April 1, 2013, carnegie newsletter

APRIL 1, 2013

carnnews@s haw.ca carnnews@vcn.bc.ca www.carnnews.org

ommunitydefining Marker Missing (Was it (gasp) STOLEN??!!!)---7

This is serious A group calling itself the Pro-Gentrification Front has claimed responsibility, sending a picture to the Carnegie Newsletter (for some unrevealed reason) showing some capitalist-friendly thug in shades & a hoodie standing behind the stolen Memorial Marker.

It took 3 years from the inception of the idea to the actuality of the placement of a few dozen Memorial Markers throughout the Downtown Eastside. It was picking and choosing among many significant historical and social events, creating and deciding on a plethora of visual depictions and, most crucially (to the City of Vancouver) the "acceptable" words used on each to give an accurate portrayal.

One word that held things up for almost 6 months was "invasion" -of gentrifying forces/money/actions and the developments emanating from same. City & business interests insisted on the word "influx".

The sign depicted on the cover was to have been displayed on Hastings Street in front of the Patricia Hotel. This was the place that evicted Olaf Solheim from his home of 41 YEARS to make some quick bucks gouging Expo 86 tourists. The guy who owned it then still owns it. He was as arrogant then about his right to make money any way he could with his property 'and to hell with all this social shit.'

Expectations were running high here. The same media outlets giving such incredible coverage of the sign allegedly "stolen" from outside Save-on-Meats got releases about the missing Marker. The ProFront claiming responsibility had almost exactly the same bona fides as the AntiFront; even the goon's picture was strangely similar.

A detailed search of the Pro's website reveals their c laims for fam e on other gentri fication issues: *getting the VPD to take & trash all belongings of ho meless " bums" stopping/carnping on public land; *having their flying geeks set up a continuous-loop email/voice barrage to complain about harassment by "those people"; *following directives from their gaggle of funders to tear down posters and void any flyers about social ho using, community meetings, Town Halls, etc.; *putting ProFront stories, letters-to-the-editor, just-aperson-on-the-street-asked-for-an-unbiased-thought to be around for every AntiFront event and say how " normal & safe" all new pricey stuff makes you feel; *Mark Brand's (owner ofS-0-M) tokenism is touted as the best thing since flavoured condoms; *Sean Heather is seen as one of the business saviours with the ongoing expansion of his liquor interests; *Mark Williams has been given a 'heads-up' by the ProFront forces on everything having to do with his Pantages-site condos, and, due to his functional illiteracy, ghost-writing of all press releases de fe nding his unsavoury and/or criminal activities related; ..... claims are made for more outrageous stuff, like ensuring the dys functionality of the LAPP (Local Area Planning Process), begging for more condos & gentrifying businesses in a myriad of online forums and even getting Goldcorp to legitimatize itself with a $ 1Omillion business deal(donation) at SFU are also on their website but I wasn't born yesterday.

Through a little known computer-trickery method a memo supposed not to be made public was discovered. In it the author is laughing abo ut how breaking some windows on Commercial Drive and faking the theft of Mark Brand's sign led to more righteous progentrification publicity than anything they'd done so far. One line s tood out: "Just like those undercover cops in Quebec C ity throwing a brick through a window short-circui ted any legitimacy for the protestors so does a few well-placed fake events give room for all kinds of self- rig hteousness. What a joke !"

In the midd le of all this Pro vs Anti is the ongoing PiDGiN protest making some applaud and others puke. Political pundits wax eloquent with rubberstamp praise for the Americanadian Dream wh ilst denouncing those local residents making an ho nest statement, w ith accompanying cheap literature, as 'rent_-a-demonstrators', 'terrorists', 'muppets', and

other na~es of a less-than-savoury nature. It was theS owner h1mself, unsatisfied with the $20 000+ in free publicity, who began g iving the regu la/attendees at the I hour daily protest the 3'd degree.

I. "Where do you get your coffee?"

2. "Why don't you go protest T im Hortons??"

3. "WHO'S PAYING YOU GUYS???"

Typical of the totalitarian capitalist mindset it is impos~ible ~or such to even imagine anyone doi ng anythmg Without money being behind it. Ah well..

