Quest Questions Quandaries
Growing threat of nuclear war Pilger, Jim Taylor +
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VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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PHOTOS
In memory of Ed, Grist for the Mill Ed Goertzen, Oshawa ON
Ed Goertzen will be missed
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A word from the publisher and editor… Dear Reader, Who knew the letter Q could be quite so enchanting?! But then, Questions, Quests and Quandaries seem to lie at the heart of our humanity – often summed up in an apt Quote! And how about all the things that go on in the world “on the QT!”… such as 9/11 (P.29), Geo-engineering (p.42), etc. You may come to think of this as the quintessentially Quixotic edition! ~ full of romantic, wild-eyed, ‘impractical’ ideas for a better world… It really has been the most wonderful issue to see coming together – so many questions raised and intriguing perspectives offered. Some may raise a few eyebrows or prompt strident rebuttals – but this is an issue that embodies the principle of Question Everything! (p.15): even the taboo topics like Conspiracy Theories (pp.18,29,42,+), Identity Politics / ‘What is White and Why Does it Matter?’(pp.26, 27); and even challenging the doctrine of CO2-induced climate change, (p.42, 59). As always, there are many well-written and forceful exposés and letters on a fascinating range of topics. And a ‘harvest cornucopia’ of entertaining and inspiring personal stories. We hope you enjoy it all! We have heard rumours that John Porter (p.6) and Susan McCaslin (p.31) may be contemplating the end of their regular columns, but we hope they will both continue to grace the pages of Dialogue with their creative insights and wisdom ~ for many years to come! We were saddened to hear of the death of Ed Goertzen of Oshawa and will miss his unique and knowledgeable approach to understanding current subjects, especially issues of governance (see p.59). A new fundraising project for Dialogue… Dialogue has been accepted by the Thrifty Foods Smile Card Fundraising Program – which enables friends of Dialogue to have their grocery purchases at any Thrifty Foods store to support the magazine. The program donates five percent of purchases to Dialogue, at no cost to the shopper. We will mail out designated “Smile Cards” to subscribers who live near one of the 26 Thrifty Foods stores in BC – in case you would care to use them for your grocery purchases! [see www.thriftyfoods.com ] If you enjoy Dialogue, please consider ordering (or renewing) a Gift Subscription for a friend or local library, or a waiting room/café? [p.58.] And Thank You if you are able to help with a donation at this time, so we can meet expenses while keeping our subscription rate affordable for everyone.
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…an independent, Canadian volunteer-produced, not-for-profit quarterly, written and supported by its readers – empowering their voices and the sharing of ideas. Now in its 30th year, dialogue provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and an antidote to political correctness. We encourage readers to share with others the ideas and insights gleaned from these pages. If this is your first issue, please let us know what you think of it.
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VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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From Near and Far
To question or not to question Bill Woollam, Duncan BC
A former Canadian veteran wrote in our local paper that a Muslim Canadian, Omar Khadr, (who was tortured by the West, after involvement in the Middle East as a teenager)... was not deserving of his monetary settlement which the highest court of Canada awarded him. My response is this: If I truly serve this Canadian system of law, and the highest court in Canada finds this Muslim Canadian innocent and worthy of compensation, then so be it. The veteran/writer addressed his support for Canada by mentioning his long, dedicated military service. Yet, in the next breath he insinuates that the Canadian Supreme Court is making poor decisions. My own assumptions and lack of data on the case leave me with a skewed viewpoint of the entire affair. So much hate propaganda is put out regarding Muslims. In my opinion, many ‘terrorist’ stories are put out with incomplete data. In his novel “The Whole Truth,” David Baldacci explained that ‘mainstream media is a tool to manage the perception of the general population.’ In other words, to justify further warfare in the Middle East, the mainstream news depict a very “pro-war” stance on the affairs in the Middle East: i.e. depict the country or leader as a threat; and the people hearing the news then support the ‘trumped up charges’ being used to justify military aggression. A Syrian fellow attempted to explain ‘perception management’ to the listeners in an interview that was aired just once on CBC about two months ago. The
Syrian refugee stated that only one percent of what Canadians and Americans get reported from the mainstream television and radio about the Middle East is accurate. He said the conflict in Syria was originally not an armed conflict. But then the foreign-backed mercenaries/rebels showed up. He said the Syrian people were peacefully demonstrating and negotiating with the Assad government for specific changes. He said that Assad, the Syrian leader, was listening and dialoguing with the demonstrators. Then came Western-backed rebels and mercenaries who started assassinating both the demonstrators and the supporters of Assad. Those same Syrian citizens eventually asked the Assad government to bring in the Syrian government soldiers to stop the assassinations by the mercenaries. In his CBC interview, this Syrian man indicated the rebels/mercenaries were being armed and funded by Western allies such as Saudi Arabia. The end result, as in the case of Libya and Iraq, is that the area is bombed and pummeled by international military aggression. It is so tragic that even the Syrian people can’t get away fast enough. Hence, Syrian refugees. So, I admit that the system is questionable from the top down ... including the reasons given for Canada’s support for the military aggression in the Middle East. However, I do find it difficult to believe that the Canadian Supreme Court decision to compensate Khadr is faulty. Bill Woollam, July 21, 2017, templelife@hotmail.com ♣ [See also Essay by Wilf Cude re Khadr on p.35]
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What’s the Real Story? David Boese, St. Catharines ON
“It’s the Economy, stupid!” How many times have you heard this statement? Many, I suppose, and you will hear it many times more, because this is what the powers that be, want you to believe. The real phrase should be “It’s the Debt stupid.” The real problem facing our current economic malaise is that, from individuals to sovereign states, we’re all carrying too much debt. Why is this? Well quite simply it’s the money supply or lack thereof, controlled by a handful of “Robber Barons” – more commonly known as “Banksters.” 4 dialogue
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When 1% of the world population (private and corporate) control the financial destiny of everyone on the planet, greed sets in and power is king. Something isn’t working and a new monetary paradigm, is the only answer to close the income disparity gap. When I talk to people who have a job and tell them I’m advocating for a guaranteed living income for everyone, they immediately say that the jobless are just lazy and if you give them a guaranteed annual income they will refuse to work. I don’t believe this to be true. Yes, there will always be lazy people, no matter what. Can www.dialogue.ca
I dare say that there are actually lazy people who are rich and that we have a lot (not all) lazy bureaucrats who don’t contribute a dime of wealth for our country! I believe that most people want to be engaged in a meaningful occupation and like to keep busy, regardless of their economic status. For a lot of people who don’t have a job it’s through no fault of their own. Who do you turn to if you lose your job? It could be because of illness, work related accident, downsizing, outsourcing, the company you
work for goes bankrupt after stealing your pension savings, or the investments you hold for your retirement become worthless, etc. The list goes on! When you are an employed person things may seem A.O.K., but situations can turn on a dime and then your thoughts will turn into helplessness. So, I’m suggesting that we become proactive and support reform for monetary issues. David Boese, St. Catharines ON BLOG: http://boeseblog.wordpress.com ♣
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Reminiscences from Denny Petrik
Both Sides
Following nasty street fights in the USA (Charlottesville), Donald Trump uttered the notable statement: “Blame both sides!” By saying that, he was stating that both sides had similar bad faults. And I recall that in my long-ago past, I experienced a touch of proof of such belief; even if my experience was divided by a row of years. When I was nine years old, I was walking along a street of Nazi-occupied Prague. As I walked along, I spotted an old man tapping his white cane on the curb. White cane, blind man, tapping the curb, trying to cross the street. So I ran up and offered the man my help, which he gladly accepted. Making sure that we stayed out of the way of a small truck and the streetcar, we managed to reach the opposite sidewalk. Just then a truck full of German soldiers came along and abruptly came to a screeching stop right behind us. One of the soldiers jumped down, ran up to us and gave me the most hateful look I ever saw – and then he backhanded me across the face to the tune of “we do not help Jews!” It was only then that I noticed the commandeered large Star of David on the old man’s coat. Some ten years later, I was walking along the street of Ludwigsburg in U.S.-occupied Germany with three of my fellow displaced persons, escapees from communism. As we walked, we chatted, debating, and dreaming a bit, about to which country we would like to emigrate, should they accept us. At one street corner, we met a couple of American soldiers, one of whom just placed a cigarette in his mouth. He quickly looked at me and asked: “Got a light?” www.dialogue.ca
My night-school English was good enough for that, so I lit his cigarette. And then I got a thank you – a backhanded slap across the face, accompanied by, “F- - - - - - deepee!” No wonder I decided to settle north of the 49th parallel. *******
Symphony Example I was sitting in my armchair watching a concert on television. All musicians worked diligently to contribute to the outpouring of Beethoven’s beautiful thought. And as I listened to the treasure of sound, I partly closed my eyes. It was then that I ceased to see an orchestra, but rather became aware that I was seeing an inspiration for mankind how to extend its existence. None of the musicians was attempting to outdo the one next to him, or one in the opposite side of the orchestra. They all did their best to contribute to the resulting excellence. And if cooperation works so well in realm of an orchestra, there is no doubt that it would work even better in realm of survival on a planet of finite resources. Denny Z. Petrik, mainland BC ♣
Quote This!
Suggested by Maurice:
“Nobody is as bad as the worst thing they have done.” – quoting Armand Gamache (quoting a nun who worked with prisoners in Quebec jails); in Louise Penny’s latest Chief Inspector Gamach novel, Glass Houses (Aug. 29, 2017) … To which, a response was:
“And no one is as good as the best thing they have done.” ♣ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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“Intimate Details” Questions for Blake By J.S. Porter, Hamilton, Ontario
Questions open the world. Answers close it. Take Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next, for example. Important questions undergird the film: The way things are done now, have they always been done that way? Do other cultures do things differently? My favourite scene in the film has to do with French schoolchildren sitting down at the table, serving each other, being polite and eating a nutritious meal together. “Who speaks for the trees?” Dr. Seuss in “The Lorax” asks. When you ask that question genuinely the mere asking reformulates how you do business, government and so-called development. According to Gabrielle Roth, in shamanic societies people would come to a medicine person when they felt disheartened, dispirited or depressed. The shaman asks four questions: “When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?” I’ve recently come upon two great questions I’d like to ask my grandsons. The first is by the poet Mary Oliver in her prayer-poem “Summer Day:” Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? And the second question is by the literary critic Roger Shattuck, who devoted much of his life to the study of Proust: On what level, in what rhythm, with what intensity are we alive? The Greek pre-Socratic philosophers are full of great questions on the physical world. What’s the fundamental element everything else is based on? Is it fire, air, earth or water? Biblically speaking, the book of Job is a book of questions. The questions seek the moral foundation for the physical world: “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall 6 dialogue
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on barren land…? Who sends the rain that satisfies the parched ground and makes the tender grass spring up?” The German philosopher Nietzsche in his essay “Schopenhauer as Educator” asks questions that I as an aging person like to ask myself: “What have you truly loved up to now, what has elevated your soul, what has mastered it and at the same time delighted it?” Three questions in one. Then there are the three questions of the painter Paul Gauguin paint-written on one of his last Tahitian paintings – Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? You could spend days pondering each question in succession. A simple question to ask a would-be writer is – what do you love? Start there. Write about that. Or, whom do you love? That’s maybe harder to answer but just as valuable to think about. Sometimes I ask myself a question about my own writing. Why bother? Who’s going to read it anyway? I know the answer now. I write primarily for my grandsons. Some worked-over, worried-over, wellconstructed words may be the only gift I have to give them. If that’s the case, maybe one passed-along word is sufficient: question. Question convention, authority, your education, your parents, your friends, me. Question most things, except perhaps when love is genuinely involved. If you love baseball, go with it. If you love music, go with it. If you love a girl, go with her. Follow your loves, even if they from time to time trip you up. The French novelist Marcel Proust followed his loves – his mother, his grandmother, his maid and secretary Céleste and his writing. In his early schooling, he was asked in what is now known as The Proust Questionnaire a series of very interesting questions, such as: What is your idea of earthly happiness? …/ www.dialogue.ca
(Answer: “To live in contact with those I love, with the beauties of nature, with a quantity of books and music, and to have, within easy distance, a French theater.”) What quality in a man do you desire? (Answer: “Feminine charms.”) What quality in a woman do you desire? (Answer: “Manly virtues, and frankness in friendship.” And then comes the question that breaks my heart every time I read it:
What would be your greatest misfortune? (Answer: “Not to have known my mother or my grandmother.”) This one—both the question and the answer—makes me cry because I think of my grandson Blake and his mother Rachel and his grandmother Cheryl and imagine for a moment how diminished his life would be not to know either. Sometimes questions lead you to love – the ones whom you love and the ones who love you. J. S. Porter, Hamilton ♣
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Stories from Magical Moon Lake
About Telepathy - Human and Animal senses and sensors. Karl Backus, Holland Centre ON
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) once said: “Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.” Many of us may not realize that telepathic experiences are part of our daily lives. It often happens to myself or to my friends that I hear someone say, '1 have just been thinking of you': or someone phones me just when I was thinking of that person minutes or even seconds before. It just happens too often to brush these incidences aside as coincidences. Our brains are like wonderful machines that can simultaneously think, receive and send messages or images through electric impulses in the way that radios, TV's or cell phones work. I remember when I was a boy I was happy having one of the small radio-detectors. Through earphones I received the local radio station without any source of power. A spool of copper wire and a small magnet created enough current to pick up the radio signals. In various degrees all life and communication is governed by electricity. Only a charge of 0.04 Volt is necessary for the human brain to activate and move all our body parts and enjoy our senses. Animals, or even tiny insects, constantly emit low voltages, sometimes only 1/1000th of one Volt. Still, predators can detect their prey through such unimaginable small voltages that are difficult for us to measure. In one TV program it was shown that Hammerhead Sharks can zero-in even on prey hidden under the sandy bottom. www.dialogue.ca
Animals have quite a variety of senses or features we can only dream about and have no means of competing with. Bats and Dolphins, for instance, use sonar for orientation or locating prey. Other animals use infrared vision to be able to see in total darkness. A Vulture can use one part of its eyes as a telescope and zero-in on an object on the ground while circling high in the sky. How quickly the word gets around among Vultures when one of them locates a carcass! This is another gift about which we can only speculate as to how it works. Suddenly Vultures arrive from all directions. The sense of smell in many animals can trace the tiniest of particles across miles even after months have lapsed We have absolutely no means of measuring this. Our eyes are made to see only the light-waves. This covers only 3.8% of the many wavelengths that exist. There are so many things to be explored, telepathy representing only one of many. If we are curious enough we can open our minds to explore other realms. Even without being endowed with the many gifts that animals have, we still may become aware of how exciting the world we live in really is. Our knowledge, wisdom and appreciation may grow accordingly. I can visualize that one-day we could be ready to communicate with all parts of Creation. This may include the world of animals, plants and even the little-known world of minerals. I am quite certain that intercommunication between various realms exists. When we begin to build bridges into other …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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kingdoms of Nature our expanded understanding will enrich our own lives and perhaps create a feeling of happiness that can be shared with humans and animals alike. I like to tell the story of a long telephone conversation I had shortly after I had written this Inset. I wanted to thank Bill who had donated the book 'The Legend of Altazar" to my friend Marye's library. Bill's name was in the book cover as a donor, while Marye thought this book would interest me. It described ancient Lemuria, a lost continent that vanished long ago. The fascinating part about this book was that the main character's name was Solana, a name I had imagined and given a dolphin in one of my stories (Part III). When I mentioned this coincidence of names we began to talk about animal stories and Telepathy. Bill told me that there was no doubt animals tune into our thoughts. He said his cat had saved his life.
One night not too long ago Bill had wanted to take his own life. It was after midnight when everyone was quiet. Even his cat seemed to be in a deep sleep. But in the instant Bill made the decision to take his own life, the cat came out of its sleep, walked over to him, stood in front of him, and stared at him. The cat's behaviour was so strange to Bill that he abandoned the idea of taking his own life. Today Bill is very grateful to his cat. Perhaps the cats and dogs we have as pets are our links into the animal world. I am sure that Bill's experience with animal telepathy has been repeated in many variations. When I am telling my stories to friends they often respond with their own incredible animal experiences. Usually they keep these stories for themselves for they may sound hard to believe. (Inset #2, From Magical Moon Lake, pp.23-24)
Karl Backus, Holland Centre ON ♣
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Launch of the Douglas Cardinal Foundation for Indigenous Waldorf Education From Marianne Else, Hawkestone ON
I came across the work of Douglas Cardinal a few years ago in a video by James Brian as it was linked to Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education. [LINK: https://youtu.be/nqCceJ4pGAY ]
A new video published on June 27, 2017 states that: “Architect Douglas Cardinal's path in life has seldom been as smooth as the lines on the buildings he designs. Anishinaabe raised in Blackfoot territory, Cardinal's curvilinear vision has produced instantly-recognizable monuments to Indigenous culture in the national capitals of both Canada and the United States to world acclaim. But even his landmark successes have not come without controversy. The film offers an intimate portrait of an artist guided by his Anishinaabe culture to uplift humanity towards hope and social justice.” [LINK: https://youtu.be/pDAz-JIGa6U ] The most interesting turn of events to me was that he tried to get into Canadian Universities to study Architecture and was told that his family background was not conducive to being included in the ranks of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. [LINK:
rest is history – because they had something in common – a love for humanity and the way that children could be taught in Waldorf Education and this also influenced him greatly in his work with architecture. Douglas Cardinal is now involved with a new endeavor with the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Toronto [LINK : http://tinyurl.com/rsct-40173 ] to focus on Indigenous Waldorf Education: [LINK : http://tinyurl.com/iw-launch ] Many blessings from Marianne melse@live.ca BELOW: a five-minute teaser about the life and work of Douglas Cardinal: http://tinyurl.com/yt-douglas-cardinal
https://www.raic.org/ ]
He then went to Texas to do his architectural studies and met a person who studied Anthroposophy. The 8 dialogue
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What To Do in the Face of Threats of Nuclear War? ~ A tale of two tinpot dictators By Jim Taylor, Okanagan Centre BC, Aug. 7 2017
The question came at the end of a security conference in Australia. An academic in the audience for Admiral Scott Swift’s public address in Canberra asked a hypothetical question: “If… you were to receive an order from the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to make a nuclear attack on China, would you do it?” Swift’s answer was an unequivocal yes. Then he amplified: “Every member of the U.S. military has sworn an oath…to obey the officers and the president of the United States as the commander in chief appointed over us.” “Admiral Swift answered the question the only way a serving military officer could,” explained Rory Medcalf, the program’s host. “It would have been a lot more controversial if he had said no, he would not obey the commander-in-chief.” Okay, now let’s switch locales. Imagine a similar question directed at one of Kim Jong Un’s generals in Pyongyang, North Korea: “If you were to receive an order from your Supreme Commander to launch a nuclear attack on the United States of America, would you do it?” Can you imagine that general saying no? Mismatched powers North Korea has already tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that has the range to reach continental U.S.A. North Korea has nuclear warheads. Against that, the U.S. has the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. And missiles. On land, and at sea. Plus bombers at hundreds of bases spread around the world. Which makes North Korea look like Mighty Mouse challenging The Hulk to a fist fight. North Korea is roughly the same size as a single state, Pennsylvania, with twice the population. Its per capita income is slightly over $1000 a year – barely five per cent of neighbouring South Korea’s $20,000, or two per cent of America’s $50,000. (American CEO compensation packages would be 300 times higher.) North Korea’s total GDP, at about $17 billion, is dwarfed by the U.S.’s $19 trillion; the UN ranks North Korea 113rd in the world. North Korea’s GDP per capita ranking is even worse; effectively, Kim Jong Un’s war machine has $648 per person to work with, the Pentagon has $57,436. www.dialogue.ca
Irrational leadership Any rational analysis would say that North Korea …/ would be suicidal to attack America. But their leaders show some disturbing similarities. Both countries are increasingly isolated. Kim Jong Un has only one ally – China. Donald Trump has spent his first nine months in office alienating former friends. Both leaders are obsessed with two things -- their own self-importance, and their aggrandized vision for their countries, regardless of its consequences for any other country. Both men are paranoid about threats to their power. Both men make arbitrary and unpredictable decisions. In Canada, we know too much about Donald Trump’s personality, too little about Kim Jong Un’s. But of the two, Kim Jong Un is probably the more predictable. His goals and actions have at least been consistent over his six years as North Korea’s Supreme Commander. And both men have absolute authority over launching nuclear attacks. All of which leads to the next hypothetical question: What can I do about it? Nothing. I have no influence on either leader. Possibly no one has. What to do I remember sitting in my kitchen one bright autumn day in 1983 when the radio announced that Ronald Reagan had just invaded Grenada. Grenada, to refresh your memory, had elected a Marxist-influenced government. A more extreme Stalinist coup had overthrown that government and executed its leaders. Reagan feared that a new airport under construction could serve as a base for Russian bombers. Like North Korea, Grenada was no match for U.S. power. But if Russia decided to retaliate, Russian bombers could have arrived overhead within hours. I wondered what I should do. Drink myself senseless? Go on a debauch? Make desperate long-distance calls to everyone I loved? The answer was, nothing. If what I was doing right now was worth doing, I should continue doing it. And if it wasn’t worth doing, I had to ask myself, why was I doing it at all? VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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In the present standoff, the best advice I can offer is found in the Serenity Prayer written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr before the second World War: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.
