Contents
- Beauty Brings the Gift of Hope
- HUM 101 DOCUMENTARIES
- I’ve Got a Secret
- Last week Steve Whalen died
- To the Chief Coroner;
- To Be Oneself
- What are we Thankful For?
- FEMALE REFUGE
- Feeble-Minded Woman’s Plea
- Likely Story
- March at Rhizome Café * Community Space * Arts Venue
- News from the Library
- The high cost of subsidizing Private Power
- Not Green, Not Smart, Not Needed!
- The blood of Bhopal
- Dancing With the Dragon
- Eagles
- 8,000 Drums Gathering
- ***Be Aware***
Beauty Brings the Gift of Hope
The Alhambra is an ancient Arab palace in Granada, Spain. I knew a little of the history of the palace, but nothing prepared me for the beauty of the intricately carved stone archway at the entrance. It was poetry in stone. So powerful was the beauty of this architecture that my legs became weak, and I almost fell. I have to change my life, I thought. In the face of this beauty I have to change my life. I wish the buildings in my city of Vancouver were beautiful. My city is a machine for making money. When I go back home, I want to make something beautiful.
Vincent Van Gogh saw the ugliness and injustice of his society. He wanted to help people who were suffering, and he went to live in a mining village where the people were very poor. He wasn't any help, though, because he gave everything he owned away, and his family had to rescue him. Slowly an idea formed in Van Gogh's mind. He would make the world a better place through his paintings. He would make something beautiful, and give it to someone as a gift. "How can I be of use in the world?" he asked in a letter to his brother Theo (July, 1880). "Cannot I serve some purpose and be of some good?" The millions of people who line up to see the paintings of Van Gogh, and come away with renewed hope, have answered that question.
I wonder what Van Gogh meant by the word beautiful? He said that he wanted to paint things as they really were, and the writer, John Berger, thought Van Gogh's entire life was an endless yearning for reality. (Selected Essays of John Berger, edited by Geoff Dyer, Vintage International, 2003) The problem is that different people see reality differently. The reality Van Gogh was seeking was not the reality of the scientist who said that what was real could be measured with a calculator. Van Gogh's reality was closer to William Blake's statement: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, people would see everything as it is, infinite." This was a vision of the sacred, using Mircea Eliade's definition of the sacred as that which is saturated with being - the essence of things.
The philosopher Karl Jaspers described how Van Gogh's paintings captured the essence of things. "It seems to me," he wrote, "that some secret spring of life is opened to us for a moment, as if the depths hidden in every existence were unveiled right before our eyes." To see things as they really are is to experience the sacred. The person who sees with full attention becomes a seer, and that person will reject the materialistic, profit-driven society we live in. In this sense the spiritual is political.
The philosopher, Heidegger, defined truth as the unconcealedness of being, and beauty as the clothes of being. This is the reality Van Gogh sought. This is what Keats meant when he wrote in his poem Ode To a Grecian Urn, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." We share being, for all things are one in that they are, and all things are many in what they are. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Nation expressed our connection to all that is when he said, "The earth and myself are of one mind." If we are of one mind, or one reality, with all that is, then we are kin with the mice in the forest and the stars in the sky. All my relations. Beauty as the clothes of being carries a political message because we have no right to harm or exploit our relatives. Brother Sun; Sister Moon.
We are part of the healing of the world when we create something beautiful. We reach out to our sisters and brothers with the gift of hope - a song, a poem, a dance, a painting, a banner, a poster, a photograph, a quilt, a sculpture, a play, a newsletter, a story, a speech, an opera, a collage, a drawing, a wall hanging, a mural, and the giving of a kind word from one person to another. All these creations are precious stones for the bridge we are building across the river of despair and injustice to a land of beauty where everyone is included.
By SANDY CAMERON
HUM 101 DOCUMENTARIESHUM 101 DOCUMENTARIES
SATURDAYS in MARCH
6:00 pm Carnegie Theatre
SAT. MARCH 15TH A CONVENIENT TRUTH
Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil: is an informative inspirational documentary aimed at sharing ideas to provoke environment-friendly and cost-effective changes in cities world wide. The documentary focuses on innovations in transportation, recycling, social benefits including affordable housing, parks and the process that transformed Curitiba into one of the most livable cities in the world. En Espanol tambien.
