canadian Passport as a form of valid ID in a Canadian election. I near!) hit the roof. Only when I threatened to get the media down to the polling station did they relent and let me vote.

Living just across the street for the past seven years I would have had no problem getting someone to vouch for me. Or I could have run home and gotten a pile of other forms of ID. ho'' ever I was not going to be told a CANADIAN PASSPORT was not valid ID in a Canadian election.

1 stood my guns. I finally was allowed to vote. But 1 wonder how many people were sent away unable to vote that day by the same stupid poling officer? I am asking you to print. in the newsletter, this information 1 received from the Federal Government of Canada These pieces of identification have been authorized by the chief e lectoral o ffi cer o f Canada:

IDENTITY CARDS ALLOWED. Drivers licence llealth Card CA AD IAN PASSPORT Canadian Citizenship Card Birth Certificate Certificate of Indian Status (Status Card) Social Insurance Number Card Old Age Security Card Student ID Card Provincial/ Territorial identification Card Liquor Identification Card ll ospital/Mcdical Clinic Card Credit/Debit Card Employee Card Public Transportation Card Library Card Canadian Forces Identity Card Veterans Affairs Canada I lealth Card Canadian Blood Servicesfl lema-Quebec Card CN IB ID Card Firearm Possession and Acquisition Licence or Possession Only Licence Fishing. Trapping or Hunting Licence

Outdoors or Wildlife Card/Licence Bracelet worn by residents of long-term care facilities ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (With Name&Address) Utility Bill (telephone. TV. Public utilities commission: hydro, gas or water Bank Credit card Statement Vehicle Ownership/Insurance Correspondence from a school, college or university Statement of Government Benefits (employment insurance, o ld age security. social assistance. child tax benefit. disability support or) Attestation of Residence Issued by the responsible authority of a First Nations band or reserve Government Cheque or Cheque Stub Pension Plan Statement of Benefits, Contributions or Par1 icipation Residential Lease/Mortgage Statement Income/ Property Tax Assessment Noti ce Insurance Policy Letter from public curator, public guardian o~ trustee -ONE of the following, issued by the responsible authority of a shelter. soup kitchen, student/senior residence, or long-term care facility: Attestation of Residence, Letter of Stay, Admission Form or Statement of Benefits.

Let's hope that armed with the above information you wi ll be allowed to vote.

Remember: We ltave TJJREE OPTIONS: Show ONE original piece of identification with your photo, name and address. It must be issued by a government agency: Example is a Drivers license or Canadian Passp011. See first list above.

OR Show two original pieces of a.trhorized identification. Both pieces must have your name and one must also have your address. Example : Health card and hydro bill. See the list of authorized ID above.

OR swear an oath and have an elector who knows you vouch for you. This person must have authorized identification and be from the same polling division as you. This person can only vouch for one person.

Example: Your Roommate or a neighbour.

Hope fully, the people working at the polling station will allow us to vote this election w ithout a bunch of problems and have also read the Elections Canada list of authorized identification.- But just in case they have not. come to the polls armed with this list.

Submitted by Colleen Carroll

CHEATS, CROOKS- AND CHRISTIANS: All Harper has to say: It's the Christian thing to do"

By Murray Dobbin [Taken from the CCCPA 's Til e Monitor, Apri/201 f)

[CCPA: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives] Do any of the alleged Christians who support the govemment of Stephen Harper have any trouble with the fact that hi s govemmcnt is the most morally corrupt party in Canadian history? Does their fantasy that he will end abortions sometime in the future allow them to rationalize what he does on an almost daily basis that violates what most people accept as Christian values?

I have always suspected that Stephen Harper became an evangelica l Christian to enhance his ability to reconstruct Canada on the U.S. model of free markets and minimalist government. It would fit with his militarylike discipline and end-justifies-the-means approach. He knows that most Canad ians are not naturally freemarketeers eager to dismantle the Canadian activist state. But wrap it up in Christian clothing and. presto! , you have a core of 20% of the electorate who will fo llow you anywhere.

I have tracked I Iarper's political career for 20 years, and for the first part of that period I also tracked Preston Manning. The two men present an interesting contrast.

Manning really was a Christian, and I a lways found it interesting that, while he would bend the truth to the breaking poim and was a master practitioner of what I called calculated ambiguity (able to deliver totally different messages in the same statement), he never in my experience actually lied.

"Harper went directly from the Reform Party to the National Citizen's Coalition; a ferociously right-wing outfit set up to rid the country of Medicare. Now it seems that the NCC is running the country.

On a talk show, I kept at him to tell me his position (the party was debating its GST policy at the time). He kept dodging and weaving, avoiding the question umil finally the host got fed up and said, ''Come on, Mr. Manning, it's a straightforward question." There was a l~g pause, and then he said: "Yes. I would prefer a GST with no exemptions." I thanl..ed him for informing Saskatchewan voters that he would put a tax on their groceries.

I can't say for sure whether Preston Manning- a man who changed Canada without ever being prime minister -would have run a government significantly differem from Harper's. I lis notion of Christianity also promoted wealth accumulation as a way to get to heaven, and he would have had no more problem than llarper with the current huge gap between rich and poor.

But I somehow doubt that Manning would have committed fraud in an election campaign, systematically abused his po~1er to muzzle watch-dog agencies, or produced a book for his MPs on how to sabotage the work of parliamentary committees.

The contrast in sty les has often been given as the reason Harper left the Reform Party. I think it may have been a contrast in ethics. Manning wasn't wi lling to go as far to the far-right as llarper wanted to go. llarper went directly from the Reform Party to the National Citizens' Coalition, the most ferociously right-wing lobby group in the country. Harper said 'he really enjoyed it because he wasn't restricted there in what he could say or do.

Now. it seems, the National Citizens' Coa lition, founded to rid the country of Medicare, is running the country.

The situation is so alarming that almost every week there is some new revelation. Just as the Oda lying spree was dying down for a few days, the Canadian Press finally (after 18 months) got detailed records from the office of the discredited Integrity Commissioner, Christiane Ouimet. This is the individual who suddenly resigned j ust before the Auditor-General delivered one of the most damning reports she has ever written, denouncing Ouimet for stonewalling on almost every complaint about wrong-doing in the llarper govemment (along with bullying her own staff).

Now the details arc out and they paint a picture of incredible corruption- even if only a fraction of the allcga路 tions by whistle-blowers turned out to be true. The released documents show that 42 of the 228 cases involvcc (logged bet~1een 2007 and 2010) alleged misuse oftaxpayer dollars. Many involved counselling public em-

ployees to break the law. Fill) fell into the category of "gross mismanagement," 60 alleged that acts of Parliament had been contravened, and almost as many - 58 involved the punishment of people who tried to expose wrong-doing. It was precisely this kind of political terrorism that Ouimet's office was supposed to prevent.

This behaviour makes Bev Oda's lying barely visible on the ethical breach scale. It is tantamount to criminal negligence and raises questions about the conversations that took place between Ouimet and the prime minister- or at least the PMO. Was there an explicit understanding that she'd protect the government from an) and all embarrassment? If you look at the number of complaints actually investigated. it is hard to avoid that conclusion.

Oft he 118 cases that carne across her desk, just seven were follo\.\ed up by actual investigations. Five ended with no finding, and there were two still undetermined when Ouimet quit. A former commi ssioner stated that about 20% of complaints were normally the subject of formal investigations in other words the normal number would have been about 45, not seven.

In late February, four senior Conservative officials were criminally charged with fraud and other charges relating to manipulation of the election funding rules that apply for federal elections. This is an old issue. When it was first brought up by Elections Canada, Harper responded in typical pit-bull manner, and the party actually sued Elections Canada. They won a narrow victory- but only in relation to whether Elections Canada could withhold election rebates from riding associations. The court ruled the matter had to be settled.

The scheme saw the Conservative Party launder money through riding associations and then spend it in the national media campaign. It allowed the party to spend up to a million dollars over the S 18.3 million legal limit. It was such a sleazy operation that some of the 68 riding associations involved balked at the scheme because they knew it was wrong. Now the case is in the hands of the special prosecutor's office- the same one established by llarper to delve into the Liberal sponsorship scandaL If found guilty. the four senior Conservatives could do a year's jai I time and be fined $25,000. That's how serious it is. And the reward for fraud and cheating the system?