So if what you’re doing is worth doing, keep doing it. If sanity ultimately prevails, well and good. If it doesn’t, it won’t matter anyway. *******
Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved. To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca (and send a copy to dialogue@dialogue.ca too, thanks!) ♣
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“The Fifth Columnist”
From Russia with Love
Michael Neilly, Dunrobin ON
The monster was created over seventy years ago when the Soviet Union and China successfully exported something called Communism to North Korea. Now the enfant terrible has grown up. Presumably no longer beholden to its benefactors, its mentally ill leader lobs ICBMs across Japan. For Japan, a country twice nuked, seeing missiles fly overhead must be a terrifying prospect. It’s hard to believe, looking at a map of the region, that North Korea’s capital, Pyong Yang is about 800 kilometres east of Beijing and about 700 kilometres south-west of Vladivostok, home port of Russia’s mighty Pacific Fleet. Putting this in Canadian terms, let’s say it’s about the distance between Vancouver and Calgary or Toronto and Quebec City. When conventional weapons were being used in the Korean War 1950-1953, 800 kilometres was a comfortable distance to live from a conflict. But now, with nuclear weapons, the idea of having hydrogen bombs going off literally in your backyard, surely that calculus has changed? Perhaps this struggle is an extension of the Great Game, a rivalry that existed between Russian and British empires. Or maybe the goal is to generate immense pressure on North Korea and hope for a palace coup? A coup. It’s funny how many people dismiss the idea of “decapitating” a government. Yet imagine if Pierre Trudeau had been assassinated. Would there have been the 1970’s War Measures Act imposed on Canada? Would there have been an Anti-Inflation Board and the National Energy Program? Would Canada have deficit 10 dialogue
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financing and today’s giant mountain of debt and deficits to contend with? And this is sleepy Canada! It’s a no-win situation no matter what we do or don’t do, according to the experts. Among the many options being proposed, diplomatic or military, there is one that is not on the table and I’m going to propose it now. America, pull out of South Korea. The idea of this is unthinkable, yet America withdrew from Viet Nam in 1973. The South was invaded. Recalling the misery of the “boat people”, a mass exodus occurred from the end of the war up to 1995. But some decades later, Viet Nam is slowly being welcomed back into the fold, normalizing if you will? Withdraw from South Korea and the North may attack. The South would fight to repel them. The occupier would savour his brief victory, but eventually would have to somehow reconcile with the occupied. In assimilating a territory, the attacker must govern, feed its people and impose order. The United States could up the gamesmanship and “test” fire missiles across North Korea, east to west or west to east, returning the favour of North Korean missiles test fired across Japan. If the Americans fire towards Beijing from the Sea of Japan, China would protest vehemently and dispatch their navy. Fire from Korea Bay or the Yellow Sea towards Vladivostok and the Russians would likely send out their Pacific Fleet. Or imagine this, right from the pages of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, a evil criminal organization fires a missile at North Korea and makes it look like an American attack. False flags may abound. The little emperor, figuratively a mad dog, now threatens the United States, but in an instant he could turn on his neighbours just 800 kilometres away. Neighbours that created the problem in the first place. Yes, www.dialogue.ca
the world must act, and that action belongs to China and Russia. It’s time to end the Great Game. As for the Americans, three options present themselves, pre-emptive strike, withdraw from South Korea or do absolutely nothing—just wait, watch the missiles fly high overhead and breathe. It’s amazing that a world choking on its own pollution could starve to death with a simple meteor strike, volcanic eruption or a blight on the rice crop, and yet
can make its top priority the projection of military power. Short of a miracle, I’m hoping that Kim Jongun slips in the bath tub, North Korean generals stage a coup and Trump chokes on a ham sandwich. An ignominious end to two troubling actors. Short of that, there is the Buddha, smiling across the centuries, appealing for a decision that we must all make as humanity, to surrender or somehow transcend our egos. But that doesn’t make great television, does it?♣
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Citizens for Direct Democracy – C4DD – Update From Peter Weygang, Bobcaygeon ON
The Citizens for Direct Democracy, centered in the City of Kawartha Lakes, continue their efforts to replace municipal Imperialistic Bureaucracy. In practice the municipal staff produce documents of such size, numerical complexity, and poor syntax, that they defy close scrutiny by Councillors. Some terrible, and very expensive, decisions are rubber stamped, without due diligence. That is where we come in. We have examined, in great detail, the city’s Ten Year Financial Plan. We found numerous inconsistencies, both in the tables used to support the plan, and in the associated graphs. We also looked at FIPPA, the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act. It is now clear that Councils must say why they will not provide information. It is not up to the people to prove that they need the information. Judge Nordheimer made that ruling crystal clear in his decisions (in June 2017) regarding the disclosure of doctors’ salaries, in Ontario. We appreciate that few people read anything longer
than a tweet, so we are producing several videos that outline the current problems. You will find the (<20 min) YouTube presentations (10 Year Plan, Parts 1 & 2) at: LINKS: http://tinyurl.com/c4dd-10yr-pt-1 and http://tinyurl.com/c4dd-10yr-pt-2
And two presentations on the Freedom of Information (FIPPA) at the following LINKS: Part 1, A case study: http://tinyurl.com/c4dd-FIPPA-pt-1 Freedom of Information (FIPPA) Part 2, Our Legal Rights: http://tinyurl.com/c4dd-FIPPA-pt-2 Much more information is available on our website, LINK: www.citizensfordirectdemocracy.ca
There are many groups of concerned citizens who feel the same was as we do. They are scattered throughout the provinces right across Canada. We need an umbrella organization that would give Direct Democracy a national voice. Any interested groups should contact us at citizens4dd@gmail.com / Peter Weygang, Sec., C4DD peterweygang@gmail.com ♣
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E-Petition to the 42
nd
Parliament
e-1215 (Hazardous products) - Initiated by Janet McNeill from Toronto on August 17, 2017 PETITION LINK online: http://tinyurl.com/E-petition-e-1215
•
The Petition is open for signature until December 15, 2017, at 12:35 p.m. (EDT)
Petition to the Government of Canada WHEREAS:
• The nuclear regulators of Canada and the United States have approved the shipment of 23,000 litres of highly radioactive liquid – to be trucked over 2000 kilometres from Chalk River, Ontario to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; • These shipments are to utilize casks never www.dialogue.ca
• • •
physically tested for liquid contents; The nature of the liquid material has been mischaracterized by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) as “Uranyl Nitrate Liquid,” whereas the liquid solution contains dozens of radioactive waste materials collectively more than a thousand times more radioactive than uranyl nitrate; This project is projected to consist of between 100 and 150 truckloads over a period of several years; There is considerable opposition to this project in both countries by both citizens and elected officials; Calculations show that one litre of this liquid is …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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sufficient, in principle, to ruin the drinking water supply for any city in North America; • There is no need for these shipments, given that the highly enriched uranium can be eliminated by “downblending” at the Chalk River site; and • The radioactive liquid can also be solidified at the Chalk River site as has been done for similar radioactive liquids at Chalk River over the past 14 years. We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada, call upon
the Government of Canada to suspend these shipments immediately, pending an independent environmental assessment that will consider alternatives such as down-blending and solidification of the liquid, as originally planned. Sponsor: Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Beaches—East York (Liberal) Ontario; Open for signature: August 17, 2017 (EDT); closes: Dec. 15, 2017, at 12:35 p.m. (EDT) LINK: http://tinyurl.com/E-petition-e-1215 Link from June Ross, Nanaimo BC ♣
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Commentary on Site C- Peace River hydro development (BC) After reading an article by PolicyOptions* at the IRRP (Institute for Research on Public Policy) by Norm Zigarlick, AB/SK, normzig56@gmail.com
I’ve been around the edges of the Site C issue for over 10 years and at the site from time to time as well. Your article is a pile of clichés that tells of a future you seem quite sure of. You also write of practitioners fine-tuned to forecasting but don’t use any actual data to make your point. To begin with, your story is based on the idea that all dams are created equal, they are not. If they were they wouldn’t be the leading cause of mass deaths triggered by man-made disasters. You completely ignore geotechnical issues even though Site C is laden with them. You don’t mention that Site C has been subject to the whims of practitioners about a half dozen times just in the last decade and each forecast has been different. It was forecast to cost $6.6 billion a decade ago now its $8.8 and climbing. It was forecast to have its power sold at a “green premium” to California, however the practitioners forgot to get that confirmed with California. It was forecast to be critical in supporting that $100 billion LNG bank account that was forecast to begin filling the vault in late 2015. That forecast is currently wrong by the full amount. You seem to have opposed your own forecast in this article. You write of rapidly warming temperatures in the coming decades. Have you considered how that will affect the snow pack that feeds the Peace River stream flow? Are you forecasting tropical like rains or
droughts in 2050 that will determine the actual output of the dam? I think all we can realistically guess is that it won’t be a snowpack feeding the reservoir. Unless of course this new dam is the last nail in the box that keeps the world from warming. Did you consider the actual BC Hydro forecast average output of Site C? It is only slightly more than half that 1100 megawatt peak output that snake oil salesmen use as a reference number when peddling hype on this mess. In your reference to the $8.8 billion cost, you seem to have missed some well-documented information that shows hydro dams generally exceed their projected construction costs by more than 50%. Muskrat Falls, which is not yet finished, did not follow the 50% overshoot rule. It’s crowding 200% more than “seasoned practitioners” had guessed on that one. You use the term “we must” as if you are the final authority on the subject. Here is what “I must” do. I must shake my head in wonder and make wild guesses at what the hell motivates people like you to write what you do. I have no idea what the future will bring me other than at some point it will kill me. I do have my thoughts on what I think it will look like but I am not going to encourage the public to blow $9 billion plus on my opinion. * RE: http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/july-2017/sitec-energy-flexibility-future/ ♣
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UN panel calls for halt on BC Hydro Site C From St.CatharinesStandard.ca [CP, Aug. 28, 2017] A
UN panel says the construction of BC’s $8.8-billion Site C dam should be halted until there is a full review of how it would affect Indigenous land. The recommendation is contained in a report by the UN 12 dialogue
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Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which has completed its periodic review of how Canada complies with the world body’s treaty to end racial discrimination. […] LINK: http://tinyurl.com/st-cath-stand-un-sitec
♣
www.dialogue.ca
Pipelines and Alberta’s future… Larry Kazdan, Vancouver BC
A visionary federal government would support Alberta by making major investments in transit, building retrofits, renewable energies, clean technologies, and community employment programs. This plan would not only create many more jobs and stimulate new industries, but would also result in less carbon emissions, and fewer chances of coastal spills, land contamination or deadly explosions. Permanent benefits would far exceed costs, and B.C.'s commercial fishing and tourism would be protected. Because positive alternatives to propping up declining
and polluting industries exist, neither B.C. nor Alberta need suffer. The federal government should initiate a robust Just Transition program that supports both workers and entrepreneurs in all regions as our economy quickly mobilizes to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and to fulfill our international climate obligations. Leadership is about setting conditions for a new economy, not ramming pipelines through provinces that reject them. [ lkazdan@gmail.com ] Letter sent to the Hill Times, in response to the article, ‘British Columbians do not want this’ re $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan pipeline [Link: http://tinyurl.com/Hill-Times112913 ] ♣
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Alberta’s oil & gas cleanup challenge and how to launch a “reclamation boom” in the province From: https://theleap.org
“The guys that run the oil and gas companies aren’t stupid -- they understand there’s an end in sight. They know there’s a date, and they’re acting accordingly. It’s the government that isn’t waking up.” – Brent Nimeck. Albertans Brent Nimeck and Regan Boychuk are energy industry veterans, workers and researchers, and two of the country’s best experts on the looming problem of the province’s aging oil patch. Over the past two years we’ve been learning from Brent and Regan about the staggering scale of this problem -and their powerful proposal to put Alberta back to work in dealing with it. Five things that will blow your mind about Alberta’s oil and gas wells 1. There’s one well for every 10 people living in Alberta. [This research focuses on Alberta’s conventional oil and gas industry. It doesn’t include the environmental liabilities of Alberta’s oil sands, which are also staggering and massively underfunded by the companies responsible.]
2. The cleanup bill for these wells is greater than the value of the entire oil and gas industry. 3. Alberta’s oil and gas companies have figured out how to pull off “bankruptcy-for-profit” — and it’s the scheme of the century. 4. An upcoming Supreme Court case could leave all of us on the hook for industry cleanups across the country. 5. There’s a way to fix this. And it could put Alberta back to work and spark a reclamation boom. Read in full: http://tinyurl.com/leap-ab-oil-cleanup [Rec’d from June Ross] ♣ www.dialogue.ca
Energy blunders in Ontario From: www.windaction.org
The 340 lost jobs at the Siemens Canada wind turbine plant in Tillsonburg announced (July 18 2017) are the tip of the iceberg. That’s because Ontario’s renewable energy industry, including wind, is built on a house of cards of massive public subsidies that was always only going to last as long as the subsidies kept coming. Because of the incompetence of the Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGuinty Liberal governments, Ontarians are now facing a perfect storm of multiple energy crises. They’re paying the highest electricity rates in Canada - which the Liberals say they’re going to fix by plunging us even deeper into debt - while billions of locked-in public dollars are being wasted on unneeded, unreliable and expensive green energy, combined with the first of what could be thousands of layoffs in the sector. The closure of this plant - one of four set up under the province’s multi-billion dollar green energy deal with South Korea’s Samsung corporation arising out of 2009’s disastrous Green Energy Act - was in the cards ever since Premier Wynne announced in September, 2016 that the government was cancelling all future wind megaprojects because of an energy surplus. An energy surplus created in part by the skyrocketing prices of green energy, where Ontarians now pay, according to Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk, twice the U.S. average for wind power and 3.5 times the average for solar. […] Read in full at LINK: http://tinyurl.com/windaction-46956 [Rec’d from Erik Andersen]♣ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Letter to the PM re Marine-based Fish Farms on the West Coast From Elizabeth James, rimco@shaw.ca To Prime Minister Trudeau, justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca Sent: 8 August, 2017, from North Vancouver [The following has been edited by the author to fit available space and for clarification.]
Prime Minister Trudeau: This email is to petition you and your government to take immediate action to stop Norwegian or any other corporations from further infecting, contaminating and otherwise ravaging the wild salmon fisheries off the coast of British Columbia. Background: There are many ways by which a country can lose its sovereignty. One obvious way is for the country to be overcome by hostile foreign forces during a war. A second, more insidious, way is for a succession of federal governments to hand off citizens' territorial and natural assets for supposedly-friendly foreign corporations to exploit as they will. In the case of this country's world-renowned coastal fisheries, Canada has an unfortunate 50-60-year history of treating those incredible natural assets as though there were no tomorrow. On the Atlantic coast, it was not until 1970 that the laggard Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) enacted the Territorial Sea and Fishing Zones which established a paltry 12-mile limit within which foreign fleets were told they could not fish in Canadian waters. Then, in 1977, closing the doors after the horses had bolted, DFO went still further to establish a 200-limit off Canadian shores. Despite that legislation and due to less than assertive monitoring, foreign ships ignored those limits as they and Canadian fishing fleets continued to overfish close-to-shore stocks with little interference from DFO. In the late 1960s, foreign fishers (from Spain, Portugal and elsewhere) had hauled in around 80% of the estimated 810,000 tonnes of northern cod and 400,000 tonnes of the Grand Banks cod caught off the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador. Much of that haul was processed at sea by foreign workers on cannery ships. As federal governments of the day allowed that overfishing, cod stocks virtually disappeared and over 45,000 Maritime fishery jobs were lost. By coincidence but likely related, stocks of tiny, smelt14 dialogue
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like capelin which had been the codfish' main diet, were also decimated. Since Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, shrimp moved into the vacant waters and some cod fisherman were able to switch over and learn the value of that asset. In case you're thinking that was good news, while cod are now slowly returning to their natural habitat, the capelin are recovering more slowly. Once again, Maritime fisher-folk, their families and the industries that depend on healthy fish stocks are in an uncomfortable transitional upheaval. Moving to the Pacific coast, we see that, for different and increasing reasons, wild salmon stocks are at equal risk of annihilation at the hands of man. In this case, Norwegian fish-farms are spreading sea-lice and virulent infections throughout the once pristine waters of the Broughton Archipelago and what used to be our healthy, flourishing sockeye salmon stocks. Aided and abetted by our former BC Liberal government, this has been underway for nearly 30 years, while foreign aquaculture corporations, DFO and the Stephen Harper administration conspired to feed us blatantly untruthful 'everything's just peachy' good news. More important, it has continued in the face of scientific proof gathered over 28 years of indefatigable effort by BC biologist Alexandra Morton. In short, healthy wild salmon stocks are not only inherently valuable as food fish for human beings, they also sustain other wildlife species like bears, eagles and our forests, as well as an important tourism industry. Yet, instead of being awarded the Orders of BC and of Canada that she rightly deserves, Ms. Morton continues to be ridiculed, harassed and sued in court. Her courage in the face of the abuse she suffers on behalf of all British Columbians is unbelievable. Mr. Prime Minister, this letter is not being written to offer well-deserved praise for Ms. Morton; I don't believe she would even want that. Nor is it being written by a rabid activist to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;save a few fishâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or because I have a hate on for Norway. Indeed, I used to have a great deal of respect for that country and its people. Rather, this letter is written in the hope you will bring to bear everything you have in the arsenal of your position to accede to these requests: 1. Enact an immediate moratorium on marinewww.dialogue.ca
based fish-farms; 2. Remove existing fish-farms out of the migration paths of wild fish - preferably onto land; 3. Require DFO to negotiate alongside affected First Nations to call an immediate halt to Marine Harvest’s unjustified lawsuit against Ms. Morton; 4. Ask your staff to provide you with an immediate briefing as to all of the fish-farm-related infections and sea-lice infestations that presently exist in BC waters. Once those tasks are accomplished and the evidence is in your files, it is my hope you will readily understand why it is essential that you take all additional steps necessary to protect and conserve BC's wild salmon stocks, the wildlife and environment they sustain and, yes, to protect Canada's sovereignty over its vast and breathtaking coastal waters.
You and we owe that to the children and grandchildren of Canada's future generations. Sincerely, Elizabeth James Freelance writer, North Vancouver BC CC:
John Horgan john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca , Andrew Weaver andrew.weaver.mla@leg.bc.ca Alex Morton” gorbuscha@gmail.com PS: Fourteen days later, the tragic evidence announced itself loud and clear: http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/british-columbia/atlantic-salmon-released-cooke-aquaculture1.4257369 PPS: I also forwarded the CBC news link to the PM and to John Horgan. Both emails to the PM have now been acknowledged with word that my emails have been forward to the fisheries minister for follow-up. Nothing has been received from Premier Horgan since the original auto-reply message ♣
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Comment from Erik Andersen to Elizabeth James re her letter to the PM (above): Way to go Liz. If we humans keep up our current pace of destruction of natural life on the planet we could soon come to the point where all those not now being held accountable will, for reasons of self- preservation of the rest of us, be made candidates for transport to
Mars or some other planet where they can carry on . Putting them in jail or fining them here on earth seems an unlikely way to stop them. Prosperity Mines being the latest local example of greed and unaccountability. – Erik Andersen, Gabriola Island BC ♣
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Q is for Quotes…
25 Profound Quotes that will make you Question Everything By Jordan Bates, Mar 06, 2015
LINK: http://tinyurl.com/cp-25-profound-quotes A collection of quotes hand-picked by Jordan Bates, creator of RefineTheMind.com.
"Man is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your whole life unravelling it, don’t say that you’ve wasted time. I am studying that mystery because I want to be a human being.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I’m guilty, I confess: I love quotes. In our meme-saturated, sound-bite culture, it seems almost sacrilegious for a thinking person to celebrate aphorisms, snippets, and bits of content that can be processed in 30 seconds or less. “Read big, long, heavy books!” I ought to be saying. And I have said that. And if you want book suggestions, the Refine The Mind library is just a click away… - at LINK: http://refinethemind.tumblr.com/
But, yeah, so, well, look: quotes are not a replacement www.dialogue.ca
for great long-form essays, world-expanding novels, or incisive non-fictional tomes. They can, however, be pretty damn thought-provoking, jarring, or momentof-clarity-inducing. And let’s face it: meme-culture isn’t going away, and an unthinkable number of people probably read books’ worth of memes/quotes each year without reading any actual books. Jordan Bates is the creator of Refine The Mind, “a cozy cabin for compassionate freethinkers. He makes weird philosophical rap songs as Lostboyevsky sometimes. He mostly thinks everyone should just chill and love and be kind and stuff.” Find out more at: http://www.refinethemind.com ♣ **************************************
And from Dee Nicholson, Lindsay ON
As for the 'Q' thematic... what struck me was the "Q" from Star Trek.... the so-called "Masters of Metaphysics" whose rogue member caused so much trouble on the Enterprise... but who had the ability to stop wars, to change conditions from bad to good, and perform all kinds of miracles... Just a thought... LOL [ shrunkshrink@gmail.com ] ♣ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Let’s compare the “Sustainable” and “Growth” Economies Mike Nickerson, Lanark ON Sustain5@web.ca
The vision for a Sustainable Economy: Air, Water, Soil and Energy are essential to all life. “To call these things sacred is to say that they have a value beyond their usefulness for human ends, that they themselves become the standards by which our acts, our economics, our laws, and our purpose must be judged. No one has the right to appropriate them or profit from them at the expense of others. Any government that fails to protect them forfeits its legitimacy.” – Starhawk, from The Fifth Sacred Thing, 1993 Compare this with the vision for a Growth Economy “Our enormously productive economy… demands
that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption… We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an everincreasing rate.” – Victor Lebow, The N.Y. Journal of Retailing, 1959 A Riddle for Our Times
If the voice of advertising fell silent… What would people want? SustainWellbeing.net http://sustainwellbeing.net/ Email: Sustain5@web.ca / Mike Nickerson is the author of Life, Money & Illusion – See: www.sustainwellbeing.net/lmi.html ♣
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Coal Dust is Burning our Province Jim Erkiletian, Nanaimo BC
All the reasons for the record-setting fire season, sparks from machinery, careless campers, deliberate arson, climate change and lightening, have missed the major contributing factor, dust from 100-car coal trains that rattle down the Fraser Canyon daily. This dust sweeps into the forests downwind from the trains and coats the leaves and branches of already tinderdry trees with an explosive mixture that ignites with any spark. It's no accident that the rail crossing at Cache Creek was hit so hard. These coal shipments are of no benefit to BC, even if they occasionally carry BC coal. The vast majority is coming from Alberta, Montana and even Texas, as California, Oregon and Washington have refused to let this coal transit their land. Unfortunately our Liberal BC government didn't wake up to the problem until too late, although Christie Clarke did suggest a
$70/ton carbon tax on coal transiting the province shortly before they were dismissed. We hope there is some forest left when the NDPGreen coalition get around to introducing legislation. While an outright ban on coal shipments would be the best policy, at least we might retrieve some of the money for destroyed houses and buildings, and the lung problems our health-care system will inherit from these coal shipments. The coal itself is the most poisonous fossil fuel in the world, slightly worse than the tars and bitumen Kinder Morgan is proposing to send to Burnaby. One would think even Edgar Kaiser and Jimmy Pattison might hesitate to burn wildlife and poison children. Apparently they need some actual government enforcement to make them take responsibility for the harm they are causing. Jim Erkiletian [erkil@telus.net ] ♣
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Old Growth Logging 2017 and Climate Change... Susanne Hare Lawson, Tofino BC
It has been almost two generations since the protests in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island in the 80s to stop deforestation, clearcutting, slash burning and to protect our salmon rivers. Over a thousand people were arrested, many going to prison to stop the madness and destruction. Now, while forests burn, our skies are filled with smoke, people are sick from polluted air, with even 16 dialogue
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loggers and municipalities calling for an end to old growth logging, government and industry are still ignoring the crisis. Flying over Vancouver Island, all one sees is barren land gutted by logging roads... not even sticks remain; second and third growth trees have been removed in one of the last great soft wood grabs ever seen on the face of this planet. Don’t let park status fool you. Pacific Rim National www.dialogue.ca
Park (Reserve) was logged in the 70s and 80s. Even after landowners were expropriated, the logging companies were allowed to take all they wanted until they were done. Strathcona Park, the oldest park in B.C., was logged, burned, dammed and mined until protestors stopped further mines from going in but mining still continues there. One cannot continue to talk about climate change without including the loss of forests. Nothing compares with the rate and extreme loss of the forests covering this planet than the deforestation that has taken place at human hands in the last century and is still taking place. The drying trends have been a result of this massive deforestation of the protective covering of our planet resulting in more extremes, drought and fires. Where are our main sources of oxygen on the planet? 1. Evergreen forests, the darker and bigger, the better for oxygen production. In winter, they are the main suppliers to keep us healthy. They are busy producing oxygen and taking CO2 out of the air, turning that carbon into mass. The great massive forests of the Earth, most of them, have been removed...turned into timber and paper over the last decades, while valuable soil washed into the waters and oceans. 2. In summer, deciduous forests (hardwoods), add some oxygen to the air but not near the amount each of those green needles on the healthy, big evergreens provide. 3. Waterfalls and breaking, crashing ocean waves provide oxygen through the separation of the water molecules, giving off oxygen in the process. Dams reduce the breakup of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen and create heat, basically stagnation of the system. 4. Seaweeds and water plants provide oxygen bubbles to marine life and give off oxygen into the air.
Our oceans are in trouble with acidification, pollution and leaking radioactive elements. Humanity is on the wrong track thinking we can fix everything with our own technology and ingenuity. We cannot – If we don't protect, enhance and learn from the natural world. The disregard of other species including trees, that we share this planet with is leading us into our own purgatory very quickly. There is little left to buffer the extremes of hot and cold, wind and rain, drought, die off and other consequences... the protective covering of this planet is very nearly gone. It is really is very simple...trillions of dark green tree needles remove carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into more mass....C02 carbon-absorbing forests that give off fresh life giving oxygen in the process. People don't seem to recognize the accumulated crisis that is taking place and can't seem to grasp the enormity of it all. It is one thing for other species to face extinction and many have and are, more so than ever, but humans don't equate that with our world. We are all connected, whether one is aware of this or not; like Chief Seattle said, What happens to the
Earth befalls the children of the Earth.
Money, jobs, government....these aren't cutting it anymore and aren't giving people, especially our children, hope for the future. The hope must come in the actions, love and care for all life around us. Susanne Hare Lawson, councilfire@hotmail.com Thank you to Susanne for her inspiring artwork on the back cover. Susanne’s comment about her
piece: “the grove was where, in the forest, one found a special light emanating from the trees and surrounding forest...where the light enveloped all and an all knowing connection to everything… a sacred space the trees held.” ♣
Q IS FOR QUIT IT! From Susanne Hare Lawson, Tofino BC Quit...killing bears and other animals for fun & trophy
Quit...farming salmon and other marine life Quit…polluting the waters, air and soil Quit...harming others Quit...using radioactive elements for power Quit...the deforestation of the Earth Quit...logging the ancient trees Quit...being dependent on oil and gas Quit...wasting water www.dialogue.ca
Quit...fracking and drilling Quit...killing wolves and cougars Quit...warring Quit...pipelines Quit...using excess energy Quit...taking more than one needs Quit...complaining Quit...being apathetic Quit...worrying VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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“Prévoyance”
Letter re worrisome behaviour by national police force (RCMP) Erik Andersen, Gabriola Island
Dear Robin and others, [Re Articles by Robin Mathews re the behaviour of the RCMP; e.g. in Dialogue, Vol. 30, No.4, p.25]
Without using names at this point I wish to re-enforce the essence of your conclusion, that our government tolerates and perhaps encourages the use unconstitutional behaviour by the national police force. During the 70s and possibly into the 80s government agencies employed a mind control process known as MK Ultra. There was at some point a disclosure and the practice was deemed not only unconstitutional but also criminal at some level. This led to a declaration of discontinuance of the use of this process after some court actions were quietly settled. Unfortunately, discontinuance was not so easily accomplished, it probably just went underground and given a different name.
