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November 15, 2004
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= "Sp irit Guide " (lSI prize), Photographer: Timothy Kirk. Subject: Calvin Smoke r. "T he earth is the mother of all people , and all people shoul d have equal rights upon it." - Chie f Joseph
•. The 2005 Downtown Eastside Portrait Calendar features photos taken during a community photography contest sponsored by Pivot Legal Society. In this contest, 220 black and white disposable cameras were handed out to Downtown Eastside residents of Vancouver and Toronto in an effort to capture images, too often overlooked, of compassion, friendship , joy, struggle, courage and faith. A panel of professional photographers selected the winning photographs and this calendar is a selection of those images. Proceeds from the sale of the 2005 Downtown Eastside Portrait Calendar go towards legal initiatives aimed at advancing the interests and improving the lives of marginalized persons. Thank you for your support." Above is from the back of the 2005 Calendar.. It's the phenomenal fruition of an idea first realized in 2004. Pivot's origins are likely best described by PIVOT. Their promo says, "Advancing the interests and improving the lives of marginalized persons through law reform, legal education, and strategic legal action ." Memory has them aligned with people involved in the Woodwards Squat, as well as collecting stories/statements from locals about personal experience with police harassment, both in their violations of basic legal rights and use of physical force. The launch of this Calendar took place in the Carnegie Theatre, with prizes being awarded to those who took the 'best' photos. This is no mean feat literally thousands of photos were turned in. Also announced that day was that The Downtown Eastside Portrait Calendar is a winner of the Printing Industries of America's Award of Recognition for best calendar. The "thank you for your support" at the end of the blurb above is a subtle way of saying the retail price of each 2005 calendar is 20 bucks. Local people seIling them pay $10 each and make $10 for each one sold. Not bad. The cover photo is likely a bit fuzzy, given that a high-speed photocopying process is used in printing this Newsletter. Get a 2005 calendar to see them all By PaulR Taylor
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Safe Streets This article has not been researched. It is based purely on my personal experiences. The "information" I give you is entirely anecdotal. In this way my pronouncements on the safety of our streets will be no different from those ofVancouver-Burrard MLA Lome Mayencourt. Mr. Mayencourt, the pusher of Bill M 202, asserts that the panhandlers are not the homeless. HE says to cure them all we need to do is to fine them. Uh-huh. - and I suppose we'll be mailing all those notices of fines to their West Point Grey addresses? Mr . Mayencourt spent a few days down here "on the street" as an accidental tourist and now feels qualified as an expert on the "homeless". In the October 30 edition of the Vancouver Courier he challenges the figures given by Judy Graves who has worked with the city's homeless for over 30 years saying in his 5 days "pretending "to be homeless on the downtown eastside he counted only 100. Judy Graves routinely counts 700 or more downtown during her nightly rounds. He says Judy can 't count. So who ARE we to believe? He also says that no one ever has to be turned away from a shelter. In the same Courier report Capt. John Murray of the Salvation Army says that the demand can not be met: "the need outstrios the resources" Weill know who I believe HERE. The Sally Ann has been in the homeless biz just a little bit longer than Mr. Mayencourt. AND they answer to a Higher Power than the Premier. I don't know but I've been told by those that do know that there are a lot more homeless now found cuddling up to the red brick school where I work in the morning after their good nights sleep. One of my first encounters with safety on the streets of Vancouver happened a few weeks after my arrival in this city five years ago. An SUV tried to run me over as I walked on a crosswalk during a green light at the corner of Macdonald and Broadway. My second experience with the lack of safety on these
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= streets occurred a month or so later when a severely bipolar homeless individualstarted to stalk myself and my daughter. One night he knocked and banged for hours long after midnight on the door and windows of our basement apartment. We fled that night - never to return there - becoming if only very temporarily; " homeless" . So to Mr. Mayencourt I say if you truly care about making our streets safe look out for the traffic violators and the mentally ill; especially the mentally ill because no one is truly looking out for most of them . Bill 202 is an entirely superficial approach to a very deep problem. It offers a placebo as a panacea. It does nothing to address the sickness of our city:
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Roots of Self I'm the angel ofenlightenment offree willing listen to my words the words of harmony open your doorways to them where you'll be as one with the universe and with yourself Where you must look deeply into yourself to learn how to fly no one can teach you about it only yourself remember where you come from within yourself. A.J.O.