Harper appointed two of the miscreants- Doug Finley, a former party campaign manager, and Irving Gerstein, a major Tory fundraiser, to the Senate.

This is not just the contemptible behaviour of Stephen Harper and his political storm troopers. The Republicanization of Canadian politics is well-advanced and none of this is new or surprising. But what does it say about the nature of the so-called fundamentalist Christian

community in Canada and of the rest of the base that the Conservatives are able to count on?

The fact is that fundamemalist Christians actuall) be- ~ llcvc that government itself violates the will of God. ._.

When Stockwell Day (the Christians' man in cabinet) ran a Christian school in A lbcrta years ago, its curriculum included this assessment of democratic governments: "[They] represent the ultimate deification of man. which is the very essence of humanism and totally alien to God's word." Those believing that govemment is essentially the devil's work don't lose sleep over a little lying or fraud. It's the will of God. What about the rest of that 35째/o who stick with Harper?

Arc they unaware of the record, and is that a renection of the media's failure to give this history of misdeeds its proper weight? The media treats each incident as if it was a stand-alone and almost never draw the obvious conclusion that this is a rogue party and a corrupt government.

When llarper first came to power, he treated the media with contempt, and for a while it looked like they would redouble their effotis to cover his government's actions.

But within a few months the media instead became even more compl iant and deferential, showing that bullying works. Now we have come to expect softball questions from the likes of Peter Mansbridge, who in a feature interview never even tried to make this law-breaking Ia wand-order prime minister accountable.

Part of the picture is simply a general decline in moral and ethical standards, a sort of leaking into civil society of the greed-is-good, anything goes amorality of the corporate and financial world. Lying and cheating to get ahead is the new normal. Not for everyone, to be sure, but apparently for enough of our fellow-citizens to keep this wretched wrecking crew in office.

Which raises the question: Where are the real Christians when we need them?

(Murray Dobbin is a B. C.-based writer and commentator on social, economic, and political affairs, and an elected member ofthe CCPA 's board of directors.)

The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) www.itccs.org

Dear Readers,

Warning: Convicted priest-rapist active again in catholic church in Ottawa, Canada 路 In 1992, John (Jack) McCann, OMI, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two teenage girls and was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a New Westminster judge. ITCCS has just learned that today, McCann is a priest in "good standing" in the Archdiocese of Ottawa.

McCann officiates at church functions and conducts ' ProLife Masses' in cities across that province. He is a religious order priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) whose Ottawa residence is at 175 Main St. McCann has even 'co-celebrated" Mass with Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast who granted him 'faculties" or permission to function as a priest in the archdiocese.

Prendergast has also given safe haven to di~raced Bishop Raymond Lahey who was arrested at the Ottawa International Airport in October of 2009 for possessing child pornography on his laptop. In addition to seizing his computer, authorities say that Lahey has made several trips to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand since 2005 - countries known for their active child sex trade.

This discovery of John McCann in active ministry is yet another example of the practice of Roman Catholic Bishops to quietly reinstate predator priests back into unsuspecting parishes. Those who sexually abuse children are difficult if not impossible to cure & their tendency tore-offend is high.

We call upon all Ottawa citizens to protest at the Catholic Archbishop's office, at McCann's church, and at the OMI headquarters in Ottawa, and demand that John McCann be banned from priestly and public functions. Keep your children away from this man and this church!

ITCCS Canada, April 28, 2011

This article is about my beloved fami ly, the Clarke and Wuttunee family.

My great-grand father was Sir Honourable Lawrence Clarke, and he was a I Judson's Bay Factor. My great uncle was Sir Honourable Ivan Clarke Wuttunee and he was a Member of Parliament.

In the Second World War, the Cree Nation helped to win it. The Germans tried to decipher our language ...

No Way. They also thought they would rule the world and that was very hilarious.

My Uncle Bill used to work for the Prime Minister路 he was a criminal lawyer (and never lost a case). Un~ cle Bi ll can also speak Japanese and Filipino fluently.

His son. Jason Wut1unee, is a crown prosecutor.

The Cree Nation is very intelligent. I should know, I am one. I am very proud of my heredity and I love my fami ly.

See www.hiddennolonger.com for evidence of Genocide in Canada and www.itccs.org for the website of The Intern a tional Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State.

And when Reason's voice, loud as the voice of Nature, shall have waked the Nations; and mankind perceive that vice is discord, war and misery; and that virtue is peace, and happiness and harmony; When man's mature nature shall disdain the playthings of its childhood, then Kingly glare will lose its power to dazzle; its authority will silently pass by; the gorgeous throne shall stand unnoticed in the regal hall, fast falling to decay; Whilst falsehood's trade shall be as hateful and unprofitable As that of Truth is now.

Percy Shelley

' '""" by M'"'"' w""""" Kings a nd Pa rasites Whence, thinks'! thou, kings and parasites arose?

Whence that unnatural line of drones, who heap Toil and unvanquishable penury on those who build their palaces, and bring their daily bread? >From vice, black loathsome vice; from rapine, madness, treachery, and wrong; from all that 'genders misery, and makes of earth this horny wilderness; from lust, revenge and murder.

rrJ

~

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Carnegie Theatre Workshops - It's time for theatre In June 1886- 125 years ago Sparks from a clear cut fire in False Creek leapt into an inferno that destroyed the new city of Vancouver -

Let's stage the story of The Great Fire!

Actors, dancers, musicians and stage crew ! Everyone Welcome!

-Fridays lpm- 4pm May 13, 20, 27, June 3, 10, 17 Class/Rehearsal in the Carnegie Theatre Pe1:{ormance date, time & place still to be determined For more info: Teresa 604-255-940 1

Lookin' for a Home

7

I been lookin' for a home 2 year now Left that o le apartment on Barclay & Nightingale I lome be school yard Sleepin' under the security light Charity duvets and heavy !Judson's Bay blankets Canned food - biscuits and corned beef l lereford from Braz il -the best!

They took away my cart when I went for coffee@ McDonald's Pastries from Starbuck's Bon led water and apple juice I s lept on a bench in Create a Real Accessible I Acceptable Beach At the Port until Winter froze my lingers & toes Even duck down has its boundaries

The Sally Ann took me in Literally I complained about the Pekin' Orange ducks The)' found me a bed at the Lookout Clol readings. closed captions Open a lternate realities Youth - a ngry and vicious Old drunks in programs rehabilitive Over-educated Under-nourished in the mot ion department Amusing somewhat --The cockroaches ran the joint Attracted as they are to the decomposition of bran muffins and bananas Hoarded under the beds...

Crumbs of crackers crumbs of chocolate cake and such Wilhelmina

cefÂŁ6ration ofwomen in tfie neigfz6orfiooawfzo are our creators, protectors atuf our strenatfz. NourisfziTifJ us witfz tfzeir /Utufness, wisaom anaaffectiott

)f.

Space is limited, invite required.

Pick up your free invite at Oppenheimer Park

16th Annual Stone Soup Festival Saturday May 7, 12-Spm A celebration of food , art, environment and community. incl uding food vendors, local artists, community groups. talks/workshops. live mus ic, ch ildren's activi ties, free soup and more! Britannia Community Centre Si te, 1661 Napier Stat Commercial Drive.

Info: (604)718-5800 I www.brita nniace ntrc.org

DO YOU WANT TO RUN FOR THE CARNEGIE BOARD!!??

Every year at the Annual General Meeting we elect a new Board to the Carnegie. There are a total of IS people on the Board with a minimum of 12. in case we get any dropouts. In order to run for the Board you have to be nominated by someone at the May Board 11 Meeting which happens to be Thursday. May 5' this year. It's at 5:30pm. You have to have been a card carrying Carnegie member for a minimum of two months immediately prior to the meeting. Don't forget to bring your current membership card with you.

What does a Board Member do? Well. first of all we go to lots of meetings. Each member has to s ign up to be a member of2 commiuees. which are: Volunteer. Program, Library/Education, Seniors.

Community Relations and Finance. There is one meeting a month for each comminee.

There are also 5 members on the Board who are in executive positions: President. YicePresident, Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary and Member-at-large.

These people are elected after the AGM by a special meeting of the new Board.

I have been a Board Member for 2 years as of June and plan on running again. If you want to become a Board Member and take on a challenge, come on out to the May s•h meeting and get nominated . Carnegie needs people like you!

Warriors We are all warriors We fight to be a survivor We fight for not being homeless We fight for good costs.