I have an acquaintance who has steadfastly claimed this type of harassment for two, possibly four decades. He has recorded some personal experiences that defied logic and continue to do so. He has politely asked for explanations from agencies and ministers but to no avail. From where I sit, there is no way I can verify his claims other than to wonder why a polite reply is never forthcoming. To help in the short term I plan to send 5 registered letters to 5 different federal officials , asking for a simple, but not simple minded, acknowledgment of the receipt of the letter and intelligent responses to a couple of simple questions. The main purpose of this exercise is to have an official record of the matter being brought before each addressee. For reasons beyond an understanding of need, security services in Canada appear to operate outside of the law and moral standards. This is very worrisome. Cheers, Erik Andersen, Gabriola Island BC [Email: twolabradors@shaw.ca ] ♣
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Compelling Questions about the Canadian Justice System Querying Cops and Courts A cautionary tale about how casually our rights and freedoms can be cast aside S. B. Julian, Victoria BC
A police car screeches to a halt in front of a pedestrian walking along a busy street in our provincial capital. An officer jumps out, seizes him by the arm, orders him to empty his pockets and frisks him in front of a number of strangers. He is told that he was seen leaving the scene of a break-and-enter at an empty building up the block. The procedure takes about seven minutes, during which time the officer gets two radio calls indicating that her target is the wrong man. It later emerged that his clothes did not match the description given by a witness, and his direction of travel was not that of a person said to be “fleeing”. After these calls the officer told the pedestrian that he was “free to go,” but she also decided to search his person, which the shaken victim experienced as a violation. Heart pounding, he continued afterwards on his way but this was not the end of the matter. He filed a complaint with the Police Complaints Commission, which the Commission brushed aside a few weeks 18 dialogue
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later. Then, he went to court arguing that his Charter rights had been ignored during the incident and later by the Police Complaints Commission. If you were stopped on the street in Canada by an aggressive police officer who told you that you “had been seen” somewhere you had not been, and that you had been running when you had been walking, would you know your rights? Do you know when you are obliged to show identification to a police officer? Do you know that an officer is obliged to inform you that you do not need to say anything, or to turn out your pockets, until you have contacted legal counsel? Part of the claimant’s case here was that the officer did not inform him of his right to phone a lawyer before she went through his pockets. In court, her lawyer argued that events moved quickly and she did not have time. They moved at a pace set by her, however, and she could have made time. It only takes a moment to read his rights from a card to a stationary, cooperative suspect. For a whole day in court the advocates www.dialogue.ca
for both parties sifted minutely through facts of time, sequence, place, traffic, radio transmissions and relevant previous cases before a judge, who then “reserved his decision” on the matter. A few months later the judge announced that he agreed with the officer’s lawyer (who worked for the City, which employs the officer), that it was “absurd” to expect an officer to tell a detained person his rights, if the detention was brief. But who knew how brief the detention would be? The time for rights to be understood is at the beginning of a period of detention. The claimant appealed the judge’s decision. Most working people of ordinary means would not be able to pursue the matter, legal costs being what they are, but this claimant was lucky in having a law student willing to act pro bono, on principle, and for the experience. This representative pointed out that ad hoc detention by police seems to have become normalized, since objecting through the courts is timeconsuming and expensive and citizens rarely push back. When this claimant did so, he found himself in a quagmire of legal procedure that lasted years. This victim suffered nightmares and insomnia after the incident, and had had a documented history of Clinical anxiety and depression to begin with. In court his advocate had to convince the judge that, firstly, the City was liable because the officer had not accorded the claimant his constitutional rights, and secondly that assigning some degree of damages was appropriate. The question of whether damages are awarded is decided by the judge, but a detained person’s right to silence and immediate access to counsel is stipulated by section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In this court case, which I witnessed, each side put forth binders full of documents and evidence, but some material from the officer’s testimony given during the claimant’s original Complaint had been blanked out. She was apparently protected by her union contract with the City, so not all evidence was made available to the claimant, or the judge. Conflicting facts were presented: the officer said the claimant told her he had been running earlier; he was adamant that he had never said he had at any time been running. The claimant said the officer asked him if he had “dope” in his pocket, which because she already knew he was not the break-and-enter suspect, was an illegal “fishing expedition.” She claimed she www.dialogue.ca
did not ask him about drugs. The officer said she apologized to the victim at the conclusion of the incident; he maintains that she never offered any apology. So with some of the original testimony before the Police Complaints Commission being blanked out (for the officer’s protection), it became a he-said/she-said situation, leaving the claimant with no remedy against an officer’s untruths. This was not what we have been led to assume the Canadian justice system is like. It seemed that police officers would automatically be believed, and cleared suspects disbelieved. The City spent thousands of dollars in legal fees in blocking this particular citizen’s claim to compensation for unfair treatment. This is where our tax dollars go. Would they be better spent on an information program teaching citizens about the obligations which the police, our public servants, have toward us? Do the police, in order to speed things up in the heat of the moment, count on public ignorance in a situation of spontaneous detention? This claimant appealed the judge’s decision, but before the appeal could go ahead, a long argument had to be scheduled about whether he -- a low income person in his fifties living on a disability pension -- would have to pay $600 for transcript of the court proceedings thus far. At this point the Civil Liberties Association of BC got involved, as it had become an access-tojustice case of general public interest. Obviously, with costs like that, a day in court could only be bought by the well off. After the City had spent a considerable whack of taxpayers’ money on having their lawyers (several now, against the claimant’s lone law student) argue against sharing the points of evidence, it was decided to go ahead without requiring a separate transcript from the claimant. Over two years had now passed. The law student had graduated from law school, but was not yet a fully-accredited lawyer. The court took another obstructive detour (at the City’s lawyers’ insistence) regarding his right to represent a client. He won that round, defining himself as the claimant’s agent, not lawyer. He stayed with the case pro-bono and on principle. Having put years of research into the issues and relevant precedents, he wasn’t about to give up now. He based his appeal on a number of precedents wherein victims of similar police misconduct had received compensation. The appeals judge (there had been several judges …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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S. B. Julian, Querying Cops and Courts, contd.
by now), seemed bemused and even offended that the claimant and his advocate had taken such a “minor” case this far for this long. Shouldn’t they have given up and gone away by now? After taking some weeks for consideration, the judge rejected the appeal. The claimant, reading the reasons for judgement, was left with the same list of factual errors that he had been fighting from the outset. The judge ruled that the pat-down search conducted by the officer was “non-intrusive.” To most people, few things are more intrusive than having a stranger run their hands down your body and into your waistband. He also wrote at one point that “there was no detention.” What then would we call the events during that seven minutes? The officer, said the judge, had “personal safety concerns” because suspects “may be armed” and “harbouring violent intention.” Yet the officer had promptly learned that this citizen was not the person supposedly seen at the supposed crime scene, so why would a person merely walking along the street be presumed to have “violent intention”? Apparently police can claim that anyone might have violent intention at any time. What citizens fear is violent intentions by police. The judge decided that although the whole incident was “unfortunate” for the victim, the circumstances did not warrant the necessity of the officer advising him of his right to contact counsel pursuant to section 10(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Thus casually can our rights and freedoms be cast aside. The public as a whole bears the loss. The court did not uphold a constitutional right we thought we could rely on. Apparently some police misconduct is only a bit illegal, and police officers can misrepresent facts about an incident with impunity. This is the “thin edge of the wedge” syndrome. Although the case in question was about a relatively mild incident, the thick end was present when in the same town a college student taken into custody for not showing identification to the police, suffered permanent brain damage due to treatment by officers in the cells. Another in a BC holding cell was killed by a police shot to the head, and in a different small BC town yet another prisoner left custody with brain damage. These escalations are enabled when the “minor” examples of police misconduct are dismissed. Unless they are unfailingly and 20 dialogue
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equally applied, civil rights are not rights. For this claimant the fight is still not over: the City has sent him a bill for $12,000.00 in costs. They have no hope of getting payment, since they cannot erode a person’s disability allowance, yet they are still, five years after the original incident, paying lawyers to fight for costs largely due to delay through their own insistence, later waived, that the claimant be made to purchase a transcript -- a clear attempt to get him to give up the action. That failed, but in the end his attempt to be believed against the false testimony of a police officer got him nothing but a large bill. Arguments about that continue between his unpaid agent and the high-priced lawyers on the other side, whose bill we taxpayers are paying. The City and police seem to fear that others too may get the idea that they can fight the cops in court, and they’re spending a lot of money to stop anyone trying. Had the City simply paid the claimant the small compensation he asked for in the first place, the taxpayer would have saved a bundle and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms been acknowledged as more than empty words. For a time, The Victoria Police Department had a media release on its website acknowledging detained citizens’ rights: “If … police have individualized suspicion of a particular individual and detain them for investigative purposes, the police will afford that individual with their protections in a manner consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” After a time, this media release, which took the form of a "letter to the community," was removed from the Victoria Police website. Some citizens might nevertheless know when an officer has ignored their Charter rights, but the City fights any hapless victim who dares to complain. We Canadians assume we have the right to move around our streets unmolested by officials, to be silent and to acquire immediate legal help when accused, but it turns out these things are not automatic; we must insist on them every time. The archetypal little guy who stood up to police evasion and “judicial attitude” did us all a favour, for even while losing he acquainted the justice system with the citizen who just says no. We owe him thanks, for if we shrug off the little offences against our liberties and rights, we can expect the big ones to get a pass as well. S. B. Julian, Victoria BC, orcamonth@gmail.com ♣ www.dialogue.ca
“Have Computer Will Write”~ Jeremy Arney
We have been made into a corporate dictatorship By Jeremy Arney, Sydney BC granpaiswatching@gmail.com
The Canadian Infrastructure Bank is the ultimate in treason and betrayal of Canada, Canadians, our values and our sovereignty and stands even above all those toxic investment agreements disguised as trade deals (CETA, TPP, NAFTA) which have in fact increased our trade imbalance. [More on CIB in the last issue, p.24] When a country is run by one man/woman who is in turn controlled by non-political entities from around the globe, then that country is not a sovereign country; in Canada, we have been made into a corporate dictatorship and our Members of Parliament, indeed parliament itself, has become an unnecessary and very expensive appendage. I saw on CPAC this summer a Liberal MP extolling the wondrous virtues of the parliamentary committees and I had to laugh because Stephen Harper issued very clear instructions that committees were to be made impotent … and Justin Trudeau has done nothing to change that. Have you watched any of the current committee hearings? Everything is so rushed that real dialogue and understanding are no longer even feasible. Once again I say we need a peaceful revolution here
in Canada to take back our country. A parliament made up of a dozen or more different parties with no clear majority would help, but Trudeau has nixed that opportunity unless Canadians have finally had enough and cast their votes with their heads instead of following the usual practice of Liberal or some version of Conservative to take their turn in further destroying Canada until there is nothing left, and we are not far off that now. Jeremy Arney, Sidney BC
PS: 150 years ago 4 provinces got together and formed Canada and here in BC we joined in 1871 on the promise of a cross country national railway. We no longer have that and we are being turned into a toxic waste dump. Mount Polley, Quesnell Lake, Kinder Morgan, toxic fish farms, Site C, LNG fracking, Howe Sound Woodfibre and hundreds of illegally built dams, all approved by Ottawa. I think that before 2021, British Columbia’s 150th anniversary, we should, instead of celebrating joining Confederation, be creating the separation from Canada required for us to grow here in BC rather than die along with the idea of the Canada created 150 years ago. Jeremy Arney, Interim Leader of the Canadian Action Party, PO Box 52008, RPO Beacon, Sidney, BC V8L 5V9 / Tel. 250-216-5400 http://actionparty.ca/ Email: iamjema@gmail.com https://iamjemaletters.wordpress.com/ ♣
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Questions about governance, elections and banking in Canada Russ Vinden, Errington BC
Thank you for the latest issue of Dialogue –and the reminder; things slip my mind a bit more nowadays. Although, as my old father-in-law used to say whenever we were leaving after a visit, “Better five minutes late in this world, than five minutes early in the next!” Enjoyed the content as usual, it is quite a unique magazine in its mix of politics, art, philosophy and culture… I offer the following article on the surprising reluctance of governments to deal with fundamental issues. Three great policy failures which have bedevilled our nation for generations are slowly surfacing. The first, Electoral Reform, although it has been craftily sidelined by the federal government, is now showing signs that some form of Proportional Representation will be introduced by the new BC government fairly soon – a first in this supposedly advanced nation. The question is, www.dialogue.ca
which system? Publication of the pros and cons of the various systems is now a necessity as some offer little benefit over the current one. The second problem has already generated a Parliamentary Petition by Elizabeth May (Green), requiring the government to revert to essentially interest-free funding of its needs by the nation’s own central Bank. This was a well-proven success for forty years in Canada until it was simply abandoned without publicity in 1975. Despite a 1993 Auditor General’s Report – still available on-line — showing that a stunning 92 percent of all government debt since Confederation consisted of accumulated, un-payable interest-on-the-interest not the generally accepted ‘waste and overspending’, the Petition was lost. The Supreme Court has since declared that there is no legal redress: that the matter is purely political and government is under no obliga- …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Russ Vinden, Questions about governance, contd.
tion to change the funding system if it doesn’t want to. Yet the current process remains undefended, beyond the unthinking reference to “roaring inflation” to suggestions that government could again fund itself interest-free from its own Bank of Canada. But one only has to examine old newspapers or other references from twenty or thirty years back to see that inflation has been ramping up at far more than the 2.5 % rate commonly quoted, and the cost of many essential commodities today puts that figure in the ‘nonsense’ class. The $600 billion Federal debt is around thirty times higher today than the $20 billion when the change was made in 1975; 3,000 %.in 40 years; provincial debts roughly pro rata – BC’s has doubled in the last ten years, but not from any ginormous capital expenditure. The vital point – that there are many functions of government which must never, under any circumstance, be allowed to fall into private hands – has been carefully excluded from discussion: for instance, government itself, the Armed Forces, Diplomacy, Tax Collection, the Judiciary, Police, on and on. Yet the creation and issue of the nation’s money, possibly the single most powerful activity in any State as it affects every issue, has over centuries been subtly and without question moved into a fiefdom of the private banking system. With few but notable exceptions, the whole Western world’s banking system is now dominated and controlled by the self-governing Bank of International Settlements based in Basel, Switzerland; it is responsible to no elected government but exerts enormous pressure on all governments in the West. In all the big nations except China, only cash currency is now issued by national governments; in Canada this amounts to about three percent of the total. The rest is now issued at interest by the private system, including the vital sums needed by governments for national needs, and it is salutary to see a graph of federal debt from the post-WW2 period through to 1975 – the killer date – and on to the present. It shows that after the Bretton Woods Financial Agreement at the end of WW2, Canadian federal debt steadily declined for 30 years, all the huge WW2 debts being extinguished in 15 years under the then funding system which depended heavily on borrowing from our own central Bank of Canada. The great benefit was of course that since the Bank belonged to the nation, it was pointless for it to charge its owners interest. But this function was suddenly abandoned in 1975 with neither Parliamentary 22 dialogue
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input nor public explanation. All government debts exploded under rates which shot up from the five-to-six percent range which had been normal for fifty years, to ten percent in 1979, to twenty two percent in 1981. Debts are now some thirty times greater than in 1975, even as federal government hastily unloaded the existing system of federal/provincial grants and Transfer Payments in desperate attempts to balance their nowinterest-laden budgets. These included such innovations as the re-classification of interest charges on the newly popular P3 schemes as “off-budget” items so they don’t even show up in budgets anymore. So even though substantially funding ourselves from our own Bank had worked so well in helping end the Great Depression, funding six years of total war, and being of enormous help in the post-war re-development and re-building efforts, all the huge WW2 debts were extinguished in fifteen years post-war while a steady debt decline operated for thirty years until 1975. Then the nation found itself unable to cope when the Arab Oil Embargo sent world oil prices through the roof at the same time as totally privatised borrowing sent rates through the roof. Our own Governor of the Bank of Canada, apparently without consulting the Finance Minister, Cabinet or Parliament, took the decision to no longer buy government bonds, thus forcing all future borrowings to come from the private system at the exploding rates. According to Paul Hellyer, ex-cabinet minister no less, no paper trail of this crucial decision can be found in the National Archives and it appears to have simply been a unified, international banking decision, since all western nations appear to have suffered in similar fashion. After fluctuating around 5% ever since 1926, rates went to 7% in 1977, 10% in 1979, and an extraordinary 22% in 1981, and the fix was in, as it has proved impossible since for any government to achieve consistent major budget surpluses; rather, deficits proliferate, and all debts are still growing fast. BC’s for instance has doubled in the last ten years under the impact of interest-on-unpayable-interest. No administration and no Opposition Party since then has even mentioned this catastrophic change, let alone proposed reverting to borrowing from our own Bank of Canada again, until Ms. May’s recent Petition. While the new BC NDP/Green government alone in Canada promises a new electoral system; and while it makes stiff comments about ‘Access for Cash’ and its intention to address the purchase of influence by big Party donations, still not a word is heard about the Six Billion www.dialogue.ca
dollars extracted from Canadian taxpayers every year to cover the interest costs on all the borrowed deficits which recur as a direct result of the change to totally privatised government debt funding. Where will it end? How much higher can debts go before even the private investors – many of them foreign -- say “Enough is enough” and pull the plug? We are still recovering from the bank crash of 2007/8 (not publicly referred to as such, only as ‘The second Great Recession) and interest rates are still at an historic low nine years later, so all bond sales in this period have reflected these rates. But we are still paying the far higher rates on outstanding bonds sold long before the crash, and our debts are literally un-payable, driven by interest-on-the-interest; a situation roundly condemned by generations of business leaders.
I think we may be forgiven for questioning these matters, and asking about the connection to decades of those huge Party donations. I have in my possession a cutting from the Nanaimo Times in 1993, which lists the donations that year by the five major banks and their subsidiaries to the three major Parties. They totalled over $14 million, with the huge majority going to the Liberals and the Conservatives. Nowadays, corporate donations are forbidden, but still the money seems to come in the back door anyway. Of course they are only ever accepted because the Parties like the donors fine wavy hair and their blue, blue eyes. Loving democracy, they would never lay themselves open to such a blatant purchase of influence would they? I mean, what would be the point of elections? Russ Vinden, Errington BC, jrvinden@gmail.com ♣
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Venezuela Is About to Ditch the Dollar in Major Blow to US: Here’s Why It Matters Darius Shahtahmasebi, Information Clearing House U.S. dollars to sell oil on the global market. It adopted the euro, instead. By February 2003, the Guardian reported Sep 09, 2017 - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that Iraq had netted a “handsome profit” after making this said Thursday that Venezuela will be looking to “free” itpolicy change. Despite this, the U.S. invaded not long afself from the U.S. dollar next week, Reuters reports. Acter and immediately switched the sale of oil back to the cording to the outlet, Maduro will look to use the weakest U.S. dollar. of two official foreign exchange regimes (essentially the way Venezuela will manage its currency in relation to In Libya, Muammar Gaddafi was punished for a similar other currencies and the foreign exchange market), along proposal to create a unified African currency backed by with a basket of currencies. [..] “Venezuela is going to im- gold, which would be used to buy and sell African oil. plement a new system of international payments and will Though it sounds like a ludicrous reason to overthrow a create a basket of currencies to free us from the dollar,” sovereign government and plunge the country into a huMaduro said in a multi-hour address to a new legislative manitarian crisis, Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails con“superbody.” He reportedly did not provide details of this firmed this was the main reason Gaddafi was overthrown. new proposal. Maduro hinted that the South American The French were especially concerned by Gaddafi’s procountry would look to using the yuan instead, among posal and, unsurprisingly, became one of the war’s main other currencies. “If they pursue us with the dollar, we’ll contributors. (It was a French Rafaele jet that struck Gaduse the Russian ruble, the yuan, yen, the Indian rupee, the dafi’s motorcade, ultimately leading to his death). euro,” Maduro also said. Iran has been using alternative currencies like the yuan for Venezuela sits on the world’s largest oil reserves but has some time now and shares a lucrative gas field with Qatar, been undergoing a major crisis, with millions of people which may ultimately be days away from doing the same. going hungry inside the country which has been plagued Both countries have been vilified on the international with rampant, increasing inflation. In that context, the restage, particularly under the Trump administration. cently established economic blockade by the Trump adNuclear giants China and Russia have been slowly but ministration only adds to the suffering of ordinary Venesurely abandoning the U.S. dollar, as well, and the U.S. zuelans rather than helping their plight. […] establishment has a long history of painting these two A theory advanced in William R. Clark’s book Petrodolcountries as hostile adversaries. lar Warfare – and largely ignored by the mainstream meDarius Shahtahmasebi has completed a double degree in dia – essentially asserts that Washington-led interventions Law and Japanese from the University of Otago, with an inin the Middle East and beyond are fueled by the direct efterest in human rights, international law and journalism. fect on the U.S. dollar that can result if oil-exporting This article was first published by Anti Media countries opt to sell oil in alternative currencies. For LINK: www.informationclearinghouse.info/47776.htm ♣ [REC’D FROM S. McDOWALL, NANAIMO] example, in 2000, Iraq announced it would no longer use www.dialogue.ca
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Robin Mathews Uncut
The Gigantic Lie Called The United States of America Robin Mathews, Vancouver BC Out of Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A. (named after
the wife of King George the Third) has come a violent public event. It was a clash between racists and nonracists, between those wanting the statues of Confederate State heroes removed … and those who resist the removal. And since that occurrence in August, a flood of falsehood has poured out which is, incidentally, a cornerstone of U.S. existence – the lie that is endlessly repeated. It might be said to be “the lie called The United States of America.” It is repeated with enthusiasm by all manner of speakers almost everywhere because U.S. imperial propaganda is so effective. In Canada, where one might expect sharp critics of U.S. propaganda to exist, the same falsehoods are eagerly repeated. Canada’s national broadcaster, the CBC (the Colonial Broadcasting Corporation), does no independent investigation and happily repeats “the lie called the United States of America” – although that lie did everything it could to swallow up Canada and force it into the United States in two wars and several annexation/integration attempts. To put the matter very simply: the United States claims that the U.S. Civil War was a war to end Black slavery in the U.S.A. It was not. It was a war to prevent the break-up of the U.S. union of states. That was the union, which by 1861 when the Civil War began, was a developing Imperial Power which had no intention of being split apart and prevented from its Godgiven right to grow and develop power in, and over, the rest of the world. Remember: President Abraham Lincoln made perfectly clear that if the Confederate States would rejoin the U.S. Union, slavery would not be abolished in those States. And so, clearly, the Civil War was not fought over slavery but over the determination to hold together the growing, imperialist U.S.A. To begin at something like the beginning, we should, perhaps, start with “the American Revolution” – which was not a revolution except in the fantasies of U.S. historians. It was, properly, a war for independence. The rich and powerful in the U.S.A. objected to having a master in London, England. They objected 24 dialogue
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most strenuously, especially, to the famous Royal Proclamation of 1763 that insisted the indigenous peoples be treated fairly, that substantial lands be put aside for their unique occupation and use, and that the people of the U.S. (at the time) contribute in taxes to maintain the law on frontier spaces (and prevent the indigenous people from being hunted like animals). Out of the anger of the rich and powerful in the U.S.A. came The Declaration of Independence in 1776 – which maintained slavery, and whose two most famous actors – George Washington and Thomas Jefferson – owned hundreds of slaves and did not free them with independence. What is more: The Declaration of Independence viciously attacks the indigenous population, describing them as “merciless Indian savages whose known means of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.” Nothing is said about the war being conducted to erase indigenous people from existence and the total rejection by U.S. authorities of the 1763 Royal Proclamation intended to introduce a measure of justice into relations between the aboriginal people and the nonaboriginals hungry for aboriginal land. Very, very clearly: The Declaration of Independence and the following Constitution were constructed to facilitate the expansion of territory and power of the United States. We remember that the Monroe Doctrine, formulated in 1823, was clearly an imperialistic doctrine. Superficially, it stated, in effect, that European countries were not to meddle in the independence of Central and South American countries. But what it really intended was that the whole Western hemisphere was to be the “sphere of influence” of the U.S.A. And as Eduardo Galeano, in his famous book, The Open Veins of Latin American (1971) makes clear, the U.S.A. has raped and pillaged Latin America for nearly 200 hundred years. By the same token, the war with Mexico (1846-1848) was an imperialist war, argued by many to have been set up by the U.S.A. It pumped settlers into Mexican territory and then had them make requests to join the U.S.A. (That was a common tactic of U.S. government – it did the same in the Oregon territory. It was called, www.dialogue.ca
at the time, ‘filibustering.’ The government of the U.S. would urge and aid settlers to occupy a contested area … who would then ask to be included in the U.S.A. And so the contested territory could be said to be taken into the U.S.A. “by the will of the settlers there.”) As a result of the war with Mexico, the U.S. gained Texas, Southern California, and other parts of Mexico. As might be expected, the U.S. created – in its first stage of global imperialism – a special claim to own all of North America. That claim was variously based upon “a divine destiny” (1839) and “manifest destiny” (1845) coined by the (now) famous journalist, John O’Sullivan. In brief, it was a propaganda claim that the U.S. possessed special qualities (“U.S. Exceptionalism”) that gave it the right to do almost anything expansionist that it wished to do, at the expense of anyone who resisted U.S. power on the North American continent. All of those heady, dangerous, and insanely Romantic matters were seething in the U.S.A. when the Southern States – the so-called Slave States – decided to form a separate country. President Abraham Lincoln told them that if they would stay in the U.S.A., they could continue slavery … that was not the key issue. But they could not rend apart the United States of America with its huge imperial destiny on the globe. And so the U.S. Civil War was fought. Slaves who fought on the side of the established government were promised and given release from slavery. And some of the other states objected strongly to slavery. But when Goldwin Smith, journalist and scholar, went from England to witness the Civil War towards its end (and finished up his remaining decades in Toronto, Ontario), he found from conversations with Northern combatants (Abraham Lincoln supporters) that they did not particularly object to slavery. They were battling about something else: the holding together of the U.S.A. The present propaganda war in the United States would not go well if the anti-Confederates were to admit that the so-called U.S. Civil War of 1861-1865 was, in fact, another war to consolidate U.S. Imperialism. After the U.S. Civil War ended … and partly because of it … the Canadians set about to unite in Confederation, creating a new country. When that happened on July 1, 1867, no message of congratulation came from the U.S. government and no www.dialogue.ca
message of congratulation ever came from the U.S.A. It did not want any other country to exist in North America. And on the very night of Canadian Confederation, in the late hours, the U.S. negotiators completed the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Thereafter, U.S. propagandists claimed that having the U.S. above and below Canada would make it possible to squeeze Canada into becoming a part of the “divine destiny,” “the manifest destiny” of the U.S.A. Having created NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1949) in its own image, and having Canada and other nations join it, the U.S.A. has, in fact, managed to make North America, much of “the Western World,” and countries bordering upon Russia its handmaidens working for U.S. expansionist/imperialist intentions, and to fulfill its “divine destiny” as the imperial master of the whole globe. Meanwhile, Canadians look over the border at the seething U.S.A. where a strange argument is being conducted – whether the U.S. should allow Confederate heroes to have statues erected in their honour – the (mostly) men who led the fight for a country separate from the United States of America (their statues being pulled down because they are racists, it is claimed). When Donald Trump, U.S. president, asked if they would next want to tear down statues of Washington and Jefferson, also slave owners and obvious, fullbore racists, Trump was ridiculed. Of course, the two men were slave-owners and racists … but … But they hadn’t fought to set up a country separate from the United States of America. That was the cardinal sin – not that the Confederates were racists and slaveowners, but that they fought for a separate country that would, by its existence, have weakened the United States of America and … perhaps … even prevented it from becoming the violent, rapacious, destructive Global Imperial power it has become. Canadians live in the wash and wake of U.S. imperial propaganda. And so few Canadians probably know the real story of the U.S. Civil War – and no major source of public information in Canada is about to tell Canadians the truth … for that would offend our loving neighbours to the South, wouldn’t it …. Robin Mathews, Vancouver ♣ SEE ALSO: Justice in [Fascist] Canada. Part Two. Professor
Anthony Hall and the (Criminal?) Conspiracy To Kill Freedom of Expression In Alberta – ARTICLES POSTED AT www.dialogue.ca /see Columnists/Robin Mathews. ♣ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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“Ideas”
What is White and Why Does it Matter? David Muir Foster, Port Perry ON, david.foster2@powergate.ca
A lot of fuss about ‘White Supremacists’ and little understanding what ‘white’ is... In its historic context, we are told White as a ‘race’ was created by the Gulf Stream many thousands of years ago. Cold air moving from west to east over the Atlantic Ocean creates almost constant dense clouds over north-western Europe. The clouds bring rain, good crops and a peculiar mental depression. The human body’s skin – in needing more vitamins than the norm available to other races who have more contact with the sun – responded so as to more readily absorb what little sunlight benefit there was, causing European skin to grow pale. To produce Vitamin D, they say. Current gene research may or may not confirm this, but the result, I suggest, was a race of hardy northerners with a desire to seek more of the sun. The land itself was kindly: readily yielding minerals, forests, and food – but always a people wanting to get away from the rain, the gloom and the snow. Russians do that with Vodka. Early Scandinavians with boat building and escaping to explore both south and north beyond the cloud cover. Germans were trapped too far from the sea and became obsessed with the challenges of mountains and minerals deep in the earth and with more ‘Lebensraum.’ Each became a warrior nation, intent on discovering a warmer clime and happier circumstance than the depression of the grey of the Western Approaches. Island nations, especially, have a measure of security from invasion and the incentive to build boats. They become explorers. And then imperialists. All because of the Gulf Stream making clouds over the northern Atlantic. From there follow raids and war. Endless war with endless new technologies and wild ideas how to manage the conquests and the conquered people. The Norse conquered the Mediterranean basin and dominated the browner skinned races. Lighter skinned people of Western Africa moved north to conquer southern Europe: the ‘Moors’ and the so-called Mediterranean races from Gibraltar to ancient Persia. The dominant ones were those with the whitest skin, especially prized in the women. Blue eyes blond hair 26 dialogue
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and skin like alabaster. The prize for every harem. So were ‘whites’ to come by their heritage, with an instinct to protect it. That brings us to the United States… Miscegenation* was a recent democratic notion that destroys tribal identity. The intellectually poorer among whites feel threatened. Those south of the Mason-Dixon Line felt superior, from 400 years of being masters of slaves and technology; slaves deliberately denied the intellectual capacities of people with lighter shades of skin. Until Martin Luther King and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: both dark-skinned people, an ocean apart, denied modern educational opportunities. Mason and Dixon were two British Surveyors who in 1767 used only the stars to calculate a path through the wilderness and mark out the 233-mile-long boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland and the 83 miles long north-south boundary between Maryland and Delaware. The effort took five years when the wilderness was truly wild. Since the mid-1800s, oil, coal and Nuclear Power that produced electricity had replaced the need for slaves in most of the western world. And so began the endless ‘conquest’ to subdue others because it feels good to be winners. It is a sexual distortion. An interesting tale comes from Whitehorse – where we assume the original horse was truly white! It was 1885 when a boy of 16, in the throes of sexual imperative (and perhaps to avoid conscription), ran away from home in the Kingdom of Bavaria to make his way in America. Friedrich was his name, brown haired and blue-eyed and very competitive. Staying with relatives in New York, he earned a living for a while as a barber (for which he had trained in Bavaria) - and listened to the gossip as to where there might be opportunity – in the West. The Young USA was still in its adolescent expansion years, having recently annexed California from Mexico. Gold had been discovered in Whitehorse where the river ran north into the Yukon and the Klondike. After operating successful restaurants/brothels in Seattle, then in Bennett, BC, Friedrich went north, not to mine gold but to run businesses that catered to miners, at their peak …/ www.dialogue.ca
David Foster, What is White, Why does it Matter? contd.