SAT. MARCH 22ND ON THE EDGE
A documentary covering the brutal murders of over 400 poor young women in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, murders having been repeatedly ignored and unresolved by the police, just as those of the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, by police and governments over the past 13 years, despite the efforts of family members and activists to obrain justice for the victims. The film sets out to explain the social cultural, and economic factors creating this situation, where these killings can continue, and continue to go unpunished.
En Espanol tambien.
SAT. MARCH 29TH ALEX JONES THE ORDER OF DEATH AND DARK SECRETS WHERE U.S. PRESIDENTS HANG OUT
Refreshments Served and Door Prizes Awarded Discussion follows the viewings of documentaries.
I’ve Got a Secret
I can’t tell, no, I can’t say. Those that do me wrong in so many awful ways; I should not endure the hurts and pains but they won’t go away – are you hearin’ what I say? I bet you got stories as bad or worse than mine and you’ve got to keep it a big secret.. that’s okay, that’s just fine. So get off my case, back off, do not pry because what I’d likely tell is a huge fat lie. It ain’t funny you know, this chilling business of total recall. It won’t ever go away nor suddenly disappear; on and on they go, year after year. With no certain end in sight what’s a lone person to do with these nightmares?
I took a ton of screaming and yelling and such, and all sorts of abuse from me elders, and that’s a harsh bummer in itself with horrors as yet unspoken oh yeah but would they ever get your attention! I had no actual say in such matters – you’d agree, I hope, that I got rained down upon with megabombs… ultimately threadbare clothes got transformed into rags
into tatters. Have you ever heard sad words when you were just a little kid, long scary words that you just knew were wrong being sworn at you in a loud, crackling, shrill voice but you really really didn’t understand what they were nor what they meant. But with the anger, with the rage, they just had to be evil all wrapped in such cruelty. Boy could I ever take a beating with not nary a cry, not a tear, almost never a whimper and now I’m not ever self-effacing nor self-defeating – that’s my ever-lovin’ survival credo
… maybe that was -come to think of it that was my master plan: what don’t kill you makes you stronger with an absence of malice in our fragile hearts
Whatever the deal I’m still here, I have my feelings, I can breathe, I’ve moved on, gotten real, and I have learned how to grieve.
For those that didn’t seem worth it but are still valuable souls remember it’s about forgiving but never forgetting. Do you hear what I’m saying? It took me a long time to figure this out – it’s about giving and getting as much love as you’ve got before you pass on, and way before we all check out.
ROBYN LIVINGSTONE
Last week Steve Whalen died[I’ll make space in the street newz for obituaries ... please send them to streetnewz@islandnet.com - it's important that we honour the lives of those who are victimized by an unjust economic system and its corporate media system which allows it to happen through their refusal to challenge the dominant cultural worldview that's killing the earth and all her inhabitants (don't get me started ...).
From: Susan Stroud <sue_stroud@hotmail.com>
A friend just sent me the item in blue below. Most homeless deaths go unreported but there are a great many in Victoria. Another man died in Toronto 2 nights ago. These were people not statistics.
Today is the day the motel rates go up and many, many families are forced to leave because they can't pay another $300/mth for one room for 3, 4, 5 and often more people.
Do you know that women in transition houses more and more frequently must return to their abuser because there is no housing / other help when their 30 days is up? Did you know if they return to him (or any new male partner) they are taken off the waiting lists for housing and told they are no longer eligible?
Jack Layton has a new book out on homelessness. Please buy it even if you won't read it because every dime from it will go to help organizations fighting homelessness.
Did you know that 1 of every 100 Americans is in prison? Did you know the soldiers returning from Iraq are ending up homeless, healthcareless and living on the streets? This is where Harper and Campbell are taking us. They are following the same path.
Sue]
Last week Steve Whalen died. Perhaps just another street death and one that may be glossed over but it seems like someone somewhere has responsibility.
Steve had been living on the streets for some time and perhaps he didn't take the best care of himself. But then who does of those who live below the poverty line?