Hold one's head up high Proud to be a Canad ian Trust in oneself To be the greatest warriors Know that you count in whatever you are figh ting for Believe. believe All my rel ations, Bonnie E Stevens

So Apl'il Beinp (JJ'{Jd Mixing those happy memories all up Bringing unconscious desires to the fore Today is the funeral Or should I say the burial And fate has conspired once more Or perhaps saved me Saved me from undue duress.

I will not be there In body But I'll remember as I raise my g lass I'll remember when I hear my father· s voice In my mouth A sailor's daughter Forever angry even though we won.

So I will remember as I drink And tip over ashcans in my path ...

Fire One! Wilhelmina Miles

CRUNCH-c::ltes

VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE MEETING Wcdnesda) Ma) 11 1h, 1pm in Classroom 11 ALL VOLUNTEERS WELCOME! Your voice is needed and appreciated.

VOLUNTEER DINN ER Wednesday, May 18'h. 4:30pm Sl IARP! Theatre Your contribution and hard work is appreciated by the many people '' ho benefit by your services. Let the staff serve ) ou!

Please pick up your dinner ticket from the Volunteer Program Office on the 3rd Floor (if you have a minimum of 12 hours month!) service.)

Burrito Dinner - Monday, May 23, Spm As there are 5 weeks between cheques this month, our volunteers receive a Burrito Dinner served on the 2nd noor at 5pm.

Please pick up your burrito dinner ticket from the Volunteer Program Office

Volunteers of the Month- April 20 11 : ty Emie Jeff. Senior Coffee Seller / Ludvik Skalicky. Computer Lab 2 longest continuing volunteers: Bo11nie Steve11s and Norman Mark Together they have given almost 60 years of Volunteer Service Remarkable!

At Ease With MYselF Put me down if you so wish As it is, just really go for it 路cause I don't care 1can take the hits as quick as they come: I've been there )OU knO\\ .. dO\\n for the count less times before. heaped upon me by those so grown-up- that's a laugh!

As of now I have my past. all my relations I'm so distant, aloof and jaded .. that's what you think Deep down I' m in stormy turmoil. almost unabated So don' tthreaten me you'll waste your energy&timc I won't back down, cowering or fraught with fear don't you know by nov. that intimidation and shouts of abuse from your tiny mind arc vastly overrated??

So back off. don't waste your breath. I've no time for bullies 路cause I've got nothing to lose \\ith no address

Our annual celebration of volunteering is my favourite time of the year. During this Volunteer Recognition Week (April I0- 16) we got to thank Carnegie's sman, brave. loving and committed volunteers - people v. ho embody a spi rit which compels them to do service for the good of others. We got to call attention to all that you do to improve our community. We got I'm a positi ve dude (somewhat hard to believe) to tell yourselves and the rest of the community how afler all the hell I've been through .. really had a lot of remarkable you are. Our Mono this year is a big numbers laid on me; shou ld 've been long dcadnburied "thumbs up" to encourage one another on a daily babut I'm far from a quitter- got no rocks in my head sis. Don't forget to pick up your t-shirt and button if I still watch my back, takin路 care of p's & q's you haven't already. Volunteer of the Year 2011 ., I am not in arrears, dire straits. nat broke nor emoMark Mic fl el/e in appreciation of his increditionally detached; I'm playin with all my marbles .. ble desire to assist in multiple capacities throughout cards on the table, all my bod) pans intact. Yet this the year and the four volunteers deserving of special precarious situation I find myself in is not absolute! merit awards: Marilyn Young, Doug Chapman, Do you hear what I'm saying? Does this compute?!

Dan R estoule and Herb Pete. These special merit awards are chosen by thei r vol unteer peers who want I'm an easy going guy needing a buzz now & then to encourage and recognize you for what you do and It's not a deal, not a chance, like holding your breath for '' ho you are. 路n counting to ten, I' m never really bored nor mindBrand new Award- 'Sheer Madness Award' goes to numbed; sol itary ' n mostly sadly alone 'cause I've got Kirk Hosie in recognition of his profound dedication no place to hang my damn hat, no place to call home. and commitment towards the sheer number of folks Ever really wondered about oddly-spaced Catch-22s he has so gracioulsly served in our community (over or rather unfunny fait accompli's; do you ever give 1.000 hair cuts). Sheer Madness! thought to where you'll eventually end up??? Well.

In my opin ion, the love emanating in the Theatre in just forget it for now, 'n simply clear up your mind; appreciation for these folks represents the beauty of take it easy.. you're in very good company, with multhe spirit of Carnegie. titudes of brothers & s isters in kind!

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE.

Survival Strength Sisterhood: Power of Women in the Downtown Eastside

News From -the LibrarY New Books back City of Love and Revolution (97 1.13) to the Vancouver of the Sixties. Lawrence Aronsen's account of the tumultuous decade, accompanied by a hundred rare pictures, brings to life the sights, the sounds, and the passions of the era of psychedelic drugs and music, of free love and free clinics. when, for a brief time, everything seemed possible.

Red: A Haida Mango (Graphic FIC) is the story of Red, the prideful leader of a small vi llage in the islands off the northwest coast of British Columbia.

His sister was abducted years ago by a band of raiders. When news comes that his sister has been spotted in a nearby village, Red sets out to rescue her and exact revenge on her captors.

Tony Curtis was the Golden Boy of the Golden Age. But the Hollywood lite of his dreams brought both invincible highs and debilitating lows. No simple tell-all, American Prince (92 1 CUR) chronicles Hollywood during its heyday. Curtis revisits his immense body of work and regales readers with stories of Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Billy Wilder, and Lew Wasserman, as wel l as paramours Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe, among others. Curtis offers intimate glimpse into his succession of failed marriages (and the one that has endured), his drug addiction, and his passion as a painter.

In H egemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance! (327 .73), Noam Chomsky provides an irrefutable analysis of America's pursuit of total domination. He investigates how we came to this moment, what kind of peril we find ourselves in, and why our rulers are willing to jeopardize the future of our species. With the striking logic that's his trade mark, Chomsky dissects America's quest for global_ supremacy. tracking the U.S. government's aggressive pursuit of policies intended to ach ieve "full spectrum dom inance" at any cost.

Saara, your librarian

This is a short film that documents the 20-year history of the annual memorial march for missing and murdered women. By focusing on the voices of women who live, love and work in the DTES, this film debunks the sensationalism surrounding a neighbourhood deeply misunderstood, and celebrates the complex and diverse realities of organising for justice.

A panel discussion with members of the Power of Women from the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 7:00 p.m.

Alma VanDusen Room, Lower Level Vancouver Public Library, 350 E Georgia Street

HUM l 01 DOCUMENTARIES forMA Y - SATURDAYS-6:PM, CARNEGIE HALL MAY 14 The Science and Politics of Cancer 75 minutes.

Dead Wrong How psychiatric drugs can kill your chi ld. One child's story, telling the tale of 20 million more. 90 minutes MAY2 1 HOXSEY The Quack(?) Who Cured Cancer 96 minutes.

A New A merica- A New Canada Times are changing, and unless we know what is happening the changes are not going to be for the better.

Knowledge is power. Get powerful.

MAY 28路 World Without Cancer-the story of Laetril. Exploring the scientific rationale for Laetril therapy. Cancer a deficiency disease caused by an essential food factor de leted fro m the diet of modern man. Case histories oftenninal cancer patients who have recovered using Laetrile therapy. 60 minutes. 路 Deception Was My Job - The Testimony of Yuri Bezmenov Propagandist for the KGB interviewed by G. Edward Griffin. 90 minutes.

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter Read CCAP reports at:

ccapvancouver. wordpress.com

Vancouver City Council votes to gentrify Chinatown and the DTES On April 18th Vancouver City Council approved the plan to increase building heights in the Chinatown sub-district of the Downtown Eastside (DTES). The " I listoric Area Heights Review" (HAHR) plan increases overall building heights in all ofChinatown except Pender Street to 9 stories, without application, and to 15 stories on the Main Street corridor and 12 stories in the rest of the area by application.

One hundred and sixty-seven people spoke at 5 public hearings about the HAHR. The great majority of these speakers were low-i ncome residents of Chinatown and the DTES and supporters of the low-income community, all who whom spoke out against the plan.