3000 customers a day including a whorehouse. The Northwest Mounted Police were separate from the Yukon Field Force of a few men sent to protect a bank from robbery, (the Force, incidentally, that one of my grandfathers served with as a Medical Officer). The Mounties advised Friedrich to move on. So he cashed out with an enormous ‘poke’ and returned to New York. After an aborted attempt to relocate back to what was now part of Germany, Friedrich and his family moved back to NY in 1905, where his first son was born and where, in 1918, he died suddenly at the beginning of the influenza epidemic that killed about 20 to 50 million people after WW1. Guess who inherited his ‘poke’... That was President Donald Trump’s Grandfather (Fred Trump) and the source of the Trump fortune.** The Trump fickle finger of wild lurching about – in a badly flawed American Electoral system – won him a presidency: of instant bad decisions to dance away from and the fear of much of the world, for his irrational immature behavior. White people can be quite unbalanced. But that is no reason to agree to miscegenation into oblivion. It is like a garden one has to tend carefully – sometimes without the depressing rain and cold of a European Winter north of Ireland. Canada, to its credit, in the 1930s had an immigration policy to admit immigrants in direct balanced proportion to those already here. Now it is anything goes: to the detriment of both the land and the Indigenous
occupiers of it, even in the cold and grey places. Why that is so is another discussion among Anglos and Francophones. The early Irish had the sense to find sometimes sunny Iceland and the teeming fish of the Grand Banks. But now it is depressing Newfoundland that hides under the almost constant cloud. So we find the Newfies with their sense of humour and tough adaptation skills. A similar greyness affects people on the rainy west coast from Vancouver to Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands as I knew them in my youth). They need their white skin still. Don’t mess too much with Mother Nature not yet fully understood... she can bite back. And then for all it might become a ‘race’ to the bottom. As an aside, in 1787 Captain George Dixon surveyed the islands. He named them after his ship, the ‘Queen Charlotte,’ which in turn was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III of the United Kingdom. But who studies history anymore? Our history. A different Dixon from Mason-Dixon 20 years earlier? Perhaps. David Muir Foster, david.foster2@powergate.ca 21 August, 2017, Port Perry, ON where the sun shines often and white skinned people worry about melanoma. It is a tribal thing of instant recognition. Race but not necessarily creed. FOOTNOTES ADDED BY EDITOR:
* Miscegenation: from the Latin miscere "to mix" + genus
"kind") is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, or procreation. ** You can see more of the Trump family story at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump ♣
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Gilad Atzmon Explains the Murder of the West by Identity Politics From Paul Craig Roberts: Strange, isn’t it, that one
Jew, Gilad Atzmon (below), understands the dire situation of the Western World far better than does the entirety of the Western intellectual class, including its large Jewish component. Read this – and, if you are successful in doing so, that is, not too handicapped by the low level of education to which Western “education” has degenerated, you will understand very much. It is likely that Identity Politics has put the Western World into a situation from which recovery is impossible. All the rest of the world need do is to wait.
Being in Virginia in time By Gilad Atzmon, UK
In my recent book Being in Time – a Post Political Manifesto, I pointed out that the West and America in www.dialogue.ca
particular have been led into a disastrous Identity (ID) clash. This week (mid-August) in Virginia we saw a glimpse of it. In the book I argue that the transition from traditional Left ideology into New Left politics can be understood as the aggressive advocacy of sectarian and divisive ideologies. While the old Left made an effort to unite us all: gays, blacks, Jews or Whites into a political struggle against capital, the New Left has managed to divide us into ID sectors. We are trained to speak ‘as a…’: ‘as a Jew,’ ‘as a black,’ ‘as a Lesbian.’ The new left has taught us to identify with our biology, with our gender, sex orientation and our skin colour, as long as it isn’t ‘White’ of course. In Being in Time, I noted that it was a question of …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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time before White people would also decide to identify with their biology. And this is exactly what we saw in Virginia (in August). Tragically, ID politics is a very dangerous political game. It is designed to pull people apart. It is there to introduce conflict and division. ID politics doesn’t offer a harmonious vision of society as a whole. Quite the opposite, it leads to an increasingly fractured social reality. Take, for instance, the continuous evolution of the LGBT group. It is constantly expanding to include more and more sectarian sexually-oriented social subgroupings (LGBTQ, LGBTQAI and even LGBTQIAP ). In the New Left social reality, we, the people are shoved into ID ghettos that are defined by our biology: skin colour, sexual orientation, the Jewish mother, etc. Instead of what we need to do: fight together against big money, the bankers, the mega-corporations, we fight each other, we learn to hate each other. We even drive our cars over each other. I am opposed to all forms of ID politics, whether it is White, Black, Jewish, Gender or sex oriented. But, obviously if Jews, Gays and others are entitled to identify with their ‘biology,’ white people are entitled to do the same. I think that universalism is what we used to call it when we still cared about intellectual integrity. The problem created by ID politics is extremely grave. ID politics doesn’t offer a prospect of peace and harmony. Within the context of ID politics, we cannot envisage a peaceful resolution of the current ID clash. Can anyone foresee the LGBT community embracing KKK activists into their notion of ‘diverse society?’ The same can be said about the KKK, are they going to open their gates to cultural Marxists? ID politics equals ID clash, an irreconcilable conflict with no end, the complete destruction of American and, to a certain extent, Western civilisation. This may explain why George Soros and his open society are invested in this battle. As long as the working people are fighting each other, no one bothers to challenge the root cause of our current dystopia, namely the banks, global capitalism, wall street, Mammonism and so on. The remedy is clear. America and the West must, at once, break away from all forms of ID politics. Instead of celebrating that which separates us, we must seek what unites and makes us into one people. I am 28 dialogue
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advocating a radical spiritual, ideological and metaphysical transition. Whether or not we like to admit it, these moments of unity are often invoked by waves of patriotism, nationalism and religious figures. But they could also be inspired by the spirit of justice, equality, compassion and love. Neither the New Left or the Alt Right offers any of the above. They are equally invested in Identitarian ideologies. The electoral success of Trump, Corbyn and even Sanders or Le Pen points at a general human fatigue. Readiness for change is in the air. [The Identitarian Shift & the Primacy of the Symptom (Being in Time – a Post Political Manifesto pg. 49)] ID politics manifests itself as a set of group identification strategies. It subdues the ‘I’ in favour of symbolic identifiers: the ring on the appropriate ear, the nose stud, the type of skullcap, the colour of the scarf and so on. Within the ID political cosmos, newly emerging ‘tribes’ (gays, lesbians, Jews, Blacks, Whites, vegans, etc.) are marched into the desert, led towards an appealing ‘promised land’, where the primacy of the symptom (gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, skin colour etc.) is supposed to evolve into a world in itself. But this liberal utopia is in practice a sectarian and segregated amalgam of ghettos that are blind to each other. It has nothing in common with the promised universal, inclusive cosmos. ‘The personal is political,’ as the common feminists and liberal preachers have disseminated since the 1960s, is a phrase designed to disguise the obvious; the personal is actually the antithesis of the political. It is, in fact, the disparity between the personal and the political that makes humanism into an evolving exchange known as history. Within the Identitarian discourse, the so-called ‘personal’ replaces true and genuine individualism with phony group identification – it suppresses all sense of authenticity, rootedness and belonging, in favour of a symbolism and imaginary collectivism that is supported by rituals and empty soundbites. Why are we willing to subject ourselves to politics based on biology, and who wrote this new theology found in pamphlets and in the growing numbers of ID Studies textbooks? Is there a contemporaneous God? And who created the ‘pillar of cloud’ we are all to follow? It is clear that elements within the New Left, together with Jewish progressives and liberal intelligentsia, have been at the heart of the formation of the ideological foundation of ID politics. At least traditionally, www.dialogue.ca
both Jewish liberals and the Left were associated with opposition to any form of exclusive political agenda based on biology or ethnicity. Yet, one may wonder
why does the New Left espouse such an exclusivist, sectarian and biologically driven agenda? LINK: http://tinyurl.com/PCR-ga-id-p ♣
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International/U.S. Headlines you won’t see on TV… From the Centre for Global Research, Montreal Video: CIA Agent Whistleblower risks all to expose the “Shadow Government” By Kevin Shipp & Dane Wigington, Aug 28, 17: Kevin Shipp was a decorated CIA officer who refused to look the other way in regard to government criminality and coverup. At a very important public awareness event, held by GeoengineerWatch.org in Northern California, July 28, 2017, Mr. Shipp presented a compelling presentation on numerous, horrific and ongoing government crimes. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/crg-6120
♣
How the US keeps Afghan Heroin trade alive at taxpayers’ expense By Matt Agorist, August 28, 2017: U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie explains the US-subsidized opium trade and taxpayer funds flowing into the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/crg-06158 ♣
Do Americans believe 9/11 official story? LINK: http://tinyurl.com/crg-8560
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9/11: Former CIA agent took part in the demolition of Bldg 7 SEEKING THE TRUTH, VIDEO, Jul 14, 2017
79-year-old retired CIA agent, Malcolm Howard, has made a series of astonishing claims since being released from hospital in New Jersey on Friday and told he has weeks to live. Mr. Howard claims he was involved in the “controlled demolition” of World Trade Center 7, the third building that was destroyed on 9/11. Mr. Howard, who worked for the CIA for 36 years as an operative, claims he was tapped by senior CIA agents to work on the project due to his engineering background, and early career in the demolition business. Trained as a civil engineer, Mr. Howard became an explosives expert after being headhunted by the CIA in early 1980s. Mr. Howard says has extensive ex-
perience in planting explosives in items as small as cigarette lighters and as large as “80 floor buildings.” The 79year-old New Jersey native says he worked on the CIA operation they dubbed “New Century” between May 1997 and September 2001, during a time he says the CIA “was still taking orders from the top.” Mr. Howard says he was part of a cell of 4 operatives tasked with ensuring the demolition was successful… (and) that “we had to pretend wasn’t a demolition job”. He claims he had no problem going through with the deception at the time, because “when you are a patriot, you don’t question the motivation of the CIA or the White House. You assume the bigger purpose is for a greater good…” […] LINK: http://tinyurl.com/yt-m-howard♣
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The Man Who Stood Up to Armageddon RE-PRINTED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE
By Robert C. Koehler, Chicago Sep 2, 2017, for Buzzflash at Truthout LINK: http://tinyurl.com/t-o-koehler-de-brum
Suddenly it's possible – indeed, all too easy – to imagine one man starting a nuclear war. What's a little harder to imagine is one human being stopping such a war. For all time. The person who came closest to this may have been Tony de Brum, former foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, who died last week of cancer at age 72. He grew up in the South Pacific island chain when it was under "administrative control" of the U.S. government, which meant it was a waste zone absolutely without political or social significance (from the American point of view), and therefore a perfect spot to test nuclear weapons. Between 1946 and 1958, www.dialogue.ca
the United States conducted 67 such tests – the equivalent of 1.6 Hiroshima blasts every day for 12 years – and for much of the time thereafter ignored and/or lied about the consequences. As a boy, de Brum was unavoidably a Tony de Brum, witness to some of these tests, includ1945-2017 ing the one known as Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton blast conducted on Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954. He and his family lived about 200 miles away, on Likiep Atoll. He was nine years old. He later described it thus: “No sound, just a flash and then a force, the shock wave. . . as if you were under a glass bowl and someone poured blood over it. Everything turned red: sky, the ocean, the fish, my grandfather's net. “People in Rongelap …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Robert C. Koehler, Tribute to Tony de Brum, The Man Who Stood Up to Armageddon, contd. recent U.N. debate that led to the passage of the Treaty nowadays claim they saw the sun rising from the
West. I saw the sun rising from the middle of the sky . . . . We lived in thatch houses at that time, my grandfather and I had our own thatch house and every gecko and animal that lived in the thatch fell dead not more than a couple of days after. The military came in, sent boats ashore to run us through Geiger counters and other stuff; everybody in the village was required to go through that.” The Rongelap Atoll was inundated with radioactive fallout from Castle Bravo and rendered uninhabitable. "The Marshall Islands' close encounter with the bomb did not end with the detonations themselves," de Brum said more than half a century later, in his 2012 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award acceptance speech. "In recent years, documents released by the United States government have uncovered even more horrific aspects of this burden borne by the Marshallese people in the name of international peace and security." These included the natives' deliberately premature resettlement on contaminated islands and the coldblooded observation of their reaction to nuclear radiation, not to mention U.S. denial and avoidance, for as long as possible, of any responsibility for what it did. In 2014, Foreign Minister de Brum was the driving force behind something extraordinary. The Marshall Islands, which had gained independence in 1986, filed a lawsuit, both in in the International Court of Justice and U.S. federal court, against the nine nations that possess nuclear weapons, demanding that they start living up to the terms of Article VI of the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which includes these words: "Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control." Right now, Planet Earth could not be more divided on this matter. Some of the world's nine nuclear powers, including the United States, have signed this treaty, and others have not, or have withdrawn from it (e.g., North Korea), but none of them has the slightest interest in recognizing it or pursuing nuclear disarmament. For instance, all of them, plus their allies, boycotted a 30 dialogue
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on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which calls for immediate nuclear disarmament. One hundred twentytwo nations – most of the world – voted for it. But the nuke nations couldn't even endure the discussion. This is the world de Brum and the Marshall Islands stood up to in 2014 – aligned with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, an NGO that provided legal help to pursue the lawsuit, but otherwise alone in the world, without international support. "Absent the courage of Tony, the lawsuits would not have happened," David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, told me. "Tony was unequaled in being willing to challenge nuclear weapon states for their failure to fulfill their legal obligations." And no, the lawsuits didn't succeed. They were dismissed, eventually, on something other than their actual merits. The U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals, for instance, eventually declared that Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty was "non-self-executing and therefore not judicially enforceable," which sounds like legal jargon for: "Sorry, folks, as far as we know, nukes are above the law." But as Krieger noted, referring to the recent U.N. vote calling for nuclear disarmament, de Brum's unprecedented audacity – pushing the U.S. and international court systems to hold the nuclear-armed nations of the world accountable – may have served as "a role model for courage. There might have been other countries in the U.N. who saw the courage he exhibited and decided it was time to stand up." We do not yet have nuclear disarmament, but because of Tony de Brum, an international movement for this is gaining political traction. Perhaps he stands as a symbol of the anti-Trump: a sane and courageous human being who has seen the sky turn red and felt the shockwaves of Armageddon, and who has spent a lifetime trying to force the world's most powerful nations to reverse the course of mutually assured destruction. Robert C. Koehler, Chicago Robert Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His book, Courage Grows Strong at the Wound is available. Contact him at koehlercw@gmail.com or visit his website at: http://commonwonders.com/ (Photo: Humanity House) ♣
www.dialogue.ca
“Resonance”
Quelling Hatred on the Path of “Fushigi” Review of Joy Kogawa’s Gently to Nagasaki (Caitlin, 2016) by Susan McCaslin, Fort Langley BC
“Fushigi, a wonder, comes to those who have kept a toehold in childhood’s naïve and wide-open trust. Like the quality of tenderness, it is a deep yet fragile sensibility and can be damaged by mockery.” – Joy Kogawa Joy Kogawa’s Gently to Nagasaki is a book for our times and for always because it peneSusan McCaslin, near her home in Fort Langley trates to the heart of why we are called to “love our enemies.” As a child growing up as the daughter of a Japanese-Canadian Anglican priest, and as an adult who embraced the deepest teachings from her Christian heritage, Kogawa would have encountered this saying of Jesus in the King James version of the Gospels: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you.” In her recent memoir, she explores the universal wisdom of this teaching by drawing out parallels to similar insights in ancient Buddhism and Shintoism. The memoir’s interwoven stories and poetic meditations suggest that everyone at every stage and state can be called to recognize the feared or hated “enemy” as the beloved friend. Or, as Leonard Cohen puts it in his song “The Future,” “Love’s the only engine of survival.” Some readers may assume the call to perceive the potential enemy as the beloved friend is inappropriate or impracticable, especially when Kowaga struggles with the trauma of discovering that her complex, beloved father was a pedophile. Yet Kogawa is not preaching, but telling the story of her own process of working through the trauma of coming to terms with her father’s abuse of boys, and of how she was finally able to release her burden of unwarranted secondary guilt and move forward. Rather than asking her father’s victims to forgive, she meets with a number of them, engaging with them www.dialogue.ca
personally, hearing them out, receiving their anger and hurt, even at the risk of being unjustifiably castigated for the crimes of her father. Kogawa’s extended meditation on “othering,” and its relation to violence, does not require anyone to deny or forgive personal or collective harm. Rather, it gently explores the realization that to seek vengeance or retribution only sustains the cycles of violence. Her linked stories enter what contemplative writer Thomas Merton calls “the belly of a paradox” where one feels viscerally that to harm those we perceive as enemies is to harm ourselves. A central historical event in the book becomes a vital metaphor: the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. Kogawa points out the irony of how the epicentre of ground zero was the site of a large community of Catholic Christians living in Japan who had been banned from practicing their religion for centuries, but were at last allowed a to occupy a sacred site in the city and practice Christianity freely. Kogawa argues that by bombing the cathedral, the Americans were effectively bombing themselves (those of their own western religious traditions) unknowingly. Because her memoir looks unflinchingly at the human capacity for violence, she chooses to begin and end with poetry, a deeper music of the heart that holds the capacity for healing and reconciliation. Between the opening and closing meditations float interwoven narratives that shift back and forth between matters of public and private concern. But first we attune to the music, the deep song: In the dark light before dawn, in the deep light before dawn, the hidden voice comes. Named and Nameless, the Goddess of Mercy, She, the compassionate one who heeds the wailing in a world of weeping, comes to us … I am with you, she sings, I am with you through the water, under the water, in the birthing, in the forgetting, in the terror and at the heart of what you most fear, I am with you. Kogawa later reveals the identity of this hidden VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Susan McCaslin, Review of Gently to Nagasaki, contd.