By PAULR TAYLOR PS: A 2"d Memorial Marker is (hopefully) still in place outside 327 Carrall Street at Pigeon Park. This ~t~ref:ont ~as the home of one of the first illegal 111Jectl0n Sites set up by peo ple connected to VANDU and its operation (and subsequent shutdown) led to the establishment of Insite, North America's first and only legally-sanctioned safe injectio n facility. Apparently the dogmatic fanatic in charge ofThe Lord's Rain, a free shower thing for homeless and indigent people now occupying the space, was apoplectic with rage at (perhaps) finding out the storied history of his now re ligiously-righteous domicile. He vowed that it (the Marker) wouldn 't survive the day! Murray Bush (no known relation to George Dubya), erstwhile photographer, divi ne designer of some phenomenal posters and dubious jailbird, wrote someone that it was ridiculous that this effort by hundreds of local people could be derailed by one emotional hag and suggested that the head honcho '路tum the other cheek!"

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As part of Arst United's food program In the earty 1930s; volunteers gave potatoes to those In need.

www. raisetherates.org

Walk for Welfare Justice Wednesday, March 27

Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory The weather shone on the Raise the Rates' Walkfor Welfare Justice today, March 27. Over 100 people joined at least part of the 15 kilometre walk across Vancouver.

The journey started with over 40 people at a Rally at the Premier ofBC, Christy Clark's office in Point Grey. We then walked along Broadway to Commercial Drive, up Victoria Drive and along Kingsway and then up Joyce. The walk ended with a rally of over 60 people at the Leader of the Opposition, Adrian Dix's office. Along the way there were quick soap box rallies at several main intersections. Thousands of flyers were given out and many people honked their horns in support or said well done to us on the streets.

Along the way we chanted: • Tax the rich to feed the poor - Raise welfare now!

• Mend the social safety net - Raise welfare rates now!

• Welfare rights are workers rights! Migrant rights are workers rights!

• What do we want? Social Housing!

At the all the rallies people spoke movingly about the harm that poverty causes people, the struggles of surviving on $610 a month, of living on an inadequate diet and the struggles of raising children. People end up in poverty and on welfare because of misfortune - loss of their job, serious injury, physical and mental ill-health and escaping violence and abuse. Most people

in BC live only a couple of pay cheques away from poverty. [:; 路路I haven't walked this far in as long as I can remember but I'm a grandmother & I did it to raise / welfare rates." said Victoria Bull.

GwinGadlthAmetGoot (Herb Varley) remembered that "When I lost my job I had to wait 5 weeks for welfare so I lost all my savings & lost my home before welfare would help me. Need to end the 5 week wait so people don't become homeless."

"We need a welfare increase so we don't have to sell sex to survive" stated LuLu B. Harold Lavender explained that "the welfare system is punitive and that's not just. We're here against inequality and for justice."

At each office Raise the Rates handed a letter to Christy Clark's office and Adrian Dix. It pointed out that people cannot live a healthy life on welfare. The Dietitians of Canada in their report, Cost '- of Eating in BC, 2011, point out that people on welfare would have to spend almost every cent they receive on food and still would not have a healthy basic diet. This assumes they spend nothing on clothing, looking for work or keeping clean. A single person on welfare really only has $26 a week for food and even a trained dietitian or chef cannot make the money stretch.

The BC government decides how many people will live in poverty by the decisions the MLAs make about welfare rates, minimum wage and low paid work. How can they justify a disability rate of $906 a month while Alberta has a rate of $ 1588 a month?

Poverty costs BC at least $8 billion a year, with over $1 billion in health costs alone. A strategy to end poverty would cost around $4 billion a year, so ending poverty in BC would save $4 billion a year. Yet politicians claim they cannot afford to end poverty- really we all cannot

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afford them not to act.

It is clear that most of the people of BC want action on poverty and with good reason. Compared to the rest of Canada, BC has the worst poverty, the worst inequality and has had the worst or 2nd worst record on child poverty for a decade. A recent opinion poll commissioned by the BC Healthy Living Alliance found that 78% of people support a provincial poverty reduction strategy and 75% support adjusting income assistance rates to account for the real cost of a nutritious diet and real market rental rates.

Several major city councils, including Victoria, Vancouver and Surrey have passed resolutions calling for action on poverty including the province to raise welfare rates.

Raise the Rates challenged both leaders to show really leadership and act to raise welfare and end poverty in BC. Background

111 · on o cto ber 11 '" • The City of Vancouver on May 291" , the Ctty of Surrey on July 9 , an d t11e c·tty or v·tc t ona (all in 2012) passed resolutions in support of Raise the Rates Demands.