our refusal to take responsibility and care for our severely mentally ill. But then it is much easier to engage in the ludicrous lunacy of levying fines on beggars than it is to commit the adequate money and time to care properly for our mentally ill. Maybe since you are in the business of pretending Mr. Mayencourt; could you pretend for a day -just ONE day - that you were a severely homeless bipolar man off medication and without the benefit of family or society to help you? Or perhaps you could pretend that you were a child from my school being stalked by that man? Then would you see things just a little differently? (Mary Duffy works as a Librarian at the Strathcona school and public library. Her opinions are entirely personal and not necessarily those of the library)
Money and Value We are using money more now, because we find it is a blessing from God. Prosperity Gospel? I don 't see why not. I went for twelve years on $3,000 a year. Dumpsters were a source of plenty; good quality stuff. I'm still wearing used clothing and carry inside that comparison from my financial small amounts. I have gained insight into low income - two dollars can be as powerful as two hundred. I still try to be effective with the money that passes through my hands. I notice the pennies or dimes on the ground. It's funny how I'll think it demeaning to stoop for a penny.. the lowly penny. (Oh, but ifit's a quarter, no problem.) It's a question of what we value, yet every dollar is made up of a hundred pennies And if they're picked up here and there is not their value increased? That 's why economics is so dynamic, because values are constantly moving and shifting like the weather. God only knows 'cause even people 's computers can ' t calculate or even keep up with immeasurable value-adding, although it is finite when it comes to that which is Caesar's - or Government's, if you willGod bless and leave a quarter; someone will find it and maybe make a good phone call. Th a ks fro
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Premier Gordon Campbell - an open letter First of all thank you for the Christmas present of $10 a month. I am one of the disabled who really appreciate the gift; don 't let me find out that there are strings attached and I won't "qualify". Mr.Premier, you are the one who said this is a new ' era' when you took power. Since then you have almost single-handedly destroyed our Social Systems. You have also been behind the rigorous program to eliminate our Labour force. What about the people who got cut off Welfare don 't they deserve any consideration at all this Holiday season? Our hospitals are closing operating rooms while the operations go to private sources. What gives? You and MLA Mayencourt seem to think that by legislating the homeless to quit panhandling you solve the fundamental fault of your own policies!? It is also you who are the cause of our Health Care fiasco with all the cuts you have made to that system Mr .Premier, you and your government seem to think that most of the people have short memories, as you try to buy your way back to power in 2005. Personally, you have shown me that you cannot be trusted for anything you say. You can do your damnedest to change both the image and spin of your actions over the past few years but we, the elec torate, know that promises are easy to give but hard to keep . It's too late to change the opinions we have ofyou. The people, the homeless, the working poor, the single parents, the seniors with their gray power, the Unionized Labour force have already had enough of your promises and your " new era " . Yukon Eric
A NEW ERROR We ' ve been here before.•. T hey used to call them Socr eds
Now t hey call them Liber als. A more deceptive name.. . A more deceptive approach to politics
How can we make our Politicos hear the facts of life in the Downtown Eastside? Lately we have been subjected to all kinds ofBS about our lives in the best place to work and live in the world. We can try to tell a homeless person how great a place it is to bed down on a sidewalk when it's raining buckets. Just try telling a person on minimum wage walking home after a 12-hour shift at 4 in the morning it's a great place to work in when he can't afford bus far e. We can try to tell a single parent to go to work without proper childcare they can't afford. Tell a man to do ajob search while waiting for an appointment with a Welfare worker. Now that we have a Safe Streets Act to stop us from panhandling, how are we going to pay fines and stay out ofjail? Our fearless MLAs tell us that homeless people an d mental hea lth'pati ents are not the ones who panhandle. I wonder who is doing this aggressive panhandling? It was our Prem ier who did a fine job of pan handling from Ottawa recently. It was our Government that forced a 15% wage rollback on our Health Care workers. We have been forced to deal with all kinds of cuts to programs that people least can afford Seems to me it was this same government who voted
p a hefty increase for themselves. The latest budget figures tell me that most of the cuts were a simple war on poor people across the province. It cannot be said that poor people caused all the Shit in health care and social programs. We should put the blame where it really belongs : our elected BC Liberal government. Yukon Eric
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Roots of Front
We People front every day! In the role play where we get lost in our negativity. We hurt the people that we care about the most. The teachings in life, usually die with the teachers. and necessarily the teachers don't have to be old.
AJ.O.
'Twas The Night Before Cheque Day
DALLADAH BOWEN QUINTET
Live at Carnegie Centre Theatre Thanksgiving Day, 2004 What an afternoon it was on Thanksgiving with Dalladah Bowen live, in person. in the packed, standing-room-only Theatre! All were served up Dalladah's cool Rhythm and Blues, along with their coffee, for a solid hour of dreamy tunes and snappy repartee performing probably everything from her soon-to-be-released CD "A Night in Tunisia". She did her own arrangements and renditions of old standards and chestnuts like Van Morrison 's " Moon Dance", " The Very Thought of You" and " I' ve Got It Bad". It was a most fun way to pass away an afternoon with the Dalladah Bowen Quintet. After, everyone wandered offhappy and with big smiles on their faces. . I think we 'll be hearing of big things from her in the near future, so don't forget to look for the new CD down the road. Thank you for giving us an electric and wonderful hour ofyour time, so fittingly on Thanksgiving.
'Twas the night before cheque day When all through the house Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. The money I get is so meager It's not fair I have holes in my socks And the cupboards are bare. Santa was here with 12 little helpers To brighten up Xmas he let out a yelper " ... on Donner, on Cupid, on Blitzen and Dasher. It's Main & Hastings ," he groaned, " Good God, there's a flasher!" Some of the people here are so sick The bughouse (Riverview) has closed We get the short end of the stick. Carnegie! Carnegi e! That fair damsel in distress has been my life saver when I was a mess. " . .It will never shut down.." I cry to anyone who can hear"Xmas has arrived" so let's break out some cheer. .....on Prancer, on Dancer ..." There 's Parliament Hill, We're off to get Libby (Davies) She's needed here still. I'm moving out of this old neighbourhood It's been a hard teacher but I prefer the soft woods (forest) I've pounded the pavement When my bus pass was not near So I think I'll help Santa and his eight tiny reindeer.
Larry Mousseau
Libby Davies, M.P. Vancouver East 2412 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V5T 3E2 Phone: (604) 775-5800 Fax: (604) 775-5811 Email: daviel@parl.gc.ca You are invited to meet
Libby Davies Your recently re-elected Member of Parliament for Vancouver East - Hear updates from Ottawa - Find out how the current min ority governm ent can better work for you!
When
Friday, November 19th, 2004 3:30 p.m, to 5 p.m, Where
Carnegie Centre 401 Main Street, Vancouver Any questions, call 604-775-5800
Flyer Scene Sitting here looking at flyers. checking out the sales. when there is many others doing the same thing. Only I feel that life is dangling on a string So I路need to know where it is that we can all sing. I see that there is a lot of opportunity. For very much unity, Let us build on our community. we are all the same human beings we need to communicate on the telephone ring. Selina K Barton
"The Night Before the Opera" A free premier featuring a liveopera performance. SingerS perform excerPts from Madame Butterffy.