Explaining why he opposed the motion to increase heights in Chinatown,

(

May I, 2011

--------~-------NEXT STEPS: \ BOYCOTT DTES CONDO PROJECTS UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE HOMELESSNESS DTES Neighbourhood Council General Meeting

2-4 p.m. Saturday, May 7 Ginseng Build ing

(33 E Hastings St) Info: (604) 839-0379

Come to the meeting to plan next steps in the anti-gentrification fight and to get updates & discuss the Local Area Planning Process - LAPP

"--==-=---y

----= --)

Counci llor David Cadman said that he heard Chinatown business leaders point to gentrification pressures coming into the DTES from the West. He said that the council decision to encourage and subsidize condo development in

Chinatown will mount similar real estate market pressures from the south and will drive real estate speculation in the poorest community in the country.

Fraser Stuart, a DTES resident and member of the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council (DNC) board of directors agreed. After sitting in on all five public hearings and the final council meeting Stuart said, " I feel like I live on a chessboard and the city and the developers are playing together to take over my home."

heanngs and I did not hear even one Chinatown resident speak in favour of the heights increase.

City staff started the hearing process saying that heights were unanimously supported by "Chinatown", and today they made their decision to exclude the lowincome residents of Chinatown from that community."

Wendy Pedersen, also a resident of the DTES and board member of the DNC, who has been working on the Local Area Planning Process that council initiated in January, said, "This is going to make our work uniting the DTES community behind a community development plan much, much harder. We tried to say, come on you guys, give us some time and we can save the heritage buildings and get good housing for Chinese seniors."

Mayor Gregor Robertson explained why he supported the motion to increase heights, "Saying no to the Chinatown neighbourhood who has brought this forward will only increase divisions in the DTES." Ivan Drury, a D C board member and DTES resident who lives on the eastern border of Chi natown wondered ifRobertson had been at the same hearings he had.

Drury said. "J was at all the five public

Pedersen explained that the heights increase will negatively affect the whole DTES, "Vision councilors voted to

2

gentrify the Downtown Eastside.

Council just foisted 12 to 15 story towers on us and this will cause bad ripple effects like property value increases, rent increases, more yuppie stores. The end result is poor people get pushed out."

Tan, Sister Elizabeth Kelliher, Joseph Jones, Dan Fass, Ian MacRae, Ann Livingston, Christine Williams, Erin Innes, Maxine Gadd, Craig Hathaway, Richard Cunningham, Irwin Oostindie, Karen Ward, Gladys Radek, Dave Murray, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Harold Lavender, Claudia Li, Tami Starlight, Dave Diewert, David Beattie, Fraser Stuart, Donald Macdonald, Paul Martin, Matthew Johnson, Stephen Blumstein, Eugene McCann, Caitlin Williams, Elwin Xie, Susan Friday, Stephen Gray, Teresa Vandertuin, Stacey Bonenfant, Stella August, Beatrice Starr, Elaine Durocher, Kim Tang, Lily Tang, Linda Wong, Mrs. Lau, Mrs. Chau, Murray Bush, Suzanne Baustad, Richard Alberto Marquez, Kate Murray, Rita Blind, Nathan Crompton, Hugh Lampkin, Elizabeth Murphy, Gladys Lee, Lauren Gill, Peter Marcus, Teresa Diewert, John Shayler, Stephen Lytton, Darcie Betmett, Tristan Markle, Sam Snobelen, Bob Follett, Letizia Waddington, Beth Malena, Ned Jacobs, Ben Rampre, John Douglas, Priscillia May, Stan Kupferschmidt.

Apologies for anyone we inadvertently missed. Let us know and we'll put you in next time.

Homeless Dave, a DTES resident who, on the first night of public threatened that more gentrification would create a "little Tunisia" in the streets of the DTES. After the decision to increase heights in Chinatown he said, "City council has finished the easy part, they passed a zoning change in City Hall. The hard part is yet to come.

What developer will dare be the first to come down and fight the low-income community in our neighbourhood?"- ID

A huge thank-you to all who helped out!

Thanks to all these Downtown Eastside and Chinatown residents and allies who signed up and spoke against the condo tower plan in Chinatown. Some ofyou spoke for the first time. You were eloquent and impassioned and your work helped build our organizing efforts and create stronger force for next time: Joan Morelli, Homeless Dave, Ivan Drury, Jean Swanson, Rider Cooey, Sid 3

I

Mayor Unveils Reverse Gentrification Strategy for Yaletown (dreaming ... ) Mayor Robberson held a press conference this afternoon during which he announced a new low-income housing project in the heart of Yaletown, part of the city's attempts to revitalize the neighbourhood.

Councilor Kerry Klang agreed, adding, "Something simply must be done about Yaletown - luxury has become an end in itself. Upward mobility has gotten so out of control that most of these unfortunate penthouse dwellers have no time or motivation to reach out and connect with other human beings. Even the yoga classes have failed to bring them fulfillment and inner peace. The little dogs aren't helping. Sadly, some have turned to antidepressants."

"We have a lot of hope pinned on this new development. As you know, council has been concerned about Yaletown for quite some time.

Consumption runs rampant from Homer all the way to Beatty.

It's a breeding ground for the most dangerous kind of capitalists. It's hard to say whether we can even call it a community anymore - one recent UBC study found that 97% of Yaletown residents cannot name anyone else who lives in their condo building. To leave Yaletown to its own devices at this point would be unconscionable."

Robberson reported that one city councillor had suggested bulldozing Yaletown and starting over. But after talking about some more creative solutions, council is now confident that by seeding Yaletown with a low-income population, revitalization will be swift.

4

fill the new low-income Yaletown housing. "I guess Yaletown is nice, with the seawall and False Creek and everything, but how will we afford to li ve there?" asked one shelter dweller who attended the press conference.

The mayor reassured him, announcing that tax breaks would be provided to stores and shops catering to the new lowincome Yaletown residents. "As a malter of fact," he said, "an 'Army & Navy' will be opening right o n the seawall in 2013, and I've also heard that the owners of the old 'Save on Meats' are scoping out a Yaletown location beside the Cactus Club."

DTES resident Fraser Stuart admitted that it would be difficult to leave the DTES. Like 90% of those who call the DTES home, he would prefer to stay. " I have found such a family, such a network of support in the DTES. I don't know if! would survive in a neighbourhood where no one stops and talks to you o n the street. Where are the people in Yaletown who work for social justice? Where are those who volunteer?

Where is the empathy, the community spirit? Then again, I guess that's why the mayor want us to move in."

Figure 1: Mayor Robberson plans to airlift Carnegie Centre to Yaletown

The strategy, which has been dubbed "reverse gentrification" by counci l, has been met with some skepticism by the DTES residents who will be invited to

Councillor Raymond Phooey also spoke at the conference, focusing on a different ang le: preserving the heritage of Yaletown. "Yaletown used to be where 5

pay. I can't think of anyone better than the minimum-wage-workers and binners of the DTES." At one point in the afternoon, Mayor Robberson told a heart-warming anecdote about the early stages of the project. "I was discussing the plans with my favourite real estate developer, Bob Rennie, and I'll be honest, he was less than thrilled about it, worrying about what it would do to the real estate market in Yaletown. But then Tquoted something he himself said: 'We need to have the less fortunate walking down the street next to the fortunate.' And the scales fell off Bob's eyes, in a sense, as he saw how it applied to Yaletown. We both sat there, marveling at this beautiful vision of an inclusive Yaletown, enshrined in this wonderful new social housing. He now agrees that it is imperative to restore a social and income balance to Yaletown."

Even though many residents of Yaletown have expressed their opposition to this reverse gentrification plan, council seems poised to go fullsteam ahead with the project. "Frankly. we don't want to stop with Yaletown ," confessed Klang at the close of the press conference. "We're hoping the entire middle- and upper-class will soon reap the benefits of this reverse gentrification

strategy. We have some very interesting ideas for Shaughnessy." - Beth Malena

6

Hey Christy Clark, BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AND STOP THE SHELTER CLOSURES! The five winter shelters are scheduled to close at the end of April, and CCAP, DNC and a growing coalition of friends are working to stop them!

1. Cardero Shelter 747 Cardero Street (closing April 27) 2. Fraser Shelter 677 E Broadway (Closing April 29) 3. Howe Street Shelter 1442 Howe Street (Closing April 28) 4 . MPA Shelter 1642 West 4'h Avenue (already closed and needs to be reopened) 5. rew Fountain Shelter SlB W. Cordova Street (funding extended for 2 months) These shelters are slowly emptying out and now there are about 20-30 people remaining in each. Shelter residents have no options once they close.