Reports Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, The Cost ofPoverty in BC: carnnews@shaw.ca email Dietitians of Canada, Cost of Eating in BC, 2011: www.carnnews.org website BC Healthy Living Alliance, October 2012, Opinion Poll: http://chodarr.org/taxonomy/term/3 Index

~!!TIJ~gi~ c THIS NEWSLETIER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful ~ committed citizens can change the world. .: :·l Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

-Margaret Meade 11

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

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

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

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

Black & White printing only.

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

All artists will receive credit for their work.

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

Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

Next Issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE

THURSDAY APRIL 11TH

DONATIONS 2013: (Money is always needed & welcome.)

Sheila B.-$1 00, Jenny K.-$25 Terry & Savannah -$100

VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION WEEK APRIL 14-20, 2013 (Lookfor Event Brochure Monday, April 1) This week is an oppOiiunity for ALL volunteers to be applauded for their many contributions and positive affects you have on our Community! It's to recognize and celebrate your profound desire to assist in multiple capacities for the Carnegie Community throughout the year.

Volunteer Dinner Wednesday April 17th, 4:30pm, Carnegie Theatre

Volunteer Recognition Party+ Awards Celebration Friday, April 19th, 4:00pm in the Theatre . . .please pick up dinner and party tickets in the Volunteer Program Office.

Every year there's a Volunteer of the Year selected.

He or she will have met a hig h standard of performance consistently throug hout the year. lt is always a very tough decision because there are so many volunteers deserving of recognition. At this Celebration the Volunteer of the Year will be announced for the first time, plus the names of four other volunteers for special merit recognition.

This party is for YOU -IT WON'T BE ANY FUN WITHOUT YOU ... food, entertainment, your favorite T -shirt of the year, door prizes and more. Please pick up your ticket in the Vol. office.

Di rect ly fo llowing the Recognit ion Pa rty will be a DAN/l 7-10pm in apprec iation of our wonderful volunteers! Come and join the fun!

Abso/nle/yEreryone Welcome!

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fine~ent.. or how abou.t a shelter that's full to over':t flowmg for the time bemg 'cause it's still cold at night don't ya know??! Better luck next time. You might try aga in Still can't afford to buy much if any food on the measly pittance that comes once in 4 or 5 weeks so keep lining up at a church and Food Banks for free grub; not your choice says big brother's federal 'n provincial governments 'What's the big deal? You get/got enuffto get by!" The media says so toooo!

Pictures of the 'odd guy' sleeping on the sidewalk or crash ing in a doorway .. "That's their choice ... not our problem ... " We want people d ropping dead, dying, being sick physically or mentally just to show that things aren't perfect, but chill o ut: we've got bigger fish to fry in the best place in the world!" There are hundreds of millions in cost overruns at BC Place, the 20 I 0 O lympics & our 2"d Convention Centre, to mention few.

They say we don't pay taxes so don't care to vote so shouldn't complain about these heartless bad actors.

The end game is for us to buzz off, to make no noise, to hold no protests and not to picket over-priced bistros/restaurants/housing developments/high-priced saloons that serve up overtaxed lightweight designer beers to the undertaxed overdressed 'ins' When that' s the 路ubiquitous attitude it don't sel l with us. Our group ain 't going anywhere. We're getting stronger and more vocal every day We've got the numbers, support, standing and resolve. We also know that you'd just love for us to disappear into the woodwork (whatever that means). We've also got some breaking news for the fat cats: If you ever or have already convinced yourselves we'll au be gone

XXXX'X'X'X'XX'X'X'X'X'X'XXX'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'X'XX~ soon or .in what~ver distant future, you'v~ got ~nRANT AND RAVE other thmg commg. Just watch. You wont believe your eyes or ears.

