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How I Quit Worrying and SelfPublished a Literary Career Suicide Bomb
September 2010
Fringe Festival
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by Patrick Borden
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by Miguel Burr
reetings Faithful Citizens and D-gen Irreglitards, Thank you for allowing me access to your head. Hopefully I’m not cutting into your rigorous daily internet-surfing or cellphone-texting regimen. I’m writing to tell you about a relatively new novel entitled HUMANOID or In the Year 8007 AM. This book is a conceptual weapon that burrows deep into the minds of readers only to explode, causing catastrophic, irreparable damage to quotidian world views. In the event that your world view is non-quotidian, said explosion will merely manifest in a deluge of colors, sentiments and ideas, possibly a spiritual/intellectual orgasm of sorts. Now a little history on HUMANOID: The first draft was an entry for the 2007 International 3-Day Novel Contest entitled “Vlad the Inhaler”. It was so named for the impish character who leads the Humanoid into mischief and heretical disobedience. This version, some 40,000 words long, was short listed in the 3-Day contest. Woot woot! In spring, 2008 I quit my job working for a crooked renovation contractor and holed up in room 204 of the Princeton Hotel to resume work on the book. I expanded the chapters and developed more deeply the newspeak language known as Jislamish. I began working with a freelance editor, a harsh mistress from Berlin who bled dry many red pens cutting trenches across the novel’s second draft, now 90,000 words long. By May of ’08 I mailed out thirty or so submissions, unanimously rejected. I worked as a janitor and mover for a storage facility. My editor felt the title was misleadingly humorous, since the novel, although satirical, was far too black to be considered a punny send-up. Upon her recommendation I changed the title to “8007 AM”, a reference to the ambiguous future date in which the story is set. By September I’d quit yet another job and moved back into the Princeton, this time in room 302 to redraft the book again. After two months of continuous work on “8007 AM”, the word count rose to 140,000. This book was now the epic adventure I’d always dreamed of writing. “Just write the book that only you can write,” were that words of advice given me by novelist Patrick Borden that rang round inside my head. This was it! I was ashamed of having submitted that earlier version to publishers. How could I when it wasn’t finished! I took this version to the Surrey Writer’s Conference, expecting to have it snatched up by a hungry publisher or agent
Vancouver
immediately. I forwent the writing conference’s workshops, instead enduring hours of line-ups in order to get as many extra pitchsessions as possible. I must have sat through twenty or more one-on-one encounters with hotel-buffet bloated editors and agents from New York in hopes of convincing them that my novel was destined to be the next Don Quixote, the next Huckleberry Finn, the next Candide, 1984 and The Satanic Verses all rolled into one. Many a pitch session began like this: “So tell me the premise of your novel.” “It takes place in a future society ruled by a religion that is a combination of Judaism and Islam, called Jislam.” “Do you realize that you’re referring to major world religions as… jizz?” “Exactly!” I walked out of the Surrey Writer’s Conference with less chance of a mainstream literary career than if I’d walked in there with an idea for a man-dog-buddy detective story. By October of 2009, hundreds of rejection slips were rolling in and I found myself working as an industrial shrink-wrapper. I spent my days covering helicopters and boats in sheets of plastic while my boss melted them taut with a flame-gun. It was all very ‘Christo’. A lot of my time was spent at the North Vancouver dry docks working on the side of the Atessa IV, a luxury cruise ship retrofit. I was swinging around on scaffold bars four stories high with no platform to walk on. The only thing standing between me and a death-plummet was a lanyard and safety hook. But while I should have been concentrating on survival, all I could think about was my novel, sitting there on the shelf, unread. I handed a draft of “8007 AM” to an artist named Gabriel Deerman. He read the first couple chapters and said that I had to publish it myself. “But this book isn’t ‘8007 AM’,” he said. “That’s too vague. This book is just ‘HUMANOID.” And so it was. By January ’09 Gabe went to work on the cover and the interior illustrations. Meanwhile I decided to tweak the text a bit. I bought copies of the Holy Bible and the Holy Koran and began studying their passages, looking for verses that would adapt well into Jislamish. By March, “HUMANOID” was complete. Vancouver painter/graphic designer Jon Worth laid out the cover and interior, and his partner Elsa Smith stylized the Continuus symbol featured throughout the text.
everal years ago, I received tickets to Les Miserables as a birthday gift. Tickets which cost $90 apiece for a play about the poor, at a price which prohibited Vancouver’s poor from attending. Indeed, there were protests outside the theatre, drawing attention to that contradiction. The result? For the most part, Vancouver’s bourgeosie ignored the plight of Vancouver’s poor and proceeded inside to partake in the show. What they were watching was an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel about the difficult lives lived by the poor (literally, les miserables). The contradiction seemed lost on them. In possession of two tickets, I wondered what to do? Should I boycott the show in solidarity with the protestors. Or should I go and look for artistic merit and see what I could learn from the spectacle. Finally, I decided to go anyways and watch the audience as much as the show. My worries that I had surrendered to bourgeois tendancies were ultimately in vain – once in the theatre I found the show so boring that my girlfriend and I just looked at each other and decided to leave at the intermission. But there is another tradition of theatre, one intimately connected with progressive politics. Most activists have had a taste of it at demostrations, yet having been enthralled by a taste of political street theatre, they go home and watch a DVD for entertainment, mostly out of habit. Forgotten, is the rich history of radical theatre. Ignored is the reality that players in the theatre are often amongst the most progressive elements of society – and thus natural allies for those of us who care deeply about progressive politics. Some of the radical nature of theatre comes simply from its ability to tell stories up close and personal, in a form of conversation with the audience. But in can go farther than that – if you call yourself an activist and you’ve never read Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, I suggest you take the time. From September 9th to 19th, the Vancouver Fringe Festival will provide an opportunity to re-engage with theatre that is raw and vital. And I encourage all readers of The Agora to take the opportunity to attend.
At $10 for weeknights and $12 for weekend shows, Fringe tickets are also affordable for those on a budget. Be aware that you must buy a $5 membership to cover the festival’s costs – the full price of the ticket goes to the artists. A program guide can be downloaded from www.vancouverfringe.com. But readers of The Agora will probably find the following picks to be of especial interest. They have been chosen for their engaged political content. Look for reviews of these plays in the October issue of The Agora. Poison the Well by Russian immigrant Elison Zasko, centers on a hostage crisis in Russia that brings two childhood friends back together. Free/Fall is the story of a Romanian orphan caught up in a custody battle in the paranoia of a post 9/11 world. Elephant in Zulu shares playright Alice Nelson’s story of a trip to South Africa with Clowns Without Borders, an organization dedicated to bringing laughter and play to children and communities in areas of crisis. Miracle in Rwanda tells the true story of Immaculée Ilibagiza, who survived the Rwandan Genocide by hiding in an undiscovered bathroom in her pastor’s home for 91 days. Brown Girl in the Ring has Valerie Mason-John explore the secrets of the Royal family, including their African blood ties, all while claiming to be the Queen of England. Dirt is the story of Sad, an illegal immigrant from Iraq living in New York. Raunch is Wet t-shirt contests, strip-tostay fit classes, and Girls Gone Wild: is this what a “post- feminist” world looks like? In a performance that leaps from Kinderwhores to MILFs, pole dancing to labioplasty, Alice Nelson and Jacqueline Russell examine the new brand of female empowerment: the “Female Chauvinist Pig.”
A l i c e Ne l s o n a n d Jacqueline Russell examine the new br a n d of female empowerment: t h e “ F e m ale Chauvinist Pig,” in Raunch
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reetings Faithful Citizens and D-gen Irreglitards, Thank you for allowing me access to your head. Hopefully I’m not cutting into your rigorous daily internetsurfing or cellphone-texting regimen. I’m writing to tell you about a relatively new novel entitled HUMANOID or In the Year 8007 AM. This book is a conceptual weapon that burrows deep into the minds of readers only to explode, causing catastrophic, irreparable damage to quotidian worldviews. In the event that your worldview is non-quotidian, said explosion will merely manifest
in a deluge of colors, sentiments and ideas, possibly a spiritual/intellectual orgasm of sorts. Now a little history on HUMANOID: The first draft was an entry for the 2007 International 3-Day Novel Contest entitled “Vlad the Inhaler”. It was so named for the impish character who leads the Humanoid into mischief and heretical disobedience. This version, some 40,000 words long, was shortlisted in the 3-Day contest. Woot woot! In spring, 2008 I quit my job working for a crooked renovation contractor and holed up in room 204 of the Princeton Hotel to resume
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Vancouver
The Agora: Leading the Canadian Print Media Revolution
September 2010
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www.AgoraNews.org You now have a daily updated source for the kind of news found in The Agora. You will find an unparalled variety of News and Views from Local stories and to major World events, Science and Health breakthroughs, Cultural content, and Politcal analysis you wont find in any mainline websites or newspapers. Join The Agora! Create your own blog. Speak your mind in the Forum. Browse our Advertisers products. Submit articles. Send us links to stories we should be covering. Support your local independant media. Lets turn www.AgoraNews.org into a modern day Agora Make it your homepage, get involved!
God Crashes Tea Party Naomi Wolf
Seductive Garth Turner
Village Vancouver Aleksandra Rea
Ponerology 105 Harrison Koehli
Health & Science The Doctor is IN, with Dr. Eldon Dahl The Magic and Mystery of Water: Part 3, by Callum Coats Ponerology 105: Psychopathy at Nuremberg, by Harrison Koehli A Question of Balance, by Richard DeSylva Majority of Canadians Loaded with BPA, by Jonathan Benson Canola Oil Food Fraud, by Paul Fassa
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Culture Transition Towns: Village Vancouver, by Aleksandra Rea The V-Spot, by Vera Zyla They’re Gonna Laugh at You!, by Raw Nu Native Vancouver, 1850s, by Bruce MacDonald Humanoid: by Miguel Burr The Modern Woman: An Exhibit, by Drew MacDonald Back to School?, by Rob Bunney How Sin Traps Us, by Devrah Laval Fringe Fest, by Patrick Borden Cheap Appetite, by Tana Kosiyabong Inside the LC: Part 4, by Dave Mcgowan Erica Goldon Speaks Out, by The Agoraphile Events
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Politics News Atlas 18,19,30,31 The Foreign Parasite, by The Augensticher 8 Kevin Annett VS CFRO, by Patrick Borden 5 Seductive, by Garth Turner 15 Violent Uprising - A Shortcut to Nowhere, by Michael Hay 21 CFLs and Electromagnetic Radiation, by Lee Smith 12 The Venus Project interview, by Kevin Kelso 7 Concerns with P3 Projects, by Erik Anderson 8 Why the Ministry Does What it Does? by Walker Morrow 8 Voices for 9/11 Truth, by Kevin Kelso 11 A Question of Sovereignty, by Kevin Miller 16 God Crashes The Tea Party, by Naomi Wolf 25 No Justic, No Peace: Update, by Dan Merchant 5 The Future is Being Written Right Now, by Daniel Taylor 28 The Facts of Life, According to Stephen, by Dee Nicholson 29
In Canada, a handful of corporations control nearly all news media. As the consequences of this monopoly on information become increasingly apparent, dependence on these outlets for reliable and relevant information becomes unacceptable. The cynicism and apathy built up within this society are now in need of remedy. With the development of the internet it has become possible for anyone to bypass the monopoly of big media and get the word out on an endless range of issues. This technology has rapidly ignited a renaissance in freedom of expression. The paper you hold in your hands is dedicated to carrying this renaissance through into a full blown revolution in the realm of print media. We provide a professional platform to all the news and views you have not been seeing in the dying corporate press. We are committed to a revival of true print journalism. We also strive to provide workable solutions and ideas for action. In order to accomplish these goals while retaining integrity, Agora abides by an open source philosophy of content generation. This means that no one voice may use money or undue influence to drown out the others. To be sure we do not become beholden to any one editorial bias, our editorial crew has been populated with feisty humans to disagree on practically everything. After all, who knows better what information you should or should not be exposed to: A few monolithic corporations? The Government?...Or You?
A Question of Sovereignty Kevin Miller How to
Native Vancouver 1850 Bruce MacDonald
Life According to Stephen Dee Nicholson
Violent Revolution Michael Hey
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Advisory
September 2010
Hot LinX No Justice, www. Life-Choice.net www.BabylonYoga.com
No Peace: Update
www.Eiriu-Eolas.org www.TheVenusProject.com www.MonikaBlichar.com www.VirtuMortgages.com
JeremyArneysBlog.Wordpress.com www.HiddenFromHistory.org
One Man’s Fight Against Big Pharma and the Health Care System: Justice and Peace one step closer.
www.BloodAndIron.ca www.Axiomatica.org www.TheArtOfLoving.ca www.SuperNaturalWoman.com www.RedPillPress.com www.Sott.net www.BeforeItsNews.com www.WhatReallyHappened.com www.Vancouver.Mediacoop.ca www.SubMedia.tv www.TheTyee.ca www.CanadianActionParty.ca www. ReFedBC.com www.NaturalNews.com www.Infowars.com www.PrisonPlanet.com www.CommonDreams.org www.ThePirateBay.com www.atdhe.net www.AliveWater.net www.VigilantCitizen.com www.CanadiansForHealthFreedom.org www.GlobalResearch.ca www.HarmonyProjects. Dragonsuntech.com www.PhysOrg.com www.FairTradeVancouver.ca www.Rabble.ca www.AgoraNews.org
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Vancouver Co-Op Radio treis to silence Kevin annett by cancelling his show www.hiddenfromhistory.org Kevin Annett, host of Coop Radio’s Hidden From History program, has been banned from the station. Mr. Annett’s ongoing struggle on behalf of past and present victims of child abuse in Canada has been covered extensively in recent issues of The Agora. by Patrick Borden: Patrick has been an anarchist and environmental activist for over 25 years. He is the author of the dystopian novel, The Space (Empyreal, 1995).
www.JamesClayton.ca www.FoodLandTheMovie.com
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by Dan Merchant he Agora has been following the story of Tim Moorley for the past 2 issues. Last month we reported the growing support from political figures, such as Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains, calling for a public inquiry into Mr. Moorley’s allegations. Mr. Moorley alleges that doctors at Surrey General Hospital faked test results, to show that he did not have a hole in his heart. It is believed that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals is putting pressure on doctors in the Fraser Health Authority to refuse him as a patient, and deny him any tests that would show the hole in his heart. Mr. Moorley is the leading plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Pfizer. In it he alleges that Pfizer put the pain killer Celebrex on the market, knowing that it caused blood clots and had the potential to kill or seriously injure anyone with a patent foramen ovale (PFO.) PFOs occur in about 20% of the population, but usually cause no symptoms, and can only be detected by specialized tests. A PFO allows venous blood (low oxygen count) to enter directly into the arteries, which can increase the risk of blood clots entering the arteries. Pfizer did not warn doctors prescribing Celebrex of this potentially fatal side effect. With pressure coming from citizens and the alternative media, B.C. MLAs and MPs are being forced to listen to Mr. Moorley. Added to the list of politicians who have concerns about Mr. Moorley’s case are: MP for Vancouver South,Ujjal Dosanjh. MP for Vancouver Kingsway Don Davies MP for Surrey North Donna Cadman As this saga continues, Mr. Moorley’s relentless pursuit of justice and unstoppable determination will undoubtedly force more politicians to hear his case and put their support behind him. We at the Agora has gone over his facts and evidence, and it is damming against Pfizer and those in the Fraser Health Authority who have colluded with them. Justice will be served.
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n Monday, August 17th The Agora accompanied Annett to Coop’s east Hastings Street studio, where he attempted to deliver a prerecorded CD to be played on the air, intended to explain the situation to his listeners. Although we were able to deliver the disc to the studio technician, station management intervened, blocked the airing of the disc, and instead aired a repeat of the previous week’s show. Outside the station, we had a conversation with Annett in which he brought us up to speed on the situation at Coop (CFRO 102.7FM). On August 9th, just after his regular program Annett was taken aside and handed a letter claiming that he had been present at the station after midnight on July 20th and had allegedly engaged in activities that compromised the station’s reputation. When he asked what those activities were he was told simply, “It’s on videotape” -- but when he asked for a copy none was forthcoming. He was however, informed that he was no longer welcome in the building. Annett says he still hasn’t seen any evidence of the alleged incident. He claims he was not at the station that night and has a solid alibi. Annett says that since April there has been a man impersonating him around town -- as a frameup, he believes. Why? Because it is far easier to cast doubt on the man’s character than it is to discredit the solid mass of evidence that Annett has amassed over the last few years. Annett pointed out a number of ways in which Coop Radio’s accusations make little sense. “Why would I go into the studio and knowingly do something on camera?” Annett points out. “I’ve worked there for 10 years, so I know where the cameras are.” Furthermore, the Portland Hotel Society security monitors those cameras and did nothing... strange if something untoward was happening. Finally, no mention of the incident was made until 3 weeks later when they needed a pretext to ban him from the show. “All of that suggests to me that it’s just a fabrication to blacken my name, to give them an excuse to do what they’ve done, which is to ban the program. “It’s a real deja vu experience,” says Annett. “The whole way this happened is identical to the way the United Church fired me. There was no notice, no cause, I was just out. It was pretty traumatic.” So why now? “I think it’s because of the content of the program the last few weeks,” says Annett. In addition to his ongoing exposé of child trafficking on the west coast, he has been talking about his upcoming trip to Rome in September where European activists will be trying to serve papers on the Pope and have him arrested for complicity in child abuse. We asked Annett why the Catholic church didn’t simply serve him with an injunction. “That would be an admission of
guilt,” Annett points out. Far easier to discredit the messenger. Annett also asserts that he has been criticized by station management for having residential school survivors on the show talking about what had happened to them. He has been told that it is not appropriate to be bringing homeless native people into the studio because it is affecting the credibility of the station. Annett also says that it is not coincidental that his expulsion from the station came barely ten days before the mass media revealed that Vancouver police refused to arrest serial killers Dave and Willie Picton for two years after learning of their crimes. For Annett has often described on his program, and in the pages of The Agora, what be believes is the collusion of some police and RCMP officers with the Pictons’ murder of women. “I would have spoken on the air in response to the press coverage, about the evidence linking some cops and Mounties with the disappeared women. I was assaulted by two men a week after I wrote about this in the Agora, last January. This is just their latest assault to silence my knowledge of their complicity.” Rather than being inappropriate, that could be seen as precisely the sort of airing of vital alternative voices that Coop exists to provide. We asked Annett if it did not seem strange for a progressive alternative station like Coop to be behaving in such a way. Annett pointed out that about half of the station’s funding comes from the city and the federal government – so it’s not really a community station but a government one. The possibility of having that funding pulled makes it very easy for the government to influence the station. He further advises activists to be aware of the role of government funded media in information gathering. Every few years the CBC calls him up and asks for all his info as background for a show... a show which never materializes. “I’ve learned not to do this,” he says pointing out that institutions like the CBC can be effective information gathering agencies for the government. His documentary on residential schools, Unrepentant, was shown to 20 million viewers in Europe, August 3rd and 4th. The powers that be can only be getting nervous as people in Europe are getting the message about the Canadian government’s and church’s complicity in murder and child abuse. Which would explain why the hammer is coming down now. As of press time, neither the station staff nor its lawyers had provided any further evidence to justify banning and censoring Annett. He is calmly adamant that no details are forthcoming because none exist. Annett remains unrepentant and is reestablishing his program on other stations and by podcast from his own website: www. hiddenfromhistory.org. Scroll down the left hand column and you will also find his statement on his firing from CFRO.
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September 2010 DISCLAIMER: The information presented herein is for informational purposes only. Consult your naturopathic physician, medical doctor, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications.
Contact Dr. Dahl with your question : docisin.doc@gmail.com Dear Dr. Dahl, My name is Frances, I had breast cancer 4 years ago and out of fear did chemo/rads/ tamoxifen. I’ve never taken meds before and have always been very healthy. The chemo damaged the thyroid function and in December 2007 I was told I had hypothyroidism, the TSH was 23; they gave me 75mcg of Synthroid, now they tell me the TSH is at 3.3. I want to get off this drug and I need to find a natural supplement that will return the gland to its natural function. Can you give me some advice on the steps to take to get off the drug and a suggestion of a natural pill that I can take? Thank you, Frances Dear Frances, Thank you for your interesting question regarding a delicate subject that affects a very large portion of our society. The symptoms that you are describing are sadly very common: I call it the chemo/radiation/tamoxifen cocktail.
The currently recognized cancer treatment –chemotherapy/radiation-- often comes into question by those who are personally affected or by those who have loved ones affected by the disease. The mere association of the cancer label conjures up images of horror, fear and desperation in pursuit of the avenue of treatment - will those affected go against the acceptable drug approach with known risks and prolonged side effects or turn from the traditional treatment to entertain a natural approach? Cancer thrives in an anaerobic environment due to fermentation and oxygen deprivation, creating an acidic environment within the blood supplying capillaries. This toxic cocktail is then transported into our filter organs and the entire lymphatic system. The cancer cells become enveloped in an oxygen-deprived death grip and their growth becomes rapid and quickly transforms into malignancy. Most cancer patients have high acidy and low ph levels; treatment must include a high alkalinity diet and vital nutrients to offset this imbalance, in an
effort to create greater oxygenation within the infected cells. Tamoxifen is now the recognized form of drug treatment especially for women recovering from breast cancer. Revenues from tamoxifen make it a financial winner as it is used by more women with breast cancer than any other drug. Tamoxifen is an estrogen blocker, but estrogen, when in balance by nature, is a woman’s best friend. Chemically blocking estrogen damages healthy cells and prevents cell structures from communicating; it therefore can actually cause cancer cells to grow by sending false signals to the weakened cell structures! As a replacement for tamoxifen, consider the nutrient DIM or Indole 3-Carbinol (I3C). In fact, the famed M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic and Hospital now use this product as a chemotherapeutic treatment for breast and other forms of cancer. Great news for patients – not so good for Tamoxifen profits! I3C appears to act in five ways: By partially blocking estrogen receptor sites on cell membranes. By returning alpha and beta receptor site expression to normal levels By converting highly active estrogen forms to much safer compounds By blocking other cancer enhancing receptor sites By directly killing cancer cells. I3C not only weakens estrogen and keeps chemicals out of cells, it also goes after cancer in ways similar to tamoxifen.
It, like tamoxifen, interrupts the cell cycle. In studies from the University of California at Berkeley 1997, I3C inhibited the growth of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells by 90% compared to tamoxifen’s 60% by stopping the cell cycle. And In 1997, researchers at Strang Cancer Research Laboratory at Rockefeller University discovered that when I3C changes “strong” estrogen to “weak,” it stops human cancer cells from growing (54-61%) and provokes the cells to self-destruct (apoptosis). Substitute for Synthroid with Raw Thyroid Gland. Natural thyroid has both T-3 and T-4 hormones: Synthroid, on the other hand, has only T4 and needs to convert T-4 to T-3. In general, people whose thyroids are suppressed due to stress cannot respond to synthetic thyroxine, which only has the T-4 hormone. In addition to the above, eat a diet rich in alkaline foods; Asparagus, Onions, Vegetable Juices, Parsley, Raw Spinach, Broccoli, Garlic, Barley, Okra, Squash, Green Beans, Beets, Celery, Lettuce, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Lemons, Watermelon, Limes, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Papayas, Dates, Figs, Melons, Grapes, Kiwi, Berries, Apples, Pears, Raisins, Almonds, Flax Seed Oil, Ex Virgin Olive Oil, Grapeseed oil, Stevia, Maple Syrup, Rice Syrup. Be sure you find a Naturopathic Doctor in your area who can supervise your progress, to ensure your results. Best of health, Dr. Dahl
To u l o u s e - L a u t r e c , Baudelaire, and the City ( o f Va n c o u v e r ) by Drew MacDonald
“From behind the window of a cafe, a convalescent, contemplating the crowd with delight, mingles in thought with all the thoughts pulsating around him. Having just escaped the shadows of death, he joyfully breathes in all the germs and emanations of life ... Finally, he rushes into the crowd in search of an unknown person whose face, glimpsed momentarily, had fascinated him.” -Baudelier
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n 6 September, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibition The Modern Woman: Drawings by Degas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and other Masterpieces from the Musee d’Orsay, Paris returns to Europe. And this return should not be taken lightly. For when the return has been realized, gone will be the chance to witness one of the more undervalued and innovative of the Impressionists: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Toulouse-Lautrec is often considered of secondary importance in regards to the French Impressionist movement. Perhaps this should
not be surprising, living and painting, as he did, in the shadows of society, where the other Impressionists so rarely dwelt. Instead of the daylight, he embraced the eerie lights of the night-time city; instead of focusing on subjects of respectable social standing, he thrived in the brothels and cabarets (this favorite subject matter is most famously immortalized through his depictions of the Moulin Rouge). While not limiting himself to these subjects, his work is, nevertheless, distinctly marked by the unorthodoxy of its subject matter. He had reason to dwell in the shadows of
society. Born in 1864 to an aristocratic family, Toulouse-Lautrec suffered from a genetic disorder which, after two separate accidents, left him frozen at a height of four and one-half feet. This physical condition was not compassionately understood by many in French society, and resulted in ridicule and social alienation. Prevented from turning outward into society, he instead turned inward – focusing on perfecting his artistic talents. Although providing a form of release, art was never enough for ToulouseLautrec. He soon required, as a supplement to his art, the constant companionship of alcohol. Throughout his most productive years, he managed to balance the dual influences of art and alcohol. However, the destructive forces of alcohol gradually and inevitably silenced the creative ones. At the time of his dissolution, he was 36 years old. These are the biographic details – peculiar subject matter, alcoholism, and uneven output – that have forced Toulouse-Lautrec into the shadows of the Impressionist tradition. However, when one of the critical foundations of Impressionism is considered, there
emerges another Toulouse-Lautrec – one who is at the forefront of the movement. Charles Pierre Baudelaire, poet, essayist, and critic, helped articulate the aesthetic of the Impressionist movement. In his essay, “The Painter of Modern Life,” Baudelaire locates modern art as emanating from the heart of the city. Using Edgar Allan Poe, he conceives of the artist in this way: “From behind the window of a cafe, a convalescent, contemplating the crowd with delight, mingles in thought with all the thoughts pulsating around him. Having just escaped the shadows of death, he joyfully breathes in all the germs and emanations of life ... Finally, he rushes into the crowd in search of an unknown person whose face, glimpsed momentarily, had fascinated him.” Baudelaire suggests that the turbulence of the city should no longer oppress the creative faculties. Instead, he saw the modern city as offering a unique form of inspiration. And more than any of the other Impressionists, Toulouse-Lautrec realizes this ideal. The reason being, he is the outsider looking in. He is the convalescent who is at once apart from the life of the city but, at the same time, part of it. He is the artist who finds delight in the unknown crowds of Montmartre, the cabarets and the brothels. His are the faces – glimpsed momentarily, and cast in an eerie, greenish glow – that continue to fascinate. The Vancouver Art Gallery’s Impressionist exhibition is able to provide a unique perspective on this transitory period of French art through its inclusion of Toulouse-Lautrec. As articulated by Baudelaire, this unique perspective is one which maintains that the life of the city is most powerfully captured by the artist who lives in the shadow of suffering and death.