Two years ago he did manage to find housing, a landlord that would take him and his dog Sheba and allow them to live with some dignity. He did well there, yes having some problems with his diabetes and other issues in life but for the most part was managing quite well- clean, dry and a place to rest his head with his beloved Sheba with him. Sheba always seemed to know when his diabetes was going to present a problem, she would lie with her head on his chest and be quiet.
I had the privilege of seeing this when Steve was homeless and lived over by Gorge and Tillicum and phoned the ambulance on more than 1 occasion when Steve would become ill. He was always polite and cheerful, regardless of how tough life was at that moment. Several times over the years living by me, he was hospitalized and some kind person he knew had always taken Sheba for his hospitalization or else the SPCA helped out.
Things changed though: the housing he rented was one of those bought up by BC Housing, you know the supportive housing bragged about , how the province and the City were working together to provide more housing!
Steve got evicted, whether due to Sheba or other reasons is not perfectly clear but the dog was definitely NOT ALLOWED.
Steve tried to get an Advocate to help but was told by several that there was nothing anyone could do because animals were not allowed. He chose to leave rather than betray his friend of who knows how many years but as Sheba is about 10 one can only imagine.
I saw him a number of times when he was on the streets and had tried to find someone or something to help him out but allow him to keep Sheba with him. No one stepped up to the plate. And now he's dead. Perhaps he was destined to pass away anyway but I for one cannot help but wonder how fast his death was speeded up by uncaring politicians and housing authorities.
What good does it do to evict a number of people to replace them in supportive housing if the original tenants are put out onto the streets? It has happened before and will happen again if we do not change how we do business regarding housing.
Housing sites vacant on Cook St, boarded up and empty. Housing sits vacant and boarded up on Fernwood and Yates St. Housing on Esquimalt saw residents of an apartment and a rooming house evicted while the property was renovated. The house on Bay and Quadra did have a fire but then was bought and converted to condos.
Housing on Carlton Terrace has several buildings boarded up.......... where did the people go? Were they rehoused or just put into the disposable pile like those on Irma Street? How many others are there we are not aware of who have been evicted or lost their housing, due to a number of reasons? How many are due to the NIMBY [Not-In-My-Back-Yard] syndrome, or even something as innocent as an animal?
Who has to take responsibility? Society, politicians, housing authorities? Faith groups? You and I ?
I think it is all of us. We are being hoodwinked by the good news announcements because the truth is not told about who loses when the powers that be try to claim a Win.
Someone, somewhere has responsibility in part for Steve’s death. Murder, manslaughter or carelessness or just plain lack of quality of life awareness.
Will we lose someone from the Humboldt St proposal due to the inability to deal with human beings in a human manner.
carolr
[This article is about stuff in Victoria, but just change the names of streets and hotels and govt intervention to just around the corner here in Vancouver. We have whole hotels empty, everyone evicted,for the sake of speculation, while more and more people end up on the street. Judy Graves, the City of Vancouver’s “relocation officer” says it best: “For every person I finally find housing for, two people have been evicted.” –Ed.]
To the Chief Coroner;
I just finished reading of the death of Darrel Mickasko and I am both saddened and appalled because I knew Darrel, both professionally in my time as a Social Advocate and as a person in my time as a resident of the Downtown Eastside. While loud and gruff, Darrel was simply someone who was handed a few bad breaks in life. And I am appalled that such things happen in a country as rich as ours. I am appalled that almost nobody is even paying attention.
I can tell you first hand that homelessness can happen overnight, as this has recently happened to me. I moved to Trail this past August and I was renting a room in a house from the lawful tenants of the house. There is on file with the BC Government appropriate documentation confirming this. However, the house was recently purchased sight unseen by a couple from Vancouver. The new owners promptly labelled us as being "drunken, hillbilly squatters" and went to Vernon where they hired a bully with a bailiff's badge to physically evict us, including a young woman who was 8 1/2 month's pregnant and her non-drinking husband. This occurred just this past February 22nd.
I am a 50 year old, partially disabled man and I am now homeless because some people think that they do not have to give others a fair opportunity to protect their Rights. Will I become one of your uncounted statistics? Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives everyone the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, and the right not to lose these things unless they are taken away according to principles of fundamental justice.