What's a current welfare-rate dollar worth these days ROBYN LIVINGSTONE. -not what is was way back when the last increase was, which was peanuts. It' s a helluva lot less than it was then, taking into account inflation, tax increases on everything from food to cigarettes, if anyone buys gov't butts anymore. Just another gouging, outrageous tax on the poor who can least afford it and often with no current address - things that' ll effective ly keep them silent in another rigged electio n. There's not even enough cash to rent a di lapidated, cockroach/bedbeg/rat infested cesspool ofa so-called SRO more fittingly and suitably a jailcell or solitary con-

FREE TAX PREPARATION CLINICS For Lo~路lncoJne Earners Filing income taxes is important for making sure you keep benefits you are entitled to, like free MSP or the Child Tax Benefit. for 2013, the federal government has ended the Telefile system, and doesn't give out ,e low-income simple tax form anymore, so you may have new questions about filing taxes. ~ I so, new laws brought in by the BC government mean that all people receiving welfare or PWD benefits have to file taxes every year starting in 2013. ?.W

,ome places in and near our constituency that will help you file your taxes for free : 411 Seniors' Centre 333 Terminal Avenue, Suite 704 Clinics: weekdays, 9 am-1:30 pm Drop-Ins Welcome; for low-income earners, Disability Pension recipients, and people 55 and up For more info, call (604) 684-8171 ~gence

Francophone pour L'accueil des immigrants 1555 West ih Avenue Appointments Mon-Fri 9 am -2 pm Appointments and Drop-Ins We lcome French language help for newcomers For more info, call (604) 604-630-0316 First United Church 320 East Hastings Street c l inics: Wednesdavs q am -2 om

Kettle Friendship Society 1725 Venables St. Clinics in March

By Appointment Only For more info, call Kris (604) 251-2801 LifeSkills 412 East Cordova St. Clinics: Mon 11-1pm and Weds 1-3pm Drop-Ins Welcome For more info, call (778) 889-3421 Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services 2018 Wall St. Clinics: Mon-Fri 10-3pm

By Appointment Only For all low-income earners

Drop-Ins Welcome For all low-income earners For more info, call (604) 681-8365 Lotus Light Charity Society 357 East Hastings Street, Suite 200 Clinics: Friday and Saturday 1:30-4:00 pm Appointments and Drop-Ins Welcome Help in Cantonese and Mandarin For more info, call (604) 685-5548 Mt. Pleasant Neighbourhood House Boo East Broadway Clinics: Mon-Sat 10-4:30pm

By Appointment Only For all low-income earners For more info, call (604) 879-8208 ext.108 Multicultural Helping House 4802 Fraser St. Clinics: Mon-Sat 9:30-3pm Appointments and Drop-Ins Welcome English and Tagalog spoken For more info, call (604) 879-3277 ext. 222 ~

For more into, call (604) 251-7200 ext.125 BC Coalition for People with Disabilities 456 West Broadway, Suite 204

By Appointment Only For PWD Recipients For more info, call (604) 872-1278 Salvation Army Harbour Light 119 East Cordova St. Saturdays 10-2pm Drop-Ins Welcome For all low-income Earners For more info, call (604) 230-7812 Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society 1607 East Hastings St. Clinics: Tues/Thurs 9-2:30 pm

By Appointment Only For more info, call (604) 251-4844 10th Avenue Alliance Church 11 West 10th Ave. Clinics: Saturdays 1-5pm

By Appointment Only Help in Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian For more info, call (604) 876-2181

Climate Movement Claims 'Victory' After Direct Action Suit Dropped by Ener gy Giant - Jon Queally In what c limate justice activists are calling a "huge" victory, the UK energy giant EDF has d ropped its controversial mu lti-million dollar lawsuit against activists who shut down one of the company's gas- • • fired power plants in 20 12 with a dramatic week-

long ool~ion ofth' plant's smok' ohimn,y.

that stood with us against an energy giant and its lawyers. This shows how powerful we are if we all stand together, if we organise and mobilise, if we refuse to back down in the face of the climate cris is."

"Only a few of us went up that chimney." s he said, "but 64,000 people came down."

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• Get Out The DTES Vote •• •• •• ••• •• •• •

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T he laws uit was withdrawn by EDF fo llowing a vi brant online campaign that motivated ma ny of its customers to change, or threaten to change, their energy carriers. More than 64,000 people signed a Change.org petition which called for an end to the legal action against the No Dash for Gas activist group.

In part, the petition read: England celebrates its right to peaceful protest. The abo lition of slavery and women's suffrage are but two issues which have only come abo ut through this means. We s hould be app laud ing and rewarding the g rou p fo r their actions rather than allowing a multinational o rganisation to put them in debt, possibly fo r the rest of their lives for a sum, which to EDF is a mere drop in the ocean, but well over a lifetime's income fo r them.

And it worked.