September 2010
T
he following excerpts are a few of the questions from Kevin Kelso’s Interview with the creator of the Venus Project. The transcript from the rest of the full hour interview can be reviewed at Axiomatica.org Jacque Fresco: Abbreviated as “JF” Roxanne Meadows: Abbreviated as “RM” Kevin Kelso: Abbreviated as “KK”
KK: One of my contacts suggests that the 2nd [Zeitgeist] film is based on Alice bailey’s writings, “the Externalization of the Hierarchy” where she says that they will form a one world government, where everyone will have to serve the government. He is also concerned about the idea of being psychologically managed by the state. RM: We always think that extremely funny and naïve when they equate us to the one world government… It means that they haven’t looked at our material at all. The one world government is when the corporations own the earth and everyone is subservient to them and joins together in a one world organization. The Venus Project is nothing like that. Money is out of the scenario… It brings people to their highest potential. Believes that the brighter people are, the more they can think for themselves, the more creative they are, the better everyone’s life is. It has nothing to do about this garbage of the one
world government. It makes goods and services available to anyone without money, barter, credit, servitude, or taxation of any kind. For the first time it frees people. They’ll understand what it really means to be human and to be spiritual. You can’t do this in this culture at all… it tries to free people from work and put automation in so that people don’t have to slave at jobs they don’t like. They won’t be working for people, making some people rich and making others toil as everyone has access to what they need. Their needs may be different, but they’ll have access to free education, free medical care. It’s their own project. That’s why people are afraid of the Venus ProjectPeople project things that are not real. JF: They project their own values. They picture a lot of scientists in grey, ordering “you will work in area D, you will work in area K” that comes from Hollywood. Hollywood always shows robots choking the designer, people in spaceships killing each other with laser weapons… We have no armies, no navies, no politics, nothing like Hollywood’s portrayal of the future. Scientist and engineers do not control people. All the machines control is the production and distribution of goods and services. And the system is operated like a public library, where anyone can take out a book. Next to the pub library you have camera centers, where anyone in the community can check out any kind of camera. Next to that, you have Musical instruments, free of charge, without any taxation of any kind. We make things available to people, and when you do that, you put an end to most crimes. KK: What if you want something ex-
travagant, something greater than what the resources can allot you? Such as having a swimming pool and tennis court? RM: These would be available to everyone. Why would someone want their own in their own backyard and maintain it when they have access to things? Today only the wealthy have these huge yachts that they have lined up in huge harbors and they only use them twice a month. In the Venus Project, people would have access to these yachts and there would be enough yachts. People would have a very different value system. If it rained gold, people today would be putting it in their closets and cellars and hoarding it. But if it rained gold for months and months they would be shoveling it out of their house. This is the difference between keeping things scarce, and few people having things, and other people admiring them in these cultures. These values would be obsolete in a resource based society. Everyone would get what they want. JF: It isn’t possessions that people want. They want access without waiting for it. They want access, they think they want jobs… jobs are meant today to control people. You make them work the best years of their lives, they have nothing to show for it. We do not do that, we allow people to go to school and study what ever they want to study. Music, art, painting, and creative writing – all the things they want to do. They don’t want to go to work. Work is boring and repetitions. We hope to automate all jobs. KK: I like the point about raining gold. In Canada here it rains and snows on us and we need to drain it and shovel it away, but in most of the world, that IS gold. So many people are desperate for water. It just shows what abundance can do to alter your valua-
The V-Spot www.theartofloving.ca
Dear
V,
I’ve been with my spouse for a long time and feel we have a strong relationship. Our only problems are in the bedroom. We aren’t intimate as often as I’d like and when we are it is more about his pleasure than mine. I’ve shared my feelings with him but have been left waiting and wanting. What’s a girl to do? - Lonely in Langley
Dear L in L, Desire differences in relationships are very common. Ultimately you are responsible for your own pleasure so here are some suggestions for being more pro-active to make it happen and to also get what you need when it does happen. Assess your situation: get really clear on what it is you need and what your partner needs. Jot it down on paper for reference. See a counsellor or therapist to help get clarity if needed and to support your process. Make an action plan. If kids or work are interfering with time or energy devoted to sex consider having a scheduled night. This takes the spontaneous element out but can make it happen more often. Compromise: if you want it 2 times a week and he is happy with 2 times a month meet half way. Perhaps once every 10 days. Be Creative: every sexual encounter does not have to include having intercourse with
your partner. It could be very intimate and pleasing to have him assist you in getting off by having him kiss, touch and rub you while you do yourself with a toy or even have him use a toy on you. This may also be the solution for the days he is interested also. Ladies first is the motto! Consider Timing: be flexible. People like sex at different times and for different lengths of time so if you have the higher desire, try to accommodate the lower-desire spouse’s preferences. Practice the Talk: if you are nervous about talking about exactly what you want practice before hand. Find a time that you won’t get interrupted when you do decide to chat. Check in Afterwards: give yourself permission to visit the topic again. No nagging or blaming, but make it clear that you care about them and how they feel as well as sharing what is going on for you.
Vancouver
7
tion system. KK: So the system right now seems to be destructive and parasitic. Everything seems to be going towards taking from others and destroying. What about the idea of instead of loaning money for profit to a nation being able to create money for themselves and then invest that money in the people in the same sort of socialistic way? I know this is going to disagree with your view a bit, but I think it also agrees with your ideas as well. JF: I would say that, if you conscripted all the money in the world, it’s not enough to build hospitals. Because there’s more than enough resources. Money does not represent resources. Money does not rep arable land or water shortages. Money, if you’re on an island with 100 million dollars and that island has no arable land, no water and no fish, you will no survive. With as much money as you’ve got. Do you understand? It’s not money that people need, its access to the necessities of life. RM: Money is really just interference between what you want and what you and get. As long as you can keep money in the scenario, all through history they are trying to have government make their own money, and it’s gone up and back, but it’s always won over by the banks. They always have the money and people owning banks and their own self interest, they’ve always had the money to win politicians over, to persuade people. And today it’s even tighter because people know even less about how the system is run. It’s more monopolized and there’s even less information in all of the media. by Kevin Kelso Axiomatica.org Bringing you the new Renaissance!
With vera Zyla,
otherwise known as V to my inner circle. Suffice to say that all that is sexual is my passion and if I am not talking and teaching seminars on the topic I am reading about it or doing it! I acquired a degree as a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Acupuncturist prior to the career shift into the pleasure realms so my knowledge has a holistic Taoist bent at times. After discovering this passion for pleasure I helped pioneer a unique education based sex shop in Kits called The Art of Loving. After 8 successful years and many learning opportunities that involved the latest research, state of the art toys, the sex positive community, the kink world as well as hearing thousands of personal stories from people, I am here to offer up my knowledge. So send me those burning questions or maybe those flirting thoughts about something you can’t bring yourself to talk to your intimates about. I hope to share my V-verbiage and answer your questions straight up with zero Viagra.
v_spot@TheAgoraNational.ca
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Vancouver
September 2010
The Foreign Parasite By the Augensticher
S
how me a person who gives away all his wealth to benefit a person who can make none. I will show you a fool. Show me a people who does the same... And I will show you a dying nation. Last week, a boat docked with almost 500 people fleeing some shit-hole country called Sri Lanka that is across the sea. A bunch of people on a boat looking for another people to pay for them... One has to wonder how much this one ship cost us, the middle class canadian taxpayer. We, a small nation again paying for the sins of a people who cannot solve their problems civilly. There has to come a point where we as a nation say enough is enough, where we close our border to refugee claimants. Sure, your country sucks, I will give you that. You know what, our country sucked at one time too. We had labour injustices, racial persecution, depression, starvation, natural disasters, and death from strange diseases, lack of education, etc. These are the very same problems you have in your country today. I won’t lie to you, in my grandfather’s day, life in Canada was not gumdrop rivers, it was hard. According to him, and most of the other men of his generation, at that time Canada was shit creek, and he had to get off his own ass and make his own paddle. Today, our country called Canada is a shining beacon. This is because men like my grandfather and women like my grandmother sucked up the differences between themselves and their neighbors and made it work. Men and women like my grandfather and grandmother tilled the earth, raised animals, and built cities from nothing. They didn’t commit genocide over tribal or religious differences, they sucked up their differences and they got things done. So this great Canada you see today, this place of refuge you seek, and the handouts you come to our door to beg for; this was not given by the gods to the people of this young nation. The Angels from the Heavens above did not open the skies and say ‘Sons and Daughters of Canada, thou shalt have endless amounts of money to feed the worlds poor with,’ and then piles of gold appeared on every plain across the country. The reality, which is stark, is that our wealth was sown with the blood, sweat, and tears of past generations of Canadians. So, now here you are, in our country with your hands out looking for free stuff. And yes, your gamble will pay off and you will get it, be-
Dear Prime Minister;
I
n recent days, your self, your cabinet colleagues and the Provincial Premiers have featured prominently in the national news. The dominant theme of your talks and news features there from has been the economy and the pending budget. A companion item is the talk of a fiscal deficit. There is likely nothing I can say that will change the minds of the many that are lusting after the grand spending program. It looks very much like we will be going back to the bad old days of Prime Ministers Trudeau and Mulroney. There is, however, one big concern I want to introduce at this early date in hopes that what ever spending programs are launched in the “heat of battle” it will not mean good judgment is suspended. In early 2008 the well regarded and inde-
by Walker Morrow
L
Ship carrying Sri Lankan refugees into Cananda CONTENT ADVISORY
Why the Ministry does what it does
cause our elected cowards in parliament refuse to implement the will of the vast majority of their constituents. Here is the sad part; I do not know a single person who thinks that we, the working middle class, should pay for you. Not a single member of my family, not any person I know, hell, not even a single facebook friend... (and thats really saying something). The simple fact is this: You did not come here as a legal immigrant. Your very presence wastes our diminishing resources, and each one of you that arrives is another drop out of a very empty bucket. You, Sri Lankan boat people, are parasites on our system. You, and your ilk are ticks sucking dry the very life-blood of the Canadian middle class. You, and every other refugee claimant need to understand that the simple fact of being human guarantees you nothing. It is not my fault you are persecuted. It is not the fault of any Canadian that you and your people are being killed, tortured, raped. Furthermore it is not our responsibility as Canadians to nurse the worlds refuse on our collective Canadian teats. So, what should have been done? What we should have done is simple, we should have sent one of our warships, and ordered you to turn back. If you refused, we should have sunk your ship in international waters. A few shells, from a ship already at sea, would have saved us millions of dollars. Millions that could have been spent bettering the lives of Canadians who work here, live here, and raise families here. Some of us may welcome you... the indoctrinated limousine liberals who have money and pay less tax per dollar earned, or the loser liberals who are in essence your parasite brethren, and pay no taxes at all. Anyone who has a job and a brain will be happy to show you where the door is. When my ancestors arrived here, all they had was a few dollars and willingness to work and do anything to earn a living. No expectation of a handout, of a subsidized home, and free stuff for their babies and toddlers. And here we are 3 generations later, taxed to death almost literally to pay for you. Well I think the buck should stop here. If you cannot work and pay for yourself, then you should go back to the earth from whence you came. On behalf of everyone who thinks that you, the Sri Lankan parasites, should not be here in our country, I leave you with this. FUCK YOU, GO HOME.
pendent New York firm, RiskMetrics Group, completed an analysis of the “Public, Private, Partnership” model (known on the street as P3), championed by the Macquarie Group of Australia and its two clones, Babcock and Brown and Allco. The use of the “Macquarie Model” has blossomed, spreading that particular brand of financial engineering to other countries like Canada. This RiskMetrics analysis is very uncomplimentary. Like me, you may find your fingers feeling a little unclean after reading the enclosed news article by Michael West titled “Macquarie model blowtorched”, dated April 4, 2008 (the staff at the Ministry of Finance no doubt have a copy of the full report). The happy part of this story is that Allco is insolvent and finished commercially; that Babcock and Brown is also nearly so (stock suspended from trading); and that informed Australian
ast month in The Agora I talked a For its part, the Ministry says that the resilittle about Mary Polak, the minister dential program review is being conducted so that, in charge of the Ministry of Children once the review is completed, the Ministry can and Family Development. More specifically, put together a five year plan. But one would think I talked about how she doesn’t seem too con- that closing down eight residential care facilities cerned(1) that the Ministry’s child in the home of would be part of such a five year plan. Indeed, this a relative program has major holes in its screen- smacks more of making changes for the dollars ing process for the adults in the program taking saved, rather than for the children served. Perhaps children into their homes. the two interests will converge as Axis Family ReIn fact, Mrs. Polak was warned by BC’s sources Ltd. does its job - one can only hope in children and families watchdog that almost 30% the end. of the children in the program could be at risk. Regardless, the second thing worth noting is That was a couple of months ago, and we’ve seen really more of a question. While in this case the no action since. Ministry seems quite happy to make a decision Actually we have, but it’s been on another on one of its programs – going so far as to move program entirely. before they’ve even seen reports from a provinAccording to the Victoria Times Colo- cial review of residential care facilities – why are nist(2), the Ministry of Children and Family De- they so hesitant to move on other urgent matters? velopment has worked out a deal to close a good Namely the recommendation from the children portion of the one- and two-bedroom houses in and family’s watchdog that all adults in the child BC staffed 24 hours a day in the home of a relative for residential child-care. program be immediately The Ministry has re-screened? While in this case the Minworked out a deal with Admittedly the child istry seems quite happy a company called Axis in the home of a relative to make a decision on one Family Resources Ltd., program is being phased of its programs – going which will make sure out already so it can be so far as to move before that some of the children replaced by another prothey’ve even seen reports currently in these staffed gram...eventually. But from a provincial review homes are moved out to that does little to help of residential care falive with foster parents. the children who are still These children will also at risk, who have not yet cilities – why are they so be getting extra support been placed in another hesitant to move on other for mental-health or beprogram, and who are urgent matters? Namely havioral problems, and charged to caregivers that, the recommendation from their foster parents will in some cases, might have the children and family’s get help while they care a rather worrying criminal watchdog that all adults for the children. Meanhistory. You would think, in the child in the home of while, older kids will be if the Ministry is looking a relative program be imleft to live independently, for ways to increase efmediately re-screened? albeit with supports – ficiency, reduce waste in such as regular visits from spending, and, most ima youth worker. portantly, help children, The logic behind they would take another the shift from staffed homes to other options is, look at this program in its dying days. ostensibly, to wean the children in this program It just seems like a slight contradiction is all: from full-time care to semi- and then fully inde- Action in one case, inaction in another. The Minispendent living arrangements. This move won’t try is obviously capable of movement on an issue, affect a huge number of children – there are only so why act on one but leave another of, arguably, ten beds between the eight staffed homes that are more importance unattended? One finds thembeing shut down – and Axis Family Resources selves wondering at the reasoning process of the Ltd. will be keeping some staffed homes running, Ministry of Children and Family Development. too, so it’s not as if they’re all going to disappear. More importantly, one finds themselves wonIn fact, this all sounds like a fairly smart dering if the Ministry of Children and Family Demove: It will reduce the budget of such projects velopment even has a method to the madness any and allow existing funds to, perhaps, be used a more. If they don’t, maybe we should start worrylittle more wisely instead of being swallowed up ing. If they do, then maybe they should try letting by pay for staffers. us in on the grand plan. Either way things need to But there are two things worth noting, here. change. The first, as NDP children’s critic Maurine _________________________________ Karagianis was quick to comment on, is that these closures came before a complete review 1) http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columof the province’s residential programs, currently bia/story/2010/06/15/bc-turpel-lafond-childrenunder-way and led in part by the Ministry itself, in-care.html has been completed. The government hasn’t even 2) http://www.timescolonist.com/life/Minist seen a report on its own residential care and it’s ry+closing+children+care+homes/3374005/story. already making changes. html
Concerns about P3 projects sources tell me Macquarie Group will probably soon face the same fate. These commercial failures are deserved; it is only a shame that it took so long and that a lot of innocent small shareholders were ruthlessly exploited. My concern about the use in Canada of the P3 model is not an idle one. Both the BC Government Employees Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan Fund were participants in the Macquarie led financing syndicate for a proposed gas fired electricity generation plant targeted for Duke Point on Vancouver Island. Happily, opposition was sufficient to halt the project. Contributing to the effective opposition was the fact that the developer and financing syndicate stood to secure a CDN$200 million premium (net present value of the contract after the cost of construction removed). When you read Mr. West’s article it should quickly be evident what made the “Macquarie Model” so attractive to private developers
and that Duke Point was to be another one of their successes along the way. RiskMetrics Group makes it very clear that the P3 model is one fraught with conflicts of interest and legal opportunities for the P3 operator to have the pricing power of a monopoly. I am almost certain that a host of commercial “parasites” will have already been seeking appointments with any and all Ministers and Mayors in Canada. Besides my request that all Canadian Governments do not use the P3 model when tackling new infrastructure projects, I would hope the Government of Canada will consider using the services of RiskMetrics. We can’t afford not to have incorruptible over-sight when spending the public’s money at the scale contemplated. Sincerely Erik Andersen
September 2010
Vancouver
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Transition Towns: Village Vancouver, Vancouver’s Own Homegrown Transition Initiative by Aleksandra Rea
I
n the midst of great panic, while I was learning about the possible impact of the global peak in oil production, I stumbled upon the Transition Towns (TT) initiative. Ross Moster, one of the founders of the Vancouver TT, was leading a visionsharing talking circle at the first De-Growth Conference in North America. We had an opportunity to talk about how we imagine the future without fossil fuels. Ross shares a piece of that vision.
A: When, where and why did the TT initiative start? R: The Transition Town movement is relatively new; it was started in England a few years ago by a fellow named Rob Hopkins who was teaching a two year Permaculture course in Kinsale, Ireland. He was challenging people to think about what the future in Kinsale might look like if they were to use substantially less energy, in particular fossil fuels. He asked his class to create something called an Energy Descent Action Plan and shortly thereafter moved to Totnes, England, which later became the first official TT. There are lots of ways to describe a TT, but basically it’s a grass roots community response to the crises facing us like peak oil, climate change, depletion of ecological resources or how we deal with economic instability. And since then the concept spread like wildfire across the world. There are over 300 official transition initiatives including Village Vancouver. We are the transition hub for the Lower Mainland, which means we are a resource and we are working on developing other groups. There are thousands of other groups all over the world, on their way to become official TT. They are everywhere. It’s quite an interesting phenomenon.
think TT spread so fast? R: I think people are realizing we can’t wait around and watch all these summits, build high expectations that the governments are going to make better decisions around the difficult things we are facing. TT worked because people are ready to make the changes themselves and figure out what it is we can do on our own. TT is a very bottom up response. And I don’t think that’s the only response we need. We need bottom up, side ways, top down…but I think what resonates with people about TT is that it’s something they can do themselves, with others, and it doesn’t require billions of dollars or experts. It’s something that people can do and do it right away, and there are lots of ways it could be done.
A: TT is based on Permaculture. What is Permaculture? R: I would describe it as design system. The word is an acronym of Permanent Culture, so it means how can we live well and keep doing it without degrading the environment using up all the resources. Permaculture looks at patterns in nature and tries to figure out how we can mimic those patterns using the least amount of energy. Forests maintain themselves. They don’t need people to go in and manage them. We have these amazing examples in front of us and if we figure out how to mimic them it could be great.
silient community? R: Resilience is the ability of a system to sustain shock and still maintain its’ normal functions. TT is preparing people how to deal with peak oil and climate change, as well as economic instability.
TT?
A: What’s the easiest way to plug into
R: Go to our website, it’s easy to become a member and engage. We have many different areas where you can participate. Also if you have an interest you can start your own working group. There are lots of groups in embryonic stage now, but growing. There
are also geographic groups where you can connect with your neighbors. TT is like real life, there’s no handbook, people can connect in many different ways and over what they choose to. In TT things happen in multitude of directions and we are trying to make it as free form as possible.
A: How many TT are there in BC and A: Tell us more about the concept behind Vancouver? A: You have a TT workshop coming up? TT. R: There are approximately 17 in CanaR: The workshop is called Transition R: One of our slogans is: ‘talk to your da, and of those several are in BC, like Van- Training. They are all over the world and neighbor and see what happens!’ It boils down to getting to know your neighbors and figuring out together how to become more sustainable and resilient. It’s about building a community. We found that engaging your neighbors leads to a low carbon lifestyle. People are scared that it will be horrible if they cut down energy use, but we believe that it will be more satisfying because we will be relating to one another. If you invite your neighbors and make them a home cooked meal, hopefully mostly local food, and they have walked to my your place rather then driven, there’s not much energy involved. It’s a lot different then if I get my car and drive across town and pay 100 dollars to see a concert, along with all the other people that are there. And imagine that bus touring across the whole country…
A: It’s not easy to build a community, especially not a world wide one. Why do you
couver, Victoria, Nelson and Maple Ridge.
A: Village Vancouver is plugging into a
lot of different events and puts on a fair number of its own. R: We do a lot of different events because many things can fit under the VV umbrella, we don’t maintain a narrow focus. We are trying to learn and teach about our environmental and social challenges and we do that through workshops. One of the things we do is teach people skills that will help them be more self sustained, like food growing and preserving, chicken farming, conflict resolving etc. We are also building the community while doing the workshops - we hope that people establish connections and become resources and allies for one another. We have probably done over 100 workshops in the last year.
they’re training people for transition, but in Vancouver we have a little more capacity so we are able to focus more on what we need to know about our area. So, we call them Transition in Vancouver. It’s a two-day workshop that focuses on the idea of what the transition is about. We talk about peak oil and climate change. We talk about how people can connect in their communities and weaving that through with what Village Vancouver does. Also we discuss how we can manifest practical steps towards transition. One of things that we touch on in the workshop is the inner transition and how people feel about it. We help people to think about what could happen, and we work on possible hard feelings people might have when realizing what the future might hold. The next workshop is Oct 15-16 at Langara College.
A: Do you have any plans to engage people in a bigger way? R: We think it’s really important to try and engage as many people as possible. In TT we think what we are facing requires a huge amount of people to overcome. If everyone else is doing business as usual and only the already convinced are taking action not much will change. The planet won’t give A: What do you mean when you say re- us a second chance just because we tried to
do it better; we are running against biophysical reality. We must to engage everyone: individual people, organizations, institutions, governments and businesses.
A: What do you think is stopping people from getting involved or thinking about this? R: This is a heavily consumer-oriented culture, and we are bombarded by messages that say happiness comes through consuming. In this case the economy needs to keep growing and we need to consume more and more. That’s a very non-community oriented message, its basically saying that happiness will come through relating to things not through relating to people. So trying to look at things in a different way, you’re going against the grain and that’s not easy for people to do. People are not getting reinforced when they try to step out of the box. This is why it might be hard. A: Does TT have a unique take on community building? R: TT are not reinventing the wheel. We are supporting many different groups in their work, facilitating connections and drawing groups together in thinking about the big picture. We try to fit the pieces and see how we can have all these groups working together to collective response. In TT we recognize there is so much to do that when someone comes along and wants to do something we are grateful and we try and support them, because the only thing is going to get us through is getting engaged as many people as possible. We try and do things without money; when we do workshops we do them at people’s homes. We figure out how to use ourselves as our own best resources. We teach people how to utilize each other as resources, rather then looking out to experts. This is what resiliency is all about. TT runs on people. We acknowledge the difficulties that we are facing and we are trying to create positive energy around the transition. At the end, we don’t know how seriously this work is taken. But so far it seems to be one of the most promising worldwide responses out there. A: What about a sense of shared vision? R: We take the approach that we don’t
have to agree on everything but our shared vision is that a sustainable future is the one where we’ll be using very little fossil fuels, we’ll be consuming lots less of everything, and we’ll be more in touch with the environment and ourselves; that’s our shared vision. Village Vancouver Transition Town Initiative: www.villagevancouver.ca Transition Network: www.transitionnetwork.org ______________________________ Aleksandra Rea is the coordinator for the United Nations World Summit for Sustainable Development for Canada, also known as Rio+20. She is a young adult activist in social, environmental and economic change, and organizer and leader of non-profit groups with the same focus. By day Aleksandra is a special eduction instructor with Community Living Society where she advocates for the disability movement.
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Vancouver
September 2010
Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence and Imagination A program open to all ages-Tuesday August 31,7:30 pm-9:00 pm Free-Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street.Join best-selling novelist Robert Moss in a fun, high-energy program to learn techniques for empowering and healing our lives through dreams and imagination. The Fringe Presents- Opening Night Appetizers -Sept 7th at Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St.(Granville Island) Sneak Previews from the 2010 Lineup- Festival Dates are Sept 9-19 Francois Houle:Solo Performance September 9 and 10 2010 at the beautiful Vancouver Live Sound Room,The Seymour Building 525 Seymour Street Clarinetist François Houle has established himself as one of today’s most inventive musicians, in all of the universal musical spheres he embraces: classical, jazz, new music, improvised music, and world music. Whether he’s performing works by Mozart or Messiaen, appearing as a featured soloist with orchestra, or improvising and embracing live, interactive electronics, François demystifies music for audiences everywhere. Inspired by collaborations with the world’s top musical innovators, François has developed a unique improvisational language, virtuosic and rich with sonic embellishment and technical extensions. World Premiere: Latin American Film Festival September 10th at Cinematique. 1131 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2K8 In the Colombian town of Ibagué, a prison for political prisoners was built in the late nineteen century, loosely based on a surveillance architectural design called Panopticon. This dreamlike, surreal animated video was created from the photographic images taken by Diego Samper in 2003, just few days after the buildings was emptied, previous to a complete renovation in order to house a new cultural center. It reveals a rich visual universe of prison art and, through it, aspects of contemporary Colombian social and political reality. But beyond that, it reflects on the principle of freedom. Is the Panopticon imprisoning freedom itself? The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the incarcerated being able to tell whether they are being watched, thereby conveying what one architect has called the”sentiment of an invisible omniscience.” Bentham himself described the Panopticon as “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example.” Andrew Harvey Monday September 13, 7:00 pm-8:30 pm Free-Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street Please join us as renowned spiritual writer and Sacred Activist Andrew Harvey presents his book, Heart Yoga: The Sacred Marriage of Yoga and Mysticism. Myths for Profit: Canada’s Role in Industries of War and Peace Thursday September 16,7:00 pm-9:00 pm Free-Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street.Please join us for documentary night at the library!Canada the good guy? Let’s examine that claim. Myths for Profit is an essential introduction to geopolitics and profits, from NATO to Afghanistan via Kosovo. Music of the Whole World series-Ghazals and Guitars,A program open to all ages Wednesday September 22,7:00 pm-9:00 pm-Free Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street.North Indian classical music meets Western classical-influenced guitar String Plunker Records presents: (12th Annual) West Coast Guitar Night Saturday September 25th at 8:00pm:The Cultch Historic Theatre, 1895 Venables St. Vancouver, BC The 12th Annual West Coast Guitar Night Acoustic Jazz, Classical, Folk,Brazilian and Flamenco with:Kent Hillman,Harold Micay,Les Finnigan,Edgar Avelino,John Gilliat with Andre Stepanian Scotia Bank Dance Centre Open House The 9th annual Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House takes place on Saturday September 25: a packed day of open classes, workshops, studio showings and events celebrating Canada’s flagship dance facility. Participating artists and companies include Co. ERASGA, Dance 4U, Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM, Mandala Arts and Culture, Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz, Spanish Passion Productions and more! Full schedule to be announced. Saturday September 25, 11am-5pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie Street, Vancouver.
Christian Fennesz w/ Scant Intone + Souns September 26, 2010 8PM-Western Front, 303 East 8TH Avenue:The evening also features a special performance by Scant Intone (Constantine Katsiris) and Souns (Michael Red), two of Vancouver’s brightest electronic music artists coming together for a focused collaboration of ambient and modern audioA celebrated pioneer in the IDM and Electronica genres, Austria’s Christian Fennesz employs guitar, electronics and laptops to create dense, dynamic and visceral live performances. His multilayered compositions blend a crafted melodic sensibility with irregular sounds and washes of dense noise. Fennesz puts a strong emphasis on guitar textures and buried pop melodies amidst layers of effects and treated sounds. Fennesz has toured internationally for almost two decades, recorded many solo works for the Mego and Touch imprints, composed music for film and dance and collaborated with the likes of Ryuichi Sakomoto, Jim O’Rourke, Mike Patton, David Sylvian, Keith Rowe and many others. Imagine the electric guitar severed from cliché and all of its physical limitations, shaping a bold new musical language-City Newspaper(USA) The Word on the Street A program open to all ages,Sunday September 26,11:00 am-5:00 pm-Free North & South Plaza, Promenade, Alice MacKay Room,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street.The Vancouver Public Library invites you to join us for one of Canada’s biggest annual book and magazine festivals. Vancouver’s Word on the Street is back for it’s 16th year. Modulus Festival September 30 - October 3, 2010 Immerse yourself in four days of adventurous music with leading classical, new and genre-bending artists.The Modulus Festival features throat singer Tanya Tagaq, ‘ukulele sensation James Hill, pianist David Jalbert, Rome Prize composer Lisa Bielawa, Grammy-Award winning soprano Susan Narucki, the Music on Main All-Star Band, and other great musicians. You’ll hear Steve Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint, J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Lisa Bielawa’s Chance Encounter, music by Maurice Ravel, Györgi Kurtág, Giorgio Magnanensi, Canadian and world premieres, and lots more . Post Secret Live Fri., October 1, 2010 at 8:00 pm,Chan Shun Concert Hall, 6265 Crescent Road, UBC,Presented by AMS Events Author Frank Warren is the creator of the blog phenomenon PostSecret Project, a collection of highly personal and artfully decorated postcards mailed anonymously from around the world, displaying the soulful secrets we never voice. The website for PostSecret is one of the most popular on the web, and has been featured prominently in the media in USA Today, on the Today Show, 20/20, CNN, MSNBC, CBC, NPR, and FOX News. In 2009, Forbes listed Frank Warren as the 4th most influential person on the internet. Recently the PostSecret website received it’s 250,000,000 hit and was named Weblog of the Year at the Seventh Annual Weblog Awards. Everything Everyday October 2, 2010 – January 23, 2011-Vancouver Art Galllery The exhibition title is a nod to the work of Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa, two designers who used the term ‘super normal’ to describe the design of everyday objects – a chair, a stool, a wine glass – that seem to embody an archetypical design, but may utilize a new material, a shift in scale or proportion, an enhanced performance, or some other extra quality that allows us to simultaneously perceive both the normal and super normal character of that object. In order to be recognized as super normal, objects and events must remain rooted in the everyday while simultaneously signaling their difference. Of Time and Place October 2 & 4 2009 8pm, Ryerson United Church 2195 W. 45 Ave., Vancouver The Turning Point Ensemble celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Music Centre in a colourful program featuring R. Murray Schafer’s magical Egyptian-inspired Arcana for solo voice and ensemble, and José Evangelista’s thrilling Alap and Gat, a work referencing the classical music of North India. TPE also unveils two premieres by Vancouver composers, Remember to Forget by Jaap Hamburger and Variations on Exact Tension by Jacqueline Leggatt. Irene Butler Wednesday October 6, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm-Free Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street Join Irene and Rick Butler on their epic journey across four continents. They met their personal challenge to travel for less cost than staying home being couch potatoes, and learned many travel lessons along the way.