Wednesday, November 24 7:00 pm - carnegie Theatre The first 90 people will receive tickets to the dress rehearsal of Puccin i's Madame Butterfly.
Takin' Out the Trash Talkin' Blues It's time to take out the trash Baby Your trash talkin' time is through It's time to take out the trash Baby I say Your trash talkin' days are through. You sta rted out so so sweet I thought you would be true But then you turned real real nasty And took a strip offa me or two. Your fruits turned way too bitter And your cream has started to clot You trash talking me all of the time But, baby a punch in' bag I'm not. You're a "BIG bad boy" Baby Say your Mama didn't raise you right But what 'bout your papa baby Wasn't he - like you; out every night? You got way too much hate inside you And Anger lives there too So, this Mama's c1eanin' House I'm takin' a broom to your poison brew ' cos you just won't grow up Baby and take your own trash out This Mama's got hers elf some Mr . Clean She knows what She's all about. I'm takin' out the trash Baby Your trash talkin' days are through I'm clean in' out my Closet Yeah - this Gal's on the move. This Gals on the move ' cos she's tired of that same old trash talkin' groove. (for "Eminen" !)
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Safe Streets
Good Deed for Today
Violence is justifiable 7 in cases where limits are set and respect upheld. Revenge is in the hands of the Great Spirit. . Kickin' ass to stop muthas feedin' on yer toes is alright up to a point why blow 'em up when you can just shoot 'em in the Ass? No-one need die
morning in the clinic little girl sez got get some methadone Papa sez buck up baby go back to yer room Kick for 4 lousy days whole lotta less trouble than being in pharm a-prison and Dr. jiving. .. for the rest of yer life. Take it from one who knows.
This morning she stepped off the bus at the corner of Main and Hastings. A man was kneeling in the middle of the road. He was on his hands and knees, He looked like he was praying; The crosswalk his mat facing Mecca.
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She stood paralyzed ~~~~~~~~~ AI as oblivious cars l~ swirled around him . playing some kind of ." l' / ". Abandoned :~~ ":• ,pi":\ surreal video game. : . • 'J ~~ :: Every time I go away. ....~ 1\ \ .•... She was too horrified to help ....... My spirit seems to want and stay. but Someone stepped I live for today, tomorrow is no relay. into the street My heart is breaking, as there is a rude awakening. and gently lifted him up I have feelings with emotions, that deliver its own commotion. removing him from The good times will be missed, as I am a person on your fist We need time to think in order to make a link the Dance of Death Believe that time will tell; when we have to ring the bell. circling around him.
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Every day there are such moments of grace "down here". Tonight I stood waiting for the last bus at the same corner with my curly haired daughter; frantically digging in my purse = looking for her lost bus pass. A Lady took pity on us and gave her the transfer she'd been trying to sell for a quarter. Every night there are such moments of grace "down here". maryd
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K ITS CLASSICS at Carnegie Cent re
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Music of the Americas Guitarist Michael Strutt, fluti st Elizab eth McBurney and clarinetist Johanna Hauser will perform chamber music by several Central and Sou th American composers.
Friday, Nov.ember 19, 1 pm Carnegie's 3rd floor Art Gallery
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Learning Centre workshop provides info on welfare policy Nearly 30 people got a chance to learn more about the provincial government's welfare program on November 9th at the Carnegie Learning Centre. Janet Berry, an advocate at First United Church, helped us all understand how to apply for the PPMB (Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers to employment (in Ministry lingoÂť category. If you have a hard time finding work or if you have disabilities, PPMB is better than straight welfare because single people get $96 a month more than straight welfare provides. You can also keep the first $300 you earn, get a few medical benefits, and be exempted from the two year time limit (yes, this is still in force, although there are many exemptions). Janet gave us all copies of the regulations defining PPMB, a Ministry fact sheet on PPMB and a sample of the form a doctor has to fill out for people who apply for PPMB. There are two ways to qualify: . One is to get 15 points on a Ministry test that's supposed to reveal how employable you are. You get a certain number of points depending on your ability with English, your age, how long you've been on social assistance, your employment history, etc. Plus, you must have a medical condition (not an addiction), confirmed by a doctor, that has continued for at least I year and is likely to continue for at least 2 more years or has occurred frequently in the past year and is likely to continue for at least 2 more years. The Ministry has to agree that this condition impedes your ability to work. Plus you have to do everything the ministry wants you to do to overcome the barriers to employment. The second way to qualify for PPMB is to have a medical condition, confirmed by a doctor, that has continued for at least I year and is likely to continue for at least 2 more years or has occurred frequently in the past year and is likely to continue for at least 2 more years. The Ministry has to agree that this medical condition precludes you from working.