voice as the Japanese Goddess of Mercy, Kannon, a Buddhist figure of divine feminine Mercy. Like Hokhmah (Wisdom or Sophia) in the Hebrew tradition, or Mary in the Christian, she is a figure associated with natality, compassion, and forgiveness. Her presence reveals the inseparability of the qualities of abundance and mercy. “Abundance and mercy are indivisible,” she writes. Mercy, the infinite overflow from a limitless source, descends into “the sensate sea,” sentience itself, universal consciousness, a vast web of interconnectedness. She presides over all the interwoven stories in the memoir, giving them their coherence and meaning. In the introductory poem to her memoir, Kogawa deliberately connects Gently to Nagasaki to her earlier novel Obasan, Kogawa’s classic exploration of the internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII as well as the bombing of Nagasaki at that war’s end. Kogawa’s novel and memoir are the alpha and omega of her literary offerings to date, bookending each other, the memoir an extended meditation on issues raised in the novel. However, the poetic voice referred to at the opening of Obasan is “a silence that cannot speak,” a silent and a silenced voice. The “I” is seeking a “freeing word” but cannot find it. In the memoir, the silence is at last broken, and the voice speaks from within the fullness of its powers. The freeing word offered by the divine feminine is “Trust.” Yet the path of trust leads to dark places, for Kogawa is relentless in scrutinizing both the atrocities of the west against the Japanese, and those of the Japanese against both the Allies and the Chinese. Her perspective refuses nationalisms and prejudices on both sides that breed continued cycles of violence and destruction. The memoir takes Kogawa’s concerns in Obasan further than those of her earlier novel by examining the victims and oppressors on both sides, and by showing that there are always oppressors and oppressed. She looks at those who (blindly or knowingly) contribute to the suffering of others, whether the narrator’s beloved father, the young American soldiers following orders who blithely drop the bomb on Nagasaki, or the Anglicans and families of her father’s victims who seek vengeance on the family rather than justice, wishing to punish the daughter for the crimes of the father. Here Kogawa takes a long, hard look at self-perpetuating cycles of violence that can only be broken by the gaze of compassion. 32 dialogue
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In the novel as well as the memoir, Kogawa locates her personal story in the context of the global atrocities of history. The memoir juxtaposes the trauma caused by the narrator’s discovery of her beloved father’s pedophilia with public acts of violence of enormous magnitude. She revisits not only the sites of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans, but scrutinizes Japanese war crimes in the internment camps and the Rape of Nanking in 1937. At both levels, she addresses human atrocities against humans and asks why they recur. Yet before turning to the horrors of war, Kogawa presents in her poetic opening the archetypal image of the “sensate sea” introduced earlier in Obasan, the waters of life, which become a living stream that leads to the “hidden voice,” the named and nameless presence at the core of all being. In a final epiphany at the memoir’s conclusion, which occurs for the narrator at the Bethlehem Retreat Centre outside Nanaimo, BC, the River reveals its deepest name, the River Always: If I could follow the stream down and down to the hidden voice, would I come at last to the freeing word: It took thirty years for the word to arrive. My one word is Trust. Trust is the least. Trust is the most. The decisive word, the hidden word, is Always. Trust. Always. Trust always. And it is freedom. Kogawa’s one word, “Trust,” evokes for me the fourteenth-century English mystic, Julian of Norwich, who had visions of Christ as a mother offering infinite forgiveness and mercy to all. Like Joy’s words on trust, Julian’s famous utterance in her Revelations of Divine Love, “It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” may seem to be based on faith rather than reason. But like the revelations of the mystics in many cultures and times, such affirmations arise from the context of the speaker’s direct experience. They are forms of inner knowing, intuitive revelations from a ground of being deeper than the individual ego. I would call them ontological revelations or forms www.dialogue.ca
of gnosis grounded in ultimate Being. They seem to arise from an inner experience that can be tested when what is absorbed through the experience is put into practice. They transcend the binary of reason versus feeling. One example of such an epiphany from Gently to Nagasaki arrives toward the end of the memoir, a scene I consider to be the turning point of the entire volume. Kogawa shares what she insists is not a mere dream, but “a visitation.” In it her father’s ghost, spirit, or soul appears in her room at the Kogawa House in Vancouver, which had been the family home but was confiscated during the war and is now preserved as a literary centre in Vancouver. Kogawa writes that on Jan. 17, 2014 a silent figure entered her room: To my immense relief, the man who stood there was a safe, familiar figure. My father. His round eyes, grave and gently oblique, looked my way with deep sadness. Around his neck he wore a pink bib the texture of a bath mat, the shape and size of a toilet seat cover. But all this was impossible. My father was dead! My first thought was that I had gone insane. Nothing about the moment was dream-like. But it could be a dream, I thought. If it were a dream, he would go away. If it were a dream, I would wake up. At this point my father turned as if to leave. I didn’t want him to go—this one man whom I loved more than any man in the world. I said, “Dad, Daddy, stay. Stay. Don't go.” Solemnly, quietly, with his usual composure he said, “Tasukete.” Please help. Then he was gone. I burst though the state of that reality as if from underwater, with a gasp, my lungs filling, heart hammering. Heaving with sobs, I pulled myself to sitting and rocked, back and face down, towards the wine-and-pink-coloured duvet. It was almost 7:00 am. Streetlights from a block away peeked through the window slats. It was the first dream I’d had of Dad since his death. But it was more than a dream. It was a visitation. (Gently to Nagasaki, 175-176) There are several such epiphanies in Gently to www.dialogue.ca
Nagasaki, which cannot be dismissed as merely subjective, or psychologized away. In fact, Kogawa’s sense of the presence of the Japanese Goddess of Mercy is likewise based on a visionary experience, for she writes that when she and her father climbed a hill in Kyoto during what was to be his last journey to the place of his birth, the Goddess “came to her.” This does not mean that such experiences should be taken as authoritative for others, or that they do not reveal psychological information about the teller. However, postenlightenment rationalism has led many to dismiss them rather than wondering if they emanate from mysteries we can’t penetrate through linear thought. Kogawa’s account of the “visitation” by her father leaves me wondering if the soul can survive death, and whether true encounters between the living and the dead sometimes occur. In the symbolism of the experience, the speaker’s father is wearing a “pink bib,” which could suggest that he had to turn and begin as an infant in order to go forward. We also discover in the course of the narrative that her father himself had been sexually abused as a child, though Kogawa never offers this information as an excuse for his offenses. Kogawa expresses elsewhere in the book that the divine Mercy provides infinite chances for each of us to begin again, and that the universe is more forgiving than vengeful or indifferent. Whatever readers derive from records of such visionary moments, Kogawa’s inclusion of them suggests they should be treated as mysteries rather than being shut down, sealed, or dismissed as “wish fulfillments.” The title of Kogawa’s memoir signals the tone of her meditation in the choice of the word “gently.” She invites us to walk with her “gently” into the ultimate horrors created by humans, but leads us to know feelingly that, because of our freedom, we are charged with the work of peacemaking. The book takes us on a journey, a pilgrimage, to the very epicentre of horror, which is also the epicenter of healing and release. Kogawa is not called to atone for the sins of her father, but to move gently to release him in trust. The power of art, of storytelling facilitates this letting go. Exposing the darkness, the flaws, the imperfections in her father, herself, and by implication, all us imperfect ones, she realizes that we are not called to judge. The narrator comes …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Susan McCaslin, Review of Gently to Nagasaki, contd.
to see human complexities with the eye of love. We learn too how the creative and the destructive can co-exist in each of us. We are all flawed, imperfect, but sustained by an infinite flow of love. At the end of the memoir Kogawa figuratively buries her father and releases his spirit. She “helps” him as he requested in the visitation by writing her book. Her gift, the memoir itself (which exposes his wrongs rather than concealing or excusing them) reveals how once we realize how deeply interconnected everything is, forgiveness may issue from the way the universe creates through a continuous, abundant outpouring of love. From this perspective, the call to the peace-path becomes not just a moral imperative, but the heart’s desire. – Susan McCaslin
[SEE ALSO SUSAN’S POEM, “ROOTS DANCING” ON THE BACK COVER]
Susan McCaslin has published fourteen volumes of poetry. Her most recent is Into the Open: New and Selected Poems (Inanna Publications, Sept. 2017). Her previous ones include Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cézanne (Quattro Books, 2016) and Demeter Goes Skydiving (University of Alberta Press, 2011), which was short-listed for the BC Book Prize (Dorothy Livesay Award) and the firstplace winner of the Alberta Book Publishing Award in 2012. Susan has also published a memoir, Into the Mystic: My Years with Olga (Inanna, 2014). She resides in Fort Langley, British Columbia where she initiated the Han Shan Poetry Project as part of a successful campaign to protect an endangered rainforest along the Fraser River. Website: www.susanmccaslin.ca Read John Porter’s review of Susan’s new book in the next (Winter 2017-18) issue of Dialogue. ♣
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The Woman on the Shore By Peter Weygang, Bobcaygeon ON A woman standing by the shore. They made a wondrous pair; The wavelets dancing in her eyes, And, on the breeze – her hair.
He left from here, this very shore, To chase the cresting wave. But now his blond, and curly, locks Float in a watr’y grave.
The water lapped her sand-toed feet. White pebbles glistened in the tide. Then, with ne’er a sob or groan, So silently, she cried.
So come I here, yes every day, To listen to the sea. Sometimes in the rippling surge, I hear his laughter free.
From her eyes welled tears of grief. Pools of anguish on her cheek. From her lips incarnadine, She began to speak.
Just as the setting sunbeams glow, Showering surf with light. He smiles at me from somewhere else. I know that he’s alright. I miss him so, his every inch Lies etched within my mind. So, I walk the beach, and linger here, Some painful peace to find.
I’ve walked this shore for year on year, Yet not a soul comes near. No person comes to stand with me, My broken heart to share. She looked at me with pleading eyes, So woebegone, and frail. I bent to better hear her tell, Her sad, and awful, tale.
Then suddenly she turned away. She left without a word. I really did not see her go. My eyes with tears were blurred. ♣
[SEE ALSO “C4DD UPDATE” FROM PETER ON P.11]
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The Sceptical Scholar
The Khadr Payout and a Debt of Honour Wilfred Cude, Cape Breton NS
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described his out of court settlement with Omar Khadr as a just society’s recognition of a debt of honour, he ignited a firestorm of indignation – mostly here in Canada, but also spiralling crazily out into the international realm as well. Rex Murphy, in the National Post, quite correctly (and caustically) insisted the Prime Minister has neither “highlighted the decision” nor “boldly stood up and clearly stated the thinking behind the government’s actions.” Lorrie Goldstein, in the Toronto Sun, also quite correctly (albeit also within a liberal sprinkling of Conservative bias) hammered home the bitter truth that the crucial illegal Canadian involvement in the Khadr story is the sole responsibility of the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien. Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative Party (and nakedly pronouncing from blatant political partisanship), then denounced the settlement as a concession to a “convicted terrorist.” Peter Kent, Conservative Party foreign affairs critic, speedily thereafter escalated the whole thing internationally with an incendiary op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal: the title, “A terrorist’s big payday, courtesy of Trudeau,” says it all. Nonetheless, for those still not getting it, Alberta Tory MP Michelle Rempel popped up on Fox News to insist “most Canadians are absolutely outraged by this,” adding (yes, really) “this is not, like, a partisan political issue.” But all of this, from the National Post, through the Wall Street Journal and on into Fox News, is most assuredly “like, a partisan political issue;” moreover, it is merely the most recent avatar of an equally vicious right-wing propaganda scam first introduced by Stephen Harper back in 2003. Far more importantly, though, it is only the latest tentative scratchings at the surface of a terrifically convoluted and dark international story, one that – when taken from its real beginnings to its still tragically unresolved end – ultimately reveals the Khadr controversies as yet another sad episode in a much more dispiriting context shaming many democratic nations, including ours: a context we in the west have not yet even begun to recognize, let alone consider how we www.dialogue.ca
all might work together to address the issues fairly. That said, we can’t even begin to do any of that, even starting, as we Canadians must, with the Khadr perplexities, without first isolating the essential elements there. “In war,” as Aeschylus so sagely observed almost 2,500 years ago, “truth is the first casualty.” Throughout history, that has always been the case, whatever the conflict and whomever the parties involved: but never more so than now, with the grotesquely twisted underpinnings of the electoral successes achieved by Brexiteers in the United Kingdom and Trump supporters in the United States currently clouding everyone’s perception of what the very truth itself might be. So let’s try to brush past all the rubbish of alt-right alternative facts, and to focus finally on the key features of the Khadr case. We must seriously follow the advice of the King to Alice’s White Rabbit: “begin at the beginning, and go on till you reach the end, then stop.” Omar Khadr’s story begins when his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, a close associate of Osama bin Laden, took his thirteen year old son to Pakistan and enrolled him as a child soldier with units of the Taliban. Two years later, in Afghanistan in 2002, Omar was gravely hurt in a firefight with American special forces: he suffered two hits from American M16 assault rifles discharged at close range, and was thus instantly shattered by high-velocity bullets designed to grievously wound whenever they did not kill. During the turmoil, the American authorities allege, Khadr armed and threw a grenade that killed Sergeant Speer and wounded infantryman Layne Morris. And here we must pause, to clear away a virtual maze of misconceptions set in place by right-wing thinkers, both in Canada and the United States. Khadr was, from age thirteen to age fifteen, a classic example of a child soldier as recognized by every international convention. Rex Murphy’s contention that the role of Khadr’s family in his conscription as a child soldier stands out as “a distinguishing feature of this case” is a shabby bit of irrelevant nonsense, since there is ample evidence to the contrary throughout the applicable literature. Lorrie Goldstein’s glib assertion that “the Harper government’s position on Khadr was essentially a continuation of the Liberals’ policy” …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Wilf Cude, The Khadr Payout & a Debt of Honour, contd.
brushes past the harsh reality that Prime Minister Harper’s involvement was far more sinisterly sordid than that. Andrew Scheer’s denunciation of Khadar as a “convicted terrorist” is nothing more than a nasty libel cribbed from the findings of a now-scandalous military tribunal hearing at Guantanamo, a hearing with no more legal substance than Joseph Stalin’s notorious 1930s Moscow show trials. And Peter Kent and Michelle Rempel are merely parroting the same line as their own dear leader, who himself has cribbed the entire script from his own earlier dear leader, Stephen Harper, back in 2003. Which further brings us back to the immediate aftermath of that Afghanistan firefight. It is greatly to the credit of the surviving American soldiers that they staunched Khadar’s terrible wounds and conveyed him to a hospital at Bagram air base for further treatment, medical care that still left him blinded in one eye and stretcher bound for several weeks. Under those debilitating conditions, rather more shamefully, he was also repeatedly interrogated, sometimes oppressively so, while Canadian officials sporadically and feebly attempted to intervene on his behalf. The American interrogators convinced themselves to transfer Khadr to Guantanamo on 28 October, 2002 for indefinite imprisonment as an adult “enemy combatant,” a quasi-legalistic term contrived to avoid the more appropriate designation of “prisoner of war,” and a term completely at variance with the now 16 year-old Khadr’s internationally recognized status as a child soldier. At this juncture, CSIS agents blundered into the mess, seeking permission from the Americans to interrogate Khadr themselves and promising to turn over videos of all proceedings to Khadr’s captors for possible use in additional litigation against him: none of which they told Khadr, as they questioned him extensively twice in 2003 without allowing him the participation of a lawyer. When the Supreme Court of Canada got around to reviewing all that in 2010, nobody in the country should be in the least surprised by the full court of nine justices ruling unanimously: Khadr’s rights as a juvenile under Canadian law, as a citizen protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and as a child soldier under international convention, were all inexcusably violated at length and over time by officials of our national government. And that, folks, is the rock-solid core of 36 dialogue
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Khadr’s threatened lawsuit against the current government. Justin Trudeau should have explained all that in defence of his apology and financial settlement as an incontrovertibly necessary ethical and legal recognition of our national “debt of honour” – our collective debt to a horrifically abused Canadian kid who suffered through well over a decade of unspeakable hell while our duly elected Liberal and Conservative governments played despicable politics with his plight. But wait, there’s more, in fact much, much more, in exploring the much-unexplored festering international morass of ugliness underlying the entire sorry episode. For that, we must return to the searing atrocity of September 11, 2001, and the madcap idiocy of President George W. Bush’s unbelievably maladroit response. Even though the plot was conceived by the Saudi plutocrat Osama bin Laden, himself motivated by the hate-saturated preachings of establishment Saudi Wahhabi clerics; and even though the destruction was carried out by nineteen suicidal fanatics, fifteen of them also Wahhabi inspired Saudis; and even though those specifics were almost immediately understood by American intelligence: after all that, in the next few days, George W. Bush inexplicably authorized several flights returning some 160 Saudi officials (including members of bin Laden’s own family) safely to their autocratic desert haven home. To this very day, nobody knows precisely why Bush junior did that, although subsequent evidence suggests that he wasn’t concerned in the least about effectively tracing the real sources of that atrocity, let alone pursuing and punishing all those responsible. The Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was a convivial cigar-puffing buddy; Saudi investment firms had poured scads of money into Bush senior’s oil business; and the Saudi autocracy had been vital allies in Bush senior’s war against Saddam Hussein of Iraq: so the younger President Bush had no intention of going there, in any honest attempt at dealing with the 9/11 tragedy. Instead, he was focussed at the outset upon reconfiguring all that flame and horror into a neverplausible pretext for achieving a long-intended rightwing demonstration of the invincibility of American armed prowess: the invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, as warning to all nations of what happens to leaders foolish enough to stand in the way of the oncoming American century. We know that, beyond any question, from the widely www.dialogue.ca
published testimony of two of the most prominent members of Bush junior’s own first administration. Paul O’Neill, Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury, the most senior Cabinet position, stated without reservation about the government’s post 9/11 deliberations: “ten days in, and it was about Iraq,” specifically regime change there, with “getting Hussein” becoming “the administration’s focus.” The unequivocal direction came directly from the top, O’Neill insisted, with the President saying: “Fine, go find me a way to do this.” And Richard N. Haass, Secretary of State Colin Powell’s principal advisor, recorded his dismay at learning from Condoleezza Rice that “the President has already made up his mind on Iraq,” and “he had decided to go to war.” The administration’s trick was finding that way to do it, which involved proceeding first into Afghanistan, to dislodge the Taliban as that nation’s government and to either capture or kill Osama bin Laden: but neither the Taliban nor bin Laden were really the targets of Bush junior’s power game. It was Iraq. Not Saudi Arabia. Not even Afghanistan. It was only about Iraq. And once that became clear to everyone, first in Bush junior’s administration, and then gradually among the leadership of America’s closest allies, the consideration of compliance with that overriding aim became paramount. And here in Canada, as all that slowly unravelled into the open, Jean Chrétien was finding himself in a most serious diplomatic bind. In the international turmoil following 9/11, on 7 October, 2001 he had tagged along with the Americans and British, committing ships, aircraft and troops to the Afghanistan project when USAF and RAF planes commenced bombing raids on targets around Kabul: nevertheless, he cagily avoided any further commitment to joining American military action “against, or in, states other than Afghanistan.” And that became his fundamental guiding principle of foreign policy, as the Taliban collapsed and Osama bin Laden evaded American troops at Tora Bora and found refuge in Pakistan. Enter Omar Khadr, captured near Khost in July of 2002. This event didn’t really register with the Chrétien government, save at the relatively subordinate diplomatic and military levels, since the Prime Minister was preoccupied with keeping our military clear of the Pentagon’s developing plans for Iraq. On 12 February, 2003, he committed 1,900 troops to the UN mandated www.dialogue.ca
security force in Kabul, thereby adroitly relieving our country of following the Americans into Iraq – although Minister of Defence John McCallum danced manfully around the necessity of saying as much. Consequently, nobody in Ottawa (or Washington, for that matter) much noticed or cared that a sixteen year old Canadian kid had been shifted into Guantanamo some four months earlier, in direct contravention of both Canadian law and international convention. Nakedly stated, the prevailing official attitude slowly subsided into some diplomatic variant of “he’s a radical nobody from a nutbar Islamist family, so who cares?” And into that ethical vacuum, the CSIS agents plunged, transforming our national indifference into our national debt of honour. A debt, it must here be noted, poised to be significantly compounded by one Stephen Harper, himself intent upon trumpeting to the world his personal dedication to all things Bushdirected militaristic. In a public letter printed in the Wall Street Journal of 28 March, 2003, he denounced the Chrétien government’s refusal to side with “its key British and American allies in their time of need.” The assault against Saddam’s Iraq, Harper said, brashly parroting the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld propaganda line, “is necessary for the long-term security of the world.” And in that assault, he assured Bush, Blair and the other participating coalition leaders, “Canada’s largest opposition party – the Canadian Alliance – will not be neutral.” Pledging that “in our hearts and minds, we will be with our allies,” he stridently (and misleadingly) maintained “Canadians will be overwhelmingly with us.” There would consequently be no assistance from the leader of our official opposition for young Khadr: but once Harper eventually ascended to power himself, there would finally be strident resistance to every suggestion of aid for that kid, all driven by right-wing propaganda. And then, across the entire war-swept Middle Eastern arena, from Afghanistan into Iraq and thence starting to edge beyond, threatening to drag in other nations, Iran, Pakistan, possibly even Syria, it didn’t take long for the malevolent George W. Bush military gamble to expose itself as going terribly, terribly wrong. In truth, it was demonstrably all appallingly wrong, right from the very start. Everyone should have seen it coming, because plenty of insightful people certainly did. Richard Haass later confessed that the Bush administration’s principle pretext for war, …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Wilf Cude, The Khadr Payout & a Debt of Honour, contd.