According to online sources, the principles of fundamental justice can be defined as follows: "Fundamental justice is a legal term that signifies a dynamic concept of fairness underlying the administration of justice and its operation, whereas principles of fundamental justice are specific legal principles that command "significant societal consensus" as "fundamental to the way in which the legal system ought fairly to operate.""
How can one be secure without a home? Where is the justice in locking up panhandlers when we let people die in the streets? Who will answer for Darrel's death? Will Darrel's friend, Pam, be able to seek any justice for the injuries she has sustained? Where is the "fairness of underlying ... justice" for Darrel and Pam?
Please, open an inquest into Darrel's death and the death of anyone else who dies in the streets. Please, use the authority of your Office to effect changes in our legislation so that nobody ever again dies homeless in a dark back alley in the middle of winter.
Sincerely,
Henry Wills (uncounted statistic)
To Be Oneself
Is to have love for oneself first
Honour and care for one’s soul
Uphold your self-respect
Honour the surroundings
Trees are life-givers
Water is to purify your heart
To cleanse one’s spirit
Air is so important
Without it nothing would survive
Fire is powerful
It gives warmth
So, fellow human beings,
It’s the day to stop, listen and be thankful
To every living thing Mother Earth has provided
Be Oneself
Love Oneself
And for all Mother Earth
All my relations
Bonnie E Stevens
What are we Thankful For?
I give thanks for being alive
Thankful for what Mother Earth provides
We eat, breathe everything on this Earth
We should show more appreciation
by looking after our environment
We should be thankful for the Binners
who keep the recycling in motion
Teach children how important Mother Earth is to us
We are their role models
We are the caregivers
We are responsible
In what we do, everyday.
Teach ourselves to be more responsible
For our Mother Earth is in danger.
Let’s all work together people –
Be strong for Her!!!
All my relations,
Bonnie E Stevens
FEMALE REFUGE - Home
for Wayward Women
By Velma Demerson
Protection is the price
For men we might entice
A Refuge so they say
But slavery has no pay
So we must dance the tune
And lose our youthful bloom
The Empire we must build
No dreams or hopes fulfilled
The laundries grow and thrive
In unpaid workers' lives
The Refuge is our home
Forever to atone
Note: Before laundromats existed homeless or
wayward women were placed in Protestant or
Roman Catholic refuges either by the courts,
relatives or other person in authority. They re-
mained there for sometimes a lifetime and
worked in the Refuge laundry.
Feeble-Minded Woman’s Plea
Feeble-Minded Woman’s Plea
Save me! Save me from the State!
I've never known such hate!
Danger’s spell is cast
They've really got me at last
The scientific method is ill-conceived in hell
A feebleminded woman is locked within a cell
I may be used for other things
That you could never guess
The needles that will puncture me
May never be the best
Save me! Save me from the State
I've never known such hate.
This poem refers to the thousands of women who
were arrested for vagrancy, prostitution and asso-
ciating with a man of another race from the early
20th century until the 1970s. They were considered
to have defective mentality and were called "feeble
minded." It was believed that this defect would be
inherited and undermine future generations. In BC
and Alberta laws were passed to sterilize women.
In Ontario, although no law existed, doctors steril-
ized large numbers of women and children.
By Velma Demerson
Likely StoryLikely Story
Like afterthoughts of the dearly departed, if you say so I don’t know like the nearly deported paraplegic this country is too ‘goody-2-shoes’ the entire world thinks we’re retarded, like wild animals having more compassion – too bad for them they’ll always be in fashion but a statement must be made before their captors killers befrienders & beheaders at least give them a head start no pun intended or mislaid…..
Like picking unstable vacation spots & being torn asunder any wonder you have made it this far, like when you say bonjour are you sure you know what you’ve started. Lying is our second language no matter how you say so be it English French Chinese or greek, it’s so easy give it a try oh shite you’re the guy who taught me how to lie I have a new game to try it’s called Eternal Hide & Seek…….