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There are a tot of tricky details to know when getting a doctor to fill out the forms. For example, if you have an addiction, it improves your chances of getting accepted if the doctor says the addiction is a secondary medical condition, not the primary medical condition. The two words impede and preclude are important in all of this. Janet said Ministry policy says that impede means that you can't work over 10 hours a month. Preclude means that the medical condition itself prevents a person from working. "Does the government expect people to become healthier and get skills?" asked one person at the workshop. "Does reason come into it?" Janet said that the government looks at applications from the point of view of employment. They don't seem to understand that some people can work as volunteers in a supportive environment, but not in a competitive business environment. Janet said that the decision on whether to accept your PPMB application is not made by your worker. Two people in the Regional Office decide. Janet encouraged everyone who thinks they may qualify to apply for PPMB and for the Disability pension. She said you can apply for both at the same time. If your requ est is turned down, you can appeal. Janet recommended that people who want to appeal get the help of an advocate as soon as they get the notice that their application has been turned down. This is because you only have 20 business days from that time to file the appeal at the first level and only 7 business days for a second level appeal. If the Ministry agr ees that you are in the PPMB category, it will only last for 2 years before they review it again. At the end of the meeting Chryse Howes of the Human Rights Discussion group at the Learning Centre thanked Janet and presented her with some flowers. People were pretty riled up about the injustice of the whole welfare system. The Human Rights Discussion Group wants to follow up this workshop with more learning about what rights we have and don't have, and what we can do about it. By Jean Swanson
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Nightmare in the North "Don't tell me what to do," George snarled at me after I suggested that he didn't need to sleep at night with a loaded 44 magnum handgun beside him. "But they're only mice," I said. "On ly mice!" George exclaimed. "They ate my boots once, and they ate my camera case. I woke up one night and twenty of them were having a dance on my head." George was a geologist, and we were prospecting one hundred miles north of Kamloops. The two of us who were prospectors slept in a tent, and every night George locked himself in the cab of the company truck with a loaded gun because he was afraid of mice. "It's not just the mice," George continued. "It's the bears and mosquitoes too. They're out to get me. " "A 44 magnum is a pretty big fly swatter," I said. "It makes me feel safe," George said. "I grew up in Dallas, and we like guns there. This is the first time I've been in Canada." "Don't you like the North?" I asked. "No," George said. "Too many mice. The bears drop out of the trees , and the mosquitoes fly into your mouth." I figured George was the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Maybe life is better in the city," I said. "Maybe," George replied. About a week later George was having lunch in the truck when he suddenly shot out of the cab with amazing speed. "There's a mouse in the truck," he
yelled . Then the mosquitoes attacked him, and 9 George ran in circles in the forest in a complete panic. "Terrorists," he screeched, over and over again. He swatted mosquitoes this way and that way, and I thought that we were lucky he didn 't have his gun. It was still in the truck. He must have remembered it,
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though, because he started to head for the truck, arms whirling like a windmill. Someone else was in the truck, however. When George had jumped out of the truck earlier, he had left the door open . A black bear had climbed inside and got behind the steering wheel. When George saw the bear, he let out the mother of all screams, and ran down the road towards Kamloops, one hundred miles away. Then the bear got out of the truck, and wandered into the forest. "I think our geologist needs a ride into town ," the other prospector said . "I'll give him a ride in the truck ifhe hasn't reached Kamloops before I catch up with him ," I said. By Sandy Cameron
The Job Shop supports resident s of the OTES in their return to work. Participants develop and broaden the skills they will need to get and keep a job. Federally funded by HRDC , The Job Shop starts new participants every week. Program information sessions are held Tuesdays, at I p.m. Call 604-253-9355 and ask for The Job Shop .
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Need A Chance To Prove You're Readr, Willing & Able To Work? Get the
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Find out what your next step needs to be. Call to attend the ob Sho Info session. 604-253-9355 Program funded by HRDC
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Human Resources Developpement des Development Canada ressources humaines Canada
Republican America! Republican Forever!
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You are now Republican through and through. You are 'God's Country.' In the Senate, in the House and in the Presidential offices. Your new Supreme Court nominees can overturn Roe v. Wade. You can keep fighting on in Iraq and take Iran to the brink. You can keep your deficits, your pharmacare, your tax cuts, and your big oil money flowing. And ~eep . those Defense contracts primed up, baby. It s gomg to be a wild ride! You beat the Democrats into oblivion. There's nothing left of them. So this morning, given the immensity of the rout. we are all diminished, we are all impoverished and we are all possible recipients of your arrogance. . . An election which defines a time and a generation only comes along about once every fifty years. This time the whole world was watching. This was the election where we all ended up liking John Kerry but it wasn't good enough. We wanted to fall in love with him. We wanted the "Going Upriver" John Kerry, the shaggy haired 70's one, 27 years old: speakin~ against the war at the Senate Committee meetmgs just arrived from Vietnam . We wanted the earnest John Kerry preaching about "commitment" at the Yale debating club offices.
He was the right candidate at the right time. The Curse of the Bambino had been broken, the stage had been set and the Kerry storyline was compelling. He had us and then he lost us. But in the end, the mythology and the narrative of the campaign didn't fit the gravity of the times. It was underwhelming. We wanted so much more. We expected so much more . We deserved so much more. Perhaps John Kerry committed the most egregious violation of all humankind: he failed to inspire when the age and the time demanded it. We wanted to believe in somebody again. But he was too wooden, too much the icon Senator from Massachusetts, too weathered by experience to speak freely in the kind oflanguage we were looking for. Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The age demanded that we sing and dance and jammed us into iron pants." That's how the last four years made us feel. We wanted to believe again. How many times do I have to say it? We wanted that kind of Robert Kennedy feelinghell we would have settled for Bill Clinton. John , we weren't asking for much. To be fair, John Kerry's greatest moments were at the debates where he manhandled George W. Bush, beating him on every point, on erudition, style and experience, at will. It was embarrassing to watch the stupefied and awkward President attempting to parry the blows. If it had been a hockey fight, Kerry would have been like Tie Domi flipping Bush's sweater over his head and pummeling him with an endless barrage of blows. Kerry ended up being the Joe Frazier of American politics, but we wanted Ali. Kerry was like the ski-jumper from Wide World of Sports who falls on the runway and lands on his head in his Moment of Truth. If the rest of the world was voting , John Kerry would have won. This wasn't just a Democratic collapse of epic proportions where heads will roll and blame will be apportioned accordingly. The battle for the swing states was lost; John Edwards couldn't carry his home state, Clinton didn't bring Arkansas, Gore couldn't bring Tennessee and Richardson couldn't bring New Mexico. Voting for Republican America was a way for Middle America to flip the bird to the rest of the world. It was a big, giant "fuck you all~'
to the critics of America. It was an affirmation ot the Bush White House and his handling of the wars, the economy, his leadership and his cabal of right wing ideologues. But for the rest of us, we will look upon America as if it's Robert Altman's Nashville - that the "Best Before" date on the Bush White House passed long ago for most of the rest of the world. Republican America, you are a nation deluded about your place in the world, your visions of Empire, wearing an ideological straitjacket custom-fitted by Pat Robertson and the Christian right. This isn't a Chicken Little vision of the world, but things got a little meaner, a little harder, a little bit more serious after election night. Secular America was given a drubbing. It's roll-up-the-sleeves time. So sleep tight America, everything's going to be ok. The response to the Republican landslide will bring out the best side of you - the one we like. Your own citizenry will be engaged in a way that it never has been before. It'll be a litigioustime in the courts, but maybe politics will matter again. The Bush that America voted for will be remembered as the most divisive, controversial President of modern times, but he found a way to win. So it's now up to you, people of America, to take back your country in other ways, to temper your nation's excesses, to find a better way. We'll be watching. We don't have a choice. Sincerely, Am Johal
••• sometimes you don't quite know what to do with your free time. You often feel like you should be busy workingon personal projects or planning fun parties.. why do you put so much pressure on yourself, Videha? We all need to take time to just relax, You don't even have to get your hands dirty doinghouseholdchores if you don't want to! Listen to your instincts: If you feel like doing nothing,then nothing is exactly what you should do.