"A domineeri ng company with an appalling record of pollution was tryi ng to break the climate movement with a laws ui t they thought wo uld s ilence opposition, but they failed."- Danielle Paffard, No Dash for Gas acti vist "For a ll their power, for all their access and all their wealth, ED F 's bull ying lawsuit has bitten the dust because people power fo ught back," said 35 year-old Hannah Davey, one of the g ro up's members named in the suit. "They thought they were taking on twenty-one of us, but they soon faced a movement

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An Overview Anyone famili ar with the DTES knows o ne consistent barrier for many in our community is a lack of proper identification. We also know that th is s ignificant barrier often prevents or impedes our friends from participating in the most basic of undertakingssuch as the acquisition of housing, establishing bank accounts, cashing cheques, even the most basic right to vote*.

Anyone fam il iar with the DTES also knows that the majority of our community lives in the margins, with very little 'voice' in society. T his is an oppo rtunity fo r Service Providers to help aide and facilitate the registeration.of local people and empower our community with a voice in the upcoming provincial May election. *Good News* In February, an initiative was put forward to allow the use of prescription pill bottles to serve as an acceptable form of identification. Elections BC has approved the use of prescription containers (could be a bottle, box or puffer) to serve as one of the acceptable fo rms ofiD. This precedent-setting concession is limited to our DTES (Vancouver Mount Pleasant) District only. Big ups and a heartfelt thank you to Peter Walton and Elections BC! One less barrier to dignity and one more way our communities' vo ices can be heard! The premise: anyone wanting to votecan . *What's happening ... * Elections B.C. will be doing voter registration (enumeration) drives throughout the DE during April.

They hope to visit local locations by appointment to register as many people as possi ble. The voter card received as a result of registering is an acceptable form of identification .

News Frorn The.Library Hello! Along with the mixed-up spring -weather-sometimes feeling like summer and sometimes back to winter -- we have a great "mix" of new books for you to enjoy. Here's a sample of some books that 11 will be in our display cabinet unt il Sunday April i • We've added a lot of other new books lately as well, but since there 's no room for them all in the disp lay cabinet, remember to browse our "New Arrivals" shelf as welL Diamond in th e Rough (Shaun Colvin) Diamond in the Rough is named for one of lndie songwriter Colvin 's hits from her firs t album, Steady On ( 1989). This choice for a book title may serve as a comment on her own up-and-down life on the road.

Her story is rough, raunchy and often hilarious. " .. .. here is a list of the men I have found attractive: men who don't want to be with me, men who do want to be with me but can't commit, men who want to be with me, but have a fatal flaw.'' Sounds like another song coming on ....... .

Planet Ink: th e Art and Studios ofth e World's Top Tattoo Artists. (Dale Rio) If you were going to get a tattoo ... and we do not suggest that you should get a tattoo .... but if you really fee l you have to damage your epide nnis by having little holes poked in it and filled w ith permanent ink, you should definitely go to one of these artists. Even if you have to go all the way to Samoa (or London). After all, it~ permanent Rio has created a stunning visual guide to the top 20; basically an exhibition catalogue of amazing skin art. Rio the curator gives the work respectability by dragging in the historical and cultural origins of the artists work.

We are talking "cul tural practices" and ''vision' here, not just pirate ships and naked women.

The world's weirdest places. (Nick Redfern) The places themselves are not particularly weird.

Sydney Australia, for instance, is not weird. The Chamber of Commerce of Sedona Arizona would strongly reject the "weird" label, which might undermine its re lentless campaign to attract golf tourists, and fill the retirement villas. Rick Redfern (read him in UFO Magazine) links these and another 23 sites around the world with high traffic volumes of aliens, lake monsters and bigfoots (bigfeet?). And, of course, his favourites; fl ying saucers and flashing blue orbs that streak across the sky. lfyou loved The Bermuda Triangle story you will be charmed by h is acco unt of weiJt(i events in the turbulent waters of The Devil's Sea WHICH IS LOCATED EXACTLY ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE WORLD. Interestingly, the one City that takes pride in its weirdness (Keep Austin Weird!) is not included in this book. How weird is that?

George Littleclzild. (George Littlechild) Littlechild is one of Canada's most successful and most authentic First Nations artists. He is a sophisticated artist who uses a range of technical media learned in prestigious art schools such as the Nova Scotia College of Art and the Banff Centre. His practice is not limited by traditional native forms or media, but is highly authentic in terms of First Nations culture and history. He engages with his Cree heritage in a new artistic idiom which is emotional, colourful and expressive. This 30 year retrospective includes drawings, paintings. and powerful mixed media 'l.vorks which incorporate historic photos of ancestors and elders.