Events 2010 CBC Massey Lectures Player One: What is to Become of Us. by Douglas Coupland Tue., October 12, 2010 at 8:00 pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall,6265 Crescent Road, UBC, Presented by CBC Radio CBC is proud to present the 2010 Massey Lectures, by celebrated Canadian author and artist, Douglas Coupland. A cultural commentator with international impact, Coupland presents this year’s lectures in the form of a novel, Player One. What is to Become of Us.Coupland’s lecture explores the modern crises of time, human identity, society, religion, macroeconomics and the afterlife. Reimagining Cascadia Writing futures we might want to live in Wednesday October 13, 7:00 pm-8:30 pm-Free Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street Bleak urban dystopias abound in popular fiction and most of us wouldn’t want to live in them. Are we resigning ourselves and our children to defeat by imagining such grim futures? How can we think and write hopefully about our future? Orkestra Futura: Meeting of the Minds Friday, October 15, 2010 8:00pm-Western Front , 303 East 8th Avenue Orkestra Futura traces its roots through the NOW Orchestra to Vancouver’s C.O.R.D. Orchestra (Community Orchestra for Research and Development) of the late 1970s. Inspired by the exploration of improvisation in a large ensemble Orkestra Futura continues to explore how the composed form and improvisation can best enhance each other. Boasting a 23-year history, this ensemble is rightly renowned for its longevity and creative output of improvised music. Under the NOW umbrella (in its 33rd year), Orkestra Futura is the only ensemble of its kind in Canada – an improvisational group with a unique West Coast music style NOW Orchestra Workshops Upcoming workshops for the NOW Orchestra include our fall NOW Improvisation Series at the Western Front. We also offer advanced workshops for players interested in exploring improvisational techniques and composing new music. NOW Improvisation Workshops For over 15 years, the New Orchestra Workshop Society has presented an annual series of workshops aimed at educating musicians at all levels of ability in the varied techniques of improvised music. Each week, a different facilitator will present his or her own approaches to this music. Artists from around the world bring their own unique perspectives to the spontaneous creation of music.All workshops are free and open to all players and observers. We are currently organizing the next series ofworkshops and will post more information as it becomes available. For information email: now@noworchestra.com After The Quake Adapted for the stage by Frank Galati, Rumble Productions Oct 13-23 The Cultch, 1895 Venables Street After the Quake takes its audience on a journey where magic and realism collide, in an exploration of disrupted reality. Based on “ Honey Pie” and “ Superfrog Saves Tokyo” from the novel of the same name by Haruki Murakami. Together these stories explore the emotional aftershocks of disaster, and offer a message of hope and healing. Murakami’s wonderful novels have won him many accolades, including the Franz Kafka Prize. The Guardian praised him as “among the world’s greatest living novelists.” Mural Sunday, October 17, 2010 8:00pm,Western Front , 303 East 8th Avenue MURAL with Australian saxophonist/flutist Jim Denley and fellow Norwegian and percussionist Ingar Zach. London’s Wire magazine called it “a quietly outstanding piece of Improv, a haunting world of breathtaking timbral beauty. An extraordinary creation.” Hijacked Future Monday October 18, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm-Free Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level, Central Library,350 West Georgia Street Please join us for a screening of the film, Hijacked Future which takes us from the grain fields of Saskatchewan, to farmers and seed banks in Ethiopia, to north of the Arctic Circle in Norway. Wired for Learning-CultureGrams: The World at Your Fingertips Wendsday October 19, 2:30 pm-4:00 pm-Free. Registration required.Computer Training Room, Level 7,Central Library,350 West Georgia Street.Interested in the world and its peoples? If so, come learn about CultureGrams, an online tool exploring the daily life of people in over 200 countries.
Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam Thursday October 21,7:00 pm-9:00 pm-Free Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level, Central Library,350 West Georgia Street.Please join us for a screening of an award-winning documentary which takes a candid look at a significant, yet untold event - a two million U.S. initiative that airlifted over 2,500 Vietnamese orphans out of a war-torn country.
Videos, Podcast, Free Downloads A Head Set That Reads and Responds to BrainwavesTan Le’s new computer interface reads users brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and physical electronics with our thoughts. Tan demo’s the headset and talks about the amazing possiblities for only a couple hundred bucks! http://www.ted.com/talks/tan_le_a_headset_that_ reads_your_brainwaves.html RIP - A Remix Manifesto -The World’s First Open Source Documentary http://www.opensourcecinema.org/project/rip2.0 RiP: A remix manifesto is an open source documentary about copyright and remix culture. Created over a period of six years, the film features the collaborative remix work of hundreds of people who have contributed to this website, helping to create the world’s first open source documentary. What We Eat Inuit jazz throat-singer Tanya Tagaq, and Cannes-winning filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, talk back to Brigitte Bardot and anti-sealhunting lobby on the eternal reality of hunting. Selected for Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival, Best Short, imagineNATIVE Film Fest 2009.Length: 7min http://www.isuma.tv/hi/en/tungijuq/tungijuq720p Vancouver New Music presents an all new Complaints Choir! This hilarious community project has participants singing a litany of complaints. The music has been specially composed for the choir by Veda Hille, and the words contributed by...you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M7bDp4uuos The World According to Monsanto Monsanto likes to refer to itself as a “life sciences” company. They produce genetically modified seeds, engineered they claim, to resist its herbicide Roundup. Monsanto speak of solving world hunger while protecting the environment.hmmm?????? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvGddgHRQyg TALES FROM A WINGED EYEBALL An odd little story accompanied by the marvellous experimental music stylings of MINTY THE PEDANTIC PEDESTRIAN.Have a listen, you might like it. It is strange. This album has been made available for free download. http://pedanticpedestrian.bandcamp.com/album/talesfrom-the-winged-eyeball Canadian Music Centre Sounds New (Podcast)-Sound Symposium 2010 Summer Festival of Experimental Music in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Featuring Eve Egoyan h t t p : / / w w w. m u s i c c e n t r e . c a / m u s - p l a . cfm?audiofile=Podcast_51.mp3&buyitem=1 Some of the performers in this years upcoming Vancouver New Music Festival- Theatre for the Ears Interactive Visuals, reacting to motion and sound, with dance, vocals, laptop and viola. Interdisciplinary improvised performance of interactive visuals, contemporary dance and new music (voice, laptop, viola). Performed by jamie griffiths, Noam Gagnon, Stefan Smulovitz and Viviane Houle. Previous Collaboration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2ht0Koqphk Call for Submissions-Theatre for the Ears Explores intersections of sound and image with a festival of visual music, abstract cinema, experimental animation, lumia, cymatics and interactive live audiovisual performance.Seeking to link the seemingly disparate phenomena of sight and sound, artists have been researching and experimenting to implement musical structures in visual imagery and to explore methods or devices which can translate sounds or music into a related visual presentation. VNM is looking for local artists to be part of the festival. Selected artists will be invited to deliver a 15-20 minute performance as part of the festival line-up. Please note that we are not looking for VJ sets, but rather performances that explore innovative integrations of sound and image. Please send your performance proposals, a short bio, and a short sample of, or link to your work to: giorgio@newmusic.org by September 15, 2010. The festival will be held at Scotiabank Dance Centre(677 Davie Street) from October 21-23, 2010. Schedule and more info next issue…
WARNING!:
September 2010
Vancouver
11
“They’re gonna Laugh at You!” by Raw Nu Q. “What’s the difference between Tragedy and Comedy?” A. “Comedy is when something bad or embarrassing happens to somebody else (You for instance). Tragedy is when that same something happens - to Me!” That’s one axiomatic definition I heard years ago. Don’t remember the source. Raw.nu@Raw.nu if you know. I suppose an enlightened, spiritual soul would want to reverse the definition above - & declare themselves so very evolved that they are able to laugh at themselves when they look stupid (“FAIL!”) - and strive to always commiserate with other people’s misfortunes. That’s not me however. Not even. I laugh so loud at the awful goings-on (black humor response) in movies, that complete strangers lecture me afterward. Once, one of two feminists behind me, tapped me hard during a film’s climactic scene because I was laughing helplessly /involuntarily at evil betrayal - as a defence mechanism. They obviously had never heard of the phrase “recognition laughter”. Teed me off big time at the
time - being told off. I told them to stop poking me or they’d be wearing Coca-Cola. I find it funny now. (Not really actually, but it supports my thesis better if I say that I find it funny now) But I did just LOL ruefully, when adding this truth. It’s often considered more noble to be self-deprecating, rather than vicious, in one’s humor. “He who can laugh at themselves shall never cease to be amused” type of idea. Don’t remember who said that either. If you know, email Raw.nu@Raw.nu. (Hey this is getting to be a running gag.) Sometimes, I work at being self-deprecating and get accused of being selfloathing. I guess if I DO think that it is funny being called self-loathing - that means I really am self-loathing, eh? What? Well, we’ll call it ego-puncturing. A profound thought – a refinement if you will, on that last quote “(S)he who laughs at themselves shall never cease to be amused” hit me one day whilst I was inhaling herbal relaxation with an audience of friends (or maybe just a friendly audience). I burst out with my insight: “Yo! Y’all know what da secret of happiness b?” Now to make my point memorable, this is said in my best fake ‘Aunt Jemima’ (TM) voice. If you’re a white boy affecting & mangling a gangsta-rap black accent ; you might as well do the wanna-be gangsta thing in the opposite-gender voice eh? Potentially offend black people, politically-correct folk and women, all at the same time. (Good thing about the Agora. They seem to endorse some truly offensive writers simply for their shock value, so this should fit right in). If you’re really ambitious - do your gangsta rap thang in a bad Southern drawl - a female vaudeville black voice - so you can start a civil war as a Northerner! Southern drawls and Sing-Song Hindu accents are simple beginner accents - but I digress... But back to the secret of happiness shared as a profound insight: Here it is: Ta-da! “Laugh at your own jokes!” (Dead Silence)WTFaith? Well, it felt so profound at the time (as these things tend to be when one is as affected by herbal remedies as I am.)! Laugh at your own jokes people! Now, lest you
are right now thinking with your inside-voice left brain, “Well I KNOW people who have ‘Laugh at your own jokes’ (& impose said sense of humor ruthlessly on others), as their modus operandi in life. l find them crushing bores.” I don’t mean laugh at your own joke “repertoire” that you’ve lifted from the Internet or Television. No, that’s not what I mean at all. Laugh at your own jokes, your own wit. Assert and affirm, all alone, as an appreciative audience (9 alliterative “A” words in a row!). Ridiculous Absurdity, in the moment is the essential survival skill in these Conspiracy Theory Times. In Assertiveness Training Lingo, laughing at oneself (like Joan Rivers, or Boy George without makeup), is actually an Assertive Skill called “Negative Assertion”. I used to teach Adult Assertiveness Training years ago, after my Mom, an Assertiveness Trainer herself, manipulated me into it! See what I mean, jellybean? Being manipulated into teaching Assertiveness! That’s an example of laughing at your own ‘jokeness’; your own life. Joke ‘em if they can’t take a … There are pretty standard, tried (and tired!) recipes for constructing comedy gags. Humor does after all follow quite predictive formulae; but “Dissecting humor is like dissecting a frog; you still end up with a dead frog”. Don’t remember who...CANCEL! (Just kidding, I remember ! It was Canadian Humorist Stephen Leacock, ) The funny thing about writing about comedy is that it is so hard to do! The suspense and audience interaction/ feedback isn’t there when you plot and plod ‘humorously’. And I’m an auditory learner. I inspire and get inspired through inflection and sound and content.
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draconian laws, like the ‘Anti Terrorist Act’ and multiple wars that are costing Canadian lives. We are being bankrupted financially, The Vancouver 9/11 Truth Society is but more importantly, we are being bankproud to announce the Voices for Truth rupted morally. event for September 11, 2010, 10amI believe it is our responsiblility as 6:30pm. human beings, and as Canadian citizens to The event will feature live interaction fight to preserve the rights and freedoms that with 9/11 truth celebrity advocates and fel- others before us worked, fought, and died low activists throughout North America and for. beyond, speaking directly to us about the I am a member of the Canadian Action successes of the movement thus far, where Party. Ours is the only political party I am they are at in their activism and where they aware of that is supporting a new indepensee the future of 9/11 Truth headed. dant investigation of 9/11. We were once The event will be held at the Univeroffered a $20,000 donation, on the condition sity of British Columbia (UBC) Robson that we refrain from promoting 9/11 truth. Square, 800 Robson Street and by broadLet it be known that our party’s principles cast simultaneously on the Internet. By atare not for sale. tending the event in-person, attendees will There is a great change coming upon have the opportunity to ask questions of the our world, which is reviving the virtues of speakers. In addition, there will be raffles truth, courage and integrity. Millions more But when the Editor of the Agora says for prizes and clips from the new Truth Bus like us are becoming active and rallying to he’ll publish your work in print if you write a movie along with other videos of activism the cause of liberty and justice. comedy piece to balance out all the Illuminati and 9/11 related information. The false flag terror attack of September Horror. .. When he offers to pay you the same Vancouver 9/11 Truth Society has 11, 2001 was created by desperate people. as all the other Agora writers, (a free ad maybe, decided to make this event entrance by They were desperate to preserve an empire if you beg and whine); well you darn well atdonation. centuries in the making. The one thing that tempt to write comedy. In Humor 101; we deFor more information: http://vancouall empires have in common is that they alfine that last sentence (about cheap Capitalist ver911truth.org/ ways collapse. Truth and justice can only be Pig editors) as a ‘dig’. More on this later if I repressed for so long. Well i am here to tell ever make it to my second column... Thank you, you that the time has come. 9/11 may have Deep ‘recognition’ laughter which unVancouver 9/11 Truth Society delayed the end of the New World Order for covers, explores and occasionally punctures Conference Committee a decade, but it only made it’s demise more unconscious beliefs is elicited when philo___________________________ inevitable. sophical insight into a delicate issue is covertly forced on the audience - being made palatable Albert Einstein said, “No problem can and acceptable through the employment of huThis speech was delivered at Vancoube solved from the same level of consciousmor. ‘The Joke’ is, in a best case scenario, the ver Art Galler Sept. 11th 2009, by Kevin ness that created it.” continued false flag most elegantly effective way to preach and mo- Kelso. attacks are a demonstration that these people tivate. (Or simply to dump on someone without s you probably know, the are not capable of thinking on a higher level. getting bitch-slapped, or fired, as the case may evidence is overwhelming If we expand our consciousness, and devote be). which points to top officials our minds and hearts to changing the course I’d like to sum up, but this article in the US and other Governments as being of history, there is nothing that can stop us. has to be under 1,000 words. If I insist culpable on 911. For the people that died for the cause on a picture there will be severe editing As Danish Scientist Niels Harrit said: of freedom, for ourselves, and for the future as we now know that a picture is worth once you know, you either have to go on of humanity. I ask you to wake up, stand 1,000 words. (Did you know that that and spread the truth, or live on in shame. up, and unlock your infinite potential as a famous quote was written by a copy Similarly, the memorial for the resisters human being to create a better future for hueditor, not a wise philosopher?) Who of WW2 in Germany says ‘for those who manity. The revolution will not be televised, knew? RawDOTnu could not bare the shame.’ but it has begun, and we are all a part of it. We are now feeling the affects of new I’m Kevin Kelso, thank you.
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reetings fellow truth-seekers,
September 2010 12 Vancouver Vancouver in the 1850s - NATIVE VANCOUVER
Cheap Appetite By Tana Kosiyabong
by Bruce Macdonald
Bruce Macdonald is a Vancouver-born writer and a historical consultant specializing in Vancouver’s past. Despite working mostly as a labourer, in the late 1980s he won a $100,000 university research grant that enabled him to put 10,000 hours of effort into producing on his computer a colourful award-winning history of the city, Vancouver: A Visual History. This article is the first of a series being excerpted from Vancouver: A Visual History. Being a decade-based history of the city, the book employs a rigid format for each ten years of the city’s modern history. Beginning with the 1850s, before there were any non-Native settlers in Vancouver, each decade is presented with a large detailed map of Vancouver showing the city over the decade, accompanied by explanatory text and many illustrative photographs and graphs. Each article in the Agora series will also cover one decade.
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he North Shore mountains have stood over the site of Vancouver for about 40 million years. Yet geologists believe it was just 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age that the site of the city once again emerged from under about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) of ice. Since then an environment rich in plant and animal life has developed. Conditions here were very favourable for a variety of fish, shellfish, birds, huge trees, and marine and land mammals, including human beings. Vancouver’s southern boundary is the Fraser River. Known for centuries as the Stalo, it is one of the largest salmon rivers in the world and its 5 species of salmon have provided a rich source of food to the Vancouver area. In recent times the Fraser has supported 38 species of fish, such as sturgeon, whitefish, char and, at the mouth of the river, dogfish, smelt and herring. Up to one million migrating fish, mainly salmon, eulachon and trout, can pass up the river in a day. Where the Fraser meets the Pacific Ocean the river’s estuary is a feeding ground for some 200 species of birds. Five million migrating shorebirds visit the delta annually, as well as songbirds, game birds and 20 species of birds of prey. The estuary is one of the few places in BC where birds of prey spend the winter, resulting in yearly concentrations of eagles, falcons, hawks and owls. The ocean beaches formed by the Fraser River’s silt deposits support shellfish such as crabs, clams, mussels, oysters and cockles. The salt waters of Burrard Inlet remain the habitat of seals, and, occasionally, sea lions, whales and killer whales. In the 1850s the land surface of Vancouver supported some of the largest timber in the world: enormous Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock, as well as pine, spruce, maple and yew. The tallest trees were Douglas firs approximately 1,000 years old and up to 122 metres (400 feet) tall- taller than any trees in the world today. The largest trees were red cedars, the First Nations’ ‘tree of life,’ which can grow to almost 6 metres (20 feet) across. Today red cedars are the largest trees by volume in the world outside of California. The forests were home to cougars, bears, wolves and lynx. In addition to dense forests, Vancouver contained smaller areas of grassland along the shoreline and in beaver meadows, the areas in which some of the older lakes caused by beaver dams had filled with vegetation. These grasslands provided grazing for numerous deer and elk. There were also small mammals, such as the snowshoe hare, skunk, porcupine, weasel, muskrat and beaver. Berry bushes were plentiful, such as blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, salmon-berry, huckleberry, thimble-berry, elderberry and Oregon grape. Other notable plants were Labrador tea, horsetails, cattails, cinquefoil, clover and thule reeds. Today, Pacific Spirit Park near UBC still contains cloudberry, a plant relic from the last ice age found only in Lower Mainland bogs and northern muskeg. Here also sphagnum moss is found, the oldest known living plant, which can live up to 10,000 years; and sundew, an insecteating plant. This rich and varied environment offered a wealth of food and materials for human habitation, and new people are still being drawn to the area every year. In the 1850s there were still no European or Asian settlers in what is now Vancouver, but the First Nations had been living in the area for about 10,000 years. Today the Musqueam First Nation are based in southwest Vancouver in a
village that has been occupied for at least 3,000 years. The Squamish First Nation, whose winter villages were traditionally located up Howe Sound, were also active in this area, as well as a third group, the Tsleil-waututh people. Today’s Burrard Indian Band in North Vancouver is descended from this last group. The Musqueam spoke a dialect of Halkomelem, the language spoken throughout the salmon-rich Fraser delta region. The Squamish spoke a different language. Squamish, Tsleil-waututh and Musqueam oral traditions indicate that in former times they occupied larger village sites on Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm. The Native peoples of the Northwest coast fished, hunted and gathered a wide variety of foods, attaining the highest known levels of cultural complexity on a food-gathering base. This was accomplished with highly specialized skills and tools, combined with an extensive knowledge of the variety and variability of food sources. Their economic system encouraged hard work, the accumulation of wealth and status, and the redistribution of wealth. When Captain Vancouver arrived from pre-industrial Europe in 1792, he noticed the well-made woollen garments of the Coast Salish people. The Native women of Vancouver used a 2-bar loom to weave highly valued blankets. The wool was obtained from mountain goats and special wool-bearing dogs kept solely for their wool. Recent archaeological work has revealed that a sophisticated technology for weaving, as well as fishing and hunting, was well developed at least 3,000 years ago. Native people received spiritual power from encounters with the non-human world. During vision quests the seeker bathed, fasted, spent time alone and cleansed the body of human scent. The vision or spirit power could be received from an animal such as a deer, or a more unusual creature such as a double-headed serpent or thunderbird. A weaver sometimes received power from a snake; a canoe-builder from a woodpecker; or a warrior from a wasp. Having spirit power brought greater prosperity, skill and endurance to the owner. The vision also provided the seeker with a song that was later sung to invoke the special power. Those who wished to become shamans had to undergo more extensive training to obtain their special abilities. Large potlatches were common in the months of summer and winter, when the spirit powers became active and required possessors to sing and dance to their power song. The biggest plankhouses became dance houses as the dancers were assisted over long hours by singing and drumming, accompanied by inter-village potlatching and feasting. Despite the outlawing of potlatching and dancing from 1884 to 1951, these activities have continued to be vital features of Native community life into the present.
couple of weeks ago, I was freelancing in Kitsilano, just south of downtown Vancouver. Even though the area is not that far from where I live, I hardly cross over the bridge to the other side. It is as if the gigantic concrete structure were a mental barricade over the False Creek. But since the new gig was in Kitsilano, I had no choice but went out of my comfort zone. As I walked on the 4th Avenue during lunch break, I felt like a kid in a high-end candy store. Unfortunately this kid is a cheapo. Although there are many restaurants to choose from, only a handful of them fit the bill. Not far from where I freelanced, I came across a signage of Win’s Chinese Restaurant featuring $6.50 Lunch Special on the foot path. There are over 40 lunch entrees to chose from. “That’s it. I’m going in,” I told myself. Win’s Chinese Restaurant is located on West 4th Avenue between Cypress and Maple Streets. The restaurant is on the lower level of the building which means that you can only see the top half of it from the street. To get to Win’s, I had to walk down the stairs. Even then, the interior space still receives ample of natural light from the front door and windows. The interior of the restaurant was outdated with pink and soft green color scheme. But it wasn’t bother me one bit. As long as the food is good, I don’t care much about the décor. After a quick look at the lunch special menu, I decided to order the Mongolian beef with steamed rice and a bowl of hot and sour soup (comes with the lunch special). Shortly after a kettle of complimentary tea and a small bowl of soup were served.
At first glance I was quite impressed by the hearty-looking soup. And even more so when I tasted it. The flavor was intense and delicious just like what hot and sour soup should be. Generous chunks of tofu and mushrooms were packed in this small bowl. The green onion sprinkled on top added another dimension to the flavor profile. This yummy soup is a good teaser prior to the main entree. Shortly after, the Mongolian beef arrived on its own plate with a bowl of steamed rice on the side. I was stunned for a moment by the generous amount of the Mongolian beef. For a $6.50 lunch special, I expected a lot less beef and a lot more rice. Once I tasted the dish, I felt like I just won a lottery. There I was in the middle of an unfamiliar territory, I had managed to pick out a cheap and delicious dish among many other choices. The beef was very tender and tasty, yet not very greasy. The mushrooms and veggies were perfectly cooked. Although the dish was marked as spicy on the menu, Win’s Mongolian beef is quite mild for my taste. Regardless of the tongue burning sensation, the dish was yummylicious. Overall, I’m glad I found Win’s Chinese Restaurant. Their lunch specials are definitely Cheap Appetite worthy. I will go back there again next time I’m in Kitsilano. Win’s Chinese Restaurant Mongolian Beef: ©©©© 1/4 Win’s Chinese Restaurant Hot and Sour Soup: ©©©© Win’s Chinese Restaurant is located at 1909 W. 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J 1M7 (T) 604.224.1822 or 604.224.3944
Change is inevitable except from a vending machine.