[if you believe Bush won the election fairly or even that all the votes assigned to him were actually cast and counted property (i. e. that it wasn 't rigged and isn 't pure bullshit) then you are likely sure, if asked, that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman ... Ed.]
WHEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE The best defence. when walls of treason choke LIS . offis defiance, curses, fury. Then, hopefully, a rally of friends: knowledge, focus, confidence, courage, guts, stamina... then action with a counting of blessings and words of a prayer SAM RODDAN
Turning rotten veggies into black gold! Late October marks the end of the season for most gardeners, but there is still plenty of activity happening at Strathcona Community Garden. This past summer saw the launch of the Inner City Community Composting Project (lC3 ), a capacity-building endeavor in community-scale composting and humus production for use within the community garden and at local schools and community centres. Through a grant from EcoAction (Environment Canada's community funding program) , the Strath cona Community Garden Association has partnered with Quest Outreach Society in a two-year project to create a mutually beneficial solution to the logistics of food waste recycling. As it is an organic garden, the Strathcona Community Garden relies on humus (the natural end-product of composting, not to be confused with the tasty middle eastern chickpea dip!) as a natural fertilizer for its.garden p~ots, herb garden and extensive orchard. GIVen the size of the garden (3 acres ), a lot of humus is required all year round. So much in fact that there has not been enough in past years to fulfill all of the garden's needs. at least from compost that has been produced on-site. The partnership with Quest, which provides food to community and soup kitchens and other special programs, is serving to alleviate this shortfall. Quest unfortunately has to also deal with over 200 tonnes of organic waste each year, most of which ends up in the Vancouver landfill. While not the worst type of waste from an environ-
mental standpoint, organic waste in landfills produces substantial amounts of methane, a hydrocarbon second only to carbon dioxide as a contributor to global warming, This crucial environmental problem is also compounded by the amount ofgreenhouse gas pollution and extra cost involved in trucking this waste out to the Vancouver landfill in Delta. Given the proximity ofQuest to the Strathcona Community Garden (10 minute walk) , and the garden's need for compost, both parties have teamed up to process much of this waste at the garden's renovated composting facility. With the labour ofa substantial number of local volunteers and several gardeners themselves, this compostable food waste is piled, layered, turned and ultimately transformed over time into the "black gold" of humus , the ultimate nutrient-rich organic plant food. If you haven't been down to the Strathcona Garden for some time, you will notice some big changes at the composting area located in the garden's southeastern section off Malkin Avenue. Twelve new composting bins have been built and set up to take in Quest's organic food waste. Each substantial load is piled and layered into a bin, where nature's biological and chemical processes go to work. With timely
turning from the gardeners and volunteers, usable compost can be created in as little as six weeks! As we progress , not only can we accumulate valuable humus for the garden, but we can also calculate the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from landfill methane and transport trucks. To monitor this progress , a Greenhouse Gas Emission Gauge has been set up to keep tabs on this cumulative reduction over the next two years. Huge amounts offood waste are being moved each week, even as the cooler time ofyear approaches. The Strathcona Community Garden has always en-
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= deavored to be a model of organic gardening and ecological sustainability within an urban setting. Any true organic garden relies on finished compost to condition its soil and provide vital plant nutrients. Having a self-sufficient composting facility that can produce the several tonnes of compost needed by the garden and community each year is the next step, and the IC3 project is helping to fulfill that need. But the garden is not the only beneficiary of this project. As Canada is a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions , the IC3 project is aiming to help achieve the goals of the protocol by being an example of what can be done at the community level. By Peter Gacser
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The sea of red, like a blanket on the floor. A choir of elders sharing kindness and strength through love of music. With open arms and soft, sweet voices , heard throughout Carnegie's corridors. No, I did not see anyone race, nor the colour of skin, only through eyes and ear I heard beauty from within. A community ofsolidarity filled with passion, compassion.. No barriers, just heart and soul. A Sea of Red. Stephen Lytton
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WASTIN ' TIME All of this wasted time blowin' smoke rings out in dimes tryin' to find a way out of this dark well I'm in tryin' to focus my mind at the Daily Grind but busted feelings invoke my toke to the smoke then I choke on the goals that I set for my life demons inside forbid me to hide myself away
"oh just one more day" is what I always say one more switches into two and then we all know what I do I keep on with this vicious cycle I'm in no freakin ' end but then ... there's a bend in the road a light on my path allowing me to laugh because everyone has a vice that grips onto them it's weed, it's booze, it's work. it's money it's sex! Ya it's funny but we all waste time in different ways we all have something to say it's a voice we have to find deep inside not another place to hide let the truth arrive then we will all see what happiness can be. Just deal with whatever life brings your way the vice will loosen it's grip day by day this is just my say you will find balance in your own way I still ti It to the side cause my own balance I have to find and one day I will for now my honesty says no not today no hiding away from the vice that grips me so tightly today it isn't the booze it sure ain't work or money it may be sex but no it's funny it's weed that takes my money oops so sorry honey but for me sex don't cost money I just love the vibe I get when I'm high I let my mind escape the feelings of hate in this state of mind I just waste my time and it flys away now I say when I choke on the smoke that I toke all I do is get more broke Crystal Asham
KILLER CULTURE Crimes of Church and State in Canada A lecture and discussion series on our hidden history of genocide. 5 Mondays:
November 15 - December 13, 2004. Each begins at 7:00 pm in Room 111 of the Vision
canadian Autoworkers Hall 326-12th St, New Westminster
I see a time when the churches in North America treat the poor to the best of their ability. Speakers: Wilfred Price, Elder, Haida Nation I see the poor in North America no longer struggle, Kevin Annett, Secretary, The Truth envy or seek personal gain . Commission into Genocide in Canada I see the church doors being open always and the church officials and the 'poor' as one. Adm ission on a sliding scale. To Register and/or I see multitudes of healthy, strong and talented inmore info, call toll-free 1-888-265-1007. dividuals moving over the Earth in army-style forwww.hiddenfromhistory.org mations . I see them as angels sent by God to disaster, drought and poverty-stricken areas. I see the church, which once battled with the state T:;r--..-..,.~ on a political level, conquer the state on a human -.....~,..,"""--level. I see God being praised as the great Peacemaker. I see the state granting conditional pardons to each individual who has been sentenced, is serving, or has served five years or less. I see the state issuing passports to these people so they serve God and church in other lands . Trip I see mi1lions of souls building, repairing and helping communities of the world's less fortunate. .. .broke off my leash left Dodge up to Nelson ran I see a time when all religions are One Faith. into my long-lost bastard son who knew me Friday I see a time when anyone revealing pride, anger, but by Sunday slammed his front door in his father's envy, greed , lust, acedias (apathy, boredom) or glutface so self-pity and beer in the old Civic Hotel jiv tony will be seen to be the one in 'vile raiment'. ing the honkies how the club don't like talkers, scarI see peace on earth. I see the rewards of peace on ing the shit out of this hillbi1ly earth creating heaven on earth . .. for what does one ...Creston 4 dollars Cranbrook 4 dollars and a carry hope for and strive to obtain when one' s basic for the road Winterpig the choice the inevitable physical needs are fulfilled? Shall the offspring of showdown kickin' at 30 ml sha ke rattle roll puke North Ame rica continually strive to fulfill insatiable blood and twist like a hanged man in the breeze lusts? Shall they mature to seek a more noble and fuckfaces give me aspirin coming off methadone, rewarding future? grinding thru 9 days of crackhead crybabies who When the church opens its doors and the state actually sleep the first night in Man on Fire inspires grants pardons, North America may rise out of the a vengeful venting, gut-wrenching anger fit on the dark ages of sin into the adult hood of unselfish and phone inventing Jesus (hay-zoos) the one-handed forgiving love. man who kills for money whose son was shot in Omega Dallas-Fortworth by the five white cops they had
= there Jesus screams into the cellphone 'i'll take his family apart piece by piece I'll cut his freakin' fingers off' all story but I act the part so well the host almost breaks down the door as every animal hospital in Wpi is on terror alert gave myself up / just kiddin' my man cops are cool to this fool give me a ride home but 01' Hardass Sarge just hadda charge me over this crap 700 dollars for a cut to a dog I coulda fix with a spitball 'n a needle 'n thread Had the whole gang out hunting down Jesus the Stocky and armed Mexican assassin by noon the % bottle of Tequilla wore off and the tooth that was ripping me up pulled at last and my insanity came back down to a dull roar I walk up to the first patrol car I see okay okay I'm busted so what now? I walked...
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up all night stalking this burn boy hovering round spookin' him soon one more burn will burn street justice takes time I find a detonator by accident stupid crackheads thought it was a firecracker got a rocket in my pocket grenade in myjeans Yet that ain't me, I'm happy and free owe it all to MISSISSIPPI only thing I ever did wrong was steal that line from a Dylan song peace and love only exist within the vortex oflovers, children. tight friends it's a battlegroundout there so get ready Freddy or not.. here I come I start out gentle but somehow it always goes wrong AL
Festival Gala, Lively Art I Culture Let us travel back in time, to a land of wonders in art and in culture. Nations driven together from the four corners of the globe and. for whatever reason, they 'collide'. The past, the present and the future seem like dreams, but their destinies combine.. is it fate? Let us glance at this past if we dare. One might call it a window of opportunity to see how the downtowneastside came to be and how its community fared. The DTES, its people and community have lived and thrived in this area for generations. This story begins at the Japanese Hall, a mainstay of the Japanese culture and its people, a strength and resilience to be admired. Returning back to the Japanese Hall felt like coming home (I'll call it their long house). Her people, as before, welcomed us with open arms. My mind begins to stir as memories begin to flash images of yesterday. My mind whirls, mixed emotions flare, and chills run down my back. I'm numb at the sounds oflaughter, tears, music, the audience, - memories surround me, helpless in the experience, but still fresh as if from only yesterday. As moving sweat trails down my face, ancestors, ghosts fill the entire house and along with the present,join together sharing beauty. In art and culture spreading love, joy, compassion, passion, dance, poems, testimonies, drums and songs. The heartbeat of the community, the very heart and soul of the DTES is free because of and in spite of our struggles. We continue onward while being challenged; we are the shining force, the flame flickers on.. Keep the fire ignited. Our Nations share one message, committed to standing in and above harm's way. Forces in the wind are sounding the answer, the call. The plight of the downtowneastside does not lessen our courage; we struggle forward in spite of it all. The Festival of the Arts, the Gala, is moving- an innocent gift to us all. Stephen Lytton
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DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY 49 W.Cordova
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NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN - 3 Routes: 604-685-6561 City - 5:45pm -11:45pm _ Overnight - 12:30am - 8:30am Downtown Eastside - 5:30pm - 1:30am
604-251-3310 ' I
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T ilE NEWSLETT ER ISA PUBLICATION OFTHE CARNEGIE COl\Il'ttl lNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articlesrepresent the viewsof individual contributors and nut of'tbe Association.