Step~ (Carnegie Librarian), with help from John (Monday Librarian)

JY!Jk!J Fau Am I toofdntl A Remember Christian Jim? big scrawny muthafucka sez to me as I withdraw sicker than hell he's my pal sez ' now I d id something for you now it's your turn, catch me? noth ing like gay sex against yer will when your whole body is ill and here's Jesus Jim wants a blowjob or quick fuck for a ll his trouble, ya big suck shit I'm seeing double the saint and satan sharing the same skin hey c odeboy where ya been? must be your evil twin a ll from this cesspool I'm swimming in hellfire w here do I begin? having same sex with St Jim good Newfie boy with his crucifix ya I need a fix, a fix & no hot licks Makes me s ick Wait, gotta new grip straight from Johnny Hypocrit Jes us Jim Johnny S limepit can't wait till I see him again gonna teach ol' Jim how to swim with a great big rock wrapped around his great big cock j ust gonna let it drop offa the Lion's Gate hey Jim I can' t wait till I retaliate get the j oke? or is it too late? spe ll it out for Gentleman Jim with 100 extra pounds wrapped ' n strapped to your head make s ure this good christian boy is dead learn how to swim sli m Jim this is a game you cannot win LRQ

Cooler Heads A Cold Coming In this new Kewel (cool) tyme A tyme long foretold ever been Talking of change Change Direction from the clockwise turning of the Gyre To the counter wise turning, touring in time Time now transitional transmissional The push and pull tractor beaming Irresistible attraction Hauling back, whoa!

Retreat perhaps temporary Twenty centuries sleeping in stone Romance and magic seducing the cold hard steel machinery of technology Into a knowing- a feeling perhaps A feeling different A feeling new A departure for points Only read in tales Fantasy and the future waits and has a lways been.

Amen, Wi lhelmina

OUR MARK ON THE LORD'S RAIN and help us celebrate .S years Are you an artist or a designer in the Downtown Eastside? H~re' s your chance to s howcase your gift and be a last1ng part of this service- a showers facility in the neighbourhood at 327 Carroll Street.

T? c.elebra~e its 5 1h anniversary in April, the Lord's ~am .Is lookmg for a logo- a design or a symbol that 1dent1fies the place. There is a lot of talent here a deep pool to draw from. ' Bring your design to 327 Carroll, next to Pigeon Park, any morning except Sunday between 7 & 8:30.

E~tries will be ~ut on display and a panel of judges wlll choose a wmner. The deadline is Apr! 30 and the announcement of the choice will be May 7.

And yes, there are Prizes!

• a $60 gift certificate to Army & Navy; • a Vancouver Canadians prize pack; and • a handcrafted wooden birdhouse.

DTES Small Arts Grants Groupshow Friday, AprilS/13, 6:30- 8:30PM Carnegie Community Centre Gallery (3rd) News works by Artists: John Cameron Douglas Carey Eileen Clabburn Sherry Cooper Henry Hiebert Montana King Alan Lau Justin Longoz

Carl MacDonald Salvador Perez Toby Pikelin Ian Savage Sayers, Alan Venus Soberanes Priscillia Tait Jinying Wang Music f?y: Tom Fullerton

For Allistair Better tell your sons I died long ago make me some kinda of hero who died valiantly saving the world from itself better they never learn share the shame you suffered so much me the drifter, worse a junkie never did hold a job so bury your papa's sto ry but remember that papa stayed just remember who was always there bury the shame yo u suffered construct a lie, an absol ute alibi for the old man w ho now can die peacefully forgotten R Loewen

[Bradley Manning is the US Army Corporal who released hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks, the Internet website that publishes previously guarded and secret information received from whistleblowers .. These documents' posting on the Web led to the concerted effort by American interests to arrest and imprison Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.]

Whistleblower Bradley Manning has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he should receive it.

Let's help make that happen.

No individual has done more to push back against what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism" than Bradley Manning. And right now, remaining in prison and facing relentless prosecution by the U.S. government, no one is more in need of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Alfred Nobel's will left funding for a prize to be awarded to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

The intent of the prize was to fund this work. As a result of enormous legal expenses, Bradley Manning is in need of that funding. Go to RootsAction.org The people of the United States and the rest of the world have learned more about the intentions of the U.S. government from Bradley Manning than from anyone else.