-Robert C. Gallagher
September 2010
Vancouver
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World
September 2010
By Callum Coats tion, is opposed to the true workings of Nature.” “Our work is the embodiment of our will. The spiritual manifestation of this work is its effect. When such work is carried out correctly, it brings happiness, but when carried out incorrectly, it assuredly brings misery.” There is only one solution ! Would we live and ensure a sustainable future then we must plant trees for our very lives, but far more importantly, we have a duty to do it for those of our children. More immediately, however, we must care for the very limited stocks of water still available. This means treating it in the way demonstrated to us by Nature. First and foremost, water should be protected from sunlight and kept in the dark, far removed from all sources of heat, light and atmospheric
Part 3
later to be confirmed practically, concerning water, the energies inherent in it and its desired natural form of motion. These eventually earned him the name of “The Water Wizard”. For the whole of his life he fought a running and often acrimonious battle with academia and its institutions, since his theories in the main were diametrically opposed to the so-called established facts of science. His practical demonstration of them always functioned as he had theorised, however, for he had come to understand the true inner workings of Nature and was able to emulate them. His great dictum, frequently asserted, was “C2 - Comprehend and Copy Nature” for it was only thus that humanity could emerge from its present crisis-stricken condition. Indeed at the Stuttgart University of Technology, West Germany in 1952 these
sums amounting potentially to many millions of dollars could be made available as startcapital for a Los Alamos-like venture to develop Viktor Schauberger’s theories of Implosion. He was accompanied by his son, Walter Schauberger, a physicist and mathematician, to assist in the scientific interpretation of his father’s theories. Soon after arrival, however, various misunderstandings developed, too complex to elaborate here, whereupon Viktor Schauberger fell silent and refused to participate. After some three months of silence the project was abandoned. Viktor and Walter Schauberger were then permitted to return to Austria, where Viktor died in Linz some five days later on the 25th September 1958, a very disillusioned man. On their return journey, Viktor asked Walter to translate his theories of Implosion into terms of physics, geometry and mathematics, in such manner that their veracity
...continued from previous issue... “The more the engineer endeavours to channel water, of whose spirit and nature he is today still ignorant, by the shortest and straightest route to the sea, the more the flow of water weighs into the bends, the longer its path and the worse the water will become.” “The spreading of the most terrible disease of all, of CANCER, is the necessary consequence of such unnatural regulatory works.” “These mistaken activities - our work must legitimately lead to increasingly widespread unemployment, because our present methods of working, which have a purely mechanical basis, are already destroying not only all of wise Nature’s formative processes, but first and foremost the growth of the vegetation itself, which is being destroyed even as it grows.” “The drying up of mountain springs, the change in the whole pattern of motion of the groundwater, and the DISTURBANCE in the BLOOD CIRCULATION of the organism Earth - is the direct result of modern forestry practices.” “The PULSEBEAT of the Earth was factually arrested by the modern timber production industry.” “Every economic death of a people is always preceded by the death of its forests.” “The forest is the habitat of water and as such the habitat of life processes too, whose quality declines as the organic development of the forest is disturbed.” “Ultimately, due to a law which functions with awesome constancy, it will slowly but surely come around to OUR TURN.” “Our accustomed way of thinking in influences. Ideally it should be placed in many ways, and perhaps even without excep- opaque, porous containers, which on the one hand cut out all direct light and heat, and on the other, allow the water to breathe, which in common with all other living things, it must do in order to stay alive and healthy. VIKTOR SCHAUBERGER, (30th June 1885 - 25th September 1958) born in Austria of a long line of foresters stretching back some four generations, had the very great gift of accurate and intuitive observation, such that he was able to perceive the natural energies and other phenomena occurring in nature, presently unrecognised by orthodox science. Refusing to attend University at the age of 18, to the fury of his father, Viktor Schauberger left home and spent a long period alone in the high, remote forest, contemplating, pondering and observing the many subtle energetic processes taking place in Nature’s laboratory, where still undisturbed by human hand. During this period he developed very profound and radical theories,
was irrefutable. Because Viktor Schauberger’s concepts broke new ground, this presented some difficulty. There was no adequate scientific terminology to describe them, nor was there any mathematical basis from which the necessary shapes could be precisely defined or constructed. With his own devices and apparatuses, Viktor Schauberger had also encountered problems of construction, which in part affected the optimum functioning of these machines, because the state and sophistication of the technology then available was inadequate and too cumbersome to build them properly and accurately. The vital development of a new technology, harmonious and conforming to Nature’s laws, demands a radical and fundamental change in our way of thinking and to our approach to the interpretation of the established doctrines and facts of physics, chemistry, agriculture, forestry and water management. As a pointer as to how such a new technology should come about, let me quote Viktor Schauberger once more: “How else should it be done then ?”, was always the immediate question. The answer is simple:” “EXACTLY IN THE OPPOSITE WAY THAT IT IS DONE TODAY !” - V.S.
theories were tested under strict scientific and laboratory conditions by Professor Dr. Ing. Franz Pöpel, a hydraulics specialist. These tests showed that, when water is allowed to flow in its naturally ordained manner, it actually generates certain energies, ultimately achieving a condition that could be termed “NEGATIVE FRICTION”. Checked and double-checked, this well-documented, but largely unpublicised, pioneering discovery not only vindicated Viktor Schauberger’s theories. It also over-turned the hitherto scientifically sacred ‘Second Law of Thermo-dynamics’ in which, without further or continuous input of energy, all (closed) systems must degenerate into a condition of total chaos or entropy. These experiments proved that this law, whilst it applies to all mechanical systems, does not apply wholly to living organisms. As a result of these discoveries, it was arranged that Viktor Schauberger be taken to the United States in 1958, where
Callum Coats is the author of “Living Energies”, a detailed overview of Viktor Schauberger’s theories. He is also the compiler and translator of the Eco-Technology series of four books on Viktor Schauberger’s writings, grouped together more or less according to theme, and comprising “The Water Wizard”, “Nature as Teacher”, “The Fertile Earth”, and “The Energy Evolution”.
Seductive C
onceived in the optimistic haze of a post-war world, raised amid continuous inflation, growth and halcyon burbs, Boomers were the best-educated, healthiest, most urbane, materialistic and narcissistic generation ever. It was all about them. Still is. And their houses. And this is a problem. More than half of these nine million people have less than $300,000 saved. At a median age of 53, trust me, that sucks. About seven in ten have no pensions. Life expectancy is pushing 85, even for cholesterol-reduced guys. So what the hell are they going to live on? This is another reason why HouseAgeddon may await us. To a sickly economy, asset deflation, household and public debt, rising taxes and no jobs, you can add demographics. Several million couples in their sixties will have no alternative over the next five years but to liquidate their real estate. Oh, they may toy with some other ideas, like one of those parasitic reverse mortgages. But that’s not much of a choice. For example, on a full paid-for $500,000 house, the maxi-
Check for Alzheimer’s The following was developed as a mental age assessment by the
School of Psychiatry at Harvard University ... Take your time and see if you can read each line aloud without a mistake.
The average person over 50 years of age cannot do it!
1.
This is this cat.
2.
This is is cat.
3.
This is how cat.
4.
This is to cat.
5.
This is keep cat.
6.
This is an cat.
7.
This is old cat.
8.
This is fart cat.
9.
This is busy cat.
10. This is for cat. 11. This is forty cat. 12. This is seconds cat.
Now go back and read the third word in each line from the top down.
September 2010 By Garth Turner
http://www.greaterfool.ca/
mum amount available would be about $145,000 – enough to live on for three years maybe. And the loan must be paid back when the house is sold or you croak. Meanwhile interest charges accrue at the rate of 4.5% – which will turn $145,000 boost into a $364,000 debt in twenty years. Isn’t compound interest fun? No, the more likely choice of most will be to bail. And this is when the Boomer magic ends. By 2015 we could be mired in a property funk of biblical dimensions, coming out of a lingering recession and about to plunge into a ocean of new listings unleashed by stressed-out people with gray hair who still like Springsteen. Of course, they should have sold last year. They should sell now. They should still sell in five years, no matter what the market nor how much money is left on the table. Residential real estate’s on its way once again to being just shelter. Not a substitute for working. Boomers who miss this are screwed. The imbalance they will cause in the property market – coming at a time of real estate weakness – will cost them more than they now understand. Pensionless and without enough assets, they’ll be forced into an unfamiliar frugality which itself will drag on the economy. And it’s all so unnecessary. A 55-year-
old today who invests two hundred large in a balanced portfolio of sector ETFs, bonds, trusts and preferreds getting 7% will double that amount by age 66 (if the rate of return is constant) and have $775,000 at age 75. If the same cash were left in a house, it would be worth only what someone paid for it on a day of closing. That’s why homes are illiquid. Unlike financial assets, they don’t feed you. And to those who say investing in such things is not guaranteed, of course it isn’t. But age is. And life’s long. The greatest risk now is not losing money, but running out of it. And so a cautionary tale in Toronto, from blog dog Jenny: A while back I wrote to you asking for strategies on how I could structure my own saving to help my parents – they’re 72 and 78, with little more than their CPP to live on, no savings, and I thought (until very recently) the equity that they’d built up in the house that they own. I’d hoped to convince them to sell the house, harvest the capital, and invest in dividend generating assets to supplement their retirement. On some level, I worried that they might not have enough, and wanted to figure a way to give their income even a little bit of a boost. Silly me. It turns out that their house was mortgaged to the hilt ($580k mortgage, on $700k house = $3000mo payment to seniors with a combined income of less than $2000 a month) to pay for marble bathrooms and granite countertops – ostensibly to jack the price of the place up to sell it to greater fools, but somewhere along the way they got
national
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a little too comfortable, and stayed too long. Now it’s time to force a sale, but not before my sister and I have to step in, to cover the mortgage and a bunch of other bills to keep what little capital the folks have left in the house, until they can complete a sale, pay off their mortgage, and their other debts ($35k in fancy, store-bought credit cards!?!). It’s been a hellish few days for everyone concerned as my sister and I work to secure the funds, and consent of our spouses to bail our parents out, in the short term – only so that we can save them in the longer term. The short term plan involves using lines of credit to cover their monthly payments until the house is sold now that the true extent of my parents’ incompetence became evident. It’s not a great plan, but better than my mother’s plan to go to a ‘private lender’ to cover her missed mortgage payments (at 14%, plus a $5000 application fee). Garth, I offer this sorry mess as a cautionary tale for your readers. Normally the first freedom that children of doddering seniors must revoke is that of driving. In our case, clearly the first lost freedom is access to equity… and credit. At least no pedestrians were harmed, before the family stepped in. Real estate is the emotional asset. The most seductive and enveloping. Like a jealous mistress, it blinds you to danger and cloyingly draws you closer. Until you look down, and your pants are afire.
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National
September 2010 by Kevin Miller
Barlow, has been a vocal opponent of CETA and many free trade deals, wisely pointing to the massive unemployment they have caused, particularly in the manufacturing workforce. Kevin P. Miller is an international and Emmy award-winning Writer/Di- In Canada, NAFTA has decimated the textile rector. His latest film is called A QUESTION OF SOVEREIGNTY. industries in Ontario and have also blinsided non-corporate agriculture as well. The NaHis blog can be found at kevinpmiller.blogspot.com tional Farmers Union concluded in 2002 that free trade agreements, “may increase trade, er knew that there would be a ter- World Trade Organization (WTO) was born but much more importantly, they dramaticalrible price to pay if former Prime to replace it. In the years that followed, ly alter the relative size and market power of Minister John Mulroney was able NAFTA (the North American Free Trade the players in the agri-food production chain. to pass what Turner called “the Agreement) continued the cavalcade of free Free trade helps Cargill and Monsanto, not sale of Canada act.” trade agreements between Canada, Mexico, farmers.” Like so many visionaries, he South America, the United States, and now, Each trade agreement signed by members “We must vigilantly stand on guard was scoffed at. But decades later, with 20/20 the European Union. The latter is particu- of the World Trade Organization ties each nawithin our own borders for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are our proud hindsight, we see he was right. Free Trade larly troubling, as the EU continues to cede tion closer to the WTO and it’s bureaucratic heritage. The experiences of many. . .make it deals have punished Canada — and pulled authority to international bureaucracies like backroom decision-making process. It’s the nation into a whirlpool filled with mul- the World Health Organization, the WTO, problematic for many reasons, as clear that we cannot take for granted the WTO becomes judge and jury, the continuance and maintenance of it usurps more power to regulate those rights and freedoms.” healthcare, genetically modified —John G. Diefenbaker, 1960 organisms (GMOs), pesticides, and indeed, what is “allowable” in THERE WAS A TIME, early foods and chemicals of all kinds. in my life, when everything I knew Since the sunshine of public scruabout Canada emanated from the tiny is not allowed in this elite club, people I met in a small town on the Canada and the U.S. face unfathbanks of the Trent River in Ontario. omable hardships if these trends Every summer I made the annual trek continue unchequed. to the same humble cottage outside With each ‘Free Trade’ agreePeterborough to be with my Canament Canada signs, it loses more dian friends. We fished, soaked up sovereignty to another internationthe wilderness which lined the river, al trade body, which have become threw baseballs, played horse shoes bureaucratic sledgehammers for and read comic books until we were Big Food and Big Pharma to furforced to separate at bedtime, only to ther exert their will on the masses. begin the cycle all over again upon One group, called Codex Alimensunrise the next morning. tarius (Latin for ‘Food Code’), Even though I was not yet in my now threatens to control the food teens, my parents recognized their and medicine supply worldwide, son’s cultural curiousity and my apbacked by the enforcement power petite for news and current events. of the WTO. When Codex was They both encouraged me “as a visiA poster featured in A QUESTION OF SOVEREIGNTY, distributed by the Industrial League in the late 1800s, depicting ‘Mother Canada’ spawned back in 1963 as a creation tor to Canada” to absorb as much I being sold to the U.S. The man on the left is believed to be Finance Minister Richard Cartwright, who lobbied for increased trade with the of two arteries of the United Nacould about Canadian life. I remem- United States. tions — The Food and Agricultural ber my Dad underscoring that it was a sign of respect to the nation and its people, and more tinational sharks. Canada has suffered, and and another mysterious international body Organization and the World Health Organization — nearly everyone endorsed their two directly to our hosts whom he befriended un- stands at a tipping point with dangerous leg- called Codex Alimentarius. Is this Canada’s future? major goals: to provide nutritious foods for til the time of his death in 2008. Part of that islation like Bill C-36. But it doesn’t have to be. Canadians can The cycle of ‘free trade’ agreements has developing nations — and to shape guidelines ritual entailed listening to the CBC on radio increased exponentially: the Canada-Colom- for dangerous industrial chemicals in the food and watching “Canada’s Walter Cronkite,” stand and be counted. . .and just say no. supply. Within the past decade, however, Coanchorman Lloyd Robertson, but we also dex Alimentarius has altered its’ mission draspent time contrasting and comparing the matically to include a wide swath of products Parliamentary system of government with the including dietary supplements, pesticides and U.S. Congress. genetically modified organisms. In a way, my recent documentary A How does this affect Canada, you might QUESTION OF SOVEREIGNTY was drawn ask? Simply put, language in Bill C-36, like directly from the experiences of my youth. its predecessors Bills C-51 and C-6, allows The film returned me to the age of John for bypassing something called Canada’s Diefenbaker and John Turner — to an age of Statutory Instrument’s Act. The statutory integrity and activism. . .and to a time when instrument’s act was instituted to protect I thought that Canada, not the U.S., was the citizens from runaway bureaucratic agencies greatest nation on Earth. (like Health Canada, who wrote the language But all of that is in danger now, as steady of these Bills). The Act was put in place so streams of unconstitutional legislation like that if Health Canada introduced unlawful Bill C-51, C-6, C-17 (the “anti-terror bill), regulations and policies, Parliament could and the latest affront to Canadians, Bill C-36, scrutinize them and revoke them if necessary. keep getting sent to Ottawa. Even though In the new Bill C-36, Health Canada has these bills violate basic civil liberties and proposed that the powers provided to Parliaclearly flaunt language that could make Ca- Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, US president George Bush, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. ment should be forfeitted so that Canada can nadians subject to the dictates of foreign auPROPONENTS OF MODERN FREE bia Free Trade Agreement mimics many oth“honor its international agreements and comthorities, few seem to have noticed, let alone TRADE AGREEMENTS have long opined ers like it, and the proposed CETA, the Commitments.” If Bill C-36 and similar Bills are sound the alarm bells for their neighbors. A QUESTION OF SOVEREIGNTY has that global trade and commerce would trans- prehensive Economic and Trade Agreement adopted, foreign entities, from governments been described as a “patriotic and sentimen- form the social, economic, and political land- with the EU, awaits Parliamentary approval to Codex to WTO and WHO would be free to write the laws that affect Canadians — and tal” film. I believe that’s true, and I hope my scape of our world. This “new global com- in Canada. Rather than heralding a new day for bypass Parliament completely. brothers and sisters in Canada seek it out (it’s merce,” they argued, would be the vehicle Perhaps this is what they mean by ‘Free online for free at www.aquestionofsover- of unprecedented economic growth for the the poor, as promised, chaos has increased eignty.com), and take a long and sober look at poor, and prosperity for the rest of us. When in Mexico and South America, where mil- Trade’ — ‘free’ of oversight by elected offiwhere the nation is headed. For, if the trends the new General Agreement on Tariffs and lions have been protesting the effects of the cials. As I say in A QUESTION OF SOVERI outline in the film continue, our beloved Trade (GATT) was presented to the world in treaties since their inception. The biggest Canada will not only lose its identity, but its 1994, media “insiders” hailed it with glow- beneficiaries of NAFTA were multinational EIGNTY, “the bold mention of C-51, C-6, or sovereignty — and could become virtually ing reviews, calling it a “breakthrough trade corporations who, after shutting down small C-36 circumventing public debate and surrenagreement” that would finally liberate global farms and businesses that were the lifeline dering sovereignty to an international body undistinguishable from the United States. to their communities, have used the trade should send shivers up the spines of CanadiWhat is the catalyst for this Orwellian capital and third-world economies. The modern multinational mantra for agreements to create new monopolies on ans.” legislation? The answer is ‘Free Trade,’ the a new era of free trade agreements began everything from water to food to energy. According to Canadian Trade lawyer very thing John Turner tried to warn his counwhen the GATT treaty was signed and the The Council of Canadians, led by Maude Steven Shrybman, “The trymen and women about 25 years ago. TurnContinued Page 23
September 2010
A Question of Balance... Richard has been the owner of The Herb Works in Rockwood, Ontario for the past 30 years. He has lobbied for the appropriate regulation of natural medicines on a provincial and national levels as a board member on the Natural Health Products Protection Association. Someone asked the other day, if I saw the average man or woman on the street affected by the natural health product ( NHP) regulations, or even the recently introduced Bill C36 – The Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act. With the latter, most people will notice minimal affect. Perhaps some Canadian businesses will disappear; after they have been charged under the Act, found guilty, fined hugely, and then forced into bankruptcy. However, the shortage of that particular product will soon be replaced by a multi-national company, so, no… not too many disruptions. The operative word, if not concern here, is that of the Canadian small / medium businesses. These Canadian companies may not be able to comply with international regulations that can and will be adopted for inclusion under this Act. Bill C36 specifically interprets ‘government’ to include foreign governments, or even (inter) national trade organizations. In very little time, perhaps 2-5 years, Canadian companies will be guided in their GMP’s, Sanitary & Phyto-Sanitary requirements, and other relevant codes, by international standards, in order to comply with WTO agreements. Some companies may cut corners to save on paperwork, or feel that some ‘technicality’ is too inconsequential to warrant compliance. They may just want to continue the way they always have.. What happens if there is a violation under Bill C36, perhaps administrative in nature, as opposed to a legitimate case of safety issues ? The Minister of Health - via their delegated representative(s), and not a court of competent jurisdiction, will ‘hear’ the case, make a decision, set a fine, etc. The fines alone could drive many into financial ruin; some might even end up in jail. So while the public will be minimally affected, their friends and neighbors who work for these companies will undoubtedly feel the impact. And instead of buying something locally or nationally made, the public will have access to the best that the world can offer; only it won’t be the same anymore… With regards to the new regulations from the Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD), the average person on the street has already been affected. As the repercussions from ‘drug’ style regulations, - and the increasing requirement for compliancy ramp up, the net effects are filtering down to the retail level. There has been a gradual disappearance of many niche products; they are either discontinued, or simply unavailable. In a number of cases, the customer has to import them from the USA. Both these products and the small companies that manufacture them, will increasingly disappear over the next few years. It’s worth noting that the Can. Border Services Agency (CBSA) will also be ramping up their efforts to stop unlicenced products from coming into Canada. This could possibly affect both CAM practitioners as well as the person who imports for personal use, as both may be caught up in the overall effort. Clarification is certainly needed in this area. Having been intimately involved in this industry for over 30 years, and, having critiqued the draft regulations in 2000/01, I can say with no hesitation that the overall plan Health Canada has for this market, has changed very little. In 1997, Marilyn Nelson, David Rowland and myself launched a lawsuit against Health Canada. In response, and to set aside this action, then Minister of Health Allan Rock announced an inquiry into how this industry should be regulated. After a year long review, initiated by the Standing
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by Richard DeSylva RH DNM
Committee on Health, and with input from fit & healthy. the stakeholders, academia, and health proAt a recent health food show in Vancoufessionals, a Report was submitted, called ver, the former Director General of NHPD, “NEW VISIONS” . Allan Rock - to his Michelle Boudreau, advised industry memcredit, accepted the 53 recommendations for bers that enforcement action will be comthis industry. It was made abundantly clear ing starting in January, 2011. And to assist - even mentioned a number of times in the the Inspectorate Branch in carrying out Report, that these substances: vitamins, min- this directive, a fortuitous event occurred: erals, herbs, etc were not drugs, and were not the issuing of Exemption Numbers (EN’s). to be regulated as such. Originally, this was in response to a warnHowever, less than 2 years later, ing to drugstores across Canada to not sell HEALTH CANADA proposed a set of any NHP unless it had the requisite Natural ‘drug’ style regulations they felt were ap- Product Number (NPN). To many of those propriate. So blatant and clumsy was their companies – including some very big playeffort, that a notice was sent out, simply ers in this market, this ruling spelled market announcing that these substances were now collapse. They had been waiting - in some considered to be a sub-set of ‘drugs’ . The cases 1 – 3 years, for their NPN number draft document for Good Manufacturing to be issued. They had tried to comply, and Practices ( GMP’s ) had removed the word were stuck in this regulatory backlog. ‘drug’ and replaced it with the phrase ‘natuMs Boudreau established a policy 'Say No' Sept 2010_10.qxp:NHPPA 8/22/10 3:23 PM would Page 1be issued ralAgora health Ad product’. Unfortunately, someone whereby NHP companies was asleep at the switch ; when I reviewed an Exemption Number; this would be af-
Say No then act on it.
NHPPA is looking for engaged citizen activists in the city of Vancouver, and across Canada, to join the movement to stop Bill C-36. Saying or doing nothing will allow this piece of proposed legislation to pass. If it does, it will set a dangerous precedent and deconstruct our constitutional rights. It will remove the rule of law and profoundly shift the power in government.
Not familiar with Bill C-36: Canada Consumer Product Safety Act or what it means to live in a country without the rule of law? Read the Bill C-36 Discussion Paper by logging onto www.nhppa.org. Watch lectures on our Youtube channel. Listen to our national radio interviews. ‘Like’ us on Facebook. It’s where we post all of our current campaigns. Bill C-36 is slated to begin debate in Parliament next month, September 2010. Join us and help create the tipping point.
Say No. Get Involved. Make The Difference.
250.377.4930 www.nhppa.org info@nhppa.org
the last few pages, the re-write scribe at HC had forgotten to insert the phrase ‘natural health product’. “drug” was there plain as day for all to see… When these regulations came into force in January , 2004. a number of companies realized that the cost of compliance was onerous and costly; many downsized their product offering, in some cases, to less than half of what they formerly produced. Equally, there were numerous companies in the USA that likewise downsized their product list, only offering certain stellar performers, or simply wrote off the Canadian market as not worth their effort. Thus, in this way and manner, have the new regulations impacted the ability of the public to have continued access to the many NHP’s they need to keep themselves
National
fixed to the label, testifying to HC’s belief that – as long as other regulatory requirements were adhered to, this product was safe for continued sale in the marketplace. One might say, great, that solves the problem; so how can this affect products currently available ? As Shawn Buckley, constitutional lawyer, & president of the Natural Health Products Protection Association (NHPPA) has succinctly pointed out: an inspector can enter a business that sells NHP’s. If they have an NPN number, all is well and good. Likewise, if the product has an EN number on its panel, then it too is safe for the marketplace. Should the store have products for sale that have neither, then in the coming enforcement action in 2011, these products will be removed immediately.
This whole scenario of the regulation of NHP’s here in Canada, has definite parallels to the proverbial frog in a pot of water. It has been slightly more than 10 years since the 53 recommendations were accepted; ironically, the same amount of time that HC said it would take to establish their own regulatory independence. Better, they said, to simply regulate them as a sub-set of drugs. It seemed to matter not that Parliament had directed otherwise, based upon the will of the people. I hope by now that the answer to the original question asked of myself, is starting to become clear. What we are witnessing under Bill C36 is a profound shifting in the power of government, at the expense of the rights of the individual. As Shawn Buckley has stated in his point form summary of this Bill: “ The real change brought about by Bill C-36 is not that it protects consumers, as the current law already grants the State significant powers to protect safety. Rather the real change is the abolition of procedural safeguards citizens currently enjoy.” This is what Bill C36 is all about… and if allowed to pass, will create a profoundly imbalanced relationship between the individual and the State. There are many examples of how both civil and Charter rights will be under assault if not extinguished by the passing into law of this Bill. And yet, a closer examination of this same issue will reveal that it’s raising its ominous head in other nations today. CODEX has already laid down the standards for NHP’s in the EU. The NHP industry there has been continually frustrated by the EU authorities in trying to correct imbalances in the standards of evidence, manufacturing requirements and most importantly – the matter of allowable claims on the label. Many products have drastically changed their dosage amounts, are priced way out of the market, or have disappeared altogether. In the USA, the Food & Drug Agency (FDA) is ramping up GMP’s to drug-style levels. They have established ever and ever more implausible regulations that serve no other purpose than to impede businesses in this market, under the rubric of protecting the public. This is the direction international regulatory authorities are collectively moving towards. It is a drug-based model, with attendant rigorous standards that do not reflect the demonstrable extremely low level of risk associated with these substances. It is capturing a market with regulations that only BIG players can comply with. Kevin Miller - a well noted filmmaker, has just released his latest film that explores this very subject: how the sovereignty and rights of the individual are being dismantled by regulatory fiat, in favor of the rights of the State. Well worth watching, the film: “A Question of Sovereignty” (http:// vimeo.com/13024940) will give an impressive explanation of how our rights are being breached - both personally and as a Nation. Once people have read Shawn Buckley’s assessment of C36, and have seen Kevin’s film, I sincerely hope that the public will wake up to the threat that is before us. What is happening is unprecedented, and deserving of a vigorous and sustained response. A number of years ago, Rousseau wrote his treatise: “ The Social Contract” on this very relationship the individual in society has with those who are elected to govern us. What is needed again today is a re-definition of that relationship. To once again lay out in clear and legitimate arguments, that we as adults – are fully capable of making all necessary decisions for our own bodies, and in keeping with our own belief system, have the inalienable right to determine what is best for us, and to have access to those substances via appropriate regulations. I find it incredibly disturbing that the rank and file of most parties, have ignored their fiduciary duties as Continued Page 23
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world
September 2010
~News Blitz~
See Sources For Full Articles
“According to Russia’s health and so- mons is survived by his wife, Ellen, and their Drugs don’t work: Top profes- Pavlovsk facility chose to starve rather than eat the seeds. cial development ministry, wildfires have five daughters.” sor claims five in six new medicines Consisting of over 70 hectares, the killed at least 52 people and left dozens hoshave ‘little benefit’ to patients Institute boasts varieties of plants that exist pitalized.” Craigslist is hub for child prosnowhere else on Earth and were develtitution, allege trafficked women oped over hundreds of years by farmers US, Latin America To End in Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia. Mike Fraud War On Drugs? Ambrose, seed bank manager at John Innes
dailymail.co.uk reported: “Drug companies have been accused of conning the public by hyping up patented medicines with little new to offer while downplaying their potentially harmful sideeffects.” “A new study estimates that 85 per cent of new drugs offer few if any new benefits while having the potential to cause serious harm due to toxicity or misuse.” “The author of the research delivered a damning attack on ‘Big Pharma’ at a meeting of sociology experts in the US.” “Professor Donald Light described the pharmaceutical industry as a ‘market for lemons’ - one in which the seller knows much more than the buyer about the product, and takes advantage of this fact.”
Center in the UK, said the Pavlovsk collection had `survived World War II and very difficult times in the intervening years, and for them to bulldozed down by a property developer would be a very sad fate, not just for Russia but for agriculture worldwide.` Ironically, Russia invented the modern seed bank. The Pavlovsk Station was founded in 1926 by Nikolai Vavilov, who helped create the concept of seed banks. If the developers win the court case, the irreplaceable biological heritage could be leveled in the following three to four months. The site cannot simply be moved: it consists of many acres of prime land planted in tens of thousands of rare plants. Moving them would require years of relocation efforts. Light may replace needles for diabetes sufferers
Guardian.co.uk reported:
“Mexico’s president Felipe Caldéron is the latest Latin leader to call for a debate on drugs legalisation. And in the US, liberals and right-wing libertarians are pressing for an end to prohibition. Forty years after President Nixon launched the ‘war on drugs’ there is a growing momentum to abandon the fight” “A policy proposal long confined to radical fringes became mainstream last year when three former Latin American presidents – César Gaviria of Colombia, Fernando Cardoso of Brazil and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico – urged governments to legalise marijuana to squeeze cartel profits. Influential thinktank the Brookings Institution backed the call.” “Latin America’s drift away from a 1 Million Fish Dead in Bolivian US-led drug war stems partly from ColomEcological Disaster bia and Mexico’s suffering and partly from growing boldness in challenging the gringo superpower. Bolivia and Venezuela have led boliviabella.com reported: the way by expelling US Drug Enforcement (3 Aug. 2010 - Update: The number of Administration officials. As a result, say US dead fish and other water-dependent wild- diplomats, drug trafficking has surged. “ life has increased to about 6 million.)