Many can't rent apartments because of stigma from landlords.

No social housing is available. Many will fai l and be back on the

street if they go back to an infested, unsafe SRO in areas where they used to use drugs or have been "red zoned'' by police. As Marta from the Howe shelter said, 'Tm going to stay right here in the alley. We are here because we don't want to be alone. We got nobody.

Everyone else has a family, we don' t.

This is our family." Marta said she doesn't buy the excuse that governments don't have money. She exp lained that each person in her shelter is eligible for $375 a month for rent on welfare and if you multiply this by 40 people per shelter that means BC Housing already has S 15,000 a month to spend to keep

.~

This neighbourhood ain't no ghetto In recent years, some of the business and property-owners in the area have started using the term ghetto when they talk about the Downtown Eastside. Unfortunate ly this word has lately been p1cked up by people who work fo r serv ice agencies down here who should know better.

In 'fact, call ing the Downtown Eastside a ghet1~ is not only wrong terminology, it displ_ays an app~llmg ignorance of the neighbourhood as 1t actually 1s.

The word g hetto does no t refer to the income or econom ic status of a district or ne ighbourhood, but the level of ethnic-based residential segregation that characterizes an area or neighbourhood. In the words of urban soc iologist Lo is Wacquant: "a ghetlo is not simply a topographic entity or an aggregation ofpoor families and individuals but an instiiutionalform. .. ofet,hnoracial closure and control. " In other words, a gheno is a place in c ities where people of minority ethnic groups are segregated_as a result of the power exerted by the dommant maJority. That power can be formal and legal. For instance, the Jewish ghettos of Europe were legally imposed: Jews were fo rced to live in ce_rtain quarters of the c ity. In early Vancouver, Chmese peo~le were, by law, on ly al lowed to purchase property 111 the area that became Chinatown.

The power of the majority that cr~ates the ghett? can also be informal. African-Amen can ghettoes Ill the northern United States developed as the result of mortgage lending practices by financia l in ~t ituti ons and real estate agents. B lack people were s1mply not allowed to get mortgages for property in most parts of the c ity. And real estate agents would not sell them property outside the accepted ghetto areas.

Landlords usually won't re nt to black people unless their properties are w ithin that area.

So what's all this got to do with the Downtown Eastside, you ask? Well, asi.de from the fact that

racism and prejud ice are as rampant here as everywhere e lse in our society, not much. With the exception of Chinatown and the early years of Strathcona, this neighbourhood has become one of the most diverse parts of Vancouver. There are people living here whose ancestry hails from all over the world, as well as many people from the dominant European majority.

It gets called a ghetto because most people living here have very low incomes. But income has nothing to do w ith the definition of a ghetto. Its tempting to say that g hettoes happen because poverty has pushed immigrants and ethn ic minorities into the worst housing w ith the lowest rents. But th is isn't quite true.

While most g hettoes today are poverty-stric ken, there are plenty of examples of g hettoes w ith quite wealthy residents. Sugar II ill, in Harlem, was a prime New York residential area before World War II, as was Bronzeville in Chicago. Locally, Chinatown was the home to a ll c lasses of Chinese people •• from the very poor to the propertied and prosperous.

In the United States, middle class African Americans continue to be ghettoized by lending practices and rea l estate agents who promote what is called 'white-flight'. As soon as one black family buys a property in a mostly white a rea, banks and real estate dealers start devaluing all the properties there.

This drives up mortgage rates because investing in an area of declining value becomes riskier for banks, who created the situation in the fi rst place.

White property-owners begin sell ing in order to retrieve the ir investment before the value declines further and to avoid higher interest rates. Voila! A new ghetto is created. And the people who live there have plenty of money. How's that fo r institutionalized racism?

Ghettoes develop because of institutionalized racism that enforces segregation. Residential choice is not determined by a person's income but by that person's ethnic affiliation. It is one part of the systematic subordination of minorities by the majority.

They are excluded from equal participation in the pol itical and just ice system, jobs and occupations, business, and property markets. Ghettoes are one mark of an oppressive society. But there are also many others.

The Downtown Eastside is NOT a ghetto, regardless of what its detractors tell us. Certainly, institutional ized racism is a major issue here, but it is not the only one. And the people who call this

place a ghetto are not talking institutionalized racism, nor are they doing anything about stopping it.

In fact, the people who apply that wor~ are using it to attack the neighbourhood and the people who live here. But it tells us more about them than it does about this community.

They call the neighbourhood a ghetto because they see themselves as pan of a dominant group.

They see the community as a place apart, different from themselves and the people they know. It threatens them and possibly even scares them. In calling it a ghetto, they are actively seeking to exclude the people here from equal participation because they don't believe Downtown Eastsiders arc their equals.

Most people here don't have very much money.

And most of the housing is pretty bad. But those things exist because of class oppression and they operate across ethnic and racial boundaries. The people who call the 'Downtown Eastside a ghetto' are perpetuating class oppression, rather than trying to end it.

By J. Sommers

Praising Karl Marx might seem as perverse as putUng in a good word for the Boston Strangler. Were not Marx's ideas responsible for despotism, mass murder, labor camps, economic catastrophe, and the loss of liberty for millions of men and women? Was not one of his devoted disciples a paranoid Georgian peasant by the name of Stalin, and another a brutal Chinese dictator who may well have had the blood of some 30 million of his people on his hands?

The truth is that Marx was no more responsible for the monstrous oppression of the communist world than Jesus was responsible for the Inquisition. For one thing, Marx would have scorned the idea that socialism could take root in desperately impoverished, chronically backward societies like Russia and China. If it did, then the result would simply be what he called 'generalized scarcity,' by which he means that everyone would now be deprived, not just the poor. It would mean a recycling of 'the old filthy business'-or, in less tasteful translation, 'the same old crap.' Marxism is a theory of how well-heeled capitalist nations might use their immense resources to achieve justice and prosperity for their people. It is not a program by which nations bereft of material resources, a flourishing civic culture, a democratic heritage, a well-evolved technology,

enlightened liberal trad1t1ons, and a skilled, educated worx force might catapult themselves into the modern age.

Marx certainly wanted to see justice and prosperity thrive in such forsaken spots. He wrote angrily and eloquently about several of Britain's downtrodden colonies, not least Ireland and India. And the political movement which his work set in motion has done more to help small nations throw off their imperialist masters than any other political current. Yet Marx was not foolish enough to imagine that socialism could be built in such countries without more advanced nations flying to their aid.

And that meant that the common people of those advanced nations had to wrest the means of production from their rulers and place them at the service of the wretched of the earth. If this had happened in 19th-century Ireland, there would have been no famine to send a million men and women to their graves and another two or three million to the far corners of the earth.

There 1s a sense in which the whole of Marx's writing boils down to several embarrassing questions: Why is it that the capitalist West has accumulated more resources than human history has ever witnessed, yet appears powerless to overcome poverty, starvation, exploitation, and inequality? What are the mechanisms by which affluence for a minority seems to breed hardship and indignity for the many? Why does private wealth seem to go hand in hand with public squalor? Is it, as the good-hearted liberal reformist suggests, that we have simply not got around to mopping up these pockets of human m1sery, but shall do so in the fullness of time? Or is it more plausible to maintain that there is something in the nature of capitalism itself which generates deprivation and inequality, as surely as Charlie Sheen generates gossip?

Marx was the first thinker to talk in those terms. This down-atheel emigre Jew, a man who once remarked that nobody else had written so much about money & had so little, bequeathed us the language in which the system under which we live could be grasped as a whole. Its contradictions were analyzed, 1ts inner dynamics laid bare, its historical origins examined, and its potential demise foreshadowed. This is not to suggest for a moment that Marx considered capitalism as simply a Bad Thing, like admiring Sarah Palin or blowing tobacco smoke in your children's faces. On the contrary, he was extravagant in his praise for the class that created it, a fact that both his critics and his disciples have conveniently suppressed. No other social system in history, he wrote, had proved so revolutionary.

In a mere handful of centuries, the capitalist middle classes had erased almost every trace of their feudal foes from the face of the earth. They had piled up cultural and material treasures, invented human rights, emancipated slaves, and toppled autocrats, dismantled empires, fought and died for human freedom, and laid the basis for a truly global civilization. No document lavishes such florid compliments on this mighty historical achievement as The Communist Manifesto, not even

The Wall Street Journal.