Like giving your infant the car keys or leaving the infant for car thieves they must love that sound coming from the back seat something alive and loud, you think you have it tough try using a lawnmower to mow around every mushroom cloud, like the rich feasting on the poor do not worry there’s lots more you try & own me & I’ll set your life on fire, stick out your stuck up redneck to we can attach this burning melt-in-your-mouth tire……
Like telescopes caked in eyeliner the view couldn’t be any finer I’ve now got eyesight equal to trapped miners, Hear Me Out shouts some guy with clout we’re just coming out with our new line-up of disabled designers what they’re wearing has no bearing on anything at all please hear me out from in to out I twist while you shout, and the beautiful part of all this is that no one knows and/ or cares or dare doubt
Strike eleventeen game over set and match next stop delay of life the umpire’s one and only shout, just like a judge no clues allowed so everyone’s on the same page the time has come for a terminal timeout! ,,,,,for now…..
By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY March at Rhizome Café * Community Space * Arts Venue
March at Rhizome Café * Community Space * Arts Venue
317 East Broadway, Vancouver
Dear Friends of Rhizome-
So many events this month! And a large number of these are produced by students and other young-ish folks, all of whom are organizing and visioning a better world into being. We hope you'll come hear what they have to say and support their work!
Also, remember that we're open for delicious lunch, dinner, weekend brunch, snacks and drinks. Our complete hours are listed below. And let us know if you'd like to use our Community Meeting Room for your group's activities. You can check our website for more information on what we do and how we do it: www.rhizomecafe.ca.
Art on our Walls
Transplantation: Painting Roots + Diaspora
Paintings by Afuwa Granger
Afuwa was born in Guyana, under a full moon. She's been messing with concepts of ethnicity, gender and beauty ever since.
Speaking Thunder: Art in Resistance
Saturday, March 15th, 7:00pm
Join us for an evening of spoken word, hip hop, poetry and music/dj from local artists. Jointly organized by Realities of Race UBC and Vancouver Status of Women, this evening seeks to celebrate the Art in Resistance of racialized women artists as part of the events commemorating March 21st, the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
$0-$10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds (Donations will go to VSW)
Family Sunday at Rhizome: Pancho and Sal
Sunday, March 16th. Doors at 4:30, show at 5:00, supper til 7:00
Pancho and Sal perform folk songs from all over South America, using a variety of instruments including tiny charangos, big furry bombo drums, flutes and more. They sing in English and Spanish, and invite their audience to clap and sing along. This is part of Rhizome's Family Sundays series: events, activities and supper for all ages. Bring the kids-and your appetites for good food, creativity, and fun!
Suggested donation: $2 for kids, $3.50 for adults
I Could Have Been a Spelling Bee Champ: Round Two
Thursday, March 20th, 7:30pm
A real, live spelling bee with judges, spellers, and cheering from the crowd! All to raise money for Towards Aboriginal Health and Healing, a project of Vancouver Native Health-Positive Outlook and AIDS Vancouver.
$5-$20 sliding scale, but no one turned away for lack of funds.
Jarimba: Celebrating a Year of African and Caribbean Initiatives
Friday, March 21st, 7:00pm
This is an event put on by the 4 UBC African groups otherwise known as the CORE 4. The CORE 4 are holding a party to celebrate the successful completion of various African initiatives that have been happening on campus. Come hear about this work and enjoy the sounds of Jarimba, a local band that fuses the sounds of Afro Cuban music with African drumming: http://www.myspace.com/jarimba.
$5-$10 sliding scale
Midnight Bridge-Songs and Poems for a Crooked Time A Fundraiser for SOLID's Kenya Project
Saturday, March 22nd, 8:00pm
Singer-songwriter Phil Vernon joins poet Murray Reiss for a performance of "folkenword," a layering and jamming of original songs and poems that is by turns poignant and side-splittingly funny. The Salt Spring Island writer/performers engage the absurdity of our times, weaving "a palpable magic, infused with wisdom and a commitment to speak out against injustice."
$5-$10 sliding scale to support SOLID, a Saltspring Island NGO committed to responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.
SUNDAY, MARCH 23rd: Time for a break!
Project SOMOS - Guatemala Update
Thursday, March 27th, 7:30pm
Greg Kemp and Heather Knox to report on their trip to Xela to let people know about the proposed next steps for the Children's Village in Guatemala being organized by Compassion Fruit Society.
Free
Café Rebelde
Friday, March 28th, 7:00pm
The Comité Coordinadora Café Rebelde and the La Surda Latin American Collective present a tribute to the life and legacy of Fidel Castro. Come for a multimedia presentation, discussion, music and dancing.