2) the decision to go to war had been made well the prospect that Saddam might develop nuclear before the UN inspections “had ever begun;” and weapons, “did not bear cursory scrutiny even then:” 3) the outpouring of lies from Washington and and he tartly added: “as a rule of thumb, it is time to London in support of the invasion demonstrate that reconsider your position if you have to cook the books Bush, Blair and “a number of their key associates” to make your argument.” should answer before “relevant tribunals of international justice” on charges that their deliberately General Eric Shinseki, Chairman of the US Joint provoked Iraq tragedy constituted “a war crime.” Chiefs of Staff, advised the Senate on 25 February, 2003 that “several hundred thousand soldiers” would Hans Blix, the UN weapons inspection chief, pretty be necessary to pacify Iraq after eliminating Saddam. well confirmed everything his colleague asserted, in his Colin Powell warned his Cabinet colleagues at the own detailed testimony before the Chilcot inquiry. time that the “Pottery Barn” rule would apply going And Sir John Chilcot, the former Whitehall permanent into Iraq: “if you break it, you own it.” Robin Cook, secretary who chaired the seven-year exhaustive inHouse leader of the British Labour government, just quiry into the United Kingdom’s plunge with Bush into prior to the United Kingdom’s participation in the Iraq, has presently wrapped it all up in one brisk phrase: hostilities, resigned from the Blair cabinet in protest Tony Blair had not been “straight with the nation” in and heroically begged Parliament not to be swept up his impassioned “advocacy” of taking everyone there. along with that unspeakable error. Decent voices all, Shorn of diplomacy speak, Sir John was affirming what and drowned out in a tsunami of lies swirling the West the signs carried by London’s anti-war protesters much away into a catastrophic military earlier declared: “Blair lied, and whirlpool. Haass and Powell It was against this macabre thousands died.” Except it wasn’t were sidelined and ignored, ulti“thousands,” even then. As El Baradei international background of mately to resign from the adminreckoned, it was “hundreds of thouoverwhelming spiritual and istration as the Iraq venture crumsands” in 2010, and is by now probaethical poverty that Khadr’s bled. General Shinseki was bly several millions. It is now a war own peculiar descent into abused for his advice by Cheney crime of monstrous proportions, which man-made hell evolved. and Rumsfeld, and was soon Stephen Harper – Canada’s Ottawa forced into retirement. Tony wanna-be warrior – rushed to augment Blair shuffled Robin Cook into the back benches of as soon as he could. Still oblivious to the obvious perParliament, and shed public crocodile tears when ils of what was really happening, he set out immediCook died two years later. ately to weaponize our foreign policy, tagging resoBut we know how it all worked out. There were no lutely along into the morass wherein Bush and Blair weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The invasion were floundering. forces were totally inadequate to police a radically It was against this macabre international background destabilized country, leading inevitably to the unleash- of overwhelming spiritual and ethical poverty that ing of sectarian terrorism, to today’s ISIS and the con- Khadr’s own peculiar descent into man-made hell tinuing agonies of Iraq (and Syria and Libya) – and evolved. Immediately before the first CSIS agents now perhaps further involving Turkey, Lebanon, Iran arrived to interrogate him, the American guards and even Israel. “softened him up” with thirty hours of sleep deprivaSo here’s where we are, and it’s well past time we tion, a detail nobody yet cares to rehearse: however, look at the dismal wreckage honestly, at last in all its it’s a detail symptomatic of what the boy had to enstarkly exposed viciousness. Mohamed El Baradei, dure across more than ten years of the same barbarity the UN nuclear inspections chief, asserted forcefully: looming ahead. For those with stomach enough to “nothing Blix or I had seen could possibly justify gopursue the mind-numbing specifics of what that might ing to war.” He amplified that by stressing an array have entailed, the information is on the internet. For of facts subsequently revealing: 1) the premise for the everyone else, it should suffice to recall the muchMarch 2003 invasion – that Hussein’s WMD programs publicised revelations about imprisonment at Abu constituted “an imminent threat” – was “groundless;” Ghraib, Bagram and Guantanamo to get the picture. 38 dialogue
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From 2003 to 2006, that picture was one that Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin strove studiously not to see; and from 2006 right on up to 2012, then beyond, right on up to the present, that picture was one that Stephen Harper, his party (then and now), and a host of journalistic fellow travellers have twisted grotesquely well beyond any recognition. And the reason isn’t far to seek. Upon first taking office, Stephen Harper faced a daunting prospect in Afghanistan: the war was going badly, casualties were mounting, the toll on our finances was intimidating, public support was eroding, and all of that had been bequeathed to him by the Liberals. Nevertheless, his response was to embrace the war unreservedly, and to commit even more blood and treasure to a futile chase after an evidently unwinnable cause. But as the carnage scythed on through our troops and the treasure continued to drain away, public support dwindled fast, with a 15 August, 2008 editorial in the National Post scathingly asking: “if we’re not fighting to win, what exactly are we doing in Afghanistan?” An excellent question, one for which the Prime Minister never had an answer: but in Omar Khadr, trapped at Guantanamo, he had a prefect political propaganda diversion – a Canadian Muslim charged by our American allies as a murderous terrorist, who deserved to be locked up indefinitely and the key tossed away. That 2008 show trial at Guantanamo was a stain on the American military, and an affront to any reasonable person’s understanding of justice. Khadr’s admission of guilt in the death of Sergeant Speer and the blinding of infantryman Morris was a staged plea bargain, with the active complicity of both Canadian and American authorities. Even worse, it was a nauseating parody of due process; it was coercion in the identical tradition of Stalin’s thugs extorting through torture “confessions” from the victims of the Moscow political theatre. For eight years, Khadr had suffered torture off and on, psychological and physical, and his “confession” was his only way out. So when Harper and his gang publically fought the very repatriation of Khadr in which they had tacitly acquiesced, and when they slammed him away in a maximum security prison once he came home to Canada, and when they fought his eventual parole and release, and when they are still mouthing the unforgivable libel of “payoff” for “a convicted terrorist,” they are exposing themselves as explicitly www.dialogue.ca
endorsing war crimes, venturing well past partisan politics into verbal savagery and beyond. But nor has Prime Minister Trudeau exactly distinguished himself in all this. Only tentatively did he acknowledge the role of “governments of different stripes” in the debacle. And he has yet to acknowledge the Khadr settlement as only the first of two more outstanding war debts of honour. Next up is dealing fairly with our returning veterans, as he promised to do in his previous campaign. The Harper government, in an egregious display of hypocrisy, parsimony and nearfraud by cutting back on benefits and services, violated our long-standing tradition of care for returning veterans suffering wounds physical or psychological: and that drove some returned veterans to launch a class action lawsuit against his government, an action continuing into the current administration despite Mr. Trudeau’s commitment to settle the suit and rectify the situation. This second debt of honour, involving so many more injured and aggrieved fellow citizens with every legal and moral claim upon us all, demands immediate, fair and generous settlement. But yet, wait, there’s still one more, and perhaps the most demanding of them all: a settlement in the debt of honour to currently serving military personnel, especially those on active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. We can’t possibly win there, and we have no business even trying. The British failed in Afghanistan in the nineteenth century; the Russians failed there in the latter half of the twentieth century; and the Americans are failing there now, and we are failing there with them. As the Americans are similarly failing in Iraq, and as we are similarly failing there with them. The Bush/Blair 2003 war crime has exploded across the Middle East for almost a decade and a half, with no end in sight: it’s a colossal political, ethical and military trainwreck, and we should just walk away from it all, saving lives and avoiding more wounds. And Mr. Trudeau should face up to his responsibility for leaving our service personnel lingering unnecessarily in harm’s way; he should pull them out as soon as he can. Let’s close with a recent statement from American veteran Donnie Bumanglag, a former elite airborne medic who brought Omar Khadr back from “the brink of death from gunshot wounds.” While intending no disrespect for either Sergeant Speer or infantryman Morris, he insists he is “glad he saved Khadr’s life” …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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and sets aside controversy about that long-ago firefight as “that’s war.” And he brusquely rebuts those cavilling over the amount of the Trudeau settlement: “if anyone says they would go through what Khadr did for $10 million, they’re out of their mind.” Asserting that he “doesn’t need to hold any hatred towards anybody anymore,” he softly remarks:
“I’m on Team Human now.” Which is where we all must find ourselves, as we move painfully towards reconciliation through outstanding settlements of our debts of honour. Wilfred Cude, BA (RMC), MA (Dalhousie) WEBSITE: www.wilfredcude.com ♣
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International – The Middle East SAVING GAZA AND ISRAEL FROM THEMSELVES, and incidentally, IMPERIALISM Jim Erkiletian, Nanaimo BC
In the 1970s, I met my new father-in-law, a German who had fought in World War II. As a quarter Armenian, I was a bit nervous as to his possibly racist beliefs, but found him quite congenial. He’d got himself rejected from the SS officer training – even though he was the typical tall, slim, blond, blue-eyed Aryan – because of his atrocious table manners. He nevertheless served in the regular German army, in Africa, the Middle East and Italy. He opened by telling me that when he arrived in the Middle East, he learned that when deploying troops, “...a Turk is worth two Arabs, a Jew is worth two Turks, and an Armenian is worth... all the Jews.” It occurred to me this story can be tailored to any minority group, depending on which ally you’re talking to. My next thought recalled my university study of German history. The Germans came late to industrialism and the accompanying imperialism that fuels it. But they learned fast. The most divisive problem with the on-going war in the Middle East is the misunderstanding on both sides of Rules of Engagement. All wars have rules, and no war can be won or lost unless those rules are understood by the soldiers that fight them. Israeli soldiers are coached and governed by ideas generated in World War II, mainly in Europe, from traditions that extend back through the American Civil War. They generally boil down to who can bring the most force to bear against the enemy at certain critical junctures, (i.e. infrastructure, industrial centers, etc.) and overwhelming destruction of enemy forces. Arab war has come to us from a different tradition, and is difficult for Western military leaders to understand. It’s not about overwhelming the enemy. It is 40 dialogue
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about capture. When Mohammed died, some 800 years ago he left many children to carry on the Muslim tradition, and the Koran as his book of guidance. His most charismatic son and a son-in-law, one based in Baghdad (Iraq), the other in Teheran (Iran), disagreed over interpretation of a few of the verses in their holy book. Each man became the leader of one of the two main factions of Islam, calling themselves Shiite or Sunni. The civilizations of Persia, Egypt, Rome and their predecessors had left a huge desert throughout North Africa into Asia. They had cut the largest contiguous forest in the world, primarily to make charcoal to smelt metals. By the birth of Jesus, the huge lands of his Jewish tribes were mostly reduced to simple ecosystems with scattered oases. By the time of Mohammed, they hadn’t changed much, although Jesus gave warnings of the state of that environment when he was confronted by his devil in his coming-of-age walkabout. Mohammed confronted his devil in much the same way. The conflicting interpretations of the so-called Satanic Verses were the subject of a book of fiction by Salman Rushdie, causing him much trouble from literal-minded Muslims. Not long after Mohammed died, war between the two factions ensued, but both were of the same religion, with the same book for guidance. There are specific references in the Koran against killing other Muslims. And both sides had to stop fighting at least twice a day to bow toward Mecca. Over the years, when young men from Baghdad and Teheran went out into the desert to defend their people and faith against each other, the wars they fought became wars of capture rather than simply “killing the www.dialogue.ca
enemy.” When men of each side were captured, they were taken back to be re-educated in the “correct” interpretation of the holy book. Through some 700 years of warfare, many of these young men were adopted into the families of their former enemies. Others were returned to their home cities in periodic prisoner exchanges, often bringing with them wives and children from the other culture. The Emir’s found this continual state of warfare useful as a source of trained soldiers from both sides when the Christians invaded their lands during the crusades, of which George W. Bush claims to be the most recent perpetrator. While the war in the desert wasn’t pretty, and thousands were certainly maimed and killed, the emphasis of capture and re-education of the enemy was far more enlightening than simply overwhelming them. It’s likely men who survived the process became more tolerant and understanding of opposing viewpoints and the futility of killing over them. Which brings us to the present, where Jewish soldiers and their American and British advisers don’t understand why they shouldn’t roar in with rockets blazing when some sentry is captured at one of their outposts. Often many innocent people are killed, fueling hatred of Jews and Americans in the Arab communities and swelling the ranks of al-Qaida, when a simple exchange of prisoners is the real objective. Eventually a prisoner exchange results anyway, as war is
increasingly expensive in dollar terms as well as lives. Warfare based on rules of capture is more intricate and complicated than rules of overwhelm. The latter, with its inevitable collateral damage and increasing reliance on terrorism, only leads to more destructive methods. It can only escalate. The former, as it has in the Arab Middle East, leads to a balanced conflict, and eventually to peaceful resolution of the main reasons for the conflict. The real road to peace however requires that the major powers butt out. The United Nations should outlaw the American, Russian, British, European powers propensity to sell guns (and humanitarian relief supplies) to either or, more often, both sides. When the Arab-Jewish cousins realize they are being ‘taken’ by the big powers, perhaps they will be able to settle their differences with a more humane type of warfare. As the Americans should have learned from Viet Nam, their methods lead to either a useless victory or humiliating loss. In 2001, al-Qaida was a ragged group of 200 men in the Afghan desert. With the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently Libya, it has mushroomed to a well-equipped fighting force of thousands with recruiting offices throughout Africa and Asia. George W. Bush’s legacy marches on. ©Jim Erkiletian, 2014, erkil@telus.net ♣
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Do you want to understand the core of Sufi and Muslim wisdom? From Bill Woollam, Duncan (Aug. 24, 2017)
For anyone who has Netflix and wants to understand the core of Sufi and Muslim wisdom... there are two videos that are episode-by-episode and which give a clear understanding of Sufi and Muslim spirituality and their obstacles/challenges. I have been learning to let go of judgement and just immerse myself in these Sufi/Muslim stories, in order to get a clearer grasp of the culture and history of the Middle Eastern peoples. These two dramas are a gradual unfoldment/depiction of Sufi/Muslim life in and around 1260 AD. The first series, Yunus Emre, is about an Arabian judge who becomes a Sufi dervish. This is a slow and contemplative series. It requires using English www.dialogue.ca
sub-titles. LINK: https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80126991 /
During the Mongol invasions, Yunus Emre leaves his home to travel across the Ottoman Empire, defying hardships and temptations to become a dervish. The second series, Resurrection: Ertugrul, is a history of the Muslim resistance to exploitation and persecution by the Mongols and the Christian Crusaders. It is more action-packed, dramatic, and quite worth the time to gradually immerse one's attention into. The actors are excellent, with the heroes and villains all quite believable. LINK: https://can.newonnetflix.info/info/80127001/s From Bill Woollam, templelife@hotmail.com ♣ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Was the Democratic Party the source of the Russiagate caper? From Paul Craig Roberts, Sep 3, 2017 Former federal prosecutor George Parry read the report by the association of Veteran Intelligence Professionals. which conclusively proves that there was no hacking of the DNC [Democratic (Party) National Committee] computer and that the information was downloaded from within the DNC and then used to orchestrate a fake Russian hacking of the election. Parry explains how it was done and the implications.
Will special counsel Mueller examine the DNC server, source of the great Russiagate caper? By George Parry, Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug 29, ‘17
On June 12, 2016, WikiLeaks announced that it would soon release stolen computer files that pertained to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Two days later, CrowdStrike, a computer security company working for the Democratic National Committee, announced that it had detected Russian malware on the DNC’s computer server. The next day, a self-described Romanian hacker, Guccifer 2.0, claimed he was a WikiLeaks source and had hacked the DNC’s server. He then posted online DNC computer files that contained metadata that indicated Russian involvement in the hack. Much to the embarrassment of Hillary Clinton, the released files showed that the DNC had secretly collaborated with her campaign to promote her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination over that of Bernie Sanders. Clearly, the Clinton campaign needed to lessen the political damage. Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s public relations chief, said in a Washington Post essay in March that she worked assiduously during the Democratic nominating convention to “get the press to focus on … the prospect that Russia had not
only hacked and stolen emails from the DNC, but that it had done so to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary.” Thus was laid the cornerstone of the Trump-Russiacollusion conspiracy theory. Since then, the mainstream media have created a climate of hysteria in which this unsubstantiated theory has been conjured into accepted truth. This has resulted in investigations by Congress and a special counsel into President Trump, his family, and his campaign staff for supposed collusion with the Russians. […] READ IN FULL AT: LINK: www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/09/03/54021/ [George Parry is a former state and federal prosecutor practicing law in Philadelphia.] **************************************************************
Is Geoengineering the primary cause of global climate change?
From Stephanie McDowall, Nanaimo BC:
If you can make the time, try to read this. (it's a couple of years old) Interesting reading and an eye opener given the recent devastating hurricanes in Florida. Quite a few articles on the internet right now claiming these hurricanes are deliberately caused (weather wars). Some believe this is all part of bringing in the NWO. Those of us who are older may remember how the U.S. caused & used heavy rains during the Viet Nam War. This was openly written & talked about in our media at the time. I remember. Our media was different then. I think this may be a right wing site. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/son-geoeng-climate ♣
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Two young Montrealers propose food insecurity solution By Clothilde Goujard, National Observer | Sep 5 2017
Two young Montrealers hope to help change the harsh reality that fresh food is scarce or unaffordable for many people in places like Nunavik, the northern third of Quebec. Olivier Demers-Dubé and Emilie Nollet of Ecosystèmes Alimentaires Urbains (EAU) propose a solution: aquaponic farming. It’s a complex agricultural technique they want to make accessible to isolated communities for the first time in Canada. They're starting in rural Quebec, and plan to 42 dialogue
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spread throughout the country. Aquaponics is a symbiotic combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants in water). It allows farmers to grow crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants and strawberries in extra nutrient-rich water by connecting them to a tank full of fish or other aquatic organisms. While the method isn't new, it's still unknown to many. […] Read more at The National Observer, LINK: http://tinyurl.com/no-aquaponics ♣ www.dialogue.ca
“Your Health Matters”
A CASE OF BERIBERI IN MODERN AMERICA Dr. Derrick Lonsdale, M.D.
A 67-year-old anesthesiologist developed heart failure. Heart catheterization, almost a modern diagnostic study reflex, revealed that the arterial supply of the heart was normal. His son was in medical school and had done his own library research. He concluded that his father had beriberi (thiamin deficiency) heart disease. He was referred from the patient’s hospital cardiologists to Cleveland Clinic. Although I was a pediatrician, the case was brought to my notice because of my knowledge concerning thiamine. In seeking a diet history, he reported to me that, having no appetite, he would begin his day without breakfast and succumb to “dry heaves,” symptoms typical of beriberi but not pathognomonic (diagnostic by themselves) and drive to the hospital where he would give anesthetics for perhaps eight or 10 cases. He would then go to the pediatric ward where he would find a large piece of chocolate cake. Returning home in the evening he was too tired to take a proper meal and would retire to bed, only to repeat the performance the following day. Beriberi was confirmed by the medical laboratory but required correct interpretation of the studies performed. With this diagnosis, he was referred back to his own hospital for treatment. In spite of this incredible diet history and the biochemical evidence, his colleague cardiologists had a difficult time accepting a diagnosis made by other individuals, including the patient’s son. Beriberi, they said, “simply does not occur in modern America.” Eventually, reluctantly accepting the possibility, they started him on thiamine treatment, though they never disclosed the dose they used. When he died of acute heart failure, they concluded that beriberi heart disease was an absurd diagnosis and that giving him thiamine was the cause of death. Although they correctly blamed thiamine, they were not aware that it was indeed beriberi that they were attempting to treat. It was their ignorance of the disease and the hard won research evidence that had been accomplished by the early investigators who had solved a disease that had killed people for thousands of years. www.dialogue.ca
Lack of understanding Because of a complete lack of their understanding, the cardiologists blamed the “improper use of thiamine”. In my reading concerning the metabolism of thiamine and its discovery that its deficiency was the cause of beriberi, I had found a statement by one of the early investigators. He had given a “small” (5 mg) dose of thiamin to a 30-year-old woman with protracted beriberi. She had stopped breathing and required resuscitation. The RDA for thiamine in a healthy person is between 1 and 1.5 mg a day, so 5 mg under the circumstances of protracted disease was evidently too much. At the time of this case I was not as aware of paradox (Dialogue Vol 21,#5, Paradox and Nutraceuticals) as I later became, but I certainly would have advised the cardiologists to start with a very low dose, but unfortunately there was no discussion with them. They must have thought that such treatment was simple. When he died, it was easy for them to conclude that beriberi and the use of thiamin represented a misdiagnosis. They had no concept of paradox and had concluded that the heart failure was from a “more modern”, but otherwise unknown, cause. Paradox For many years, I have given intravenous water-soluble vitamins to patients with a variety of conditions. Very early on, I discovered that the symptoms were made worse the day after the treatment and sometimes continued for a variable period afterwards. I called it “paradox” because it was the exact opposite of what a patient would expect. This was more likely in direct relationship to the severity of symptoms and their chronicity. For example, a physician of my acquaintance complained to me that he had severe and chronic fatigue. He had been treated for a brain tumor and we know now that thiamin deficiency is common in patients with cancer. After a full-scale nutritional IV he spent the weekend vomiting. Assuming that the dose was too big I drastically reduced the dose in a repeat infusion that was again followed by 48 hours of vomiting. At that time I did not sufficiently realize the full nature of paradox and today, I would have treated him with very small doses to begin with. …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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This is not a drug-like side effect Everybody knows that pharmaceuticals have side effects and that would be how this would be interpreted by patients. Side effects are caused by the toxicity of the drug whereas a vitamin is recognized by the body as a nutrient. Even large doses of water soluble vitamins have no toxicity unless given in doses literally thousands of times greater than the RDA . If an explanation other than side effects had not been offered, it could be expected that patients would withdraw from treatment. It was however the best possible forecast of eventual successful treatment and I learned to warn the patient that this would almost certainly occur. The mechanism? In the case of protracted beriberi like that of the anesthesiologist, his brain would be in a state of severe lack of oxidation. When thiamin was given to him in too big a dose, the awakening of brain function would be expected to overwhelm its ability to function. From a state of oxidative lack, brain cells would be pushed ito oxidative excess, a phenomenon that is scientifically well-known and termed oxidative stress. The therapy must be gentle, using very small doses to begin with. The more severe and chronic the disease, the greater is the danger. In patients with so-called “psychological symptoms”, the symptoms get worse but I never encountered associated danger except in the case of the brain cancer. It is becoming obvious that treatment for long term symptoms should be under the care of a physician who has this background of knowledge and training. Unfortunately these physicians are still in a minority and are regarded by the majority of their colleagues as “quacks”. The first thing to note about paradox is that it has, in my experience, always been “a forecast of eventual
successful treatment”. The old slogan “no gain without pain” appears to be applicable, but it must be a gentle application if the metabolic error has been prolonged. Master acupuncturists in ancient China were aware of a “state of balance”. When starting acupuncture the symptoms gradually receded, but when this theoretical point of balance was reached, the symptoms returned if the acupuncture was continued. They formulated the philosophy of yin and yang, expressing extremes about a medium. The modern equivalent is “everything in moderation”. In homeopathy a medication in vanishingly small doses is given with a substance that, in large doses, would initiate the symptom. It strongly suggests that we have much to learn and that our present system of medicine is amazingly crude. Diagnosis requires the identification of the underlying cause of the electro-chemical changes that have been induced in cells, particularly in those of the brain.
– Derrick Lonsdale, M.D., Strongsville OH “Everything is connected to everything else.”
Dr. Lonsdale retired in 2012 at the age of 88 years; he is a retired Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and a Certified Nutrition Specialist. Website: www.prevmed.com/ Blog: http://o2thesparkoflife.blogspot.com/
Dr. Lonsdale is author of: A Nutritional Approach to a Revised Model for Medicine – Is Modern Medicine Helping You? and also Why I Left Orthodox Medicine. A new book, Thiamine Deficiency Disease, Dysautonomia, and High Calorie Malnutrition (Aug 2017) explores thiamine & how its deficiency affects the functions of the brainstem and autonomic nervous system by way of metabolic changes at the level of the mitochondria. Thiamine deficiency derails mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and gives rise to the classic disease of beriberi that, in its early stages, can be considered the prototype for a set of disorders that we now recognize as dysautonomia. This book represents the life’s work of the senior author, Dr. Derrick Lonsdale, and a recent collaboration with his co-author Dr. Chandler Marrs. (more at amazon.ca) ♣
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An invocation from Paul Bowles ~ to all of us in Dialogue! All the power to you for accomplishing the demands of Dialogue. May your every cell bristle with energy, may your blood run strong and your limbs be limber. May your mind be ever sharp to foster all your grandchildren and your heart be singing with their love. May your tempo move with passion and grace, may you retain the old within the new. 44 dialogue
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May the pace of your existence always manage time and your eyes always picture a garden of serenity. May your thoughts turn to concepts that make living worthwhile and may your senses revel in delight. May your spirit never tire of new expression, may your life be a panorama of rewarding scenarios and your soul rejoice in another year on Earth. ♣ www.dialogue.ca
Diana – The People’s Princess Gloria Cope, Chemainus BC
Diana, the former Princess of Wales’ died a tragic death from a car accident in Paris the night of August 31st 1997. In the days of deep mourning and mass grief that followed, I don’t think there was a soul that wasn’t touched by this terrible tragedy, some phenomena never experience before to my knowledge. My husband and I couldn’t stop crying during this time. It appeared to us that the whole world was standing still to grieve over this beautiful young woman’s untimely death. Diana was only 18 when she became engaged to Prince Charles, a good 10 years older and next in line to the British royal throne. Although Diana came from British aristocracy herself, she seemed to me to be just like any other modern young woman of the time who enjoyed dreams for a lovely future and had no reason to think otherwise. Yes, she was very rich financially but she didn’t wear it if you know what I mean. The story goes that the night before her wedding day, Diana learned that her husband to be, ‘already’ had a mistress and was still very much in love with her. We also learned as time went by that Diana was the virgin necessary for this future king to marry. Because she accepted this role and did indeed love Charles, she did what was expected and fortunately produced 2 sons, an heir and a spare. William and Harry brought her much happiness throughout the rest of her life. However, the betrayal she endured from the beginning of her marriage proved to be too much for her to bear and while she suffered inwardly and outwardly in many cases, she was unable to ‘suck it up’ as they say and get on with life within the royal household. During that time, her love and compassion for others shone through and she did whatever she could to make changes, and bring justice and loving solace to the less fortunate, sometimes going to places no other royal would go. Diana was a woman, who in spite of her perceived weaknesses seen by some was able to gather strength and courage during those years to do whatever she could, to change her life from the prison she felt she was in, enabling herself to climb beyond it. We, the world watched her struggles and always at some level understood this. When she died, she was almost there, she was on her way. But, what was it that affected us so deeply, that www.dialogue.ca
touched our heart, spirit and soul when she died? I’ve come to believe that buried deep within our sub-consciousness is a place that when disturbed by a long-lost memory can surface and playout in whatever way our soul or spirit needs to, which brings me to the question: what was it that Diana’s untimely death touched in us? Was it her life struggle, viewed through a window to the world, in this ongoing age of patriarchy that touch us all? Of course, Charles was a victim too in all of this, although he had power, money and prestige. Methinks he faired a little better…. Before the age of patriarchy, archaeological digs throughout Europe during the last centuries show societies where men and women lived in partnership. It is referred to as the Paleolithic Age. They were a very spiritual people who worshipped a Mother Goddess. It would seem logical that both human and animal life being generated from the female body and that like the seasons and the moon, women’s body also go in cycles. Their society was matrilineal; children took their mothers’ names and there was no war. This led our ancestors to see the life-giving and sustaining powers of female rather than the male form. When the Indo-Europeans invaded Europe from the East, they brought with them some of the “refinements” of modern civilization: the warhorse, war, belief in male Gods, exploitation of nature that included women, and some knowledge of the male role in procreation etc. When patriarchal religions evolved, male powers over the centuries killed everything feminine. For example, in early Christianity, there was both male God worship and Goddess worship; the latter brought in by the pagans. (country people) Some feminist scholars believe the latter were eventually eradicated and over time replaced by the Virgin Mary who was the mother of Jesus. Another example of disavowing the feminine was with Mary Magdalene who feminine scholars describe as the first Apostle and believe she was probably married to Jesus. Scripture hints that Magdalene was a prostitute and even though during the latter part of the last century the Vatican vindicated her, it was done so quietly, no one heard. I believe that Diana, the Peoples’ Princess, triggered …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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something within our psyche that caused humanity, to yearn for Mother Goddess who was once worshiped
in the name of fertility, equality, goodness and love. Gloria Cope, ralgo@shaw.ca [Photo on P.3] ♣
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The Role of a British Diplomat in early Canadian History… Janet Groves, Duncan BC
In 2011 my daughter Wendy and I planned a trip to the UK to celebrate my 80th birthday which coincided with the Horn Dance at Blithfield Hall, (home of my Bagot ancestors for 600+ years), an event which takes place every year on the second Monday of September. We were able to witness this old custom and also met with Cosy Bagot-Jewitt, wife of Charles Bagot-Jewitt, great nephew of Lord Caryl Bagot, deceased, who kindly gave us a tour of Blithfield Hall. At that time, Nancy, Lady Bagot (1919-2014), widow of Lord Caryl Bagot, was in residence there but, as she had hosted the local dignitaries at luncheon that day at 92 years of age, she was not available for us to meet her that evening as she had retired for the night. However, she had her niece (who was staying at the same B & B as we were) deliver to me an autographed copy of her book, Blithfield Hall, A Country House Saved (2011). I wrote to her thanking her and received a reply in which she asked if Cosy had remembered to tell me that Sir Charles Bagot was the first Governor General of (the Province of) Canada. In fact, she hadn’t but as I have been actively involved in genealogy for the past fourteen years I did my research and added him to my extensive Bagot tree and from information gleaned from the internet I was able to discover what an amazing person he was. This year, as we celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday I am reminded of the contributions made by him, The Right Honorable Sir Charles Bagot GCB (my 10th cousin five times removed), born at Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire, England on the 23rd of September 1781, the second son of William Bagot, first Baron Bagot of Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire. Born 23 Sept. 1781, England, d.19 May 1843, Kingston, Upper Canada. [The following biographical material is quoted from the entry in The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, contributed by Jacques Monet, S.J., President, Regis College, Toronto: www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bagot_charles_7E.html -- which details Sir Charles Bagot’s diplomatic career in France, The Netherlands, Vienna, the U.S.A., and, primarily, in the pre-confederation Canadas.]