“Over 1 million fish and thousands of Russian Seed Bank Fights De- alligators, turtles, dolphins and other river wildlife are floating dead in numerous Bomolition livian rivers in the three eastern/southern M.Thornley reported for NaturalNews: departments of Santa Cruz, Beni and Tarija. The extreme cold front that hit Bolivia in A Russian seed bank housing more than mid-July caused water temperatures to dip below the minimum temperatures river life 5,000 rare fruits and plants may be demolished to make room for homes. Rights to the can tolerate. As a consequence, rivers, lakes, federally-owned 70 plus hectare estate were lagoons and fisheries are brimming with decomposing fish and other creatures.” granted to a government housing develop“Unprecedented: Nothing like this has ment agency, the Russian Housing Developever been seen in this magnitude in Bolivia. ment Foundation. Inhabitants of riverside communities report The seed bank is the Pavlovsk Experithe smell is nauseating and can be detected ment Station located 20 miles outside St. as far as a kilometer away from river banks. Petersburg and part of the N. I. Vavilov River communities, whose livelihoods deResearch Institute of Plant Industry in St. pend on fishing, fear they’ll run out of food Petersburg, Russia. Its 84-year-old collecand will have nothing to sell. Authorities are tion has more than 5,000 rare fruits and concerned there will be a shortage of fish in plants, including apples from 35 countries, markets and are more concerned by possible 1,000 kinds of strawberries from 40 counthreats to public health, especially in comtries, black currants from 30 countries and munities that also use river water for bathplums from 12 countries. Plant biologists ing and drinking, but also fear contaminated consider the Pavlovsk Institute to be one of or decaying fish may end up in market stalls. the world’s richest and most extensive colThey’ve begun a campaign to ensure marlections. ket vendors and the public know how to tell The Vavilov Research Institute is apthe difference between fresh and unhealthy pealing the demolition. A final hearing will fish.” decide the fate of the seed bank. However, “In university fish ponds and commeraccording to Cary Fowler, director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an international cial fisheries the losses are also catastrophic.” organization based in Rome, efforts to save the seed bank will probably not be successful. The Russian Housing Development Hundreds more wildfires burn Foundation has a legal advantage. in Russia Letters have been sent, in a last ditch effort, to the Russian President Dmitry cnn reported: Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who alone have the power to overrule “About 270 new wildfires have started the decision. But neither has yet responded in drought-plagued Russia over the past 24 to the letters. hours, state media reported Sunday, citing The seed bank is one of 1,400 facilities the country’s emergencies ministry.” worldwide that houses unique plants. Breed“As many as 276 wildfires have been ers use these collections to develop new extinguished,” the ministry told RIA-Nostrains of plants which can resist disease, vosti. “Currently, 554 wildfires are raging drought or other perils. These collections on an area of over 190,000 hectares.” may also be used after a natural disaster to “The setback comes as Moscow chokes replace lost crop seed. When a plant species in intense smog, with toxic substances at dies, this means the loss of a unique genetic levels several times greater than the norm. heritage of thousands of years of evolution. State media reports the combination of forDuring World War II, in the 900 day est fires and pollutants contributed to the Siege of Leningrad, 12 scientists at the smog.”
Robot to explore mysterious tunnels in Great Pyramid
independent.co.uk reported: “For 4,500 years, no one has known what lies beyond two stone doors deep inside the monument” “No one knows what the shafts are for. In 1992, a camera sent up the shaft leading from the south wall of the Queen’s Chamber discovered it was blocked after 60 metres by a limestone door with two copper handles. In 2002, a further expedition drilled through this door and revealed, 20 centimetres behind it, a second door.” “The pyramid, known as the Pyramid of Khufu after the king who built it around 2,560BC, is the only wonder of the ancient world still standing. “
Matthew Simmons, Investment Banker, Peak Oil Theory Advocate, Dies at 67 Bloomberg reported: “Matthew R. Simmons, an energy investment banker and author of the book “Twilight in the Desert” that suggested Earth’s supply of oil is dwindling, died yesterday. He was 67.” “Simmons ‘passed away suddenly,’ according to an e-mailed statement today from the Ocean Energy Institute, founded by Simmons in 2007 to explore opportunities for harvesting energy from the seas. Sim-
guardian.co.uk reported: “The online classified advertising site, Craigslist, is facing accusations that it has become a hub for underage prostitution after two young women placed an advertisement in the Washington Post saying they were repeatedly sold through the site to men who ‘paid to rape’ them.” “The allegations came as a federal judge threw out an attempt by Craigslist – named after its owner, Craig Newmark – to stop a criminal investigation over its “adult services” section which is alleged to carry thousands of prostitution ads daily.” “In an open letter to Newmark placed in the Washington Post, the two women appealed for him to shut Craigslist’s adult services section.” “One of the women, who identified herself as MC, said she was forced into prostitution at the age of 11 by a man who trafficked “many girls my age”. “All day, me and other girls sat with our laptops, pasting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist, he made $1,500 a night selling my body, dragging me to Los Angeles, Houston, Little Rock – and on one trip to Las Vegas in the trunk of a car,” the ad said. “Craig we write this letter so you will know from our personal experiences how Craigslist makes horrific acts like this so easy to carry out … and the men who arrange them very rich.”
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Gave Millions to La Raza
infowars.com reported: “A 2002 annual report breaking down money doled out by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reveals the foundation provided a grant to National Council of La Raza. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is arguably the largest “charitable” organization in the world.” “Gates gave $6,661,364 to the racist organization for education, according to the foundation’s website. La Raza has also received financial support from the Ford Foundation. For instance, in 1968, the globalist foundation gave La Raza $600,000, according to research conducted by Philip Brennan.” “La Raza’s website admits “the organization receives two-thirds of its funding from corporations and foundations, and the rest
September 2010
Continued from previous page from the government.” For the period 19921996, the total amount of “gifts, grants and contributions” to La Raza was more than $38 million.” “The Ford Foundation has also funded the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). According to Mario Obeldo, former head of MALDEF, “California is going to be a Hispanic state. Anyone who does not like it should leave.” In 1998, Obledo was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Clinton.” “La Raza’s motto is “For the race everything, outside the race nothing” (“Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada”). La Raza is associated with the radical racist group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán (MEChA), an organization that espouses Aztec supremacism and irredentism (specifically advocating the annexation of the American Southwest). Mestizo activists believe they have a legal and primordial right to the land and propose that a new nation be created, a Republica del Norte. The primary vehicle for creating this Aztec nation is La Reconquista, a demographic “revolution” that strives to supplant “gringos” in the Southwest with an influx of illegal Mexican immigrants.”
Study in 3 major cities finds precocious puberty rising among 2nd graders msnbc reported: “The study revealed a surprisingly large bump in the number of girls going through puberty between the ages of 7 and 8. For example, the researches found that 10 percent of 7-year-old white girls had some breast development as compared to 5 percent in a study published in 1997. Similarly, 23 percent of the 7-year-old black girls had started puberty as compared to 15 percent in the 1997 study.” “Back in the 1700s, girls didn’t start to menstruate till they were 17 or 18”, said Dr. Garibaldi, a professor of pediatrics and clinical director of pediatric endocrinology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “That had a lot to do with malnutrition. The assumption is that the steady decline in age since then has to do with more abundant food.”
Airport body scanner scandal erupts San Francisco Gate reported: “Just as Oakland became the last of the Bay Area’s three airports to install full-body scanners at security checkpoints this week, a new scandal has erupted.” “The TSA has insisted all along that these machines cannot capture, store or transmit images of travelers’ naked bodies.” “According to a CNET report, another federal agency, the U.S. Marshall’s service, admitted that it had actually stored over 30,000 images recorded by a full-body scanner used at a Florida courthouse.”
Solar storms could bring down modern civilization
NaturalNews.com reported: A massive solar storm, considered an inevitable occurrence by astrophysicists, would wreak devastation on modern civilization like a Hurricane Katrina across the globe, U.S. government officials have concluded. “It’s important to understand that, along with other types of natural hazards, [solar] storms can cause impacts,” said Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Periodically, eruptions or explosions on the Sun’s surface send bursts of highpowered radiation or charged particles slamming into our planet. Low-level solar weather is responsible for the polar auroras and periodic disruption of radio signals. But truly powerful storms, which occur every few decades, can release as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs. Government scientists recently carried out a tabletop exercise to analyze the likely effects of such a storm -- “what we think could be close to a worst-case scenario,” according to Tom Bogdan of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. A solar storm in 1859 was so strong that it actually caused fires along telegraph wires. Civilization has only become more vulnerable to such storms in the intervening decades, as dependence on electronic devices has grown to previously unimaginable proportions. In the simulation, the effects of the storm began with the disruption of radio and GPS signals. Ten to 20 minutes later, the storm “basically took out” commercial satellites, disabling television stations, telephones and other data transactions. “When you go into a gas station and put your credit card in and get some gas, that’s a satellite transaction,” Bogdan said. Nearly a full day later, the ongoing burst of radiation reversed the current in electrical lines, knocking out transformers worldwide and leaving millions without power. This quickly led to a shutdown of water, heating, cooling and telephone services. The simultaneous collapse of the whole grid made it nearly impossible to bring power quickly back online, straining the two-to-three-day generator capacity of hospitals and other emergency facilities. The exercise is less speculative than many might hope. On March 13, 1989 a massive solar storm took out the entire Hydro-Quebec power grid within seconds.
Pre-Crime Technology To Be Used In Washington D.C. Infowars.net reported: Law enforcement agencies in Washington D.C. have begun to use technology that they say can predict when crimes will be committed and who will commit them, before they actually happen. The Minority Report like pre-crime software has been developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Previous incarnations of the software, already being used in Baltimore and Philadelphia were limited to predictions of murders by and among parolees and offenders on probation. According to a report by ABC News, however, the latest version, to be implemented in Washington D.C., can predict other future crimes as well. “When a person goes on probation or parole they are supervised by an officer. The question that officer has to answer is ‘what level of supervision do you provide?’” Berk told ABC News, intimating that the program could have a bearing on the length of sentences and/or bail amounts. The technology sifts through a database
of thousands of crimes and uses algorithms and different variables, such as geographical location, criminal records and ages of previous offenders, to come up with predictions of where, when, and how a crime could possibly be committed and by who. The program operates without any direct evidence that a crime will be committed, it simply takes datasets and computes possibilities. “People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” Berk also states, “But what really matters is what that person did as a young individual. If they committed armed robbery at age 14 that’s a good predictor. If they committed the same crime at age 30, that doesn’t predict very much.”
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comfort when confronted by a stressful situation that they cannot cope with or to interact with them when they need it.” “The researchers led by Dr. Cañamero at the University of Hertfordshire are now extending the prototype further and adapting it as part of the EU project ALIZ-E, which will develop robots that learn to be carer/companion for diabetic children in hospital settings.” “The future robot companions will combine non-linguistic and linguistic communication to interact with the children and become increasingly adapted to their individual profiles in order to support both, therapeutic aspects of their treatment and their social and emotional wellbeing.”
The power of graphics processing units may threaten the world’s Finland makes broadband a password security systems ‘legal right’ BBC reported:
“Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen.” “From 1 July every Finn will have the right to access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection.” “Finland has vowed to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.” “Speaking to the BBC, Finland’s communication minister Suvi Linden explained the thinking behind the legislation: ‘We considered the role of the internet in Finns everyday life. Internet services are no longer just for entertainment.’”
Rick Robinson reported for The Georgia Institute of Technology: “It’s been called revolutionary - technology that lends supercomputer-level power to any desktop. What’s more, this new capability comes in the form of a readily available piece of hardware, a graphics processing unit (GPU) costing only a few hundred dollars.” “Georgia Tech researchers are investigating whether this new calculating power might change the security landscape worldwide. They’re concerned that these desktop marvels might soon compromise a critical part of the world’s cyber-security infrastructure - password protection.” “Designed to handle the ever-growing demands of computer games, today’s top GPUs can process information at the rate of nearly two teraflops (a teraflop is a trillion floating-point operations per second). To put that in perspective, in the year 2000 the world’s fastest supercomputer, a cluster of linked machines costing $110 million, operated at slightly more than seven teraflops.” “This new capability puts power into many hands, he says. And it could threaten the world’s ubiquitous password-protection model because it enables a low-cost password-breaking technique that engineers call “brute forcing.”
Robots that develop emotions in interaction with humans University of Hertfordshire reported: “The first prototype robots capable of developing emotions as they interact with their human caregivers and expressing a whole range of emotions have been finalised by researchers.” “Led by Dr. Lola Cañamero at the University of Hertfordshire, and in collaboration with a consortium of universities and robotic companies across Europe, these robots differ from others in the way that they form attachments, interact and express emotion through bodily expression.” “Developed as part of the interdisciplinary project FEELIX GROWING (Feel, Interact, eXpress: a Global approach to development with Interdisciplinary Grounding), funded by the European Commission and coordinated by Dr. Cañamero, the robots have been developed so that they learn to interact with and respond to humans in a similar way as children learn to do it, and use the same types of expressive and behavioural cues that babies use to learn to interact socially and emotionally with others.” “The robots have been created through modelling the early attachment process that human and chimpanzee infants undergo with their caregivers when they develop a preference for a primary caregiver.” “The robots are capable of expressing anger, fear, sadness, happiness, excitement and pride and will demonstrate very visible distress if the caregiver fails to provide them
ARM Mali-400 MP multi-core graphics processor
“In brute forcing, attackers use a fast GPU (or even a group of linked GPUs) combined with the right software program - to break down passwords that are blocking them from a computer or a network. The intruders’ high-speed technique basically involves trying every possible password until they find the right one. “ “For many common passwords, that doesn’t take long, said Joshua L. Davis, a GTRI research scientist involved in this project. For one thing, attackers know that many people use passwords comprised of easy-toremember lowercase letters. Code-breakers typically work on those combinations first. “Length is a major factor in protecting against brute forcing a password,” Davis explained. “A computer keyboard contains 95 characters, and every time you add another character, your protection goes up exponentially, by 95 times.” “Complexity also adds security, he says. Adding numbers, symbols and uppercase characters significantly Continued Page 30
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Vancouver
September 2010
Back to School? by Rob Bunney
W
e hear repeatedly in the main stream media that the big problem with public education is funding. The way funds are spent is certainly something to be considered, when over 90% of the budget is allocated for salaries and benefits that doesn’t leave very much money for supplies, equipment etc. The money alone though, no matter how much, could never be enough to address the real problem with the public education system. Pedagogy, in other words, the principles, practice, or profession of teaching. What is the argument for change in pedagogy? According to Sir Ken Robinson, he of the resume that reads like a short story (see
end of article) “In a nutshell, it’s that we’re all born with immense natural talents but our institutions, especially education, tend to stifle many of them and as a result we are fomenting a human and an economic disaster. In education, this vast waste of talent involves a combination of factors. They include a narrow emphasis on certain sorts of academic work; the exile of arts, humanities and physical education programs from schools; arid approaches to teaching math and sciences; an obsessive culture of standardized testing and tight financial pressures to teach to the tests”. Student Nina Varsava had this to say in her essay entitled, A Writer’s Complaint: Essays and I in the English Discipline, “As students, we can’t wait to be asked for creativity. We need to take the initiative; it might be frightening, and our grades might suffer, but if we’re not satisfied with current university pedagogy, then we can’t stick to our safe and reliable methods. If we’re willing to take risks, then we can show our profs how creativity, voice, and emotion can make academic essays more powerful, fruitful, and accessible. By taking risks with our academic writing, we call into question conventional pedagogy and destabilize its deep roots.” This was her first essay written outside the confines of the rules, and as she said, “it felt real good”. Individuals naturally want to express them selves and be creative, the system does not allow this. Students end up stressed out about details that limit and stifle creativity. Text books on essay writing will make claims such as, “we present a systematic approach to writing essays.”,“are convinced this method will work for most writers.” Essay Writing leaves virtually no room for the writer’s voice, creativity, or imagination. One example Nina notes of how silly the rules of do and don’t are, goes like this*NOT* I think Jones is right when she calls The Merchant of Venice a flawed play.**BUT** Jones is right, I think, when she calls The Merchant of Venice a flawed play. I don’t see why either would be inappropriate? The student in this case is not entitled to use their own voice, if they do, they will be downgraded accordingly. To quote Sir Ken again, “if you’re not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original.” Our students are afraid to be wrong, they know the consequences will be severe and could last a life time. So they stick to the formula’s and in this example of essay writing, churn out writing that is very familiar, lacks
creativity and most of all, eliminates the writers true voice. “Where there is a path it is someone else’s way.” — Joseph Campbell John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year in 1990, apologized to parents in his acceptance speech for the things he was teaching their children, he referred to them as the 7 lessons “The first lesson I teach is: “Stay in the class where you belong.” “The second lesson I teach kids is to turn on and off like a light switch.” “The third lesson I teach is to surrender your will to a predestined chain of command.” “The fourth lesson I teach is that only I determine what curriculum you will study.” “In lesson five I teach that your self-respect should depend on an observer’s measure of your worth.” “In lesson six I teach children that they are being watched.” “The seventh lesson I teach is that you can’t hide.” Award Winning teacher Gatto should know a little something about the lessons taught, after all, he was declared the best in his profession. Gatto now works out side the system, speaking and writing about the need for change. Sir Ken has said that, “In my view, reform is not enough: the real challenge is to transform education from a 19th century industrial model into a 21st century process based on different principles.” Its time to explore this transformation in pedagogy and allow our children to be wrong, to challenge convention and to create something original. Our students need an enviroment where they can learn to speak in their own voice, without fear of being told they are doing it wrong. Windsor House in North Vancouver, is a good example of the transformation in public education that is being callled for. This particular public school is designed to diffuse authority and foster self regulation. It is called a “free school” and adheres to no curriculm, is non coercive, with self direction being the goal. At the beginning of the year all the various classes being offered are posted and students sign up for courses they are interested in. Students also post requests for classes not offered, in hopes that someone from the Windsor House community might be able to offer a class in that area. Parents are asked to spend time at the school, 10 or 20 hours a month, offering classes, arranging field trips, running fund raisers, cleaning... ultimately, to be involved in the childs learning experience, and become an active member of their community of learners. This approach allows the child to naturally follow their interests, and to have an enjoyable learning experience. The students at Windsor House are active in
Windsor House,
decision making on how the school operates, they are given the power to vote ideas in or out. They are encouraged to air their complaints, which can be about how the school operates, problems with other students, teachers, or adults of the community. A complaint form is filled out and dropped off, to be heard promptly, in one of the daily democratic round tables. The children come to understand they have a voice, the school is theirs and they are free to create their own path. The school has operated quietly with this approach for many years, with people traveling long distances to allow their kids to learn in this self directed, empowering enviroment. Windsor House is just one example of how we can provide our children the opportunity to be all they can be, all they wish to be. The chains of public education pedagogy need to be cut, and the students set free. Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn. Alice Miller: “One of the most important things we can do for our children is to help them grow a love of learning, to follow their interests in the pursuit of happiness and not sweat the mistakes. To appreciate that learning, is indeed, one of life’s true pleasures.” With that in mind, I encourage you to learn more about the folks that I’ve touched on by visiting the links provided below. http://www.sirkenrobinson.com/ Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_ says_schools_kill_creativity.html
He was one of four international advisors to the Singapore Government for its strategy to become the creative hub of South East Asia. For twelve years, he was Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now Professor Emeritus. He has received honorary degrees from the Open University and the Central School of Speech and Drama; Birmingham City University, Rhode Island School of Design, Ringling College of Art and Design and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He has been honored with the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education; the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for outstanding contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN’s Principal Voices. In 2003, he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies. His new book, a New York Times Best Seller, ‘The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything’ (Penguin/Viking 2009) is being translated into sixteen languages. Sir Ken was born in Liverpool, England as one of seven children. He is married to Therese (Lady) Robinson. They have two children, James and Kate, and live in Los Angeles, California.
Sir Ken, bring on the learning revolution http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. ‘All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education’ (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the Peace Process in North- John Taylor Gatto ern Ireland, working with the ministers for http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/ training, education enterprise and culture. Why Schools Don’t Educate- this is the text from his 1990 teacher of the year acceptance speech. North Vancouver http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/john_ gatto.html Nina Varsava has a B.A. from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where she studied English literature and creative writing. She currently resides in Prague where she is researching, writing, teaching, and learning Czech. Nina’s complete essayhttp://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue9_2/Varsava.html
A Response to Sid Ishon, local writer
September 2010
Vancouver
21
Violent Uprising - A Shortcut to Nowhere “The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
by Michael Hay
I
’ve been reading articles by Sid Ishon with growing alarm. Here is a man who articulates his ideas incredibly well - so well that he manages to make amateur terrorism sound almost reasonable. Actually, none of the actions Mr. Ishon justifies are reasonable. Firebombing banks is not reasonable. Burning police cars is not reasonable. Antagonizing police officers is not reasonable. I denounce these activities freely, drawing only on a peaceful inner voice which guides my actions and knows when something feels good and something feels bad. In the interest of balance, I’ll try to articulate why I feel that Mr. Ishon’s tactics are so far off the mark. Mr. Ishon’s most recent article (Black Bloc redecorates Yonge Street) was presented with an editorial disclaimer that sounded almost apologetic: “As an open-source news venue, The Agora strives to make available a wide range of perspectives on all issues.” This policy is laudable, but it implies responsibility. Mr. Ishon and the Agora have brought to light a destructive mindset which needs to be challenged. As a thinking reader, I feel called upon to engage Mr. Ishon and to let him know that his strategies are not conducive to a positive outcome. By urging us to blow things up, Mr. Ishon is inciting a kind of hatred, directed more or less randomly at symbols of capitalism and state control. It doesn’t really matter that many of us perceive these institutions as increasingly oppressive. Hatred is hatred, no matter where it is directed and can only beget more of the same. I’m not choosing such inflammatory language to antagonize Mr. Ishon. At their root, his views are hateful. This is a statement of fact. I’m not suggesting that it is time to express unconditional love for the government, but a little compassion goes a long way. There are good people in every profession. Depending on your circumstances on any given day, the police could be your worst enemy or your best friend. Mr. Ishon’s black and white world view simply ignores the complexity of our interdependence. I refuse to view Mr. Ishon as a freedom fighter. From my perspective he is indistinguishable from all the things he claims to despise. He is the reason the police state is becoming more odious by the minute and also the reason why ordinary citizens grudgingly accept such a sad state of affairs. I believe that for the most part, we are more afraid of the Black Bloc than we are of the police. Even those of us who are concerned about systemic abuse of power and privilege by our police forces still accept their existence because ultimately, we want to be protected from the likes of Mr. Ishon. Mr. Ishon is well aware of this point of view and takes pains to counter it. “It’s all somehow the fault of the regular folk who actually bothered to fight back,” he writes. I find this statement revealing because it highlights a number of delusions. The first misperception is that the Black Bloc is somehow “fighting back”. I just don’t see it. The Black Bloc is not really attacking the state - it is merely vandalizing symbols of power. They burn a few police cars and the state buys a dozen
-Socrates
more. Nothing changes. If you want to build something, start by will find love and beauty reflected back at you at Count me amongst those creating harmony and unity among people. every turn. who are convinced that the Once you have won the hearts and minds of the I don’t expect my refrain of “love is the anonly benefactors in this dy- masses, there will be no need for violence. Vio- swer” to impress everybody, and that’s OK. I’m namic are those in control of lence is the refuge of scoundrels who advance only sharing my personal truth for proper conthe state apparatus. Govern- their own agendas at the expense of everybody text. When confronted with the question: “How ment is happily ramping up else. do you know this is true?” my answer is: “I security, comfortable in the By inciting a war against the state, Mr Is- don’t… but how do you know it is not true?” knowledge that Canadians hon is offering us a shortcut to nowhere. Not I’m not asking anyone to accept my view as a whole are repulsed by only is war unnecessary, it is morally wrong and of the universe. This is an alternate perspective vandalism. cannot be justified... ever. In war there are no and I would ask the reader to look towards the Gandhi, Martin Luther winners because war creates net loss, and inno- heart, not the brain, for a clue as to where our King, John Lennon, Bob cent people are always the first to get hurt. true power lies. I would love to tell everyone that Marley - these are men who At the same time as Mr. Ishon is lamenting there is a divine purpose to our existence, but that “fought back”. They fought economic disparity, he is advocating activities would be meaningless. These are things we each with love rather than hate. that lead to net poverty. If he took all that en- have to ponder for ourselves. I would just like This is why the powers of ergy directed at “smashing the state” and spent to direct Mr. Ishon towards the possibility of a the day immediately recog- it instead on crocheting a hat, we would all be greater truth. If you allow the possibility that we nized them as dangerous. further ahead. Admittedly there would still be are here for a reason, then you must also allow There can be no doubt that each of these men economic disparity, but at least the world would the possibility that blindly smashing things up has had a lasting effect on the world. Each one have one more hat in it. runs counter to the very purpose of our existence. accomplished what a million Black Blockers Clearly, Mr. Ishon is a good thinker and Here’s my suggestion for anyone who finds could never hope to achieve - and they did it writer - but he is also disconnected from his him or herself attracted to an orgy of violence. without hiding their faces behind balaclavas. own higher wisdom. In short, he is a prisoner of Face yourself in the mirror, remove the silly balaThe masks behind which the Black Bloc his own mind, having created for himself a clava and say to yourself, loudly and forcefully: hides are a manifestation of fear. This 3-D matrix “reality” born of illusion. “I love you.” Do this with feeling and gusto. is why we immediately recognize The outer world we experience is If the mere thought of this exercise makes such face coverings as something always in some sense a reflec- you cringe, then we may have identified the root ugly without necessarily being tion of an inner world, both of the problem. If there is something in the exteGandhi, able to articulate why. conscious and unconscious. rior world that you despise to the point of setting Martin LuFear is the root of all Mr. Ishon is finding his it on fire, then this is most certainly a reflection, terror. own negativity reflected on some level, of something you are struggling ther King, John The second deluback at him in the form to love within yourself. I write this without any Lennon, Bob Marsion laid bare by Mr. of state oppression. sense of judgement because I can relate to the Ishon’s statement is the Thus the universe will feeling of wanting to smash something from perley - these are men perverse suggestion that continue to recursively sonal experience. who “fought back”. the Black Bloc somefeed his self-destrucIncidentally - we don’t disagree on everyhow represents “regular tive world view in a thing. Like Mr. Ishon, I don’t have a lot of mateThey fought with folk”. This is absurd never-ending regres- rial aspirations. I agree with Mr. Ishon that the love rather than considering that ordisive spiral. “bourgeois liberal American dream” cannot be nary Canadians don’t set The irony is that saved and is not worth saving. hate. This is why the fire to police cars. Nor the creative principle Here’s the key difference: The question is powers of the day will they condone such of the universe is pure not how to destroy the old system. As Mr. Ishon activities when bothered love. Everything, in- himself has pointed out, this “grossly inefficient immediately recto ask. cluding the police, the system” is already self-destructing “without any ognized them as Mr. Ishon’s mentality Black Bloc and of course master plan”. The real question is: What kind of resembles that of the miliMr. Ishon are created out world would you like to live in? dangerous. tary strong man more than it of love. For all it’s apparent In all his writings, I have yet to see Mr. Isresembles that of the common chaos and darkness, the uni- hon articulate what the real goal is. Revolution is man. Dictators are not primarily verse is still a place of infinite not a valid objective. To revolve simple means to interested in wealth or even power. beauty. I write “universe” because spin in circles, like a dog chasing its tail. Dictators are individuals who suffer we are cosmic beings. Our sphere of A better choice would be evolution. I can from the delusion that they are uniquely quali- influence extends far far beyond the limits of see a society which has finally outgrown its need fied to know what everybody else wants. this tiny blue green gem of a planet. for a police force. This can happen quite naturally Mr. Ishon appears to harbor the fantasy Mr. Ishon is seeking to transform his ex- as soon as we stop beating each other over the that we regular folk are silent supporters - that perience of reality through violent exertion head with sticks, trying to settle our differences if only we had the courage to act, we’d all be outwards. Such attempts are futile because they by force. burning police cars. are not grounded in metaphysical truth. All that To quote Gandhi: “Be the change you want Alternately, it is possible that Mr. Ishon is really required, of Mr. Ishon or anyone else, to see in the world”. doesn’t really care what other people think. Per- is to make in inner switch. It can be done in a Wiser words were never spoken. I seek haps it is enough for him to personally despise heartbeat and the universe is instantly trans- peace and have decided to be peaceful. Now I ask the state in which case the question of whether formed. When you carry love in your heart, you Mr. Ishon: What do you seek? or not regular folk support his ideology is a moot point. Ishon writes: “Voting is for chumps and peaceful marches ain’t enough on their own, so the future looks militant.” Silicone Vibrators • Lubes • DVD’s • Sensual Gifts That’s the problem in a nutshell. Peaceful Condoms • Books • Private Batchelorette Parties marches do work when a significant portion of S E M I N A R S – Register online the population participates. Marches in metropolitan centers such as Toronto typically draw Nude Photography Sept 12 Nude Photography tens of thousands. True solidarity would require Jan 24 hundreds of thousands if not millions to march. Sept 13 Giving GoodPlay Head -FREE Anal Imagine for example what a five day general Jan 25 Sept 14 Make Her Moan strike of two million like minded souls could G-Spot - FREE accomplish. Sept 15 Anal Play-FREE Jan 26 In fact, if the people woke up en masse Make Her Moan Sept 19 Creative Kissing then even voting could produce a desirable reFeb 1 sult. But Sid Ishon isn’t worried about the minor Sept 20 How to have Great Orgasms Burlesque Strip detail that his revolution has left the people beSept 21 Power of Pussy-FREE Feb 2 hind. Like a strong arm dictator, he’s a violent to Better Sex Yoga s u ll a C bully attempting to impose his will on society Sept 26 G-Spot & Ejaculation Feb 3 X E S A at large. HOST Creative Sept 28 Fearless Flirting Kissing Destruction and mayhem are child’s play. TOY PART Y! Feb 12 Anybody can set fires and if there were any sense to it, we’d all be doing it. What is much harder to do is to create a world that we can all live in. The Black Bloc, were they to succeed at 1819 W.5th & Burrard 604.742.9988 “smashing the state”, would create nothing but www.artofloving.ca a void ruled by violence, with no way forward because the people are fragmented.