Submission Deadline for next issue: Monday, November 29 Editor: PaulR Taylor; proo fing & layout, Lisa David.
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We acknowledge that Carnegie Conununity Centre, and this Newsletter, are happening on the Squamish Nation'sterritory.
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For a free Listener's Guide,
2004 DONATIONS Libby 0 .•$40 Barry for Dave McC.-$50 Rolf A.-$45 Margaret 0.-$25 Christopher R.-$25 Mary C-$30 Bruce 1.-$30 U'mista - $20 Heather S.-$25 RayCam-$30 Gram -$100 Paddy -$30 Glen 8.-$50 John S.-$80 Penny G.-$21 Jenny K.-$20 Oara C.-$20 Sandy C.$20 Audrey-$20 Wes K.-$50 Joanne H.-$20 Rockingguys -$20 The Edge Community Liaison Ctt -$200 Peter T.-$20 PG for P8 -$25 Wm 8-$20 Mike B.-$15 Alicia M.-$40 Maureen K.-$40 Anonymous-$23
DO YOU HAVE A LEGAL PROBLEM?
Come to our FREE CLINIC On Carnegie's 3rd floor • VBe Law Students' Legal Advice Program
Contact Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA
Tuesdays 7pm - 9pm.
The Downtown Eastside Residents Association DERA helps with:
Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr. V5L 3Y3 Phone: 775-0790 Fax: 775-0881
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Phone & Safe Mailboxes Welfare problems; Landlord disputes; Housing problems Unsafe living conditions
At 12 East Hastings St. or cali 604-682-0931
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Little Tom Tucker Little Tom Tucker Sang for his school lunch. What shall we give him? A budget cut. Then how shall we give him his vitamins And how shall we fill him full? With starchy rice, A potato slice, And ketchup for a fresh vegetable. Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You Been? Pussy cat, pussy cat, Where have you been? "To the City Hall hearing but I couldn 't get in." Pussy cat, pussy cat, Why was that? "It was all about cats and their habitats, but they only admitted dogs and rats." Diddle Diddle Dumpling Diddle diddle dumpling, my son Juan Went to bed with his trousers on And with the rest of the family Sharing a single-room occupancy. Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the double lock will keep; May no brick through the window break , And no one rob me till I wake.
One, Two One, two, Welfare for you; Three, four, Ministry door; Five, six, Caseworker picks; Seven, eight, Investigate; Nine, ten, Fill out more forms And wait in line all over again. One, two, Welfare for you; Three, four, Ministry door; Five, six, Caseworker picks; Seven, eight, Investigate; Nine, ten, Fill out more forms And wait in line all over again . Rub-a-Dub-Dub Rub-a-dub-dub, Ceiling's in the tub; And how do you think it got there? Water in the tub On the floor above; And that' s how our ceiling got there. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich man, Culturally disadvantaged underachiever.
By Eve Merriam From "The Inner City Mother Goose"
Christmas Presents \
This article is about four books, each of which r...:! • ... .. ,,~ would make a great Christmas present. You've ~ probably heard of the books before, but I thought · ,_ review of them would bear repeating. The first book is called Poor-bashing: The Politics ofExclusion by Jean Swanson, published in 200 I. In the book's words, "This book is about the war of exclusion, prejudice, and hate against the poor in Canada.. . . The more I worked on the book, the more I realized it's just a beginning at exposing and challenging poor-bashing in Canada." One of the reasons this book is still so current and timely is that there is no other book like it in print in Canada. Jean divided the book into ten chapters. Chapter I: poor people define poor-bash ing; Chapter 2: a history of the poor during the past 500 years, how being poor has come to be despised while the rich are virtually worsh ipped; Chapter 3: history of the poor again , this time mostly dur ing the past 100 years; Chapter 4: how government and corporate poor-bashing have changed Canada's attitude towards the poor during the past 20 years ; Chapter 5: how language itself is corrupted to bias attitudes towards the poor, a fa Orwell; Chapter 6: the media and politicians - poorbashing today; Chapter 7: the new poor laws - helping employers and cheapening labour; Chapter 8: how charity is emphasized over j ustice; Chapter 9: how poor-bashing is so pervasive in society that the poor even bash themselves; and Chapter 10: challenging poor-bashing within and around us. There are many attractive features of the book which make it worthwhile obtaining. I'm just picking one to illustrate here because I don 't have room to talk about more. I like the part where Jean directly addresses the wealthy or well-off: " Keep your tax loopholes but take a can offood to your New Year 's Eve party. Feel good about it. Maybe even get praised in The Gazelle. And don 't even give it a thought that UI
has been slashed, that wages are low, that welfare is too low to live on, that necessity forces people in poor countries to subsidize your luxuries with their cheap labour. The economic system is doing fine for me, and this can offood will suffice for those in need." The next book is poetry by Sandy Cameron titled Sparks from the Fire. These are poems drawn from Sandy 's vast and varied life experiences. They range from relations to Nature, to Native Aboriginal relationships. I quote from one poem here: "The beauty of what is/ is twin to the beauty/ of what ought to be, I thought,/ the evocative voice of the poet! twin to the harsh voice of the prophet.! Go in beauty, I said,! thinking of the earth 's many peoples." As the saying goes, a thing of beauty is a joy forever, and these poems shine in memory forever
"If a culture is to be wholeif a culture is ro he al - it is vital to hear the vo ices of all its cit izens. Sandy Cameron is one of th ose voices. He speaks for the ordinary of us - the miner, the fisher, the street worker - the ones who keep the wheel turning. He speaks for th e vital of us, the silent of us. Listen !" -
KAT E BRAI D
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like the beauty of sparks against a night sky . The third book is another book of poetry by Sandy Cameron, titled Being True to Ourselves : Downtown Eastside Poems ofResistance. These poems chronicle the struggle of people of the Downtown Eastside for human rights, and to be recognized as a community in the same way as any other. My favourite poem is " One Hundred Years of Struggle," detailing some of the more important events that shaped the Downtown Eastside and Vancouver, mainly during the 20 th century. That poem, in itself, is enough of a reason to obtain a copy of the book. The best way I can give to buy these three books is by contacting the authors via e-mail at swancam@vcn.bc.ca. If you 're a low-income person, you may be eligible for a discount.