Charles Bagot was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1801 he was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn but, disliking law, returned to 46 dialogue
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Oxford and obtained an MA in 1804. It is said that his marriage (in 1806) to Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesley-Pole, the niece of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and other Bagot connections made possible his subsequent diplomatic career. His colorful career included his election as Member of Parliament for Castle Rising in England from 1807 to 1808. This was a rotten borough controlled by his uncle, Richard Howard. He became under-secretary for foreign affairs in August 1807. In 1809 he was without a post and no longer held his parliamentary seat as he had accepted the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, a legal figment which permitted him to resign from the Commons in order to assume a government office. As well he received a temporary appointment as minister plenipotentiary to France on the 11th of July 1814. His diplomatic career commenced in earnest on the 31st of July 1815 upon his appointment as minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinaire to the United States in the aftermath of the war of 1812. It was a difficult assignment as the Americans kept grudging memories of the War of 1812 and the issues arising out of the hostilities were complicated. During this time he negotiated, with the American Secretary of State, James Monroe, the Rush-Bagot Agreement to reduce or limit naval forces on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain; and the agreement was formalized by an exchange of diplomatic notes on the 28th and 29th of April 1817 between Bagot and the new Secretary of State, Richard Bush. This was later ratified by the American Senate. It limited naval armament on the lakes to vessels of 100 tons maximum, with each side being permitted only one such vessel on lakes Champlain and Ontario and no more than two vessels on the remaining lakes. He was also engaged in negotiations with the American government to settle a number of other disputes concerning fisheries and the border from Lake of the Woods to the Pacific. The issues were finally resolved in London by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 which defined the border between British North America and the United States from Lake of the Woods to the Pacific Ocean. This was later ratified by the American Senate. Although he was only 34 at the time of this rather difficult appointment, he handled the assignment with tact and sensitivity, won the respect and friendship of the American Administration and became well liked in the American capital. His role in the settlement of boundary issues concerning www.dialogue.ca
British North America did not end with his assignment in Washington. As Ambassador to Russia from 1820-1824, he took part in the negotiations leading to the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825 which fixed the boundaries of what is now Alaska for the next 75 years. He was chosen to succeed Lord Sydenham as governorgeneral of the newly proclaimed Province of Canada due to his knowledge of the United States. His appointment took effect on the 27th of September 1841 and he arrived in the Canadian capital of Kingston on the 10th of January 1842 taking office two days later. While serving as Governor-General he ordered the first criminal extradition of a fugitive slave to the United States from Canada West. The public in Canada West as well as abolitionists in the US and Canada were displeased about this decision which led to a formal treaty codifying rules for extradition but this outcome upset fugitives, abolitionists and slave owners. In Upper Canada he took his role as ex officio chancellor of King’s College, Toronto seriously. He urged an end to the numerous delays in opening the college and worked hard to
find suitable professors in the colonies and in Britain, and laid the college’s cornerstone on the 21st of April 1842.
The tools used to lay the cornerstone were returned to Blithfield Hall after his death in 1844. Much later Nancy Lady Bagot gave them to one of his descendants who resides at Levens Hall, Cumbria, England. My friend, Gloria Cope, was visiting Ontario this year and took a photo of the plaque commemorating his signing of the important Rush-Bagot Convention of 1818. It is badly weathered and I sent the picture to Cosy Bagot-Jewitt asking her to forward it to Levens Hall suggesting that maybe they would undertake a restoration of the plaque to mark Canada’s 150th birthday. I received a note from her saying she had forwarded it to Richard Bagot, the present custodian of Levens Hall. – Jan Groves, janetoscar83@gmail.com Reference: The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bagot_charles_7E.html ♣
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BARN RAISING: This article is about the big, wooden barns erected on farm-lands, used for housing livestock in the stable below, and the upper floor for storing feedstuffs. Many are still in existence today, proof of the expertise of the builders. By Bonna Rouse, Grey-Bruce Writer’s Club, which had been struck by lightning and burned the Owen Sound, Ontario previous summer. This one was by way of pike-poles, The old type barns were a common sight in my childwhich meant that long poles were inserted under the hood years. The barn on the farm where I grew up pieces of the frame-work, (called “bents”) and each burned in 1932, and so by the time the new barn was piece was then raised in turn, by the combined muscuconstructed in 1939, it was a big event in that summer. lar strength of those pushing on the poles. When the My father was capable of framing a barn and there are first “bent” was being put in place, someone had to ride up on it to fasten the next piece to it. still many standing in the area attributing to his skill. Barns were “raised” by two methods – either by use of As in all labour-intensive tasks, mishaps occur. The a gin-pole, which consisted of an arrangement of man riding the “bent” had taken off his shirt as this pulleys on a very tall pole firmly placed in the ground, was a very hot day, and when the two pieces came toor by pike-poles, which literally used manual strength. gether unfortunately the hair on his chest got caught in the join. It caused quite a commotion and everyone The framework of each side of the barn was constructed on the ground, laid out very carefully, marked present ran to the site. It meant that those on the pikepoles had to very carefully lower the “bent” to release meticulously to make sure that the proper connection him! When it was finally all over, it provided some would be made when placed vertically. merriment for the day. Then came the exciting day of the barn-raising! Every When the frame-work was all up, the food consumed, able-bodied man and those in their late teens was oblieveryone went home, only to return that evening for a gated to attend. The women of the community brought barn-dance. If a barn floor still existed, the musicians large quantities of food, tables were set up out in the gathered at one end with the person to “call off” the yard – sawhorses with boards laid across them – every square dances. If no floor was there, a portable floor teen-age girl volunteered to assist in the serving. One particular raising was to replace the farmer’s barn was brought in and on with the fun! ♣ www.dialogue.ca
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THE SUMMER OF 2017
Ramblings
Randy Vancourt, Toronto ON
The summer of 2017 was a memorable one for me, as it undoubtedly was for many of you. In July my very pregnant wife and I decided to take our almost 3-year old son on a road trip in Ontario as I performed my one-man show, Bring The Piano. We figured it was our last chance to spend time together as a trio before adding a new voice to our act. It was a pleasant adventure for all of us. We had a nice hotel room with a great outdoor pool where we swam every day. We enjoyed a visit to Ontario’s Fort Henry, originally built during the War of 1812. Our little guy loved running through the Fort and watching all the colorful military drills, but we felt very guilty that we couldn’t properly convey to him just how loud the cannon was going to be. When it finally fired off, he leapt headfirst into his stroller, legs sticking out into the air like he was in a Harold Lloyd silent movie. A boat tour of the Thousand Islands became a game of chasing him around the deck while trying not to enrage the other passengers. I think there may have been about 995 islands in there that we missed while trying to keep him from leaping overboard. Between our sightseeing adventures and my shows, we had a hectic time. So busy in fact that by the end of our trip our normally energetic son was asking plaintively to go home. Then on August 2nd our lives once again changed dramatically when we welcomed our second child into the world – a little girl named Ellery Jeanne Cecilia. We now have one boy and one girl; I think we have done our part and replaced ourselves. I have often heard this situation referred to as a Millionaire’s Family, so I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of our cheque any day now. Coming as I do from a family of 5 boys, I have never experienced life with a little girl; I imagine it will be quite an adventure. Ellery is already significantly different than our son at this age; he was loud and cried a lot, while she seems placid and thoughtful. In face she’s so subdued that I think she might be plotting 48 dialogue
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something but I’m just not certain what. Exactly three weeks after her birth, I was onstage in Nova Scotia once again performing my show. Now I know what you’re thinking: What a terrific guy, giving his wife some quality “alone time” with the kids. Actually leaving town so soon after the birth was a tough decision that we discussed at length before I agreed to it. My brother helped out for a few days and my sister-in-law flew in from Winnipeg, so I don’t think I was missed too much. It did seem strange being away from my family but that’s one of the downsides of being a performer. On the plus side I did get to take a trip on the Bluenose II, eat lots of great seafood and sleep in a beautiful historic Inn, so my suffering was lessened a little bit. I should mention that compared to sharing our home with a toddler and a newborn, traveling across the country and performing a stage show every night was a breeze. But then again I expect almost anything would be. Having kids later in life has certainly been an adjustment. Being awake at 3 a.m. used to mean I was enjoying a late night out with friends; now it means I’m either changing a diaper or calming down a little boy frightened by a dream. It’s an incredible feeling to know that our toddler has that sort of faith in us. Whether it’s a bad dream, a bumped head or a scary barking dog, he has absolute belief in our ability to make everything better. Our magical kisses make every hurt go away, which I think is an awesome gift and an enormous responsibility. I anticipate our little girl will feel the same as she gets a bit older. In fact I may be deluding myself here, but I’m fully expecting that my magic powers will continue right into their teenage years. I assume they will always value my opinion, trust me to solve every problem and follow my advice. I’ll let you know how that works out. www.randyvancourt.com ♣ **************************************************************
NEXT… A cautionary tale from Marie (a dozen or so years before it may be needed by Randy)… and then one from Paul about grandkids… www.dialogue.ca
“Stirring the Soup”
The Supermom Quandary
Marie Gaudet, Edmonton AB
Content Warning: Those of faint heart may want to reconsider reading this article, as it describes nuclear reactions, eruptions, tsunamis, hair triggers, bears, lightning strikes, worker strikes, animal cruelty, mild peril and a side of long-winded circumlocution. Recently, I read a post by a Facebook friend who was annoyed with her teenaged daughters, her rant having been provoked by arriving home to find some of her favorite glasses filled with nail polish brush rinse on the kitchen table, this pinnacling a month of drudgery as, almost unaided, she said goodbye to and packed up her old house, moved it to a new one and tried to engender a home, continued with cooking, cleaning and picking up after family and pets, planned, chauffeured and entertained, organized activities and camping trips, all while holding down a full-time job, which in the end made of the nail polish incident the symbolic feather that broke the camel’s back. Virtually unhinged, as we appointed-without-consent supermoms have all become at one time or another during the summer season after being trapped in close quarters for a month with these already bored, irritable, griping, unhelpful, ungrateful, pubescent little fiends and being suddenly inundated with 10 times the usual workload rather than getting some relief from perfectly capable children who are complaining of having nothing to do anyways, she verbally vilified humanity in general, and all things adolescent and feminine specifically. All teens will see mom detonate at least once in their lives as they, the progeny, are by definition boundarypushers, button-pushers, sibling-pushers-and-shovers (and hopefully pushers-of-nothing-else) but, although the preliminary blast can at times be a bit trauma-inducing, it’s a crucial lesson for kids to learn that moms are people too and why on earth wouldn’t they, like everyone else, be protected by a hair trigger buried deep down inside them that, if breached, could cause a spontaneous nuclear meltdown? Although a mom is usually like a placid lake, calm and serene, sometimes rippling, even occasionally www.dialogue.ca
[Article #52]
showing whitecaps, when foam starts appearing, her offspring don’t have to be too gifted to interpret the danger signs and cease the exacerbating behavior, although sometimes they don’t do it quite quickly enough and truth be told, the trigger can be randomly activated by an act by the little bottom-feeders that would normally be considered very minor, a snort of derision, an infuriating roll of the eyes or the tipping over of a nail polish bottle as you leave your mess on the table for someone else to clean up, so in this case, if mom has just reached her limit anyways, the final straw factor can easily be initiated deep down in the lake’s nether regions, causing it to brim over into a tsunami. Buttressed thus by combined rage, exhaustion and overwhelm, mom will rail with red face, fists pumping the air and lightning bolts of destruction underscoring the end of all her sentences, followed just as quickly by tears and an equivalent amount of unwelcome remorse, driving her into the bedroom with a deafening slam of the door and a flying leap onto her bed, eventually crying herself to sleep while her irksome offspring, realizing their lightheadedness is due to the fact they’ve been holding their breath during nearly the entire tirade, take a few deep ones to compensate, then go about cleaning up and making supper on their tiptoes so as not to rouse the sleeping bear. Moms who swear they’ve never done this are either liars or robots because no functioning human being can take such a staggering physical and emotional load without showing some cracks, just as it’s inconceivable to me that other family members, husbands for instance, would allow things to get to that point, but I expect that most button-pushing teeners will forever after remember such an incident and take ample steps to avoid another such episode after having just, probably for the first time ever and hopefully the last, seen that their mom is breakable and they just came damn close to seeing it happen. Unreservedly not a robot myself, I’d like to share with you one short-term but creative way I dealt with my own dearth of supermom endowments, albeit after several episodes involving some or all of the above eruptive behaviors were unsuccessful in getting my family to help me out, “family” comprising a husband …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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who thought he should be the center of my world 24/7, four acting-out teenagers, a sweet five-year old girl who was my little savior because she was the only one who still liked me at the time, a baby needing my attention, a nephew living with us and needing feeding and catering to, and a full-time job of my own as the proverbial cherry on top of this devil’s food cake. What I did when I got home from work to find yet again a messy house with breakfast dishes covering both counters and kitchen table (every big moment, good or bad, revolves around the kitchen table, have you noticed?) and all family members conveniently vanished, was flop down on a chair, shake my head and admit defeat to myself because I just couldn’t go on like this anymore, but take heart, this wasn’t my creative solution, as it was followed by throwing my head back and laughing in denial at the thought that I, supposed supermom from Hades, could be vanquished by a bunch of kids, this in turn eliciting an unexpected burst of good feelings as the physiological effects of the laughter lifted my spirits and sparked a lightbulb in my brain as well as a thought that sprouted and began to grow and I smiled slowly, knowing that I might be able to get my family’s attention after all, through a shock and awe campaign but with a touch of humour to take some of the edge off. The tension suddenly lifted from my shoulders and flew right out the window as I understood that I had just given myself full and categorical freedom from A-A-LL-L-L-L the housework, so I changed into casual clothes and took my 5-year old daughter and the baby to MacDonald’s for dinner, leaving the house, the messes, the dishes, the laundry, the cooking, the lunch-making, the homework-helping, the lawn-mowing and everything else for the family to do (or not do, which they didn’t) while we ate out and my daughter enjoyed the PlayPlace and I sat and prepared my “Strike Announcement”, complete with the reasons for it and a list of demands from the family upon whom I was about to unleash it. It was pure coincidence that I had been working at a hospital at the time and that our nurses were also on strike, a strike which I had supported by helping them prepare signage, so after I picked up a few items before returning home, I copied and distributed my list of demands to each family and non-family member after which, as they were mock-respectfully reading and smirking through the multiple options open for 50 dialogue
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negotiation, I sat on the floor, this being the only available clear space, and prepared my strike signs, all while countering heckling, disbelief, laughter and answering questions from a skeptic management… until, that is, I attached signs to the front and back of my jacket and put some out on the front yard, each with quotes like “Mom on Strike”, “Kids Unfair”, “Down with Dishes” and “Slavery was Abolished in 1834 but is still Flourishing Here” and actually walked out to the sidewalk in front of the house to begin picketing, at which time the laughter turned to doubt, then nervousness, then incredulity as they all stared, gaping in astonishment, finally, blessedly silenced, as mom at last followed through with consequences. Of course, I was promised the moon instantly, every item on the list of demands agreed to and everyone immediately signing their names to it but you know, I’m no schmuck and I knew that the list only held 5 items I really needed them to agree to, not the 21 I actually itemized (a strong negotiation strategy), so when they agreed to everything, I knew I was being manipulated and I refused, replying that if they could actually “do” what they were promising for a period of five days while I continued to picket every day after work for an hour (the period of time normally consecrated to making dinner), then I would consider ending the strike, but that they should be aware that absolutely no house duties would be done by me for those five days as I would only be taking care of myself, the baby and my 5-year old, this last declaration being met with loud griping and grousing, notwithstanding my firm reminder that no one ever died from cooking, making lunches, filling the dishwasher and doing each their own laundry for five days. While for me, coming home was like a desperatelyneeded vacation for the following week as I chatted with people who’d stop on the street to congratulate me and wish me luck, for the family it was a learning experience in that if there were no clean dishes to eat out of or no clean clothes to wear or no groceries in the pantry, there was no one to blame but themselves or no one to go to but their dad and so this was an eyeopener for all of them, and although I heard an awful lot of screaming when they came home to that piggy house, and despite the fact that they began taking the bus a block away from the house out of pure mortification, the situation they found themselves in was so far-fetched, so out of the realm of the ordinary, …/ www.dialogue.ca
especially when I got my photo in the local newspaper and was invited to speak on a radio show, that there was really no recourse but to just laugh about it, so we did (although we couldn’t ROFL – roll on the floor laughing -- due to filth, until about Day 3)! I’d like to say that we lived happily ever after in a nice clean house where everybody pulled their own weight afterwards, but I’m not one for hyperbole so instead I will say that there were definitely lessons learned by all in that situation, by myself (so that’s followthrough, feels good), by the kids (hey, look at all this stuff we didn’t think we could do), by the husband (better be more appreciative in future), by the little
ones who were so happy to spend some time with a more relaxed mom, and I have to say I’m very proud of the way my kids learned that their mom had a terminal point (thus called because if they pushed it, I would become the Terminator), as a matter of fact I would even state to all moms out there that I highly recommend this modus operandi or similar versions when, not if, you reach your own threshold, with a codicil to that treatment plan being to NEVER, ever forget the anxiety-reducing injection of humour! PS: I’ve often been accused of excessive verbiage, so to prove those people wrong I wrote this article, limiting it to a mere 13 sentences.
Marie Gaudet, Edmonton ♣
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Continuing Tales of Family and Grandkids
Summer Convergence Paul Bowles, Fruitvale BC
It was forty years ago when I met my wife (to be) back in England, a future before us unknown and unpredictable. My lifestyle willingly uprooted, my wife’s questing spirit leading us into the vastness of Canada, travelling on a whim, looking for a midwife and a place to begin again afresh and free. Even after four children our questing was not done until I found a regular job which grounded us in one spot ten years after immigrating to Canada. The odd jobs, fruit picking, pruning, tree planting and cheap handyman for a decade of slim survival was eventually supplanted by the greater stability of the printing trade in Trail, B.C. Now, in the last stage of my life, five grandchildren begin their lives with new teeth, crawling abilities, water slides in the back yard, trampolines and kiddy quads for bumping around our son’s acreage scattering the horses. This summer, son Ambrose and partner Kayley’s farm in Pritchard will be the place of convergence for all of us in the now expanded family of fourteen. Twenty acres, half treed with horses, dogs, chickens and a herd of roaming sheep, will become a playground for the young lives accustomed to less space in the city. For the five grandchildren, hopefully such a reunion can provide a sense of belonging to a greater family in the flesh beyond Skype, an expansion of experience for the best, like who will collect the eggs or willingly share the toys. Corbin (four) and Easton (two) are the www.dialogue.ca
kings of this domain, suckled in the tractor while construction was in progress. Soon, six year old cousin Malachi will be vying to take out Corbin’s quad and three year old Amelie will be in the queue also, the only girl in the bunch looking to be a participant. Henry, her little eight month old brother could be an unwitting passenger on a bumpy ride. The tricycle is now a dinosaur. Although, Amelie is experienced driving Corbin’s battery operated ‘Gator,’ she was only two and a half years old the last time she visited the farm. She took it out on her own, flooring it in first gear but seemed to be unable to steer it out of a circular route, which lulled the spectator adults into a false security because without warning she suddenly straightened up and headed for the fence with foot down on the pedal. I was the first to lurch into action and grabbed the wheel but which did nothing to remove her foot from the pedal and before long I was completely spent running around after this motorised demoness. Someone else had to fly into action to arrest control. Ambrose has almost finished building the new family house upon the hill, established upon a foundation discovered in the trees, utilised and crowned with his creative design. I have never before seen a basement floor of polished concrete with etched edges, it looks just like marble. Kayley, an electrician, wired the place and more besides, setting up electrically replenishing water fountains for the sheep and her horses in the field, later to open for boarding and riding school. With all of us here I hope the plumbing is fully functional. From furthest afield, flying from Montreal are …/ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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sisters Ella, and Shannon. Shannon, mother of Amelie and Henry, is a musician since she was five years old and is now a violin teacher in her home town. Ella also plays violin but is an outward bound environmental biologist who spends weeks camping or being accommodated in fishing lodges in the wilderness, testing fish stocks for the indigenous people. All nine of us arrive at the new house on the hill in the woods; everywhere is smoke from nearby forest fires. We step up onto the deck of open joists, scattered tools and piles of lumber and open the door. Ambrose is drilling long screws into a staircase, the steps of which are clamped from the wall side to a massive single stair runner opposite. We greet each other amid the noise of drilling resounding in the vaulted ceiling. The days pass: walking through the woods, the young ones riding the horses, swimming at the beach in Chase; Corbin with his brother put the Gator in the ditch, after that Amelie declined her turn when offered. There was sharing of supper with other relations, a dried up water well for a while, with stackedup dishes; and the following day a general disembowelling took place of the original trailer accommodation in preparation for renovation, as if there wasn’t enough already going on with a bulldozer in an adjacent field clearing a swath of land for a parking area to accommodate all the equipment and storage. All too soon we return to Fruitvale and test the freshly dug sandpit prepared for imaginative grandkids which soon became a burial site for dinosaurs. Water was added and castles with roads built, sticks and rocks introduced for bridges and gates and plenty of little cars attracting a new generation of users. Trips were made up and down to local Champion Lakes, to Nelson for the kid’s pool at Gyro and riding on the Old fashioned tram. We had painting sessions with real little canvases, moulding dinosaur bones with clay, baked in the sun and painted. We built train tracks all over the living room, read stories, put on puppet shows which the kids all replicated in their turn and in their own ways. Henry the crawler was armed with drumsticks and put in control of a battery of drum, xylophone and huge cymbal for crashing and Amelie danced while I played my harmonica. Malachi is also not shy to happily gyrate around the room; in fact his energy level requires it but usually is precipitated by Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s music of which he is very fond, 52 dialogue
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and despite the lyrics being French, he comes up with an approximation. Most early mornings Malachi would play records, becoming enamoured with my record player with its peculiar arm and needle and little lever and speed changer, he loved to watch the disc revolve. Although I only have one 45 in my album collection (Speed Bonnie Boat) he liked to put it on and learn a few words every day to sing. However he has developed a particular fascination for The Beatles. I have a few albums and he wanted to play them all, his choice entirely, gleaned from some other source, already conversant with such songs as Lucy in the Sky, Penny Lane and Blackbird etc. But on this occasion he was obsessive with playing ‘I am the Walrus,’ identifying the track and replaying it. This is somewhat unfortunate, being a six year old coming to grips with language. All we could do was to lay down a new law of playing the whole side just once for the day. The less said about the words of the Walrus the better, although I don’t really object to “Semolina pilchards climbing up the Eifel Tower, I was relieved that he had not quite worked out the line about the ‘naughty girl.’ I was sure to clarify for him the only comprehensible line about ...’Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun, and when the sun don’t come, you can get a tan while standing in the English rain.’ He quite liked ‘Umpa, umpa, stick it up your jumpa.’ I do feel quite privileged to have accommodated Malachi’s musical expansion. It is strange though that he can easily share interest in the Beatles with the dumb song by Barney of Sesame Street about ...scrubbing the rubber ducky in the tubby. But at least he doesn’t go around singing it; it’s me that seems to do that. Now the family are all returned to their respective lives and towns, and the house is very quiet. I can doze more often to ameliorate the pressures of a 71 year old body. Yesterday afternoon I was dozing on my front porch and was aroused by a deep grunting, opening my eyes to be confronted by a good sized black bear looking up at me. With no railing between us and just four steps to annihilation we stared at each other and then he turned to continue through the yard. It was nice to be close to nature, but I was certainly glad the yard wasn’t full of kids. Between that and a $2 win on a scratch and win birthday gift I feel truly fortunate for life thus far. – Paul Bowles scribepoet@hotmail.com ♣ www.dialogue.ca
“The Vagabond Writer” THE GOOD WEEDS Wayne Allen Russell Clearwater BC
I hope readers enjoy these stories, they will bring laughter and a few tears to you. Taken from truth, but the “Family Weed” is fictitious. The family: Archibald (‘Pop’) & Mary Elizabeth/Loretta (‘Mom’) George (‘Donkey’), Aug. 17, 1930 Ben (‘Shooter’), Apr 2, 1932 Bob (‘Stretch’), Oct 10, 1934 Adam (‘Flyer’), Jul 30, 1936 Tom (‘Weasel’), June 4, 1941 Marian (cousin), Aug 21,’ 25 Sam (cousin), December 26, 1931 Bobby (cousin), May 3, ‘35 Ray (my buddy) Joe (Ray’s brother) Shirley (Grouch), May 19, 1925¨ Juniper (June)
GOING TO TOWN Every Saturday was an adventure for us. When we were old enough we took turns going to town with Mom and Pop when he was home from camp. In his absence, June would drive the old Buick to town; she was so proud. She was the first woman to drive a vehicle in our community. At age fourteen she got her license because Pop was always away, and Mom couldn’t drive. It helped that we lived in a small community where Pop knew everybody including the driving inspector and the police. The police were provincial police then. Also the fact that we lived on the farm helped her get it. I don’t believe her being so damn beautiful hindered her chances; she had a way of rolling those big brown eyes of hers that would melt any man’s resistance to what she wanted. Yes! Big brown eyes with blond hair, giving her a special look of her own. So she was the driver many times as we went to town to pick up the few groceries we could afford. We had no hydro or freezers back then. We had to rent a freezer locker in town for our supply of meat. Even though we had a farm with animals, we still didn’t have enough meat to last all year. Remember, we were seven hungry farm children! Pop drank up lots of the money he made and we did whatever we had to do to survive. On these Saturdays we tied two 45-gallon barrels onto the running boards of the Buick, and two or three of our family went along. The boys would argue about whose turn it was and the little guys usually stayed home with at least one of the older girls watching them and stoking the fire if wintertime. The girls were as tough as we boys were www.dialogue.ca
and older, so they took no goof from us. With the barrels tied to the car we couldn’t get in the back doors so we would scramble in through the windows or scrambled over the front seat, with Pop yelling to be careful of his car. Along with the other things we had to pick up in town, Pop had made a deal with the two restaurants to take all their leftover slop. This we would mix with the pig chop at home. Pigs will eat anything: soapy water, bones, egg shells, plate scrapings from meals, all those great things! The restaurant leftovers were a treats for them and they’d really fatten up for sale to the butcher. We’d cover the slop barrels and load them on the running boards, one on each side tied tight with rope. After such a day in town, we headed for home. It was a good thing the pigs didn’t eat knives, forks, and spoons. We always had plenty of these to go around. Do you wonder why? Well think of it! If you were a waitress and accidentally dropped a spoon into the slop barrel, would you reach in to retrieve it? I don’t think so! After the pigs were finished eating, we retrieved the utensils from their feed trough. Mom would boil water and sterilise them; therefore, we never had to buy kitchen hardware. The best part of going to town was that those of us whose turn it was were each given a dime to go to the theatre and buy candy. A dime! Ten cents back then was like twenty dollars today. Mom loved the movies; it was her only freedom. As a promotion by the theatre, she got a dish each time we went. With us boys around, she always needed more dishes. She had collected the whole set and was starting over on another when they stopped this promotion. The movie cost a nickel, so we had five cents to spend on candy. Even in 1957 a cola was only seven cents, a chocolate bar five cents, a pack of cigarettes thirty-three cents and a gallon of gas was also thirty-three cents. This is now 1940, and these town trips continued into the 1950's. Whoever went to town always took home some liquorice sticks or blackballs and soda for the others. They knew the others would do the same for them when it was their turn to stay behind. Pop played pool or went to the bar. This extra time in town was necessary in …/ order to wait for the restaurants to close. VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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By the time the slop was loaded it was very late at night and all were usually asleep by the time we got home.