SMART IS SEX Y
the art of lovin g
22
Vancouver
September 2010
Ponerology 105: Psychopathy at Nuremburg
W
hile Cleckley first published The Mask of Sanity in 1941, the first efforts towards a study of political psychopathy in the West were only made in the aftermath of World War II. At the time, it was common among historians and other academics to downplay the role of individuals in the shaping of history. As one textbook of the time stated: “With some striking exceptions, the individual counts for little in the social scheme of things... [A leader’s] success will depend mainly on his happening to lead them [social circumstances] in the direction in which they happen to be going.” As if social circumstances were some nebulous force completely divorced of human motivations! In the minds of many, Hitler’s Germany was one of those “exceptions”. The brutal and anti-human nature of the Nazi regime became clear to the world over the course of the war. The post-war trials at the International Military Tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity led to, as Nuremberg prison psychologist Gustav M. Gilbert wrote, “widespread speculation concerning the sanity or lack of it on the part of the whole Nazi leadership.” The “new reality” to which the Germans and their victims were subjected horrified the world. As Field Marshal and Nuremberg defendant Wilhelm Keitel related to Gilbert, “He [Hitler] stood for a complete reversal of [the Wehrmacht’s] values: brutality and injustice became virtues of ‘hardness’; decency and honor became contemptible weakness.” When Gilbert asked Rudolf Hoess, commandant at Auschwitz, if he had ever considered whether his millions of victims deserved their fate, “he tried patiently to explain that there was something unrealistic about such questions, because he had been living in an entirely different world.” In this world, the leaders possessed the qualities of “uncompromising hardness and brutality, nationalism with a paranoid tinge, in-group loyalty and out-group hostility. Deceit, treachery, persecution, and murder could be condoned in this militant, ethnocentric frame of reference, and the leader was the one who excelled in these virtues.” As a German-speaking officer and psychologist responsible for interrogating prisoners of war, Gustave Gilbert was given unprecedented and unlimited access to the defendants; as he put it, “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove the fascist mind”. Facing trial were top-position Nazis such as Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess; Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg; Reichsminister for armaments and munitions, Albert Speer; SS-Colonel and commander of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoess; and Reichsfeldmarschall, head of the Luftwaffe, and president of the Reichstag, Hermann Goering. The Nazi war criminals held in Nuremburg provided the first opportunity for psychologists and psychiatrists to study key members of a corrupt and criminal political regime. However, Gilbert was not the only scientist Hermann Goering
He showed insensitivity to danger, admitting “he just never believed that any harm could really befall him,” and sadistic aggression for which “[his] father’s punishments proved to be of no avail.” His mother allegedly stated, “Hermann will either be a great man or a great criminal!” -Gustave Gilbert
by Harrison Koehli www.redpillpress.com
Goering at the Nuremberg Trials to study the defendants and how their opinions on the nature of the “Nazi mind” vary. Prior to Gilbert’s arrival, chief of psychiatry for the European Theater of Operations Douglas M. Kelley had access to the prisoners for a brief period of five months and wrote of his experiences and conclusions in his book 22 Cells in Nuremberg, published in 1947. Like Hannah Arendt, who later covered the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Israel and coined the term “the banality of evil” to describe Eichmann’s nonchalance and apathy, Kelley saw the Nazis as basically ordinary people caught up in the machinery of military orders and bureaucracy. Unable to find any signs of obvious pathology in the defendants, he labeled them “sane” and deemed Nazism a strictly “socio-cultural disease.” The psychopaths thus flew under the radar of Kelley’s inquiring eye, occupying that nebulous middle ground between sanity and madness. In short, Kelley was duped by a collective mask of sanity the mendacity of which he could not fathom. Most interestingly, Kelley established a strong rapport with Goering, being taken by his intelligence, charm, “courage,” and image as a family man; in other words, the very qualities mistaken by many corporate employers as good “leadership qualities”. In fact, Kelley even committed suicide in 1958 using the same method Goering used the day before his scheduled execution—by swallowing a cyanide capsule. Cleckley once remarked that his secretaries could always tell which of his patients were psychopaths—they were the only ones who could convince him to lend them money—and it seems that Kelley, too, fell under the sway of a smooth manipulator. Gilbert, on the other hand, called a spade a spade. He diagnosed Goering as an “amiable” and “narcissistic” psychopath, a diagnosis agreed upon by psychopathy researchers William and Joan McCord. In his many conversations with Goering, Gilbert was able to make several insightful and often entertaining—although equally disturbing—observations about him, which are recounted in his 1950 book The Psychology of Dictatorship. Gilbert’s book is now out-of-print and relatively hard to find, so I have compiled some of the most telling anecdotes and direct quotes illustrating Goering’s psychopathy. The creator of the Gestapo and concentration camps, Goering’s first memory, related to Gilbert, was that of “bashing his mother in the face with both fists when she came to embrace him after a prolonged absence, at the age of three.” As a child playing soldiers with his peers, he would similarly bash the heads of anyone questioning his leadership to “let them know damn quick who was boss.” Goering presented himself as impulsive, egocentric, aggressive, sensation seeking, unable to tolerate frustration, superficially charming, glib, remorseless, and callous. He showed insensitivity to danger, admitting “he just never believed that any harm could really befall him,” and sadistic aggression for which “[his] father’s punishments proved to be of no avail.” His mother allegedly stated, “Hermann will either be a great man or a great criminal!” As Gilbert described, Goering had “a ruthlessly aggressive personality,” “an emotional insensitivity and perverted humor which were at once the seeds of outward physical boldness and of moral depravity.” However, he “presented a front of utter amiability and goodhumored bravado,” i.e. a charming “mask of sanity” which he used whenever it suited his purpose. He received a very high IQ score of 138 and “Being led to believe that he had the highest I.Q. among the Nazi war criminals [at Nuremberg] he praised the excellent discrimination of American psychometric methods. When he [later] heard that Schacht and Seyss-Inquart had outdone him, he scorned the unreliability of the test.” However, Gilbert observed that his intelligence was more characterized by “superficial and pedestrian realism,
“When a state has a chance to improve its position because of the weakness of a neighbor, do you think it will stop at any squeamish consideration of keeping a promise? It is a statesman’s duty to take advantage of such a situation for the good of his country!” -Hermann Goering rather than brilliantly creative intelligence.” As a young man, he naturally joined the military, as it provided an outlet for his aggression, tendency to domination, and showmanship. Aware of the nature of the military hierarchy, he showed “rigid subservience to his superiors,” knowing that “he would some day be able to demand the same from his inferiors.” Just like a modern corporate psychopath, Goering identified those with whom he needed to ingratiate himself (e.g. officer-instructors at the academy) and those he could treat with disdain (e.g. civilian teachers). “Goering explained quite simply ... that the officers could punish you, while the civilians could only threaten you or, what was even sillier, appeal to your moral sense.” The model of a corrupt politician, Goering took bribes for tax-exemption and successfully managed his “business interests” (e.g. arms dealing). Gilbert observed, “during World War I Goering made the dangerous and fateful discovery that war could bring both glory and profit to one who was sufficiently reckless, unscrupulous and amiable.” As Goering himself said to Gilbert, “The idea of democracy was absolutely repulsive to me … I joined the party precisely because it was revolutionary, not because of the ideological stuff. Other parties had made revolutions, so I figured I could get in on one too!” In short, Goering exploited the ideology and structure of Nazism for his own personal ambition, greed, and sadistic need for power. And yet, he still gave seemingly blind support to his Fuehrer. Why? This is a question that puzzles many psychopathy researchers and even causes them to doubt the possibility that psychopaths could ever maintain a stable position in any political or corporate system. After all, psychopaths are notoriously self-serving and impulsive. They are loyal to no one and quick to turn on their so-called “associates” and “friends”. But for intelligent psychopaths like Goering, subservience to superiors is not loyalty per se. It is mere lip service that allows them to reap the benefits of their environment. Just as psychopaths will often abide by prison rules to secure parole or lighter sentences, even feigning religious conversion, they will work within a political structure like Nazism because they have an interest in doing so. Whereas in a normal society psychopaths are persecuted by non-psychopaths because of their antisocial attitudes and behaviors, in a system like the Nazi dictatorship, the rules change. In a society with no higher authority than themselves, they have an interest in maintaining it, even if that means sucking up to a delusional fanatic. However, while alliances are created and maintained in such a system, there is another motivation at work. Self-promotion and the resulting backstabbing is just as much a part of the game. Goering was a case in point. He repeatedly showed a typical ease of yarn spinning and shirking of responsibility to others, demonstrating the real nature of his so-called “loyalties”. He was caught in several obvious
contradictions and lies during his testimony frequently denounced other Nazis, such as Roehm, whom he called a “dirty homosexual swine,” and the SA (“perverted bloody revolutionists” and “a pack of hoodlums”). As Gilbert points out, however, “These were, of course, the very same hoodlums whom Goering had trained in street-fighting.” Sounds a bit like the American pundits who lambaste the very “Islamic terrorists” they funded and trained in the 1970s and ’80s, doesn’t it? On April 18, 1946, Goering offered his infamous glimpse behind the psychopathic mask of fascism to Gilbert, quoted in the last installment of this series. (“All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”) On another occasion, he said: “Sure, you can talk about word-of-honor when you promise to deliver goods in business.— But when it is the question of the interests of the nation!?—Phooey! Then morality stops. … When a state has a chance to improve its position because of the weakness of a neighbor, do you think it will stop at any squeamish consideration of keeping a promise? It is a statesman’s duty to take advantage of such a situation for the good of his country!” For Goering, who wholly embraced the psychopathic “dog-eat-dog” world view, “preventive war, aggressive war, politics, and peace were all just different aspects of the same struggle for supremacy which was in the very nature of things, with the rewards going to the strongest nation and the cleverest leaders.” This is the stark reality behind the political propaganda of “national interests” dished out for public consumption. Gilbert’s conclusion was equally blunt: “Psychopathic personalities undoubtedly play an important part in major manifestations of social pathology, particularly when they achieve positions of leadership in social groups and movements. It is all too clear that they played a decisive role in the revolutionary nucleus of the Nazi movement, and thus determined the complexion of the government of Nazi Germany.” While Kelley missed the diagnosis of psychopathy, he did make some prescient observations: Strong, dominant, aggressive, egocentric personalities like Goering, differing from the normal chiefly in their lack of conscience, are not rare. They can be found anywhere in the country [i.e. the United States]—behind big desks deciding big affairs as businessmen, politicians, racketeers. Significantly, he also wrote that such personalities “could be duplicated in any country of the world today” and that “there are undoubtedly certain individuals who would willingly climb over the corpses of one half of the people of the United States, if by so doing, they could thereby be given control over the other half.” Today, we’re seeing just how true this statement is.
M
THE INVISIBLE SHROUD
a n y people would argue that sin does not affect them, that Sin is only for the religious minded. They say that they are their own person, moral and ethical, and besides, they point out, what about the real sinners—murderers, rapists, and pedophiles? These sorts of questions arise from the belief that we are separate from one another. At the absolute level of reality, which (Excerpt from Devrah Laval’s forthcoming book.) is where we really live (our true home) and of which we are mostly not conscious, the only thing that exists is love. It is here that we are sinless. At the relative level, our everyday world (the world that we think we see) is actually only a dream based on the belook very far for the answer. We only need lief that we have separated from our true home. look more deeply into ourselves, where we Here we experience the nightmare of sin. We will see the pain that we humans bear in our dream we’ve separated from our source and are deepest, darkest moments, pain that cries out, therefore a sinner, which is untrue. What is true “I’m not enough, I’m not worthy, I feel this is that we have never left our source and are endless, empty hole, and I’ll never be good innocent and pure. enough to crawl out. I’ve sinned somehow, In effect, this is completely opposite of God must hate me, this is why I must suffer, I what we’ve been conditioned to believe—that can’t tell anyone, they won’t understand.” which is considered “real” is in fact a dream. Yes, we can’t reveal our malaise to anyThe purpose of this book is not to make ex- one; they will simply deny it and tell us to cuses for murderers or evildoers or to absolve think positively, and then they’ll smile to hide them of their crimes because in this realm, sin the shame of the sin that we all carry. We preand punishment do exist. In order to ultimately fer to live in denial of the amount of guilt and stop these and other atrocities, we have to stop shame that exists within us rather than live in our own many little murders—of ourselves our hearts, where we are held in forgiveness and others—in our everyday lives. Everything and love. But of course, this is much harder originates from us, hence becomes our world to do, because then we’d need to see sin for and affects our world. If the evildoers are in our what it truly is—the biggest lie of all, and an world, they are a part of us—a part that needs invisible shroud casting despair on our lives. to be forgiven and healed. For example, we all know some people who Perhaps this sounds extreme, but if we flippantly use phrases like, “It’s all good,” would take just an hour to watch how we com- or “This too shall pass,” or some other trite mit these many little murders by seeing how phrase that is unconnected to what they are much we judge ourselves and others in nu- really feeling. These phrases are used to minimerous small ways, be it directly or just in mize the intensity of the pain that they might our minds, we would likely be very surprised. be really feeling, partly because they know Also, we might notice an underlying sense that others may not be interested in hearing of guilt, thinking, “I’ve done something I their problems and partly because they feel shouldn’t have,” or “I haven’t done something ashamed at even having these feelings in the that I should have.” We then berate ourselves first place. incessantly, often unconsciously, with this And you may notice that as a result of sort of thinking. When we’ve exhausted the denying their feelings, you yourself feel that self-flagellation, we take that fatal next step the human/heart connection is severed and and project our low-grade judgment and guilt you then may feel excluded or separate from onto some unsuspecting person, for example, them. When we cut ourselves off from our a cab driver, cashier, receptionist, waiter, our true feelings, we are in turn cutting others off spouse, our children, the government and even from connecting with us and this leaves us another race or minority or country. Anything feeling ever more alone and despondent and is fair game for release. We may feel relieved this is what the ego would have us feel in orfor a moment when we blame others because der to not break free of the invisible shroud of we seem free from our sense of sin and torment guilt. Whereas if we could openly talk about for a short while, but then someone says some- the guilt and shame that we experience on a thing to trigger us and before long, this low- daily basis with someone who could simply grade, unconscious self-doubt and guilt begin listen without judgement or trying to “fix” us, to stir within us again. we would progress significantly as both our You get angry, you might have a drink hearts could then open to the love that lies beto numb yourself or to give you courage, you neath all issues and is in fact the source that might curse your lot in life, or you might sim- we need to return to so that we can see the lie ply deny that anything is happening at all. – the lie of separation that masquerades as sin. These “solutions” will only lead to obsessive ____________________________ thoughts bubbling up inside wondering what you’re going to eat next, who you’re going Vancouver-based Devrah Laval is author to sleep with, who you hate and would like to of The Magic Doorway Into the Divine. blame your troubles on or maybe even get rid She has had numerous mystical experiof if you could. Or you might head to the medi- ences and has spent over 30 years studying cine cabinet to pop a pill in order to relieve the with different Masters and Gurus includemptiness and depression that you’ve been hid- ing the same guru as mentioned in Eat, Pray, ing for so long. Love by Liz Gilbert. She is a spiritual counselThese behaviors are common in today’s lor and has facilitated numerous groups and world. Yet we are surprised when someone workshops for over twenty-five years – reconwe know has a slip—they can no longer keep necting people to the truth of who they really up their façade of “everything is fine”. “What are. http://www.themagicdoorway.com went wrong?” we ask, but we don’t have to
- HOW SIN TRAPS US
September 2010 Continued From 16 best evidence of what lies in store for governments is provided by claims now - p r o ceeding under the NAFTA dispute regime ,” which includes a dispute by Centurion Health, a US health service provider, for $160 million because it claims that Canadian governments prevented it from establishing a chain of private health clinics. Next came Dow AgroSciences, who sued for millions because Quebec is banning the use of their herbicide 2, 4 D. The powerful defoliant and herbicide Agent Orange, used widely in Vietnam, contained 2, 4D, which is highly toxic to the liver, has caused male reproductive problems, and more, yet the Quebec government stands before an international tribunal “accused” of the awful crime of trying to protect its citizens from Dow’s madness. Because Canada signed NAFTA, Dow, Centurion and hundreds of other multinational corporations can ask for compensation through the WTO dispute resolution process. This is one of the “big lies” of what has been termed as “Free Trade,” when as we now know, there is nothing “free” about it, save for the handouts being given to Big Food and Big Pharma. Canada is at a tipping point. Unless we use our democratic mechanism to oppose what agencies like Health Canada are doing, legislation like Bill C-36 and its twin, the infamous Bill C-51 (waiting in the wings to be relaunched) will go far beyond being just a nuisance. This is not hyperbole—this is fact. For those who rely upon natural products like dietary supplements, Health Canada has hired PR hacks to infiltrate social media like Twitter and Facebook to push the notion that Bill C-36 does NOT apply to Natural Health Products, or Drugs, or Cosmetics. They are, as usual, only telling part of the story. Health Canada continues to intentionally delay the approval of safe herbs, amino acids, and mineral/vitamin formulations for no legitimate reason whatsoever, thereby restricting the legitimate use of these supplements by Canadians. As I have described, the language in the Bill itself—like Bill C-6 and Bill C-51 before it— is so dangerous that it literally threatens Canadian life as we know it. If Dr. Eldon Dahl can be raided over B-vitamins, if Truehope Nutritional Support and health food stores and pharmacies can be raided before these bills are passed, what does the future hold for Canada after this unconstitutional legislation makes it through Parliament? If inventories can be seized on mere “suspicion” of illegal activities, if citizens are allowed to be terrorized in guns-drawn raids over some of the safest products on the planet, what will Health Canada do with the increased powers they would be afforded through Bill C-36? Make no mistake: we have already seen the future, dressed in the guise of Free Trade Agreements and mutlinational corporate control...and it’s not a pretty sight. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” wrote Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.” I choose to believe that Canada can still become the world leader I envisioned in my youth, but as my film points out, the nation’s entangling alliances have seriously endangered that boyhood vision. This silent coup could happen in a matter of years — not decades — if Canadians refuse to act. Bill C-36 — and all other unconstitutional legislative efforts must be defeated. It’s a question of sovereignty.
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Continued From 17 our elected representatives, to represent our needs in this regard. Some MP’s may well reply that it was a ‘whipped’ vote ordered by the party on Bill C6, or its predecessor(s) C51 and C52… Or that they haven’t read the Bill, unlike some of their counter-parts in the Senate: those gifted with a legal background and a solid grasp of what C6 and now C36 actually represent. How this issue will unfold over the next year or so, will be determined by its reception by the public, and what attention can be brought to bear. Petitions, letters to MP’s, media coverage, even and especially legal action, can all be employed in an effort to remedy this situation.. We did it in 1997; let’s see if we can raise the roof again…
Canada survey finds vast majority of people loaded with BPA
A
by Jonathan Benson, NaturalNews.com recent report released by Statistics Canada, Canada’s official statistical agency, has revealed that more than 90 percent of Canadians are contaminated with bisphenol-A (BPA), a toxic chemical compound used in many plastics and resins. The report is the first of its kind in Canada to verify the extent to which BPA has invaded the bodies of the population at large. “[F]or the very first time [we] have baseline information against which we can study trends and track what is happening with respect to bisphenol A exposure,” explained Tracey Bushnik from Statscan’s Health Analysis Division in a Reuters article. In 2008, Canada banned BPA from baby bottles, but the chemical is still widely used both there and around the world in can liners and other plastic materials used in various consumer products. The report data reveals that the average concentration of BPA in Canadians is about 1.16 micrograms per liter in urine, and that teenagers generally have the highest concentrations overall. Younger children between the ages of six and eleven also generally had higher levels than adults over the age of 40. Those seeking to ban BPA from all consumer products cite recent studies which illustrate that exposure to BPA, especially during early childhood development, can disrupt proper neural development. Other similar studies link the chemical to a host of diseases including cancer and heart disease as well. “BPA, a chemical found in epoxy resin and polycarbonate plastics, may impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on tumors, breast tissue development, and prostate development by reducing sperm count,” explains C.W. Randolph, M.D., in his book From Belly Fat to Belly FLAT: How Your Hormones Are Adding Inches to Your Waistline and Subtracting Years from Your Life.
Editor’s Addendum: 10 Tips to Reduce Your Exposure to BPA 1. Only use glass baby bottles and dishes for your baby (and yourself) 2. Give your baby natural fabric toys instead of plastic ones 3. Store your food and beverages – not plastic containers 4. IF you choose to use a microwave, don’t microwave food in a plastic container 5. Stop buying and consuming canned foods and drinks 6. Avoid using plastic wrap (and never microwave anything covered in it) 7. Get rid of your plastic dishes and cups, and replace them with glass varieties 8. If you opt to use plastic kitchenware, at least get rid of the older, scratched-up varieties, avoid putting them in the dishwasher, and don’t wash them with harsh detergents, as these things can cause more chemicals to leach into your food 9. Avoid using bottled water; filter your own using a reverse osmosis filter instead 10. Before allowing a dental sealant to be applied to your, or your children’s, teeth, ask your dentist to verify that it does not contain BPA
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World
September 2010
Erica Goldon Speaks Out Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech
The following speech was delivered by top of the class student Erica Goldson during the graduation ceremony at CoxsackieAthens High School on June 25, 2010
T
Here I Stand
here is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen?” The Master thought about this and then replied, “Ten years…” The student then said, “But what if I work very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long will it take then?” The Master replied, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work hard at it, how long will it take then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder and put more effort into the learning, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” The Master replied, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.” This is the dilemma I have faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective. Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn’t you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but as the Master pointed out, not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates only to forget them in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be! Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible. I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers are. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system
set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared. John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don’t do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt. H. L. Mencken wrote in ‘The American Mercury,’ for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not, “…to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States.” Editor’s Note: The full passage reads: “The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever pretensions of politicians, pedagogues other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else.” To illustrate this idea, doesn’t it perturb you to learn about the idea of, “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as, “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth? This was happening to me, and if it
The 2010 Graduating Class of Coxsackie-Athens High School.
wasn’t for the rare occurrence of an avantgarde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting, “textbook doctrine,” I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is. And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us. We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren’t we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still. The saddest part is that the majority of students do not have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all; they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I cannot run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a
healthy foundation. For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focuses more on learning rather than getting good grades. For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetence of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake. For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth. So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I could not have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians. I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, to those who maintain it, and to those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a, “see you later,” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let’s go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we’re smart enough to do so.
September 2010
world
Canola Oil is a Classic Example of Food Fraud
by Paul Fassa
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emember margarine? That was touted as healthier than butter several years ago. Though many have since caught on to that lie, it still persists somewhat. Margarine is as healthy as melted plastic. But it sure is cheap to produce! That was then, this is now. Could Canola oil’s health claims compare with margarine’s fraud? There is evidence to support health food fraud with canola oil. Not buying it by the bottle is easy enough, but it appears in many prepared or processed foods, even those in health food stores. Because of Canola’s marketing itself as a healthy option, it is recommended by many health food experts. Meanwhile, the health food industry sells and uses it as a healthy alternative despite growing evidence of toxic dangers. What Canola Oil Is Canola is a hybrid name that stands for Canadian oil, since it is grown, processed, and exported mainly from Canada. And the Canadian government, it is reported, put up the cash to have the FDA classify Canola oil as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe). This classification allowed the Canola industry to avoid long term safety testing. The Canadian government subsidizes
most of rapeseed planting and harvesting. Those plants are cheap, easy to grow and a natural insect resistant, and Canola oil is cheaper and easier to use for processed foods than more expensive, healthier cold pressed oils such as olive oil. Originally it was called lear oil (low erucic acid rapeseed) a natural modified hybrid of rape seed to remove most of its erucic acid, which is totally toxic. Rapeseed oil is so toxic that bugs and animals won’t eat it. It was used in the first half of the 20th century as an industrial oil. So that name had to go completely. Hence, the final Canadian product became Canola oil in 1988. The rapeseed plant was genetically modified further to withstand heavy doses of the Monsanto’s weed killing herbicide Roundup. Roundup itself is not exactly safe for humans and animals, so the use of a toxin to support a genetically modified plant makes for a dangerous combination. In addition to the plant having an unpredictable GMO element, the oil is heated to over 300 degrees as part of a process to remove its extremely unpleasant odor. Processing vegetable oils may include degumming, batch acidulation, bleaching, deodorization, chemical extraction methods using solvents, and high temperature expeller pressing. Canola oil is monounsaturated, which makes it easy to promote it as similar to olive oil but cheaper. But real olive oil is not processed and
God Crashes the Tea Party
doesn’t contain toxic trans-fatty acids or GMOs. Canola is among the lowest of all oils with essential fatty acids, which happens to be the main health aspect of oils. ing
Then Came Some Independent Test-
Various tests came up with previously unforeseen and unannounced health hazards. One example is when piglets were fed a formula using Canola oil, their vitamin E was reduced to dangerous levels, and their blood platelets became sticky, impeding blood flow. And this is what is promoted as a heart healthy oil? Other tests have determined various
groups of the organized right are pumping money into Tea Party “branded” sites and events – and altering the by Naomi Wolf message with an increasingly “culture war” slant. At Townhall.com and Naomi Wolf is a political activist and social critic whose most recent book is Give Me Liberty: LibertyCentral.org, for exA Handbook for American Revolutionaries. ample, explanations of the Constitution sit uneasily next Unfortunately, religious bigotry also XFORD – Where does Amerto articles urging citizens to take action has a long history in America, and there ica put God? Historically, against the construction of a mosque at are powerful factions that cannot accept there has always been tension the Twin Towers site in New York. Elsethat God did not intend the US to be a between the separation of church and state where, a seemingly commendable grassChristian nation. Ronald Reagan saw the that the United States has enshrined in its roots petition movement to re-establish benefit of tapping these constituencies, Constitution and regular upsurges of reliintroducing a faith-first element into what Constitutional values at the state level gious faith, even religious extremism, that had been a more secularized, “big tent” turns out to be – if you read the fine print seek an outlet in the political process – or – a drive to enshrine Christian values in conservatism. even seek to dominate it. Since the 1980’s, “culture wars” state law. Nowhere is this tension more visible Likewise, the Tea Party, which (usually staged) about homosexuality, today than in the struggle for the political showed no interest in racist language or abortion, and sex education, or other codsoul of the Tea Party. For, as the coalition iconography at its outset, increasingly ined messaging about religious values, have on the religious right that dominated Amerjects such demagoguery into its messages. served to mobilize the religious right. ican conservatism since the 1980’s has beThe movement’s libertarian message is Bush’s early avowal of his conversion gun to fall apart, some of the same Chrisnow regularly subverted by anti-Muslim experience was given in language polltian fundamentalist elements are seeking to tested for acceptance by fundamentalist paranoia and contradicted by activism absorb – some would say take over – the supporting such initiatives as the mass Christians. originally non-sectarian Tea Party. But, in the face of a severe recession round-up, without due process, of undocThe Tea Party emerged from a laudand endless real wars, hot-button “cul- umented immigrants in Arizona. ably grassroots base: libertarians, fervent The political consultants behind this ture war” issues don’t have the mobilizConstitutionalists, and ordinary people shift know that chauvinist appeals work in ing power that they once did. Moreover, alarmed at the suppression of liberties, America – especially in times of economthe Christian conservative movement has whether by George W. Bush or Barack ic stress and political turmoil. But perhaps become rudderless and fragmented, with Obama. Libertarians, of course, tend to enough Americans will keep their eyes many of its leaders dead, compromised by understand church-state separation: if you open this time and learn from history. sex scandals, or increasingly perceived as don’t want government intruding in your Over a century ago, a nation that origplain batty. This is why the architects of life, you definitely don’t want it telling you inated modern democracy was gripped by the religious right – many of them profeshow to worship. a political fever that led ordinary people sional political consultants with no organThis anti-establishmentarian impulse to choose sides based on racist demaic ties to movement – see the Tea Party as is a time-honored tradition in America, goguery. Cynical political tacticians mathe great prize to subvert and then domiwhere advocacy of separation of church nipulated popular opinion – through pronate. and state – a radical view in the late eighYou can see these fingerprints every- paganda, through what posed as a free teenth century – was driven by the experiwhere. At early Tea Party events, secular press, and through targeted political hate ences of religious minorities such as Quakissues dominated: the Federal Reserve, speech – to unite in carrying out a masers, Huguenots, and Puritans, all of whom monetary policy, taxation, the size of the sive miscarriage of justice, demonizing a suffered religious persecution in Britain government, and, above all, the Constitu- religious minority for political gain. and France. Not insignificantly, this hysteria was tion. Today, the think tanks and pressure
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imbalances with micronutrients that nature synergistically provides. These imbalances are part of what technology does to ruin food and undermine long term human health. The best that can be said about Canola oil is that it is not a healthy option. It doesn’t even rank among other oils that do promote health, such as cold pressed hemp, flax, or even olive oil. Even worse, tests show that Canola may promote bad health. Read your labels carefully. [NaturalNews Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and wellbeing of all living creatures.]
whipped up in the name of fighting “treason” and bolstering “national security.” Also tellingly, the accused member of the hated religious minority was jailed for life and condemned to a method of punishment – solitary confinement on an island 3,000 miles away – that was invented just for him after his conviction. The nation that had defined itself by its belief in freedom and reason for over a hundred years found itself seduced by the most barbaric of faith-based bigotry. Even civilized, educated people signed on to it. It was not the US that was gripped by this wave of racist paranoia, but France, the cradle of “liberté, egalité et fraternité.” And the hated, “treasonous” religious minority was not Muslim, but Jewish. Indeed, the most important book that a student of America can read right now to understand today’s malignant political climate is Ruth Harris’ admirable new look at the Dreyfus affair, The Man on Devil’s Island. Harris re-reads the famous trial to show how even the greatest of democracies can falter when good people abandon their principles, and when fear-mongering propaganda drives leaders to erode democratic checks and balances in the name of “national security.” American Jews, in particular, need reminding that when one religious minority is targeted, all religious minorities are at risk. France eventually regained its soul – but long after a dark eclipse of its most cherished democratic values. Americans – and the Tea Party – should look at France a century ago, when religious bigotry hijacked constitutionalism, and then take a good hard look at themselves.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2010. www.project-syndicate.org
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world
September 2010
Inside The LC: The Strange But Mostly True Story of Laurel Canyon and The Birth of The Hippy Generation by Dave Mcgowan Part IV
The bridge of the USS Bon Homme Richard, January 1964. Just months later, the guy on the right would guide his ship into the Tonkin Gulf, and the young man on the left would begin a remarkable transformation into a brooding rock god. The Bon Homme Richard, by the way, was launched on April 29, 1944, under the sponsorship of Catherine McCain, the grandmother of a certain presidential contender.