Free
Family Sunday at Rhizome: Disco, Baby!
Sunday, March 30th, 4:30-7:00pm
Bring the kids out for some disco dancing fun. Dj little d will be mixing the old school and the new. This is part of Rhizome's Family Sundays series: events, activities and supper for all ages. Bring your appetites for good food, creativity, and fun!
By donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. This month, donations will help Rhizome purchase a baby changing table.
For more information:
604-872-3166 for Open Hours/
www.rhizomecafe.ca rhizome@rhizomecafe.ca
A note on our name:
In the botanical sense, a rhizome is a root system that some plants (like lilies and orchids and ginger and bamboo) use to spread themselves about. While the roots of most plants point generally downward, the rhizome is a horizontal root system that runs parallel to the surface of the ground. The plant sends shoots up from nodes in the rhizome, creating what look like many separate plants. These seemingly unrelated individuals are actually all connected, through a system that's not immediately visible to the eye.
News from the Library
New Books
Faced with systematic discrimination in Canada, early Chinese immigrants had little choice but to create their own economic niche. From the turn of the twentieth century through the Second World War, a majority of Canada’s Chinese immigrants were laundry workers in towns and cities from coast to coast. In Enduring Hardship: The Chinese Laundry in Canada (971), Ban Seng Hoe describes the sacrifice and marginal existence endured by the laundry workers. The book includes archival photographs, including one of workers outside the Wah Chong laundry in Vancouver in 1884.
Defining Moments in Music (780.9) is a decade-by-decade look at the people, albums, songs, performances and events in the world of music. From George Harrison meeting Ravi Shankar to the Fender Stratocaster, from Milli Vanilli to the Monterey Pop Festival, this book includes some of the greatest moments of twentieth century popular music. In the same vein, Defining Moments in Books (306.48) traces the twentieth century’s greatest literary achievements.
Naomi Klein’s latest book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (306.3) is, according to Arundhati Roy, “nothing less than the secret history of what we call the “free market.” Klein exposes a litany of corruption and exploitation, from the outsourcing of the “War on Terror” to Halliburton and Blackwater to the auctioning off of pristine beaches in Southeast Asia after the tsunami.
Other books in recently include Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe (522.29), and the Reader’s Di
gest Complete Book of Embroidery (746.44).
Events
Main & Hastings Book Club
Meets every Tuesday at 11am in the 3rd floor gallery. Come join us to read or listen to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. Everyone’s welcome!
Beth, your librarian.
The high cost of subsidizing Private Power
Debt relief and cost savings for British Columbians; that was the promise behind the BC government’s move to privatize our energy production. Allow the private sector—the explanation went—to build and operate our new electricity generation, and we will be “leveraging private sector capital” instead of using taxpayers’ hard earned dollars.
Five years later our debt load has increased by at least $16 billion through ‘take-or-pay’ purchase agreements with private energy interests, and our hydro rates have increased by 15% with another 20% to come in the next decade.
Our rates will likely double or even triple because of the BC government’s decision to privatize our energy production. The typical bill will go from $715 a year to $1618.
The payment to private power will increase to $60 billion once all the contracts have been signed. And what do we get for this staggering level of privatization? Nothing, no assets, only high price power with no guarantee of supply.
And if exorbitant rates and subsidizing the construction of private power facilities is not enough, imagine the sticker shock when private power can export their power to U.S. markets where many states are already paying triple what we pay in BC.
By exaggerating BC’s future electricity needs, the government claims we are facing a supply crisis. At the same time it has banned BC Hydro from generating any new power and is committed to relying entirely on a massive expansion of privately owned plants.
These private producers will sell electricity back to BC Hydro at much higher prices than British Columbians currently pay. Communities and taxpayers throughout BC will pay a high price for the government’s manufactured energy crisis.
Please ask your MLA to help stop the massive give-away to private power developers.
Pinecone Burke Provincial Park was created in 1995 after five years of hard work by conservationists, including 3 years in a lengthy public process. In the late 1990s, public pressure convinced the then NDP government to stop a gravel mine in the Upper Pitt River due to concerns over salmon habitat. Now, so-called “run-of-river” power projects pose a much more serious threat.