That, however, was only part of the story. There are those who see modern history as an enthrallmg tale of progress, and those who view it as one long nightmare. Marx, with his usual perversity, thought it was both. Every advance in civilization had brought with it new possibilities of barbarism. The great sloqans of the middle-class revolution-"Libertv. Eaualitv. Fraternity"-were his watchwords, too. He simply inquired why those ideas cauld never be put into practice without violence, poverty, and exploitation. Capitalism had developed human powers and capacities beyond all previous measure. Yet it had not used those capacities to set men and women free of fruitJess toil. On the contrary, it had forced them to labor harder than ever. The richest civilizations on earth sweated every bit as hard as their Neolithic ancestors This, Marx considered, was not because of natural scarcity. It was because of the peculiarly contradictory way in which the capitalist system generated its fabulous wealth. Equality for some meant inequality for others, and freedom for some brought oppression and unhappiness for many. The system's voracious pursuit of power and profit had turned foreign nations into enslaved colonies, and human beings into the playthings of economic forces beyond their control. It had blighted the planet with pollution and mass starvation, and scarred it with atrocious wars. Some critics of Marx point with proper outrage to the mass murders in Communist Russia and China.

They do not usually recall with equal indignation the genocidal crimes of capitalism: the late-19th-century famines in Asia and Africa in which untold millions perished; the carnage of the First World War, in which imperialist nations massacred one another's working men in the struggle for global resources; and the horrors of fascism, a regime to which capitalism tends to resort when its back is to the wall. Without the self-sacrifice of the Soviet Union, among other nations, the Nazi regime might slill be in place.

Marxists were warning of the perils of fascism while the politicians of the so-called free world were still wondering aloud whether Hitler was quite such a nasty guy as he was painted.

Almost all followers of Marx today reject the villainies of Stalin and Mao, while many non-Marxists would still vigorously defend the destruction of Dresden or Hiroshima. Modem capitalist nations are for the most part the fruit of a history of genocide, violence, and extermination every bit as abhorrent as the crimes of Communism. Capitalism, too, was forged in blood and tears, and Marx was around to witness it. It is just that the system has been in business long enough for most of us to be oblivious of that fact.

The selectiveness of political memory takes some curious forms. Take, for example, 9/11. I mean the first 9/11 , not the second. I am referring to the 9/11 that took place exactly 30 years before the fall of the World Trade Center, when the United States helped to violently overthrow the democratically

elected government of Salvador Allende of Chile, and installed in its place an odious dictator who went on to murder far more people than died on that dreadful day in New York and Washington. How many Americans are aware of that? How many times has 11been mentioned on Fox News?

Marx was not some dreamy utopianisl. On the contrary, he began his political career in fierce contention with the dreamy utopianists who surrounded him. He has about as much interest in a perfect human society as a Clint Eastwood character would, and never once speaks in such absurd terms. He did not believe that men and women could surpass the Archangel Gabriel in sanctity. Rather, he believed that the world could feasibly be made a considerably better place. In this he was a realist, not an idealist. Those truly with their heads stuck in the sand-the moral ostriches of this world-are those who deny that there can be any radical change. They behave as though Family Guy and multicolored toothpaste will still be around in the year 4000. The whole of human history disproves this viewpoint.

Radical change, to be sure, may not be for the better. Perhaps the only socialism we shall ever witness is one forced upon the handful of human beings who might crawl out the other side of some nuclear holocaust or ecological disaster. Marx even speaks dourly of the possible "mutual ruin of all parties." A man who witnessed the horrors of industrial-capitalist England was unlikely to be starry-eyed about his fellow humans. All he meant was that there are more than enough resources on the planet to resolve most of our material problems, just as there was more than enough food in Britain in the 1840's to feed the famished Irish population several times over. It is the way we organize our production that is crucial. Notoriously, Marx did not provide us with blueprints for how we should do things differently. He has famously little to say about the future. The only image of the future is the failure of the present. He is not a prophet in the sense of peering into a crystal ball. He is a prophet in the authentic biblical sense of one who warns us that unless we change our unjust ways, the future is likely to be deeply unpleasant. Or that there will be no future at all.

Socialism, then, does not depend on some miraculous change in human nature. Some of those who defended feudalism against capitalist values in the late Middle Ages preached that capitalism would never work because it was contrary to human nature. Some capitalists now say the same about socialism.

No doubt there is a tribe somewhere in the Amazon Basin that believes no social order can survive in which a man is allowed to marry his deceased brother's wife. We all tend to absolutize our own conditions. Socialism would not banish rivalry, envy, aggression, possessiveness, domination, and competition. The world would still have its share of bullies, cheats, freeloaders, free riders, and occasional psychopaths. It is just that rivalry, aggression, and competition would no Ianger take the form of some bankers comolainino that their bonuses h:1rl heP.n rP-

duced to a miserly S5million, while millions of others in the world struggled to survive on less than $2 a day.

Marx was a profoundly moral thinker. He speaks in The Communist Manifesto of a world in which "the free selfdevelopment of each wou ld be the condition of the free self-development of all." This is an ideal to guide us, not a condition we could ever entirely achieve. But its language is nonetheless significant. As a good Romantic humanist, Marx believed in the uniqueness of the individual. The idea permeates his writings from end to end. He had a passion for the sensuously specific and a marked aversion to abstract ideas, however occasionally necessary he thought they might be. His so-called materialism is at root about the human body. Again and again, he speaks of the just society as one in which men and women will be able to realize their distinctive powers and capacities in their own dtstinctive ways. His moral goal is pleasurable self-fulfillment. In this he is at one with his great mentor Aristotle, who understood that morality is about how to flourish most richly and enjoyably, not in the first place (as the modem age disastrously imagines) about laws, duties, obligations, and responsibilities.

How does this moral goal differ from liberal individualism? The difference is that to achieve true self-fulfillment, human beings for Marx must find it in and through one another. It is not just a question of each doing his or her own thing in grand isolation from others. That would not even be possible. The other must become the ground of one's own self-realization, at the same time as he or she provides the condition for one's own. At the interpersonal level, this is known as love. At the political level, it is known as socialism.

Socialism for Marx would be simply whatever set of institutions would allow this reciprocity to happen to the greatest possible extent. Think of the difference between a capitalist company, in which the majority work for the benefit of the few, and a socialist cooperative, in which my own participation in the project augments the welfare of all the others, and vice versa.

This is not a question of some saintly self-sacrifice. The process is built into the structure of the institution.

Marx's goal is leisure, not labor. The best reason for being a socialist, apart from annoying people you happen to dislike, is that you detest having to work. Marx thought that capitalism had developed the forces of production to the point at which, under different social relations, they could be used to emancipate the majority of men and women from the most degrading forms of labor. What did he think we would do then? Whatever we wanted. If, like the great Irish socialist Oscar Wilde, we chose simply to lie around all day in loose crimson garments, sipping absinthe and reading the odd page of Homer to each other, then so be it. The point, however, was that this kind of free activity had to be available to all. We would no longer tolerate a situation in which the minority had leisure because

the majority had labor.

What interested Marx, in other words, was what one might somewhat misleadingly call the spiritual, not the material. If material conditions had to be changed, it was to set us free from the tyranny of the economic. He himself was staggeri_ngly well read in world literature, delighted in art, culture, and ctvtlized conversation, reveled in wit, humor, and high sptrits, and was once chased by a policeman for breaking a street lamp in the course of a pub crawl. He was, of course, an atheist, but you do not have to be religious to be spiritual. He was one o_ f the many great Jewish heretics, and his work is saturated wtth the great themes of Judaism-justice, emancipation, the_Day of Reckoning, the reign of peace and plenty, the redemption of the poor.

Why mtght Marx be back on the agenda? The answer, ironically, is because of capitalism. Whenever you hear capitalists talking about capitalism, you know the system is in trouble.

Usually they prefer a more anodyne term, like "free enterprise.'

The recent financial crashes have forced us once again to think of the setup under which we live as a whole, and it was Marx who first made it possible to do so. It was The Communist Manifesto which predicted that capitalism would become global, and that its inequalities would severely sharpen. Has his work any defects? Hundreds of them. But he is too creative and original a thinker to be surrendered to the vulgar stereotypes of his enemies.