U
inside.” According to various accounts, one secret tunnel running under what is now Laurel Canyon Boulevard connected the Log Cabin (or its guesthouse) to the Houdini estate. This claim is frequently denounced as an urban legend, but given that both properties are known to possess unusual, uhmm, geological features, it’s not hard to believe that the tunnel system on one property was connected at one time to the tunnel system on the other. The Tavern itself, as Gail Zappa would later describe it, was “huge and vault-like and cavernous.”
ntil around 1913, The Lookout Inn Laurel Canyon remained an undeveloped (and unincorporated) slice of LA - a pristine wilderness area rich in native flora and fauna. That all began to change when Charles Spencer Mann and his partners began buying up land along what would become Laurel Canyon Boulevard, as well as up Lookout Mountain. A narrow road leading up to the crest of Lookout Mountain was carved out, and upon that crest was constructed a lavish 70-room inn with sweeping views of the city With these two rather unusual structures below and the Pacific Ocean beyond. The anchoring an otherwise undeveloped canyon, Lookout Inn featured a large ballroom, riding and the Lookout Inn sitting atop uninhabited stables, tennis courts and a golf course, among Lookout Mountain, Mann set about marketing other amenities. But the inn, alas, would only the canyon as a vacation and leisure destinastand for a decade; in 1923, it burned down, tion. The land that he carved up into subdivias tends to happen rather frequently in Laurel sions with names like “Bungalow Land” and Canyon. “Wonderland Park” was presented as the ideal In 1913, Mann began operating what was location to build vacation homes. But the new billed as the nation’s first trackless trolley, to inn and roadhouse, and the new parcels of land ferry tourists and prospective buyers from for sale, definitely weren’t for everyone. The Sunset Boulevard up to what would become roadhouse was essentially a country club, or the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and what Jack Boulware of Mojo Magazine deLookout Mountain Avenue. Around that same scribed as “a masculine retreat for wealthy time, he built a massive tavern/roadhouse on men.” And Bungalow Land was openly adverthat very same corner. Dubbed the Laurel Tavtised as “a high class restricted park for desirern, the structure boasted a 2,000+ square-foot able people only.” formal dining room, guest rooms, and a bowl“Desirable people,” of course, tended to ing alley on the basement level. The Laurel be wealthy people without a great deal of skin Tavern, of course, would later be acquired by pigmentation. Tom Mix, after which it would be affectionAs the website of the current Laurel Canately known as the Log Cabin. yon Association notes, “restrictive covenants Shortly after the Log Cabin was built, a were attached to the new parcel deeds. These department store mogul (or a wealthy furniture were thinly veiled attempts to limit ownership manufacturer; there is more than one version to white males of a certain class. While there of the story, or perhaps the man owned more are many references to the bigotry of the dethan one business) built an imposing, castlevelopers in our area, it would appear that some like mansion across the road, at the corner of residents were also prone to bias and lawlessLaurel Canyon Boulevard and what would ness. This article was published in a local pabecome Willow Glen Road. The home feaper in 1925: tured rather creepy towers and parapets, and Frank Sanceri, the man who was flogged the foundation is said to have been riddled by self-styled ‘white knights’ on Lookout with secret passageways, tunnels, and hidden Mountain in Hollywood several months ago, chambers. Similarly, the grounds of the estate was found not guilty by a jury in Superior were (and still are) laced with trails leading to Judge Shea’s courtroom of having unlawgrottoes, elaborate stone structures, and hidfully attacked Astrea Jolley, aged 11. den caves and tunnels. “Wealthier residents were also attracted Across Laurel Canyon Boulevard, the to Laurel Canyon. With the creation of the grounds of the Laurel Tavern/Log Cabin Hollywood film industry in 1910, the canyon were also laced with odd caves and tunnels. attracted a host of ‘photoplayers,’ including As Michael Walker notes in Laurel Canyon, Wally Reid, Tom Mix, Clara Bow, Richard “Running up the hillside, behind the house, Dix, Norman Kerry, Ramon Navarro, Harry was a collection of man-made caves built out Houdini and Bessie Love.” of stucco, with electric wiring and light bulbs The author of this little slice of Laurel
Canyon history would clearly like us to believe that the “wealthier residents” were a group quite separate from the violent hooligans roaming the canyon. The history of such groups in Los Angeles, however, clearly suggests otherwise. Paul Young, for example, has written in L.A. Exposed of Los Angeles’ early “vigilance committees, which stepped in to take care of outlaws on their own, often with the complete absolution of the mayor himself. Judge Lynch, for example, formed the Los Angeles Rangers in 1854 with some of the city’s top judges, lawyers, and businessmen including tycoon Phineas Banning of the Banning Railroad. And there was the Los Angeles Home Guard, another bloodthirsty paramilitary organization, made up of notable citizens, and the much-feared El Monte Rangers, a group of Texas wranglers that specialized in killing Mexicans. As one would expect, there was no regard for the victim’s rights in such kangaroo courts. Victims were often dragged from their homes, jail cells, even churches, and beaten, horse-whipped, tortured, mutilated, or castrated before being strung up on the nearest tree.” And that, dear readers, is how we do things out here on the ‘Left’ Coast. Before moving on, I need to mention here that, of the eight celebrity residents of Laurel Canyon listed by the Association, fully half died under questionable circumstances, and three of the four did so on days with occult significance. While Bessie Love, Norman Kerry, Richard Dix and Clara Bow all lived long and healthy lives, Ramon Navarro, as we have already seen, was ritually murdered in his home on Laurel Canyon Boulevard on the eve of Halloween, 1968. Nearly a half-century earlier, on January 18, 1923, matinee idol Wallace Reid was found dead in a padded cell at the mental institution to which he had been confined. Just thirty-one years old, Reid’s death was attributed to morphine addiction, though it was never explained how he would have fed that habit
while confined to a cell in a mental hospital. Tom Mix died on a lonely stretch of Arizona highway in the proverbial single-car crash on October 12, 1940 (the birthday of notorious occultist Aleister Crowley), when he quite unexpectedly encountered some temporary construction barricades that had been set up alongside a reportedly washed-out bridge. Although he wasn’t speeding (by most accounts), Mix was nevertheless allegedly unable to stop in time and veered off the road, while a crew of what were described as “workmen” reportedly looked on. It wasn’t the impact that killed Mix though, but rather a severe blow to the back of the head and neck, purportedly delivered during the crash by an aluminum case he had been carrying in the back seat of his car. There is now a roadside marker at the spot where Mix died. If you should happen to stop by to have a look, you might as well pay a visit to the Flor-
ence Military Reservation as well, since it’s just a stone’s throw away. Harry Houdini died on Halloween day, 1926, purportedly of an attack of appendicitis precipitated by a blow to the stomach. The problem with that story, however, is that medical science now recognizes it to be an impossibility. According to a recent book about the famed illusionist (The Secret Life of Houdini, by William Kalush and Larry Sloman), Houdini was likely murdered by poisoning. Questions have been raised, the book notes, by the curious lack of an autopsy, an “experimental serum” that Houdini was apparently given in the hospital, and indications that his wife, Bess, may have been poisoned as well (though she survived). On March 23, 2007, an exhumation of Houdini’s remains was formally requested by his surviving family members. It is unclear at this time when, or even if, that will happen. Houdini’s death, on October 31, 1926, came exactly eight years after the first death to occur in what would become known as the “Houdini house.” In 1918, not long after the home was built, a lover’s quarrel arose on one of the home’s balconies during a Halloween/ birthday party. The gay lover of the original owner’s son reportedly ended up splattered on the ground below. According to legend, the businessman managed to get his son off, but only after paying off everyone he could find to pay off, including the trial judge. The aftermath of the party proved to be financially devastating for the family, and the home was apparently put up for sale. Not long after that, as fate would have it, Harry Houdini was looking for a place to stay in the Hollywood area, as he had decided to break into the motion picture business. He found the perfect home in Laurel Canyon - the home that would, forever after, carry his name. By most accounts, he lived there from about 1919 through the early 1920s, during a brief movie career in which he starred in a handful of Hollywood films. A key scene in one of those films, “The Grim Game,” was reportedly shot at the top of Lookout Mountain, near where the Lookout Inn then stood.
Houdini House
On October 31, 1959, precisely thirtythree years after Houdini’s death, and fortyone years after the unnamed party guest’s death, the distinctive mansion on the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Willow Glen Road burned to the ground in a fire of mysterious origin (the ruins of the estate remain today, undisturbed for nearly fifty years). On October 31, 1981, exactly twenty-two years after the fire across the road, the legendary Log Cabin on the other side of Laurel Canyon Boulevard also burned to the ground, in yet another fire of mysterious origin (some reports speculated that it was a drug lab explosion). And twentyfive years after that, on October 31, 2006, The Secret Life of Houdini was published, challenging the conventional wisdom on Houdini’s death. Far more compelling than the revelations about Houdini’s death, however, was some-
September 2010 thing else about the illusionist that the book revealed for the first time: Harry Houdini was a spook working for both the U.S. Secret Service and Scotland Yard. And his traveling escape act, as it turns out, was pretty much a cover for intelligence activities. Just as, as I think I wrote in a previous newsletter, John Wilkes Booth used his career as a traveling stage performer as a cover for intelligence operations. And just as - sorry to have to break it to you - many of your favorite movie and television actors and musical artists continue in that tradition today. The book, of course, doesn’t make such reckless allegations about any performers other than Houdini. I added all of that. What the book does do, however, is compellingly document that Houdini was, in fact, an intelligence asset who used his magic act as a cover. Not only did the authors obtain corroborating documentation from Scotland Yard, they also received an endorsement of their claim from no less an authority than John McLaughlin, former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (who knew it was that easy? maybe I should give John a call and run some of my theories by him). It appears then that, of the eight celebrity residents of Laurel Canyon listed on the Laurel Canyon Association website, at least two (Novarro and Houdini), and possibly as many as four, were murdered. That seemed like a rather high homicide rate to me, so I looked up a recent study on the Internet and found that, on average, a white person in this country has about a 1-in-345 chance of being murdered. Non-white persons, of course, have a far greater chance of being murdered, but nowhere near the 1-in-4 to 1-in-2 odds that a white celebrity living in Laurel Canyon faces. Statistically speaking, if you were a famous actor in the 1920s, you would have been better off playing a round of Russian Roulette than living in Laurel Canyon. Anyway ... two ambitious projects in the 1940s brought significant changes to Laurel Canyon. First, Laurel Canyon Boulevard was extended into the San Fernando Valley, providing access to the canyon from both the north and the south. The widened boulevard was now a winding thoroughfare, providing direct access to the Westside from the Valley. Traffic, needless to say, increased considerably, which probably worked out well for the planners of the other project, because it meant that the increased traffic brought about by that other project probably wasn’t noticed at all. And that’s good, you see, because the other project was a secret one, so if I tell you about it, you have to promise not to tell anyone else. What would become known as Lookout Mountain Laboratory was originally envisioned as an air defense center. Built in 1941 and nestled in two-and-a-half secluded acres off what is now Wonderland Park Avenue, the installation was hidden from view and surrounded by an electrified fence. By 1947, the facility featured a fully operational movie studio. In fact, it is claimed that it was perhaps the world’s only completely self-contained movie studio. With 100,000 square feet of floor space, the covert studio included sound stages, Lookout Mountain Laboratory
screening rooms, film processing labs, editing facilities, an animation department, and seventeen climate-controlled film vaults. It also had underground parking, a helicopter pad and a bomb shelter. Over its lifetime, the studio produced some 19,000 classified motion pictures more than all the Hollywood studios combined (which I guess makes Laurel Canyon the real ‘motion picture capital of the world’). Officially, the facility was run by the U.S. Air Force and did nothing more nefarious than process AEC footage of atomic and nuclear bomb tests. The studio, however, was clearly equipped to do far more than just process film. There are indications that Lookout Mountain Laboratory had an advanced research and development department that was on the cutting edge of new film technologies. Such technological advances as 3-D effects were apparently first developed at the Laurel Canyon site. And Hollywood luminaries like John Ford, Jimmy Stewart, Howard Hawks, Ronald Reagan, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney and Marilyn Monroe were given clearance to work at the facility on undisclosed projects. There is no indication that any of them ever spoke of their work at the clandestine studio.
The facility retained as many as 250 producers, directors, technicians, editors, animators, etc., both civilian and military, all with top security clearances - and all reporting to work in a secluded corner of Laurel Canyon. Accounts vary as to when the facility ceased operations. Some claim it was in 1969, while others say the installation remained in operation longer. In any event, by all accounts the secret bunker had been up and running for more than twenty years before Laurel Canyon’s rebellious teen years, and it remained operational for the most turbulent of those years. The existence of the facility remained unknown to the general public until the early 1990s, though it had long been rumored that the CIA operated a secret movie studio somewhere in or near Hollywood. Filmmaker Peter Kuran was the first to learn of its existence, through classified documents he obtained while researching his 1995 documentary, “Trinity and Beyond.” And yet even today, some 15 years after its public disclosure, one would have trouble finding even a single mention of this secret military/intelligence facility anywhere in the ‘conspiracy’ literature. I think we can all agree though that there is nothing the least bit suspicious about any of that, so let’s move on. In the 1950s, as B a r n e y Hoskyns has written in Hotel California, Laurel Canyon was home to all “the hippest young actors,” including, according to Hoskyns, M a r l o n Brando, James Dean, James Co-
burn and Dennis Hopper. In addition to Hopper and Dean, yet another of the young stars of “Rebel Without a Cause” found a home in the canyon as well: Natalie Wood. In fact, Natalie lived in the very home that Cass Elliot would later turn into a Laurel Canyon party house. A fourth young star of the film, Sal Mineo, lived at the mouth of the canyon, and the fifth member of the “Rebel Without a Cause” posse, Nick Adams, lived just a mile or so away (as the crow flies) in neighboring Coldwater Canyon. With the exception of Hopper, all of their lives were tragically cut short, proving once again that Laurel Canyon can be a very dangerous place to live. First there was that great American icon, James Dean, who ostensibly died in a near head-on collision on September 30, 1955, at the tender age of twenty-four. Next to fall was Nick Adams, who had known Dean before either were stars, when both were working the mean streets of Hollywood as young male prostitutes. Adams died on February 6, 1968, at the age of thirty-six, in his home at 2126 El Roble Lane in Coldwater Canyon. His official cause of death was listed as suicide, of course, but as actor Forrest Tucker has noted, “All of Hollywood knows Nick Adams was knocked off.” Nick’s relatives reportedly received numerous hang-up calls on the day of his death, and his tape recorder, journals and various other papers and personal effects were conspicuously missing from his home. His lifeless body, sitting upright in a chair, was discovered by his attorney, Ervin “Tip” Roeder. On June 10, 1981, Roeder and his wife, actress Jenny Maxwell (best known for being spanked by Elvis in “Blue Hawaii”), were gunned down outside their Beverly Hills condo. Next in line was Sal Mineo, whose murder on February 12, 1976 we have already covered. Last to fall was Natalie Wood, who died on November 29, 1981 in a drowning incident that has never been adequately explained. Before being found floating in the waters off Catalina Island, Wood had been aboard a private yacht in the company of actors Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken. She was forty-three when she was laid to rest. The list of famous former residents of the canyon also includes the names of W.C. Fields, Mary Astor, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Errol Flynn, Orson Welles, and Robert Mitchum, who was infamously arrested on marijuana charges in 1948 at 8334 Ridpath Drive, the same street that would later be home to rockers Roger McGuinn, Don Henley and Glen Frey, as well as to Paul Rothchild, producer of both The Doors and Love. Mitchum’s arrest, by the way, appears to have been a thoroughly staged affair that cemented his ‘Hollywood bad boy’ image and gave his career quite a boost, but I guess that’s not really relevant here. Another famous resident of Laurel Canyon, apparently in the 1940s, was science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein, who reportedly resided at 8775 Lookout Mountain Avenue. Like so many other characters in this story, Heinlein was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and he had served as a naval officer. After that, he embarked on a successful writing career. And despite the fact that he was, by any objective measure, a rabid right-winger, his work was warmly embraced by the Flower Power generation. Heinlein’s best-known work is the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, which many in the Laurel Canyon scene found to be hugely influential. Ed Sanders has written, in The Family, that the book “helped provide a theoretical basis for Manson’s family.” Charlie frequently used Strange Land terminology when addressing his flock and he named his first Family-born son Valentine Michael Manson, in honor of the book’s lead character. David Crosby was a big Heinlein fan as well. In his autobiography, he references
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Heinlein on more than one occasion, and proclaims that, “In a society where people can go armed, it makes everybody a little more polite, as Robert A. Heinlein says in his books.” Frank Zappa was also a member of the Robert Heinlein fan club. Barry Miles notes in his biography of the rock icon that his home contained “a copy of Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince and other essential sixties reading, including Robert Heinlein’s sci-fi classic, Stranger in a Strange Land, from which Zappa borrowed the word ‘discorporate’ for [the song] ‘Absolutely Free.’” And that, fearless readers, more or less brings us to the Laurel Canyon era that we are primarily concerned with, the wild and wooly 1960s, which we will take a closer look at in the next chapter of this saga. So what, if anything, have we learned today? We have learned that murder and random acts of violence have been a part of the culture of the canyon since the earliest days of its development. We have also learned that spooks posing as entertainers have likewise been a part of the canyon scene since the earliest days. And, finally, we have learned that spooks who didn’t even bother to pose as entertainers were streaming into the canyon to report to work at Lookout Mountain Laboratory for at least twenty years before the first rock star set foot there. One final note is in order here: we are supposed to believe that all of these musical icons just sort of spontaneously came together in Laurel Canyon (one finds the words “serendipitous” sprinkled freely throughout the literature). But how many peculiar coincidences do we have to overlook in order to believe that this was just a chance gathering? Let’s suppose, hypothetically speaking, that you are the young man in the photo at the beginning of this article, and you have recently arrived in Laurel Canyon and now find yourself fronting a band that is on the verge of taking the country by storm. Just a mile or so down Laurel Canyon Boulevard from you lives another guy who also recently arrived in Laurel Canyon, and who also happens to front a band on the verge of stardom. He happens to be married to a girl that you attended kindergarten with, and her dad, like yours, was involved in atomic weapons research and testing (Admiral George Morrison for a time did classified work at White Sands). Her husband’s dad, meanwhile, is involved in another type of WMD research: chemical warfare. This other guy’s business partner/manager is a spooky ex-Marine who just happens to have a cousin who, bizarrely enough, also fronts a rock band on the verge of superstardom. And this third rock-star-on-the-rise also happens to live in Laurel Canyon, just a mile or two from your house. Just down a couple of other streets, also within walking distance of your home, live two other kids who - wouldn’t you know it? also happen to front a new rock band. These two kids happened to attend the same Alexandria, Virginia high school that you attended, and one of them also attended Annapolis, just like your dad did, and just like your kindergarten friend’s dad did. Though almost all of you hail from (or spent a substantial portion of your childhood in) the Washington, D.C. area, you now find yourselves on the opposite side of the country, in an isolated canyon high above the city of Los Angeles, where you are all clustered around a secret military installation. Given his background in research on atomic weapons, your father is probably familiar to some extent with the existence and operations of Lookout Mountain Laboratory, as is the father of your kindergarten friend, and probably the fathers of a few other Laurel Canyon figures as well. My question here, I guess, is this: what do you suppose the odds are that all of that just came together purely by chance?
Editor’s Note: This series will no longer appear in print form within The Agora, but will be continued on our website, AgoraNews.org. It can also be read in its entirety at davesweb.cnchost.com. To see more work by Dave Mcgowan, try searching keyword Pedophocracy, or check out his latest book, Programmed To Kill, The Politics of Serial Murder.
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The Future is Being Written Right Now
The Establishment is Fighting to Stay Alive as the Globe Reaches a Critical Juncture in History | Old-Thinker News | By Daniel Taylor
T
he world, it seems, is reaching a critical juncture in history. Current trends are pointing towards dramatic changes in government and society. Long standing institutions are scrambling to stay afloat as new rivals challenge old ideas. Meanwhile, the global elite, foreseeing these changes, is fighting to retain control over a global system that is being torn apart by economic meltdown and a global political awakening. As top global strategists like Zbigniew Brzezinski have admitted, cracks are forming in the many bases of establishment control.
Brzezinski Global Political Awakening
sive elite were abundant during the 2010 Bilderberg meeting in Sitges Spain. Public awareness has spread significantly enough for several Bilderberg attendees to decline invitations to the annual meeting this year, fearing reprisal upon returning home. While the global political awakening is breaking methods of control that have worked in years gone by, the current financial crisis and the resulting power grab by global banks presents another problem for free peoples world-wide. Dinosaur media bites back A brief look at the failing mainstream media will unveil one of the top trends indicating this historical time period. Sensing the rise of alternative news sources, government is moving to tax news websites in an attempt to stifle competition. At the same time, several newspapers are moving to online content and charging for the service. In the 21st Century, Online media and news websites have become the dominant provider of information. China has blocked a large portion of the internet from its citizens for this reason, seeking to maintain control. The future of the internet worldwide, according to author and “web critic” Andrew Keen, will be monitored by “gatekeepers” to verify the accuracy of information posted on the web. The “Outlook 2009” report from the November-December issue of The Futurist reports that, “Internet entrepreneur Andrew Keen believes that the anonymity of today’s internet 2.0 will give way to a more open internet 3.0 in which third party gatekeepers monitor the information posted on Web sites to verify its accuracy.” Blogger Andrew Steele writes, concerning a recent incident involving Congressman Bob Etheridge of North Carolina, “Because cameras are more widely available to the average consumer and because of the popularity of user fed sites like YouTube, citizen journalists have become abundant in America over the past decade.” Steele continues, “This phenomenon has weakened the controlled media’s power to influence and shape reality, as well as the power of politicians to control their exposure through that media.” The current consensus among the intelligentsia in government - Obama regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein for example - is that information must be filtered in the new media age. “Conspiracy theories” are becoming too prolific, and an intellectual elite must guide society toward “right ways” of thinking. This type of social engineering is the driving philosophy behind many of the current initiatives coming from the Obama White House. While the mainstream media will attempt to hold its position and stifle the growing juggernaut of alternative media, its growth has proven too explosive to be contained. Bloggers and alternative news websites continue to break stories of significance across all spectrums of society. An example; BP’s recent attempt to use photoshopped images to give an exaggerated impression of its oil cleanup efforts was exposed by a blogger.
Global governance has been a long term goal of elites for decades. However, a global political awakening is taking place that is proving to be a major stumbling block under the feet of the world’s elite. During a recent Council on Foreign Relations meeting in Montreal, Zbigniew Brzezinski admitted that, “Mankind is now politically awakened and stirring,” stating that a fractured elite “... makes it a much more difficult context for any major power, including currently the leading world power, the United States.” In an earlier speech in 2009, Brzezinski elaborated further, saying, “...in early times, it was easier to control a million people, literally it was easier to control a million people than physically to kill a million people. Today, it is infinitely easier to kill a million people than to control a million people. It is easier to kill than to control....” An example of Brzezeinski’s lamentations can be seen in the failing European Union. The EU, an admitted brainchild of the Bilderberg Group, is a globalist pet project that was to be a model for global governance. Today however, the EU is suffering an economic meltdown and discord that is bringing a backlash against the collectivist ideology behind the union. Global and regional governance faces an additional problem, specifically the fact that without the perception of an outside threat the coherence of the system falls apart. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization and frequent attendee of Bilderberg meetings, stated in a November 2009 speech that, “The anthropological dimension of supranationality has probably been underestimated. Once the imminence of the menace of a new war has disappeared from our horizon, it is as if the glue that holds Europe together as a community will also disappear. Looking to the future As if there were no common myths, dreams and aspirations.” During the past few years, several reLamay further stated that “...We are witnessing a growing distance between Eu- ports have been released from the United ropean public opinions and the European Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense, the Washington Post, the U.S. Army War College, project.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA Indications of a fractured and apprehen- and the Rockefeller Foundation in conjunc-
tion with the Global Business Network that outline potential futures for humanity. Ominously, they all carry strikingly similar dystopic themes. As Old-Thinker News reported in March, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense published the Global Strategic Trends - Out to 2040 report. This report was an update to an earlier 2006 MoD report DCDC Strategic Trends 2007-2036 - which extended its strategic vision to 2036, depicting flash mobs, brain chips and revolution. The updated Out to 2040 report covers a wide swath of societal and technological issues, and anticipates an exaggerated rift between haves and have nots. The MoD also saw “...the emergence of a global elite, a powerful network of individuals and institutions that sits above the level of individual states and influences the global agenda...” Analysts writing in the 2008 U.S. Army War College paper “Leadership in the Era of the Human Singularity: New Demands, New Skills, New Response,” portray a future in which multiple scenarios are possible. One sees a new renaissance and unprecedented human development aided by technology, the other a new dark age of world-wide high tech totalitarian control. In the Human Singularity paper, Dr. Barton Kunstler documents the impact of ESI’s (Enhanced Singular Individuals), as well as the profound effect on society that human-enhancing technologies may have. Kunstler states, “This is the crux of power and also a focus of much futurist thought. Technocracy has long been depicted as uniform and oppressive, with social control the primary aim. In broadest terms, ESIs will influence social organization to reflect and favor the expression of their outsized talents. This shift could imply a commitment to creativity and innovation, with society organized to favor artists, visionaries, scientists, and inventors... Or it could result in 1984-like scenarios due to the power endowed by invasive, body -and psyche- penetrating technologies.” Kunstler continues, foreseeing a possible scenario of “...absolute totalitarian global control.” “The level of intelligence and physical well-being ushered in by the human singularity could lead to another type of singularity, a “historical singularity.” It could turn out to be a condition of absolute totalitarian global control. Or we may witness its opposite: a dramatic rise in collective wisdom...” Yet another recent report released in May 2010 from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Business Network presents a disturbing future. Among the many issues raised, “Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development” outlines a world in which low level conflict spreads world-wide while, “The global have/have-not gap grew wider than ever. The very rich still had the financial means to protect themselves; gated communities sprung up from New York to Lagos, providing safe havens surrounded by slums. In 2025, it was de rigueur to build not a house but a high-walled fortress, guarded by armed personnel.” On April 27, 2008 the Washington Post printed a lengthy report titled “Washington’s Future, a History”. The article is the product of a collaborative effort of various experts from governmental and business positions. The report outlines two future scenarios played out over the next 17 years. One of them features an America in which national ID cards have been adopted; citizen journalists are monitored and censored by round the clock internet police; cities have become locked down zones riddled with checkpoints (which can be breezed through by those who have the proper electronic implant), and the standard of living for the majority of the population has dropped dramatically while a wealthy elite flourishes.