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Last, but not least, is The Heart ofthe Community: The Best ofthe Carnegie News/etter, a collection of s~lected a~icl~s, poems, etc. over a fifteen year penod, startmg In 1986, by Carnegie Newsletter editor Paul Taylor. In it, you 'll find stirring and inspirational writings by Paul Taylor, Sandy Cameron, Bud Osborn, Diane Wood, Dan Feeney, and many others. It, too, is a good book in that it helps to unite the community known as the Downtown Eastside. To get it, go to the second floor of the Carnegie Centre, 401 Main (corner of Main and Hastings) to the Newsletter or Association Office, ask for Paul Taylor and for $24 ($12 if you're a low-income person) he'll give you a copy and even sign it! Seasons greetings, and I hope you enjoy your reading! By Rolf Auer
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the simple cigarette shared waiting in line they still fill my mind ain 't nothing to be tough takes a man to be kind
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[ remember puking blood for days Convulsing and shaking, delirious with pain S [ have tr ied my damnedest to walk a path with heart Given a choice I wouldn 't change a thing [' d do it all over aga in You can walk thru walls of fire and come out alive Believe me, you will survive. Richard Two Hearts
My son was adopted in 1986. [ never seen h im until 2003. He looks like his father. His ad opted parents and Kane came down from Vict oria to visit me. My son had a college degree in Japan. When he came back he went to Ontario. He visite d my sister and my mom . He is my only son. We only had one child in my famil y out of3 kids . Now if I want to see him again [ will have to go to Victori a. But he can always phone me. Doris Leslie
Ebbing Storm Having wished for scattered dreams past, vanished, recoiling in the sweet steam, simply not meant to last.. fantastic. Curtail your hidden forbidden desires, afire for now, no cost; instead cocoon yourselflike a young butterfly, no loss. Resisting muddled channels, then rounding misty laneways, eyeing ghostly figures, forms, they seem to speak yet have not a name and nothing to say. Be brave and dance to your trusted spirit' s music, casting all your fears aside ; care ss your tousled hair, rub your crinkled nose, as a single tear falls from a saddened lonely eye. You remember past losses, regrets and fractured failures that you just won' t deny. Falling into transgressions, whether real or imagined create no true solutions. So then leave heavy baggage behind you, tawd ry thoughts, gone (absol ute..?) Yes, be free in a hurry , my besotted one; be awa y from torment without those delusion s --If you ever feel like telling me what is really bothering you, of your sorrows at the root on weak bended knees, and as frail as you feel, you are not a lost cause in any way, shape, or form. .Kick down your cobwebbed barrie rs, as hard as it seems, to calm inner storms by. any... and:::. .all .means. . -. Robyn Livingstone
**Just handed a Globe and Mail newspaper story dated May 20, 2003 . It covers an outworlder's views and interaction with sex-trade workers specificall y and the Downtown Eastside in general. The focus is on a book club started by a local author (who writes books, has a bookstore , has started several other book clubs , teaches people how to write and/or start their own book clubs) for the same sex-trade workers. I found a quote of this author at the end of the article. She said, " There hasn 't been a lot of good things come out of the Downtown Eastside . It's been in the news and it's usually very sad and tragic. " She came back on point, finishing with "This [the new bookclub] is not sad and tragic ." It left her feeling better, I guess , with helping to foster ' something positive ' in our neighbourhood, yet the seemingly constant opinion of the DTES is negative, dreary , bleak and dark. I'm not putting one word after anothe r just to make despair convincing, yet neither am I being a pleading apologist. The good things and people here aren 't sexy or high profile enough to make much cannon fodder for the daily press, but to we who live and work here there are myriad examples. Even looking post-May 20, 2003 there is the whole year of Carnegie building's 100th Anniversary - the Parade, Arts Walk. completion of the inlaid Mosaics, The Heart of the Community : The Best of the Carnegie News letter, The Heart ofa City, a Downtown Eastside Community Play, the PIVOT calendars, the Safe Fixing Site, The Heart of the City - An Arts Festiva l in the Downtown Eastside and all the quiet progress almost behind-the-scenes at numerous local or local branches of organizations and groups of extraordinary people. Lighten up! PRT