Terry Eagleton is a visiting professor at Lancaster University, in England; the National University of Ireland; and the University of Notre Dame. His latest book, Why Marx Was Right, was just published by Yale University Press.

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Heroin

(}de u tlte Last Lore/"

wl...~ yP" A....-~1 Heroin spits out another overdose 1 1 .._l.- ••• ~ -IJ. ! · ~ .' · I'm so lucky- this time was pretty close.

And sol told him And so I told him I wil l come to the funeral I'll chat with your family and mine About how kind you were To strangers and imm igrants Nephews, nieces, a nd Mothers l laligonians, Lower Canadians, Goofy Newfies Fisherfolk Dragged into confederation by Joey the Socialist Was that 1949 or 1948? ~rr-::;;r::: That land of unrequited vision.

Yes bye, I'll come to the fune ral at St. Theresa's or St. John's To toss the red rosebud omo the box Gravel rattling later Sky steel grey promising a torrent A ir heavy as heavy water My black straw hat limp in the weather My hand sticky with sweat under long black gloves A little black number a tad too short exposi ng knobby knees ...

I would have engaged a piper Bagpipes skirli ng- kilts swirling To play " Road to the Isles."

In the evening we will gather at Fourth Street To eat seafood and tasty pastry The family from Keremeos, Missasagua. Calgary, Hong Kong Tasteful non-relig ious mus ic will play Mozart, Prokovief, Dixieland and various Irish tenors from the 50s, 40s & before Maybe Mario Lanza, Frank Sinatra doing it his way And I'll drink a little too much whiskey Eat too much cake And me, I'll say it was mostly good times I had liberty and comfort And his mother the saint He taug ht me about Shakespeare a nd all things to do with literature & acting ...

"Break a leg, T" Wilhelmina Miles

/

I'm so messed up and all's not clear Anyone who loves me, I won' t let near.

The war wounds arc all they'll see If at all they recognize me.

I know the answer is blatantly clear But even thinking of it brings too much fear What a wimp, a sissy; I'm a total loser So God, why can't I be just a social user?

Cuz the war wounds a re all they' II see If at all they recognize me.

Kate Dowl ing

black water blues the bad samaritan scanned sand for land mines some maverick obese religious zealot had suntanned there the day before. just returned to samaria, flattus wanted only serenity of spirit- of mind - palate -- and of course, body stepping on a mine might disrupt all of these. so he carefully used his comic cosmic powers to vividly, liquidly sense the absence of lady di's near alltime favorite hobby. no, he preferred to be known as the 'bad samaritan" as if this ancient Assyrian conceit would somehow balance the inebriated scales of world hislory. a small non-semitic reptile scuttled across the sand flattus smiled, blessing the creature whole-heartedly. for he had absolutely no axe to grind with the universe. concepts like ' sin' were quite irrelevant to h1m, as they were often synonyms for mere disobedience.

No, flattus sought only to build a turquoise newness, to raise up a civilization clearly based on all manner of questions, not blind answers. a giant rotisserie of a sun smote him upon his left, wisest eartime to go on, sans fear. glancing about for concea1ea arao or JeWISh terronsts, he shambled off in the general direction of atlantis, searching for a spring of dead water. john a lan douglas

Ca r-neg·l e m~E

NEWSLETTER

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the the only thing that ever has:·

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

WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie newsletter • • • • • • • • •

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

Cover art- Max size: 17cm(6 Y.")wide x 15cm(6")high .

Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered.

Black & White printing only.

Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit).

All artists will receive credit for their work.

Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication.

• Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets

Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

GET CLEAN! Shower up at the Lord's Rain 327 Carrall Street Uust off Pigeon Park)

HOT SHOWERS (towels, soap, shampoo, the works! & coffee) Monday 11 am-3pm;>.Juesday ~I : '*+ .:;; Wednesday 6:30-9am "Wiii\Bam-12 LADIES Only!

Friday 11am-3pm; Saturday 6:30-10am lei on parte Francais Hablamos Espana/

Next Issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE THURSDAY, MAY 12 We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this Newsletter. are occurring on Coast Salish Territory.

2011 DONATIONS: Libby D.-$50, Margaret D.-$50 Rolf A.-$50, Brian H.-$100, CEEDS $100, Barry M.-$150 'X'-$52, Savannah WfTerry H. -$2001, Jenny K.-$25 Vancouver Moving Theatre--$300, Barbara M.-$100, Leslie S.-$50, Wihelmina M.-$20, Sheila B.$100 CUPE 15 -$1450

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Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA WORKING FOR YOU

107G-1641 Commercial Dr, V5L 3Y3 Phone: 604-773-0790

Only those that risk going too far can possibly find out how far we can go. T.S.Ehot

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Solder & Sons 247 Maio Street CoHee & T""·Used Book..

Curious Audio Rocordioas

Under the Floor Like a sheet of paper covering rock I try & try but cannot talk the newspaper boy tells me it" s 1927; in my own way I was labelled SOLD but years of tolls make me act so old, my name is pointless but I was born first hour of the first month day eleven, the talk of the town is now up on the screen rve just been invited to my own worst dream I hide myself between has & been just one question is this the place they call hell? Like collecting dead planets on my harm bracelet you say there路s no hann done, yeah. right. let's face it you needn't point me out ignorance and selfdeform it) have treated me oh so swell. like leadin'-!. followers into an unmarked cave I can路t help rnysclf or you from being saved though I can destroy friendships & lots of commitments over & over again, it really does not take that long to undo rights & make all else wrong I am frightenly good with those 2 little words the end, I've become too old to lie & bitterly cold \\hen it comes to goodbyes but justifying the ends can be exhaled out my mouth, I keep forget1ing what I'm looking for it's always above my reach or under the floor my watchwrist says get going North & South, I vent my frustration with music & words yet both these worlds are significantly disturbed sorry but house rules say my heart is something I en no longer depend, I am the graven image of a self-made man too ill & angry at any&everything I don't understand it's as if I have nothing left at all to defend; St MINUS says microchips will soon replace coffins & urns with a new kind of Happy Face is he the only companion I have earned as the world I knew keeps getting further behind, the first third of life is to be cherished & ideal the last2 make you hate what life has become the cruelty & convenience comedy reel does anyone at all have the checkout time? like knowing the past like the hand on your back, if I were to stop using the work like would the outcome have a backlash of setbacks; too bad I like using it as antimatter of fact, now to me the year 1927 is the same as 20 I I or as I call them II ell I & II ell 2. if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't now think of the trees saved from this venomous pen my razorblade fingers are becoming extremely unglued. I am very opinionated about the past so shut your mouth whi le I answer what you would have asked I blame nobody but me for my own emotional decay.

I put distress signals in their proper place only shad-

ows remain with some kind ofbcforc&aftcr taste dead feelings like flowers can always be put on display. opportunity has kicked down the door but that"s quite all right remember I'm the one under the floor like colour-coding medication for the blind forever isn't as long as it seems. long before I become dormant you shall witness a secondhand performance like tic immortal this could be bigger than Charlie Shecn路s egotistical dreams. like touring each & every sewer with his toiletbrush torpedo tour but first a discouraging word from the Selfishist tooth & toilet brush 2-in-1 team. like being a disgruntled Employee of the Year it's time to load up at the Dollar for a Thought & a Penn) for your fear. in God the} trust all else pa) at gunpoint...

My thought came to a dollar twelve as for that rear I've begun building more shelves ya know sometime even all 10 Commitments get broken & then we' re back to 1927;;; I'll pause now then bow then get the hell out or this soon-to-be year 20 I I joint.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY

More Use, More Cost On the late news were comments from Shaw CEO, where he said, 'The response from customer surveys have con_, vinced us that charging more for more use [of the Internet] 5- is okay." Direct translation is that phoning, say, a hundred ~ customers and asking them didn't produce a significantly S. remarkable percentage or even just vociferous enough op~ position to make Shaw (and the other telecom giants) scale ~ 路 back an iota. They are going to do it because they can. ; Basic principle for getting around rules/regulations/laws is ~ to break iUthem and drag the honest people down the black 2' hole of enforcement after-the-fact or (worse) into legal 5- wrangling which can, if you're adept enough, take years. ~ It also gives a lot of time and leeway to find a low-level per!:; son/department to take the blame, to have great PR spin ~ and to eventually get away with paying about one-half to n> one-hundredth of whatever the fine/damages were. ~ I feel it's this aspect the corporate monopoly on serviceg providers will let them get away with it for years until ... ah, ::r ~ until what? It's like the old cartoon, with Big Oil CEOs comg pletely disparaging solar power because they couldn't "own' g. it. The Internet is basically free, unless &/or until its com<! mercialisation overtakes its use for communication and knowledge and understanding. Priceless intangibles like ~ these are gelling kicked in the teeth.