The provincial government passed Bill 30 in 2006 denying local governments the ability to block private power projects. Despite this Coquitlam council has voiced "strong opposition" to a power proposal,.
Key decisions from the provincial government are anticipated in 2008. Because Pinecone Burke was established by provincial legislation, any boundary change will require legislative action
Not Green, Not Smart, Not Needed!
TAKE BACK THE POWER!
British Columbians must stand up for our public utility and our wilderness areas. These private power projects threaten both the integrity of BC Hydro as well as wildlife and fish habitat.
There was a BC Power Summit on March 11and the private power companies and the provincial government seem set on not making clean, public, and responsible energy -for generations– a priority.
In 2002 the BC Government announced a new Energy Plan that forbade BC Hydro from investing in new sources of hydroelectricity. The provincial government turned to private power providers, creating a gold rush race, with private interests snapping up water licenses on wild streams and rivers throughout BC. Over 60 water licenses have been granted to private hydro projects in the last 7 years, with 433 more applications pending.
These power developments are NOT small hydro – many are massive megaprojects with serious environmental impacts, including transmission lines through provincial parks and old growth forests, as well as irreparable damage to wildlife and fish habitat.
The government calls this green power. It isn't. Let’s send the BC government a strong message and stop the giveaway of our resources.
Canadian office and Professional Employees Union Local 378, Western Canadian Wilderness Committee, the Council of Canadians, West Kootenay EcoSociety, and BC Citizens for Public Power.
http://www.publicpowerbc.ca/, http://www.citizensforpublicpower.ca/,
Contact: Take Back the Power at tbtp@cope378.ca, or the Council of Canadians 604.688.8846
The blood of Bhopal
RELEVANT RIGHTS: Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.’ Article 8 states 'Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him (sic)[same-in-context] by the constitution or by law.’
Judge Weeramantry, then Vice-President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, articulated the customary law view that ‘Damage to the environment can impair and undermine all the human rights spoken of in the Universal Declaration and other human rights instruments.'
Bhopal is a city in India where, in 1984, a transnational called Union Carbide released 27 tonnes of, methyl isocyanate gas, killing approximately 8000 people and leaving an enduring legacy of deformed and brain-damaged babies .Over 200,000 people suffered impacts on their health and livelihoods but have been denied effective legal remedy. The chief lawyer for Union Carbide is quoted as saying “If we (sic) are going to defend ourselves – and we are – if there are 200,000 claimants, the 200,000 claimants are going to have to appear in court.”
The right to life and security, the right to the highest attainable standard of health and an adequate standard of living, the right to adequate food and clean water and the right to a safe environment have all been violated subsequent to the world’s worst industrial disaster. [NI 408, J-F ’08, pg. 22]
It’s at least 23 years later now, but this is the worst example of corporate malfeasance in the modern era – but the map of proposed private power projects are included in the over 400 applications in BC to dam rivers, to flood wilderness areas, to destroy the spawning habitats of several species of wild salmon, to push hundreds of different kinds of animals and the people whose lives and homes are built around them and these rivers away. And all these negative impacts will be due to private corporate interests set on developing and exporting electrical power generated in BC to the USA.
Remember the first months of the Liberal (socred) gov’t under Gord Campbell and cronies – the cut/slash/burn of so much happened so fast and on so many fronts that organized resistance by the people was almost impossible to focus. And these elite capitalists got to carry on the business and social priorities embodied in the Free Trade Agreements. They got away with murder.
The wholesale giveaway of so much of British Columbia to private, corporate profit seekers is the legacy of this bunch, and they are continuing with the Olympics. The gentrification and juggernaut of development being experienced in the Downtown Eastside is just one effect of this whole way of thinking. Even though Campbell & crew will later be regarded as one of the worst governments in BC history, the collusion right now and in the immediate future between them and the very rich wanting our power, land, resources and ultimately people for themselves is leaving us more and more destitute of options and ways of fighting back.
The first thing is to keep yourself informed, to raise your awareness of what legislation is in the chute or already passed that limits our ability to respond or even resist (look at those jailed for demonstrating at Olympic venues). It will soon become blatantly obvious just how far the ruling elite capitalists will go to crush opposition – A former CSIS “expert” on security named the 3 security threats to be faced at any and all Olympic events (from 2004 on): “First is terrorism, second is civil disobedience and social protest, and third is disruption of the Games.”