These Saturdays we have never forgotten. -- Wayne Russell, slyolfart@gmail.com ♣
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JAKARTA JOLLIES ~ Tales from My Travels The story of my travels around the world on the working cargo ship, MV Rickmers Jakarta By Don Parker, Georgetown ON In November 2005, at the young age of 77, I embarked on the trip of a lifetime, lasting in all about six months ~ as a passenger on the working freighter, MV Rickmers Jakarta, [First chapter in Vol.28 No.1-Autumn 2014, p.43]
Chapter 10, Part 2 (Photos, P.59) We start this section in the form of a ‘News Flash and Photo’. Back in Chapter 4, I described the life-saving procedures that were in place on the J. I included photos of the free-fall lifeboat showing the muster point, and described what it was like for me to get into the blamed contraption. Rickmers publishes a newsletter/magazine entitled: RICKMERS AROUND THE GLOBE MAGAZINE FOR EMPLOYEES AND PARTNERS OF RICKMERS
In their March, 2005 issue they have the photo (p.59) of a self-launching lifeboat as it plunges into the water – taken by one of their Chief Officers; it won the “Photo of the Year Award for 2004.” As I mentioned in Chapter 4, my seat on this craft was right up in the bow. I can only imagine what it would be like to be up there when the bow strikes the water. As far as I know, every Rickmers freighter’s “Safety Program” calls for ‘live’ practice runs so that every crew member not only knows what to do and what to expect; he knows all of this from his personal experience. As a passenger on the JAKARTA, I was never involved in a ‘live’ practice session. [For more information, try www.rickmers.com .] I have mentioned Cam’s re-appearance on my Genoa scene. We met as planned near the Info Booth with a view towards finding a restaurant for supper. Cam didn’t want to go to my choice so I left it to him to choose provided he chose one nearby - I was getting very tired from all of this additional walking - and (I insisted) it must be non-smoking. The smoking bit turned out to be no problem; it is against the law to smoke in a Genoa restaurant. However, finding a restaurant nearby was a humdinger of a problem. Perhaps I should emphasize the age of Genoa, the 54 dialogue
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narrowness of the cobblestoned streets, and the difficulty of representing all of this on a tourist map for a tourist to interpret. We walked and we walked. We asked for directions. One young lady even took us to one that Cam was trying to locate; it was either out of business or it was just plain closed. So we tried again. We found two that were very appealing from the outside, only to be told that they did not open for business until 19:30. We ended up down along the seashore. This is a very beautiful area. As in Antwerp and Brugge, there was an outdoor public skating rink which was larger than the other two. People, mainly kids, were doing their best, but I didn’t see any future Olympic stars among them. What I did see were reflections in the water that just cried out to be photographed, which I did. But we still needed a restaurant. I was beginning to feel a little annoyed at Cam for not accepting my choice in the beginning. I even mentioned to him that I was going to make a voodoo doll of him and stick it full of pins! In fairness to Cam, my first choice probably wouldn’t have opened until 19:30 either. On the other hand, if we had gone there, learned about the 19:30 opening, we could have spent the time in more enjoyable pursuits than just aimlessly wandering around. C’est la vie encore, but last night’s adventures has further cemented in my mind that when we get ashore again, our teaming up point will be back at the ship. I am more convinced than ever that I can do far better on my own. At 18:30, we landed on a restaurant (in name only) that opened at 19:00. The chap I spoke to spoke very good English. I said to him, “OK, but couldn’t we come in and sit down and wait?” I explained to him about all the walking I had done and that I was tired.” It took a lot of convincing but he grudgingly allowed us to come in. The meal was acceptable some in regards, but it wasn’t the way I wanted to end my day in Genoa. Nope! No more Cam when I go ashore. Before leaving this restaurant business, I should mention that the reason for the 19:30 opening appears to stem from the Italian tradition of taking a siesta at …/ www.dialogue.ca
noon hour. This has proven to be another of those things filed under, “If I had known ... I would have done things differently.” Another annoying item that has dampened this trip so far is the way the Captain informs everyone - both passengers and crew - about the time everyone is expected to be back on board to be ready to leave for the next port. On the three other vessels I have sailed on, this has been referred to as “Estimated Time of Departure”. This ETD was always, with one notable exception – the MV Melbourne Star - very accurate and it gave no one any great concern. On the J., however, the term used is “Cancellation of Shore Passes” (CSP) with the time displayed underneath. OK, there is nothing wrong with that as far as it goes. Yesterday, when we left the J., the CSP was set at 22:00. When we got back on board, the time was set at 08:00 to-morrow morning. That didn’t bother Cam or me all that much because we were both eager to get back on board. However, if we had wanted to attend a theatre or opera performance, we would not have been able to do so because of the 22:00 CSP we were operating under. It is now 09:45, Friday morning and we are still tied up at the dock! I asked the C. at breakfast if there was any chance of me walking ashore to an e-mail café that a crew member claims is about 10 to 15 minutes from the ship. His answer was, “No, immigration is to come on board to
clear the ship for sailing, which we will do at 10:00, maybe 11:00.” There is more than ample time in there for me to walk to the café, get my e-mails off to you, and be back on board in time for sailing. This is the third time this has happened. The C. does have a laudable goal in mind for his sailing plans. He wants to arrive at the entry point for the Suez Canal to be included in the first convoy through during the daylight hours. The Suez is a one lane affair with lay-bys much like many British roads. With all this in mind, the operant phrase has evolved to: “be flexible, and try to understand ...” I’m workin’ on it. This is beginning to get me down. I’m going to leave you now and go up top to see what I can see. It is a beautiful day, the hills are shrouded in mist which adds to the beauty of it all. It may be cool, as it was yesterday, but I will bundle up to be on the safe side. 10:10: Freddy has just come in to do his daily chores. He tells me they are in the process of loading the last yacht. After that, they must secure the ship, get a pilot on board, and get the tugboats in position, before they can cast off. My comment: Ggrrr! – Don Parker, Georgetown ON To be continued with JJ Chapter 10, Part … ♣ [SEE PHOTO ON P.59]
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Laughter & ‘Lightenment!
From: John C. McCullough, Richmond ON
1. The location of your mailbox shows you how far away from your house you can be in a robe before you start looking like a mental patient. 2. My therapist said that my narcissism causes me to misread social situations. I’m pretty sure she was hitting on me. 3. My 60 year kindergarten reunion is coming up soon and I’m worried about the 175 pounds I've gained since then. 4. The pharmacist asked me my birth date again today. I’m pretty sure she’s going to get me something. 5. Money can’t buy happiness, but it keeps the kids in touch! www.dialogue.ca
6. On average, an American man will have sex two to three times a week. Whereas, a Japanese man will have sex only one or two times a year. This is very upsetting news to me. I had no idea I was Japanese. 7. The reason Mayberry was so peaceful and quiet was because nobody was married. Andy, Aunt Bea, Barney, Floyd, Howard, Goober, Gomer, Sam, Earnest T Bass, Helen, Thelma Lou, Clara and, of course, Opie were all single. The only married person was Otis, and he stayed drunk 8 Maths Magic: Just try it! “259 x your Age x 39 = ?” You will get an interesting result! sjmccullough@sympatico.ca ♣ VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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“Observations from Lithuania”
Ken Slade, Vilnius
The Fountain of Youth-speak . . . a/k/a: ‘Dumbing-down’ English by KR Slade Oh ! -- sic transit imperium . . . the empire of the old native-English-speakers is gone . . . now, the second-language-English population exceeds the native-English population . . . this new population is mostly young . . . and, the native-Englishspeaking young are in control of native-English . . . Oh ! Moreover, the second-language youth find what they have been taught is completely at-odds with what they read and hear from the native-English . . . the common denominator between the youth of second-language and native-language English is that they have come to completely reject old English-speaking. These phenomena of English-language changes may be more visible when being in a place where English is not the primary language. Of course, the foundations of English-language Youthspeak have been around for a very-long time. Only in the recent one or two decades, has there been general acceptance -to the point of the commonplace, and now the typical / accepted / preferred. Anything other than Youth-speak is now archaic. It’s simple: to get younger, continue reading this article . . . To find the ‘Fountain of Youth-speak’, the native-Englishspeakers will need a complete ‘make-over’ of their English: beginning with discarding everything that ever they were taught, or may think that they know, about English. Also helpful may be to change your physical appearance: to appear younger. Such change will help you feel younger, and for others to visualize you as younger. ● A new wardrobe of trendy-fashion clothing would help . . . [examples: hooded sweatshirt with athletic logo; T-shirts: with text or graphics of sports / music / sex / drugs, or the simple message of “Just Do It !”] ● Streaking your hair with an unnatural colour is effective (perhaps blue or green) ● Consider tattoo(s) and/or body-piercing(s) ● Don’t tie your shoelaces; just say, “It’s OK; I can do it; I won’t trip/fall” ● Always wear earphones -- as if you are listening to music, even if you are listening to nothing; this stops people from bothering you. If you do not like music, or cannot afford a music-player, just stuff the end of the earphone wire into your shirt or pocket; no one is going to know that the earphones are not connected ● You must always carry a smart-phone; if you cannot afford a smart-phone, you can buy one (for one dollar/euro) that does not work; and, it is not important whether your phone has an Internet connection; no one will know if your 56 dialogue
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phone is functioning. What is important is that everyone always sees that you are constantly viewing-and-tapping on your phone. Your smart-phone is an essential essence of your youth-persona. Note that any fountain-of-youth is likely to produce some intrinsic youthful-behaviour(s). [Example: using eating utensils: a fork/spoon is likely to be held as if it were a sword -- with a full-fisted firm-grip; a natural inclination to use fingers to push food onto a fork/spoon; and, lifting a plate to your mouth means that you like the food. Also, excessive imbibing at the fountain may cause wet pants.] You have been warned; you can stop reading now, or continue at your possible peril . . .
The Youth Philosophy of Speaking / Writing ● “I don’t know.” This is the best-possible response when you are expected to answer a question, especially when the question is from someone in authority. Any subsequent questions should receive your same response. Soon, the questions will stop. ● Stream-of-consciousness . . . it is very important to not use sentences: phrases (i.e. groups of words) are totally sufficient . . . a single synapse between only two brain cells is sufficient to generate a mouth-reaction; do not waste more synapses . . . [examples: Donald Trump’s tweets . . . James Joyce (especially ‘Ulysses’] ● Repetition: when you have little to say, just repeat what you have said. . . [Examples: “It’s good; it’s great; I love it; I really love it; it’s just great.” ● Redundancy: is great for emphasis [example: using: ‘I, personally, myself’, as with “I personally would like to pay tribute to Diana myself.” HM QEII (Note: HM is one of the few people who are entitled to such redundancy-emphasis, because she was speaking personally, not as a head-of-state)] ● Be ‘optimist’ . . . never do any critical-analysis, or any analysis; ‘analysis’ is assumed to be based obviously on ‘anal’, which of course: must be avoided. ● Tweet (i.e., collection of words, which does not exceed 140 characters) . . . base all your communications on the tweet-concept: this is all you need; avoid complexities, because ‘everything is simple’. ● Use emoji ! -- they are so cute :) . . . and they save braintime of thinking what to write :-D ● To develop your Youth-speak: find, and become devoted to, a role-model . . . perhaps, an actor/actress or musician . . . adopt an ‘affectation’ to some localised-region, or to some ethnic tribe, or to some speech / emotional / mental pathology . . . a British ‘posh’ is easy: just put the accent on syllables that are not ordinarily accented . . . American Southern is easy: speak excessively-slowly, and insert ‘y-all’ as much as possible . . . adopt the vocabulary of some religion www.dialogue.ca
(ideally exotic), political/social cause . . . learn to speak/ quote some historic person [example: to do a Winston Churchill, just speak with a few marbles in your mouth; to do a Jacqueline Kennedy, just whisper softly; to do a John F. Kennedy, just eliminate any ‘r’ that follows a vowel, and add an ‘r’ (where there was none) after every vowel] . . . whatever you choose, just try to sound not-normal; or, Godforbid, educated. ● If you have the handicap of being educated: 1) try to learn to un-learn whatever you were taught; 2) don’t ever mention your education -- try to hide this part of your life, as any terrible-secret rightfully deserves. Education is NOT trendy !! Today’s ideal is the natural-purity of innocence and ignorance. Learn from the great university-dropouts of our time: the Bill Gates idea of education is watching a video while on his exercise-bike; the Mark Zuckerberg concept of knowledge is the importance of the face. ● Try to be mystical; always good to refer to: butterflies, candles, crystals, teas, scents/aromas, feathers, your petanimal(s), stuffed-animals, far-east religious symbols, etc. Surrounding yourself with such objects will assist in your spirit of communication, especially that you are ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘of this world’. ● Always use the new and trending . . . strive to maximize: slang, localised expressions, idioms, simple-vocabulary. ● New verb usage: if a verb is not followed by a preposition, then you are using the wrong verb. [Example: ‘removing the engine’ becomes ‘taking-out the engine’; or even better (to put words between the new verb and the preposition) ‘taking the engine out’. This usage shows that you have mastered ‘phrasal-verbs’ -- a signature of common English speech.] [Note: I have witnessed the praises of ‘phrasal-verbs’ and idioms in Lithuanian-university studies of English; of course, in the USA, the university level would teach to replace the idiom with a better description, and also to remove the phrasal verb, and use a better choice of verb] ● Sentence structure is also changing, to a more
‘common-consciousness-stream’ approach. [Example: ‘Lisa is a great cook’ is now ‘She’s a great cook Lisa’.] ● Ignore ALL ‘rules of grammar’; all rules are always wrong, and grammar is only a conspiracy of old people to destroy youthfulness. [Example: “Throw me down the stairs my binoculars” is something that anyone should understand.] ● There is a new ‘ecology of English-language’ -- using fewer resources is better for our human environment of limited resources to be shared by all people(s). ● Vocabulary should be simple / elementary, and using only trending terms. ● No more long sentences; in fact, sentences are not required -- phrases are better; single words are ideal. ● No more long texts / stories, especially for news. The longest-possible storey should be 250-450 words; anything more causes confusion, and is boring. Graphics adds fun, and is more interesting than news; flashing graphics is even more entertaining. Of course, any news video is more interesting if the presenter is physically attractive, well-dressed in high-fashion, sexy, and, of course young. ● In inter-personal communications, ‘language ecology’ saves electricity for the necessity of more than two brain cells functioning for continuing dialogue. ● No more punctuation (except for the period = full-stop). In classical Greek and Latin, there was no punctuation (not even at the end of sentences); and no one had any problems of communication. Using punctuation is too difficult to learn, to teach, and to test; punctuation requires too much thinking, because it is an art. For native-English-speakers, schools and universities quit teaching punctuation decades ago. No one knows how to use punctuation, so punctuation must go the way of the dinosaur -- because punctuation is a dinosaur. [TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE]
Ken Slade, Vilnius, Lithuania All Rights Reserved: kenmunications@gmail.com ♣
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Laughter & ‘Lightenment!
British / Irish Humour
From: David Foster, ON – and friends:
1. Murphy says to Paddy, "What ya' talkin' into an envelope for?" Paddy replies, "I'm sending a voicemail." 2. Paddy says, "Mick, I'm thinking of buying a Labrador. "Blow that," says Mick, "have you seen how many of their owners go blind?" 3. I went to the cemetery yesterday to lay some www.dialogue.ca
flowers on a grave. As I was standing there I noticed 4 grave diggers walking about with a coffin. Three hours later and they're still walking about with it. I thought to myself, they've lost the plot! 4. My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday, so I went to our local pet shop and they were £70! Blow this, I thought, I can get ♣ one cheaper off the web. VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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Contributors in Andersen, Erik, BC…...13,15,18 Arney, Jeremy, BC …………..21 Atzmon, Gilad (reprint)…...27-29 Backus, Karl, ON…………….07 Ball, Dr. Tim, BC……………..59 Bates, Jordan (25 quotes)…..15 Boese, David, ON……………04 Bowles, Paul, BC….......…44,51 C4DD, ON……………………11 Ctr for Global Research, QC 29 Cope, Gloria, BC…………….45 CreativityPost.com (link)…….59 Cude, Wilfred, NS ……….35-40 De Brum, Tony (about)..…29-30 E-Petition to Parliament……..11 Else, Marianne, ON………….08
dialogue, Vol. 31 No. 1
Erkiletian, Jim, BC……..…16,40 Foster, David, ON ……26-27,57 Gaudet, Marie, AB….........49-51 Goujard, Clothilde, QC……42 Groves, Jan, BC………..........46 James, Elizabeth, BC……….14 Julian, S. B., BC………….18-20 Kazdan, Larry, BC…………...13 Koehler, Robert C. (reprint)…29 Lawson, Susanne Hare 16-17,60 Lonsdale, Derrick, M.D.,US…43 Lustig, Robert, M.D.(book)….59 Mathews, Robin, BC…….24-25 Maurice (King), BC (from).…...05 McCaslin, Susan, BC…31-34,60 McCullough, John, ON……..55
McDowall, Step, BC…….23,42 National Observer (link)…….42 Neilly, Michael, ON…………10 Nicholson, Dee, ON………..15 Nickerson, Mike, ON……….16 Parker, Don, ON………..54,59 Petrik, Denny, BC…………...05 Porter, J. S., ON……….........06 Roberts, Paul Craig, US (link) 42 Ross, June, BC (from)…..11,13 Rouse, Bonna, ON………….47 Russell, Wayne, BC….……..53 Shahtahmasebi, Darius(ICH) 23 Slade, Ken, Lithuania…...56-57 Taylor, Jim, BC………….…..09 TheLeap.org, AB……………13
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UN report re Site C……….…12 Vancourt, Randy, ON…….....48 Vinden, Russ, BC………...21-23 Weygang, Peter, ON……..11,34 WindAction.org, ON…………13 Woollam, Bill, BC………….4, 41 Zigarlick, Norm, AB/SK……..12
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P.59 From Dee Nicholson, Lindsay ON As for the 'Q' thematic... what struck me was the "Q" from Star Trek.... the so-called "Masters of Metaphysics" whose rogue member caused so much trouble on the Enterprise... but who had the ability to stop wars, to change conditions from bad to good, and perform all kinds of miracles.... Just a thought... LOL [shrunkshrink@gmail.com]
BOOK LIST http://refinethemind.tumblr.com/
25 profound quotes that will make you question everything Collection of thought-provoking, jarring, or moment-of-clarity-inducing quotes handpicked by Jordan Bates.
Where lies the truth behind changing climates? From: Dr. Tim Ball’s website: http://drtimball.com/ “When we allow science to become political then we are lost. We will enter the internet version of the Dark Ages, an era of stifling fears and wild prejudices, transmitted to people who don’t know any better.” – Michael Crichton. “When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.” – Stephen Jay Gould Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta [Tim Ball’s] website is committed to helping people understand the world and the way it works. Lack of understanding allows those with a political agenda to exploit people. This was the case with the necessary new paradigm of environmentalism as Gould’s comment anticipated. Without understanding natural processes you can’t identify human induced changes. You are vulnerable to the claim that all natural changes are unnatural, which is occurring daily in the mainstream media. Education was always about indoctrinating children to think the way the powerful in society wanted. This was done openly and primarily centered on a religious belief. Now the indoctrination is denied because they claim education is not about religion. In fact, it is about the new religion of environmentalism
Don Parker - lifeboat Photo 65: An award-winning photo taken by a RICKMERS deck officer just as the self-launching lifeboat plunges into the water. KEN SLADE PHOTOS 25 PROFOUND QUOTES – http://tinyurl.com/cp-25-profound-quotes http://www.creativitypost.com/arts/25_profound_quotes_that_will_make_you_question_everything www.dialogue.ca
Profound Implications of the Virome for Human Health and Autoimmunity Sayer Ji, Founder of www.GreenMedInfo.com Sep 8 2017: LINK: http://tinyurl.com/sj-gmi-virome http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/profound-implications-virome-human-health-and-autoimmunity
VOL. 31, NO. 1, AUTUMN 2017
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that is being used to create equally, if not more indoctrinated, young minds. Few parents have any idea what their children are learning in the schools. It is not the wide ranging, free thinking, investigative experience they think. Books: Human Caused Global Warming, the biggest deception in history (2016) This book examines the claims of human induced global warming made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using proper journalistic and investigative techniques. It explains how it was a premeditated, orchestrated deception, using science to impose a political agenda. It fooled a majority including most scientists. They assumed that other scientists would not produce science for a political agenda. German Physicist and meteorologist Klaus-Eckart Puls finally decided to look for himself. Here is what he discovered. Ten years ago I simply parroted what the IPCC told us. One day I started checking the facts and data--first I started with a sense of doubt but then I became outraged when I discovered that much of what the IPCC and the media were telling us was sheer nonsense and was not even supported by any scientific facts and measurements. To this day I still feel shame that as a scientist I made presentations of their science without first checking it... scientifically it is sheer absurdity to think we can get a nice climate by turning a CO2 adjustment knob. This book uses the same approach used in investigative journalism. It examines the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.
HOW DEEP IS THE VAULT? Paul Bowles, Fruitvale BC
How deep is the vault of imagination? How silent are the seeds of creation, waiting in the rich humus of the earth for the heat and liquid of life’s forces to burst its protective shell and sprout forth into the light, unfolding its miniscule form, expanding every cell stem and leaf with silent glory. How rich is the humus of our soul? How deep is the memory from beyond time? In the atoms of our collective soul, we know the being that we are. We are The One Being, the eternal seed, the ever renewing, within each of us. We are the ever reaching for expansion and freedom, to sense again the power of growth and vital reproduction, to breathe deeply a love of life and creative energy. The unfathomable light from space, the alchemy of life upon the Earth, awakens both seeds and creatures alike to fulfill their destinies, to become the fruit of their calling, the beauty of their blossom, and the satisfaction of their nature. The cosmos, waves of force, a churning matrix beyond our comprehension, a universe seeded with light pervaded by space... The Gardener of Creation. We are ‘It’ in some strange way, and yet are compelled to journey through this mystery of life to forage and experience both the beauty and perplexity of our limited selves, and to break out of our shells of limitation and extend our reach; to pass through death and witness our immortality as beings of light and mind, beyond decay and illusion of duality. Our vault is deep, our journey is long but wherever we are, here or there, our joy is ever savoured by knowing that the pulse is within us. Paul Bowles, Fruitvale BC scribepoet@hotmail.com ♣ [See also from Paul: an Invocation, p.44 and “Summer Convergence” on p.51]
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