The Post article follows the footsteps of various fictional characters in a future dystopia, one of whom is Victor. This particular character is responsible for monitoring citizen journalists. He is “...assigned to monitor and massage bloggers and citizen journalists who wrote about and took shots at the feds. Just as the work of journalism had devolved to a ragtag crew of volunteers working out of their cars and bedrooms, now the government was outsourcing much of its effort to communicate with voters, and Victor was supposed to be on round-the-clock patrol to catch any opinion wildfire that might be threatening the policymakers in his assigned sector.” Elsewhere, security clearance implants allow “officials” to move freely through checkpoints. The Post article continues, “The privatization of the roads and transit lines Paula would have to use to get to Konterra, the nation’s burgeoning satellite capital in northwestern Prince George’s County, made a commute from Washington all but impossible. Only the top ranks in her agency could possibly afford a long commute during premium-priced rush hour, and Paula could hardly switch to all-night work hours with the kids at home. The drive from Washington to Konterra took long enough; now, the checkpoints at the gateways that controlled movement in and out of the inner District could stretch any workday by two or three hours, especially for people like Paula who still had no security clearance implants and little prospect of being able to afford any.” The report further describes this society in collapse as energy rationing and “cyber meltdowns” spark protests. The poor and lower classes are effectively walled off from wealthy elites living in high tech cities. If there were ever a time for activism and involvement in the direction of society, it is now. While the future may not look exactly like the picture painted here, there is a reason that multiple reports over several years carry such similar language. Will the internet remain uncensored? Will the press remain free? Further down the road - but not very far in the distant future - how will we deal with technologies that will intrude into our bodies and minds? Will a tyrannical global elite - as envisioned by papers published by the Ministry Defense, Army War College and others - dominate the globe in a technocratic scientific dictatorship? We face complex and multifaceted issues that need to be addressed. -----------------------------A message from Daniel Taylor of OldThinker News: Dystopia or renaissance, tyranny or freedom? Our world is set to undergo dramatic changes. We face difficult choices. How are you treating others? How are you living your life? One of the greatest challenges over the coming years will be the prospect of retaining our humanity. It is easy to harden your heart toward others, the world, and yourself. You can change the world by starting with the world inside you. Set a humble example for others to follow and carry the fire. -----------------------------“Dream of the future, yes, dream. Let the glow of visions gleam and brighten your tomorrow. Reach for far off places, yes, reach. Let your vision teach Enlightenment for humanity. Believe in hope and love, yes, believe Let visions of hope and love weave the fabric of your life.” - Charles W. Taylor
September 2010
By Dee Nicholson dnicholson@yaknet.ca
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The Facts of Life, According to Stephen
ike most Canadians, I always According to Stephen Harper, the new the way fast enough. He’s in a wheelchair. servatives, we could be rid of Harper in a thought the facts of life had “facts of life” include that Canadians must Then there was the farmer with the artifi- matter of months. That’d work, if it weren’t something to do with the infa- go along to get along, and that means a loss cial leg, sitting on the lawn in the “desig- for the fact that the most likely candidate for mous “birds and bees” conversation parents of sovereignty, but hey, that’s just the way nated free speech zone” at Queen’s Park. the PMO would then be Michael Ignatieff, are supposed to have with their pre-pubes- it is, so suck it up, swallow hard, and do He had the temerity not to get to his feet who, like Paul Martin before him, would adcent children. Not according to our Prime what we say because you no longer have quickly when the cops told him to, so they vance the cause of globalism, as did Brian Minister, Stephen Harper, who recently pre- any choice. ripped off his prosthesis, dragged him face- Mulroney. The only change we really ever sented us with a new version. That is what he said after the G20 down along the ground, then picked him up see is the décor at 24 Sussex Drive. Now, the facts of life not only include meeting, outside of which, on the streets of and told him to hop to the waiting prisoner Ignatieff, or any other successor to the mechanics of how babies are made, but Toronto, hundreds of innocent bystanders buses. As if to add insult to injury, one the Canadian throne, would continue with also the right royal screwing Canadians are were corralled in a pouring rainstorm by woman was arrested for blowing bubbles. CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and taking from their government, and have been a black phalanx of Darth Vader-like offi- The lawyers are licking their chops. Trade Agreement with the European Union, for many years, without being told what was cers, later to be herded into what came to But to get back to you, the Average that targets literally every aspect of Canada’s really going on. And according to Harper, be known as Torontonamo: cold, steel-link Canuck, I did say, you no longer have any economy, and goes so far as to demand that it’s just “the way it is”. cages with open-door porta-potties and one choice, didn’t I? Think about this: this is privatization of municipal water utilities be Our helmet-haired PM, speaking at the bench housed up to 35 people each, some of our Prime Minister, condoning this uncon- open to foreign bidding. The slimy fingers closing press conference of the G20 in To- them with serious medical issues, including stitutional police behavior, denying the of CETA grope our most private public parts, ronto a few short weeks ago, finally came broken bones, no lawyers, no phone calls, right of free speech to Canadians, while including forcing municipalities to purchase out and admitted what’s been going on: certain goods and services and transReferring to how our nation has been late them into corporate profits, insigned to agreements governing our stead of supporting the local economy. economic future via international comIt looks to transfer up to $200 Billion mittees, he said: “I know some people in commerce into foreign/internationdon’t like it, and it is a loss of sovereignal pockets directly from our own. It is ty, but it’s a fact of life.” the closest thing to equal-opportunity Excuse me? When did this, or any poverty this country has ever seen, yet other Parliament, receive the mandate Harper is proud to be negotiating this from Canadians to give over any piece “wonderful” initiative. of our sovereignty, to anybody, at any Now we come to Bill C-36, the time? When did the Canadian people Canada Consumer Product Safety give permission for their right to make Act, which will be hitting the Order and enforce laws for their benefit to be Paper for 2nd Reading in a few short erased by some international committee, weeks. In that bill are clauses specifiat whose table Canadians have one uncally authorizing Health Canada to elected vote? follow the dictates of “unnamed forFor years now, I’ve warned people eign authorities”, which by definition that these make-nice trade agreements could include trade groups and even were nasty, and have been met either foreign governments. Recognize the with a blank stare, or with shrugging smell of that? shoulders and a disturbing resignation: Now, add in the fact that once “Well, we can’t do without trade, can legislation has passed, it sets precwe?” edent, which may be moved at the Mr. Mayor Most Canadians believe that their Minister’s whim merely by publicizeconomic future depends on how well ing the change in the Parliamentary we go along to get along, and certainly Gazette as a “regulatory change”. So, our Prime Minister shares that view. while C-36, the Act itself, cannot be But do most Canadians know the flip applied to Canadians’ access to natuside, the dark underbelly, of what a trade ral health products, that clause can be agreement is? Have they been given moved, without the Act, and then we their right of informed consent to agreehave CETA, the trade agreement that ments which alter the fabric of their practically dictates that we all buy nation, not to mention their democratic the same brand of underwear, and yet right to representation in government? another twist: The European Union Have they ever figured out that when already enforces the use of natural our WTO representative votes, he votes health products in “guidelines” which for all of us, but that this vote is only one are strictly enforced, and which preout of nearly two hundred others? clude therapeutic dosages and potenI don’t think so. At least, that is the cies unless prescribed, all at a very impression I am given, considering the high price. Do you think for a hot aforementioned preponderance of blank second Canada will escape unscathed stares. Yet logically, the very idea of here? democracy being possible under such Connect the dots. Crank open circumstances is a complete no-brainer. those sleepy eyes and realize that International contracts, by their very nawhile Canadians doze under the inture, preclude democracy, of necessity. DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 28JAN10 - Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, 2010 G8 Summit and Toronto G20 Summit, speaks during the session ‘Special Message’ creasing suppression of relevant at the Congress Centre at the Annual Meeting 2010 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 28, 2010.. Copyright by World Economic Forum. In a nutshell, successive Canadian swiss-image.ch/Photo by Remy Steinegger. information, your democracy is begovernments from both major parties, ing hijacked at breathtaking speed, aided and abetted by the whole of Parlia- no food, no water, no toilet paper. As our giving away control of their future within chockablock. We’ve been had. And worse, ment, have gutted our democracy and turned Prime Minister and the pampered pols from mere blocks of their rallying cries for their we’ve been the ones who let it happen, by Canadians into the pawns of whatever inter- elsewhere burped their gourmet food, the rights! It was like he was subtly raising his focusing on our petty lives and the stresses national agreement happens to affect their legitimate voices of Canadians were being middle finger to those who came with real of normality, instead of who was driving the livelihoods, their quality of life, their health brutally silenced outside. bus, and more importantly, where the hell it grievances and a right to air them. freedom, their Charter rights, and their right And while Harper was giving our ecoThese “facts of life” carry a mind- was headed. to democratic representation, without a word nomic sovereignty away inside Fort Con- numbing impact to anyone who can grasp There’s only one thing standing in the to the people of Canada. They, one by one, vention Centre, the police were running what they mean. And what galls me, what way of understanding how grave our situagave not so much as a hat tip to the concerns amok against legitimate protestors who had truly gets my goat, is the extreme arrogance tion really is, and that’s our failure to watch, of those who Harper once described as the violated no law. The first guy they nabbed with which Harper shrugs his shoulders speak out, and act to rid government of this “shareholders” of Canada, the same people was a man who is completely deaf; they ar- and grins, with that rat-toothed grin of his, kind of corruption. But, as Hitler’s propawho elected them. Instead, they carried out rested him for not obeying police orders, and calls the rape of everything Canadian, ganda chief, Josef Goebbels said, “How forthis non-mandated, stealth operation that though he could not hear what they were including her treasured democracy, a “fact tunate for the governors that the governed has been giving away chunks of Canada’s saying. do not think.” of life”! national independence, piecemeal, for deWhose side are you on, anyway? I personally know one fellow who was Considering the fact that right now the cades, under our very noses. beaten up by police for not getting out of Liberals are neck and neck with the Con-
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September 2010
increases the time needed to decipher a password.” “Davis believes the best password is an entire sentence, preferably one that includes numbers or symbols. That’s because a sentence is both long and complex, and yet easy to remember. He says any password shorter than 12 characters could be vulnerable - if not now, soon. Would-be password crackers have other advantages, says Carl Mastrangelo, an undergraduate student in the Georgia Tech College of Computing who is working on the password research. A computer stores user passwords in an encrypted “hash” within the operating system. Attackers who locate a password hash can besiege it by building a rainbow table, which is essentially a database of all previous attempts to compromise that password hash.” “Generating a rainbow table takes a long time,” Mastrangelo explained. “But if an attacker wants to crack many passwords quickly, once he’s built a rainbow table it might then only take about 10 minutes per password rather than several days.” “Software programs designed to break passwords are freely available on the Internet, Boyd says. Such programs, combined with the availability of GPUs, mean it’s only a matter of time before the password threat will be immediate.” “Boyd hopes his password work will increase awareness of the GPU’s potential for harm as well as benefit. One result of this research, he says, could be GPU-based workstations that would offer rapid assessments of a given password’s real-world security strength.”
Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute. But now the fun’s over, and we’re headed for what Celente describes as the ‘Greatest Depression.’” “Celente says the country is headed for rising unemployment, poverty, and violent class warfare as the government efforts to keep the economy going begin to fail. “The crux of the problem, Celente argues, is that the middle class has been wiped out. America used to be a land of opportunity for all, where hard-working people could build their own small businesses in their own communities and live prosperous and fulfilling lives. But now a collusion of state and corporate interests that Celente describes as ‘fascism’ have conspired to help only the biggest companies and the richest Americans. This has put a shocking amount of the country’s wealth in the hands of a privileged few and left the rest of the country to subsist on chicken-feed wages and low job satisfaction as Wal-Mart ‘associates’ -- or worse.” “The answer, Celente says, is to bring back the laws that prevented huge companies from getting so big and powerful, and put some opportunity back in the hands of ordinary people. But doing that is going to take a while. And in the meantime, we’re headed for trouble.”
No, seriously: Election jokes banned in Brazil blog.foreignpolicy.com reported:
“With the first wave of on-air political ads starting Tuesday, Brazil’s comedians and satirists are planning to fight for their Scientists map North Atlantic right to ridicule with protests in Rio de Janeiro and other cities Sunday.” garbage patch “They call the political anti-joking law which prohibits ridiculing candidates telegraph.co.uk reported in the three months before elections - a draconian relic of Brazil’s dictatorship era that threatens free speech and is a blight on the reputation of Latin America’s largest nation.... Making fun of candidates on air ahead of elections is punishable by fines up to $112,000 and a broadcast-license suspension.” “Only a few fines have ever been handed out. But Tas and others say that has been sufficient to cause TV and radio stations to A huge garbage patch of floating plastic self-censor their material during elections. in the North Atlantic Ocean has been docu- The law holds that TV and radio programs cannot “use trickery, montages or other feamented by scientists for the first time. Scientists map North Atlantic garbage tures of audio or video in any way to degrade or ridicule a candidate, party or coalition.’” patch
Plastic accumulated in regions called gyres, where currents circle and push water toward the centre, trapping the floating bits. There are five major gyres in the world, one in each major ocean Scientists have gathered data from 22 years of surface net tows to map the North Atlantic garbage patch, which lies to the east of Bermuda, and its change over time, creating the most accurate picture yet of any pelagic plastic patch on earth.
And Now We’re Headed For The Greatest Depression, Says Gerald Celente
Henry Blodget reported for Yahoo News: “The fake “recovery” was nice while it lasted, says famous apocalyptic forecaster
Saudi Arabian judge asks hospitals to paralyse man guardian.co.uk reported: “A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals whether they would punitively damage a man’s spinal cord after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralysing him, local newspapers reported today.” “Saudi Arabia enforces strict sharia law and occasionally metes out punishments based on the ancient code of an eye for an eye.” “The newspaper Okaz said the judge in northwestern Tabuk province, identified as Saoud bin Suleiman al-Youssef, asked at least two hospitals for a medical opinion on whether surgeons could render the attacker’s spinal cord nonfunctional.” “Okaz reported that a leading hospital in Riyadh – King Faisal specialist hospital – said that it would not do the operation. The article quoted a letter from the hospital saying “inflicting such harm is not possible”, apparently refusing on ethical grounds.”
Google Plans To Kill Web In Internet Takeover Agenda infowars.com reported: The net-neutrality ending deal with Verizon is just the beginning of Google’s plans to kill the open and free Internet as part of their takeover agenda to completely control the world wide web and force independent media websites, radio and TV shows out of existence for good. Google’s agreement with Verizon to speed certain Internet content to users opens the door to the complete sterilization of the world wide web as a force for political change. Under Google’s takeover plan, the Internet will closely resemble cable TV, independent voices will be silenced and the entire Internet will be bought up by transnational media giants. People who want to run a simple blog will be priced out of existence, online TV and radio shows will cease to exist as the Internet is swallowed up by the corporate borg. True net neutrality means that independent news outlets who attract an audience by telling the truth can compete on an even keel with corporate giants like ABC, CBS and CNN. The Google-Verizon pact will end that level playing field and in turn eliminate everything that is outside of the mainstream. “A non-neutral Internet means that companies like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and Google can turn the Net into cable TV and pick winners and losers online,” writes Josh Silver. “A problem just for Internet geeks? You wish. All video, radio, phone and other services will soon be delivered through an Internet connection. Ending Net Neutrality would end the revolutionary potential that any website can act as a television or radio network. It would spell the end of our opportunity to wrest access and distribution of media content away from the handful of massive media corporations that currently control the television and radio dial.” The deal will also split the Internet into a two-tier system, a cyber toll road, where satisfactory speeds and service will only be obtainable by those willing to pay substantial fees. The pact also gives Google and huge ISPs the leeway to block certain websites on wireless networks, meaning Prison Planet and Infowars will ‘go dark’ for millions of people. Once Google’s fiercest critics have been silenced for good the company can then set about implementing its CIA-backed total information awareness program, which will scour Twitter accounts, blogs and websites for all sorts of information left by individual users, aiming to use this data to “predict the future” and completely direct and control people’s lives and behavior. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has announced that Google, in conjunction with the CIA, is set to become the ultimate Big Brother entity that “will know so much about its users that the search engine will be able to help them plan their lives” by constantly tracking their location via smart phones and telling them where to go and what to do. We have previously reported on Google’s intimate and long standing connections to government spy networks. There is also no doubt that Google is one of the corporations at the forefront of the government’s drive to use cybersecurity as a pretext for killing the free Internet, having previously worked with the NSA and the CIA. The recent scandal involving the company’s street view roaming vehicles accessing the wi-fi details of internet users and mapping their online activities has also raised serious questions over intelligence links and abuse of privacy laws.
Lonely America? CNN reported: “There are 96 million people in the United States who have no spouse. That means 43 percent of all Americans over the age of 18 are single, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.” “Single” is defined as adults who have never been married, are divorced or are widowed in the bureau’s America’s Families and Living Arrangements survey of 2009. “Of the singletons, 61 percent of them have never said “I do.” Twenty-four percent are divorced and 15 percent are widowed.” “An increasing number of these single Americans -- more than 31 million -- are living alone, according to the census. They make up 27 percent of all households, up from 17 percent in 1970.” “More than half of the unmarried Americans are women. And for every 100 single women, there are 88 unmarried men available”
Orwell in charge? Kucinich compares Iraq ‘exit’ to Bush’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ RawStory.com reported: “Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today challenged the notion that removing ‘combat brigades’ but leaving 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq constitutes an end to combat operations, let alone an end to the war,” a press release sent to RAW STORY on Thursday stated. The press release continues: “Who is in charge of our operations in Iraq , now? George Orwell? A war based on lies continues to be a war based on lies. Today, we have a war that is not a war, with combat troops who are not combat troops. In 2003, President Bush said ‘ Mission Accomplished ‘ . In 2010, the White House says combat operations are over in Iraq , but will leave 50,000 troops, many of whom will inevitably be involved in combat-related activities. “Just seven days ago, General Babaker Shawkat Zebari, the commander of Iraq ’s military, said that Iraq ’s security forces will not be trained and ready to take over security for another 10 years. One story is being told to the military on the ground in Iraq and another story is being told to their families back home. “You can’t be in and out at the same time.
Desperately Seeking Accommodation: Iran Offers U.S. Chance to Build Nuclear Power Plants Infowars.com reported: Iran has provided the United States with an opportunity to make sure it does not gain the nuclear material required to make a bomb. Do you think the Obama administration will take advantage of the opportunity? Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Iran is ready to cooperate with “any country,” including the United States, in building nuclear power plants. Not likely. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that Iran is ready to cooperate with “any country,” including the United States, in building nuclear power plants in Iran, according to Press TV. Mehmanparast was asked if Iran would work with the United States on the country’s nuclear projects and he responded “we are ready to cooperate with any company from any country which is capable of building such facilities with high standard.” “These are big economic projects and
World
September 2010 there will certainly be much competition between different countries,” he said. In May of this year, Secretary of State Clinton dismissed an offer by Iran to swap some of its enriched uranium for reactor fuel. Clinton said the Iranian offer — and attempt to prevent the bombing of its country — was a “transparent ploy” to avoid a fresh round of U.N. Security Council sanctions. The swap offer was negotiated by Brazil and Turkey, which are opposed to new U.N. sanctions on Iran.
Two Arrested After $50m Van Gogh Painting Stolen From Cairo Museum Mail Foreign Service reported:
Two Italians have been arrested trying to smuggle a $50m Vincent Van Gogh painting out of Cairo today, officials said this evening. Minister Farouk Hosni says airport security confiscated the priceless painting from two Italians hours after the artwork was ‘cut from its frame’ at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital. The painting, known both as ‘Poppy Flowers’ and Vase with Flowers’ had been stolen before from the same museum over 30 years ago in 1978.
Cloned Cow Milk is Unknowingly Drunk in the U.K. Kim Evans reported for NaturalNews: For the health conscious, there is quite a list of common supermarket foods that are regularly avoided. GMOs, processed foods, white flours, and junk foods are frequently on that list, and often meat and dairy are too. But if meat and dairy aren’t already on your “foods to avoid” list, we now have one more reason why they should be. The New York Times recently reported that a British dairy farmer is quietly using the milk from a cloned cow and distributing it in Britain. Like GMO producers who know full well that people wouldn’t eat their products if they were honestly labeled as genetically manipulated, this farmer demanded anonymity saying that if people knew his milk was from a cloned animal they would stop buying his milk. Under the cloak of anonymity, this farmer admits that he’s willfully hiding relevant information about his product from his customers - who obviously care a great deal about this information. The British government was kept in the dark that cloned milk was in the food supply because the farmer simply neglected to fill out the forms that are required to introduce the milk or meat from a cloned animal into the food supply. But this leaves one wondering: Exactly how many other farmers are selling milk and/or meat from cloned animals and have simply chosen not to fill
out the paperwork in order to protect their profits and remain anonymous? Switzerland, home to cheeses and chocolates that are imported around the world, has several hundred second or third generation clones living within its borders. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2008 that there are hundreds, and possibly thousands, of off-spring of cloned cattle living in the U.S. They also confirmed the worst and said, “milk and meat from the offspring of cloned livestock are entering the U.S. food supply.” According to the BBC and The Daily Mail, eight cloned cow embryos have entered the U.K. and those cows have produced 97 offspring. Britain doesn’t have a system to track the embryos or their offspring, which leaves their use or nonuse in the food supply at the discretion of farmers - who as we’ve already witnessed can demonstrate highly questionable moral character. Fortunately for those living and eating in Europe, the average European takes these assaults on their food supply very seriously and controversy has erupted in Britain over the cloned milk. It would be nice to see similar rallying in the U.S. to get bans on these types of insane food - and ultimately health - experiments as well. Most of the U.S. population is against animal cloning and says they wouldn’t eat genetically manipulated foods - if they knew which ones they were. The animal cloning industry, of course, insists cloned animals are the same as noncloned animals and that they’re safe for consumption - even though quite a bit of evidence points the other direction. Cloned cows frequently have liver problems, malformed kidneys, immune system deficiencies, respiratory problems, oversized heads and twisted limbs. They also have extremely high stillbirth and calf mortality rates. In a 2007 study, 18 percent of the cloned calves died at birth and in another study 32 percent of the calves who actually survived birth died within the first month of life.
Wyclef Jean to Run for President of Haiti TIME reported:
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people, was the biblical event that sealed his mula they were drinking for the development calling. After days of helping ferry mangled of breasts. Haitian corpses to morgues, Jean felt as if he’d “finished the journey from my basket Computers that read minds are in the bulrushes to standing in front of the being developed by Intel burning bush,” he told me this week. “I knew I’d have to take the next step.” Telegraph.co.uk reported: That would be running for President of Haiti. Jean told TIME he is going to announce his candidacy for the Nov. 28 election just days before the Aug. 7 deadline.
Light may replace needles for diabetes sufferers io9.com reported: “Glucose is the body’s fuel. It provides the body’s cells with the energy they need to keep going. After a person eats, glucose is released into the blood stream. Since a large percentage of cells aren’t in the direct path of blood, insulin acts as a messenger, carrying the glucose efficiently to the less accessible tissues. Diabetics do not produce enough insulin, and so the glucose, or sugar, builds up in their blood and stays out of their tissues. They need to monitor their blood sugar and inject themselves with insulin in order to stay healthy.” “Unfortunately, monitoring blood sugar means getting to the blood, and that means shoving needles into your body until they hit blood.” “A few different technologies could be changing that very soon. One is an algorithm that is able to extrapolate a person’s blood sugar levels from the amount of glucose present in the fluid around skin cells. Since the glucose is carried by the blood stream, the skin cells aren’t as clear an indicator. This made that kind of blood sugar check useless to anyone who didn’t enjoy a bracing round of metaphorical Russian roulette after dinner. Now, skin is as accurate an indicator as blood.” “The second technology is the first one to be considered for this technique; a Raman spectrometer. This spectrometer would shoot out a laser. The laser will scatter off the elements being analyzed. Depending on what elements are present, the frequency that has scattered off the elements is different than the frequency that was shot out. This difference, called Raman shift, varies depending on the elements. That allows the spectrometer to detect how much glucose is in the fluid around the cells.” “There is one problem, though. Raman scattering needs intense light. Intense light needs a lot of power. A lot of power needs to be generated by bulky equipment. This is the technology that still needs work. The spectrometer needs to be shrunk down enough that it can be carried around. Hopefully, that will happen soon, and checking blood sugar levels will be as easy as running groceries through a scanner.”
Hip-hop music, more than most pop genres, is something of a pulpit, urban fire Babies with breasts shock Chiand brimstone garbed in baggy pants and na backward caps. So it’s little wonder that one of the form’s icons, Haitian-American Asia Times reported: superstar Wyclef Jean, is the son of a Nazarene preacher — or that he likens himself, Once again, China’s most vulnerable as a child of the Haitian diaspora, to a modcitizens – its babies – are the central figures ern-day Moses, destined to return and lead in a food-safety scandal. Parents are blamhis people out of bondage. Haiti’s Jan. 12 ing the company that produces the baby forearthquake, which killed more than 200,000
“Unlike current brain-controlled computers, which require users to imagine making physical movements to control a cursor on a screen, the new technology will be capable of directly interpreting words as they are thought”. “Intel’s scientists are creating detailed maps of the activity in the brain for individual words which can then be matched against the brain activity of someone using the computer, allowing the machine to determine the word they are thinking.”
Tony Robbins Warns Economic Collapse Is Coming ed:
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com report-
“It seems like almost everyone is warning of a coming economic collapse these days. Do you remember Tony Robbins? He is probably the world’s best known “motivational speaker” and his infomercials dominated late night television during the 80s and 90s. He was always urging all of us to “unleash the power within” and to take charge of our lives. Well guess what? Now Tony Robbins is warning that an economic collapse is coming. In fact, he has issued a special video warning about what he believes is about to happen. Considering the incredible connections that he has at the highest levels of the financial world, it makes a lot of sense to consider what he is trying to warn us about. Robbins says that a “major retracement” is coming to financial markets and that the coming collapse is going to be a “painful process” as we go through it. Those familiar with Tony Robbins know that he always goes out of his way to stress the positive, so if even he is openly warning the public about a coming economic nightmare than you know that things are starting to get really, really bad out there.”
WikiLeaks Founder Charged with Rape in Sweden Kurt Nimmo reported for Infowars.com: “The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing,” Julian Assange wrote in a Twitter. “Update: Swedish prosecutors have canceled the arrest warrant issued for Assange. “Chief prosector Eva Finné has come to the desicion that Julian Assange is not suspected of rape,” the Swedish Prosecution Authority has announced.”
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