Get it? Civil disobedience and social protest are right after terrorism as the most serious threats – and that will more than justify over-the-top police actions and give the go-ahead for Private Security to retaliate with lethal force in terms of these 400+ private power projects. Saying ‘No’ won’t be OK.
By PAULR TAYLOR
Dancing With the Dragon
When you’re conscious of reality
Life can seem somewhat surreal
Does it do you any better
To black out what you feel
Can you feel the fire burning
When the dragon takes you down
And when you’re dancing to its music
Are you acting like a clown?
While the clown you are ain’t laughing
All your joy is exchanged for tears
And the devil that’s inside you
Is mocking all your fears
And mister jones has got you shaking
As he invites you to go
Wandering through the darkness
‘cause he can’t stand to be alone
Now you’re as faceless as the reaper
That is waiting for its turn
To join the hell that’s consuming you
Because it wants to see you burn.
When you’re dancing with the dragon
It is life without a care
Another fix for some piece of mind
Then you’re left hanging there.
When you’re dancing with the dragon
The grim reaper is always there
And all you need to do to beat it
Is to help somebody care.
Freedome
EaglesEagles
This beautiful creature
Our Great Spirit has given us a wonderful gift
Our Eagle is the Great Spirit’s watchful eye.
It goes up in the sky to show our Creator
What is happening on this Earth.
Eagle feathers are blessed and sacred
Native people use them for smudges & ceremonies
Customs, traditions, many things
A fallen feather from an Eagle is a bonus.
If an Elder gives you a feather
it is a great honour
You have to put in perspective
Honour this feather
Do not abuse this feather
Treasure it like your child
It will help you in your healing journey.
It will guide you back to the right path.
So, be respectful.
It will help you in many ways
May the Creator guide you too
All my relations,
Bonnie E Stevens
8,000 Drums Gathering Vancouver
March 21, 2008
Vancouver Art Gallery
350 West Georgia Street
Inviting all Indigenous groups and supporters to join us for a fun and fulfilling morning to let go of our work our activism for a few hours to join indigenous nations around the world.. to come together as one in a healing event.
Excerpt:
"According to a Sacred Prophecy by Otomi Elder Sages, the day when the sounds of 8,000 Sacred Drums join together is the beginning of the healing of Mother Earth.
It is time to unify ourselves to rediscover the seeds of the Four Directions - to reactivate cosmic energy, heal historical wounds. It's time to respect life, liberty and the dignity of Our Peoples.
The first great ceremony was held March 21, 2004 in Temoaya, Mexico. Drum circles joined around the world on the Spring Equinox. This will continue each year until 2012.
Sacred Principles:
Seal and heal the wounded vertices of Mother Earth.
Identify and activate the Indigenous energy centers at sacred places, this is our duty.
Plant and strengthen consciousness of love and respect for our Mother Earth. This is everyone's work.
The Indigenous ancestral recommendation to create and practice our culture of Peace and Life is fundamental.
Recognition of the use of the energy and healing are the properties of our sacred instruments." International Indigenous University
Groups, organizations, individuals who would like to join in this event, reply to csiaction@gmail.com
Bring your drums! 10:00 am PST (12:00 Central.)
Vancouver Art Gallery, 350 West Georgia Street
Begins with prayers and smudge ceremony.
***Be Aware***
Please inform organizations and individuals in the Downtown Eastside that there is a film crew accompanying VPD (Vancouver Police Department) beat officers. Gala Films are filming a documentary and VPD is fully participating.
The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre(DEWC) and our members have observed a number of incidents that involved the film crew disregarding the privacy and specific request of private citizens not to be filmed, particularly in crisis situations. Some officers have supported the film crew, contravening the request of private citizens.
Be advised that residents and private citizens have the right to demand privacy and police officers are obliged to prioritize their role as public servants and not to act as intermediaries for private enterprise.
Cynthia Low, Administrative Coordinator
Downtown Eastside Women's Centre
302 Columbia Street
Vancouver BC V6C 1B4
www.dewc.ca 604-681-8480 x 226