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Respectfully submitted, PauiR Taylor. Editor, Carnegie Newsletter

Changing Canada, one backward step at a time

By James Travers

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[Mr. Travers was the National Affairs Columnist for The Toronto Star before his tragic death in March 2011, due to complications arising from surgery. This is one of his most memorable columns, published in June 2010.)

Imagine a country where Parliament is pad~ock~d twice in 13 months to frustrate the democratiC wil l of the elected majority. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that slyly relaxes environmental regulations even as its neighbour reels from a catastrophic oil leak blamed on slack controls That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that boasts about prudent fi~a~c­ ial management while blowing through a $l3-bllllon s urplus on the way to a $47-bi llion deficit. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country where a political operative puts fork-tongued words in a top general's mouth. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that refuses to fund the same safe abotions for poor women abroad as it provides at home. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country where the national police commissioner skews a federal election and is never forced to explain. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that writes a covert manual on sabotaging Commons committees. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country dragging its climate change feet as The True North melts. That country is now thi s country.

Imagine a country that silences political debate on the sale of a publicly owned, crown jewel corporation.

That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that puts higher priority on building super-prisons than keeping people out of them.

That country is now this country.

Imagine a country where parties that (collectively) win the most federal seats are dismissed as " losers."

That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that twists its foreign policy . around the interests of another nation. That country IS now this country.

Imagine a country that argues that barricading its largest city promotes tourism. That country is now this country.

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Imagine a country that promises Senate reform only to continue stufling it with political hacks. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that avoids answers about a controversial war by accusing questioners of supporting the enemy. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country where party apparatchiks decide who in a nominally free press is allowed to ask the Prime Minister questions. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country where donut s hop wisdom is more prized than expert analysis. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that builds a fake lake for a tough -times summit. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that preaches law & order while killing a long-gun registry that police chiefs insist makes cit izens safer. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country where serving the Prime Minister as chief propagandist is job preparation for running a national news network. That country is now this country.

Imagin e a country where charities mute constructive criticism of public policy for fear of losing federal funding. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that can spend $1 .3 billion for summit security but can't find the petty cash needed to invest in the status of women. That country is now this country.

Imagine a country that promises accountability on ly to impose secrecy. That country is now this country.

Every example is familiar; all are documented.

Only the cumulative effect is surprising.

Conservatives came to power knowing reluctant Canadians could only be shifted to the political right incrementally. That movement is now advancing according to the plan Conservative thinker, strategist and Stephen-Harper-mentor Tom Flanagan infuriated the Prime Minister by making public.

Imagine that. !from The CCPA Monitor, Apri l 20 II]

EXPRESS YOU RSELF and VOTE ON MAY 2nd!

There is a federal election underway and I want to encourage all of you to vote! Voting day is Monday, May 2nd.

We must continue our fig ht every day for equality and justice. And let's face it, there isn' t much of either in our society. I know that some people are definitely more powe rful than others. But on voting day equalit) does exist. Everybody's voice couniS. Somebody who is a me mber of the Carnegie couniS just as much as the guy who is a membe r of the Arbutus Club. Whether you li ve in the DTES or Shaughnessy, your vote counts!

Voting is a right to express our choice for who gets to represent us in government. In many countries, people are int imidated and threatened if they express the mselves po lit ically. In Canada, on voting day we can express our choice and affi rm our op inions as a free citizen. So please take this opportunity to vote.

In order to vote, you must be: • A Canadian Citizen • 18 years old or over on Election Day • Resident of Vancouver East

Ed;torial

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How can a newsletter put out by a not-for-profi t society be so pa rti san? 'Cause it's not the society, it's me ..and IOOs & 1000s of concerned. committed citi zens. There have always been 'anyone but' groupings, but Harper and c ron ies a re blatant about making democracy die. And 'democ racy can never be resto red in Canada while most Canadians continue to believe they still live in a democracy.'

Harper & the Conserva tives continuously cut tax rates for the most wealthy people and their corporations, whi le the public services we get with tax dollars are c ut a nd cut and cut. It's like he and George W Bush are twins- every time Bush praised some gov't program the hatc het c utting its budget or g utting its mandate was al ready in full swi ng.

With Harper it's fundamental rights being s lashed. burned and ridic uled. As the "chucker of rights a nd freedoms" he has both restricted and discouraged freedom of s peech, ins idiously hampered Human Rights Advocacy Organisations (especially those fighting fo r women's economic a nd reproductive rights) severely retarded International DevelPlus. you must have proper identification: opment by cutting programs that were teaching literacy I . Once piece of ID: either the BC ID Card or BC and realistic life skills, making immigrant organ isations a dri vers licence; OR joke for anyone not wealthy, punishing internal individual 2. Two pieces of ID: both pieces must have your name, and at least one of these pieces must have your dissent and virtually terminating academic freedom for all address (some examples: Carnegie Library card; birth providing research reports and recommendations. He is certificate; CareCard ; SIN Card; Seniors Card ; Gov- even vastly increas ing o utsourced government contracts to ernment cheq ue or c heque stub; phone bill ; cable bill ; get around publicly regulated hiring practices- where the merit of work provided is hig hly valued and the ins ider I hydro bill; CPP state ment; bank statement; income old boys network ing isn't the order of the day. When each tax assessment notice) ; OR 3. Someone who has the proper identification as listed departmen t must cut another 5% of its b udget, the money in #2 can vouch fo r you. T his person has to li ve in the for cons ultants and the chosen few companies goes up steadi ly. same polling division as you.

So far this is, while not very polite, at least civil. During WHERE TO VOTE? this election campaign anyone who was not an ardent On Monday. May 2nd . The po lls are open fro m Harper/Conservative s upporter was not a llowed past the 7 :00am-7:00pm. C heck your poll ing card under the door for a ll speeches, rallies or the 'spontaneous' photo Election Day section to fi nd whe re to vote. If you ops .. No voice of dissent or even hard questioni ng was don' t have a poll ing card, call Elections Canada at 604 654 6480.

I 'heard' so as to virtually el im inate the possibi lity of catching Harper ofT script a nd being forced to answer NOT E: Most reside nts of the Downtown Easts ide truthfully. likely vote at: -T he Carnegie, 40 I Main The only possible positive results wi ll be if people wake up and see this bunch for the crimi nal goons they are and -Ma ndarin Health Centre, 543 Main throw them out of o ffi ce.

-Salvation Army Harbour Light, 119 E Cordova So bring as muc h ID as you can muste r and PauiR Taylor, editor.

I

GOOD NEWS! The DTES Small Arts Grants Project is back to provide funding opportunities for Individual Artists!

In June of last year, the DTES Small Arts Grants Pilot Project ended with a fabulous gala at Centre A which featured artwork and performances by 37 grant recipients. The evening showcased the vitality of the art scene in the DTES and demonstrated the value of an individual-based grant, the first of its kind in the neighbourhood.

Carnegie Commun ity Centre is very happy to announce that the Vancouver Foundation has refunded this successful project, and with added support from Vancity, we will once again offer 65 grants of up to $1000 to artists living in the Downtown Eastside.

Applications for the first round of j ury ing will be available on Friday, May 6th at various locations in the neighbourhood including the Carnegie Center and Oppenheimer Park.

Deadline for submission is Monday, May 30th, at 4 PM . Among the first tier of applicants, those who are shortlisted will be invited to subm it a more detailed project & budget proposal for a second round of jurying. Successful grant recipients will be announced in mid-July.

Information sessions about the project and the application process will held at the following: 1. Tuesday, May 17th, 6 - 7 PM : Carnegie Community Centre, 3'd Floor Classroom II 2. Thursday, May 19th, 2:30 - 4:00 PM: Oppenheimer Park, Field House To apply online, visit http://dtessmallartsgrants .blogspot.com/ To view our online gallery, please visit: http ://vancouverfou ndationsmallarts .ca/ For more information, please contact Jason Bouchard , Coordinator at: Email: dtesartsgrants@gmail.com Phone: 778-879-9843

vanCDuver foundation With additional support from .

Vanci~