Just a few of the results: "Thanks to those revelations we now know just how our government leaned on the Vatican to quell opposition to the Iraq War. We now know how Washingto n pressured the German government to block the prosecution of CIA agents who kidnapped an innocent man, Khaled EI-Masri, while he was on vacation. We know how our State Department lobbied hard to prevent a minimum wage increase in Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest nation."

Manning revealed a secret U.S. war in Yemen, U.S. records of massive civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, video of a U.S. helicopter attack on civilians and their rescuers in Baghdad, and facts about the corruption of numerous governments including those of the United States, Tunisia,.and Egypt. In those last two nations Manning's revelations contributed to nonviolent pro-democracy movements.

While Manning sits in prison under dire conditions, we can let the Nobel committee know that we support his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Among the reve lations made by Manning through WikiLeaks is the extent of time and energy the U.S. State Department puts into marketing U.S. weapons to the world's governments. We all have a bett.e r understanding of the work that is needed for peace as a result of this exposure of"diplomacy" as consisting so greatly of weapons selling .

The Guardian newspaper and BBC Arabic detailed last week how the United States armed and trained Iraqi police commando units that ran torture centers and death squads. Maggie O'Kane, executive producer of the documentary, said: "I hope this film will be a legacy that actually says, 'lfyou want to go to war, this is what war means. It means 14-year-old boys being hung up and tortured. It means men being turned on spits. And that's called counter-insurgency.... ' This would not be coming to light if it hadn't been for Bradley Manning."

Let's belp someone who's earned it to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

PS RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ell sberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James A bourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, and many others.

PACIFIC BLUEGRASS &

HERITAGE SOCIETY

A variety oi bands playing Bluegrass, Folk and Country Music!

Wednesday, AprU Ioth 7路9pm Carnegie Theatre MINISTERS OF

PROGRESS

Put your heads down on the desk, you will fail every course & every test will be a nightmare. Begin pretending your life is now o n the line, everything you knew means nothing now generation-demand has taken over and as of now pennies are worth more than all children's dreams combined. No more Disneyland: it' s been torn down the former tenants live underground. Did you know people who dress up as animals hate the outdoors- all that dark and all alone? You just never know what people wi ll do to stay in the know .. being an outcast virtually destroys your swollen ego yet how many of us have Mein Kampf as their ringtone? There is talk success is measured out in years lived yet so many would be thrown back if Food Banks accepted lives how many would g ive would the Minister of Improvisation like to comment or hang around or just cash that paycheque? All you top-notch people deserve nothing but will take what they can get... When you leaders 'are born are north stars covering every angle, the Tropic of cancer is never cancelled, why do you hate people who eat once a day to you our deaths are no mqre s ignificant than something else to bet on .. ..?

What do other ministers have to say like the Alberta Minister who took her 2 daughters to London 2012 for a holiday the only joke in this extremely unfunny true story is that they do these things every day and every day of your life more of what you know disappears but with luxury condo malls at YVR in the works the years of beautification have begun, so many plans that don't include you or me soon we will disappear that random act of man kindness is clearly on its way --Is the Minister Responsible for Sanity anywhere close to here?? Too many party favours , too much stupidity are STDs what this generation demand as people collect diseases as their trophies .. so sad.

The Disruptive Audience Dispersal Choir is once again at your doop to homelessize more friends. The path to progress tears entire streets out of our city & generation demand that he/she/it leave the street names behind and that's about it. My mind sucks up every morsel of pity Iike packing a loaded phone that sidewalk is just anothe r lane " it's dark & raining" will be your defense. Besides these people should be indoors whi le the kids and dogs you hit so easily could have been safe in their beds Lots of people tired of being ripped off now march to their own drummer, will the Minister-in-charge of Delays show hi~ or herself. .. oh, that's right, every month of the year is officially summer. . as for the Minister-in-charge of Solar Power someone left the sun running now there' s a bill I would not want to have to pay, like reading the writing o n the wall inner turmoil will consume us all, like being voted most likely to be found standing outside an eleventeenth storey window ledge the Minister of Excuses concedes this minor tragedy & puts a blacksheet on an otherwise exceptional bed: that bed is this city & all this gentrification is simply the personification of evil Why not kill us now?! Soon you'll be bragging to other city leaders- how you built such a beautiful landscape and how all of it was built on top of the bodies ofthe dead Time to shut my brain off for another day will tomorrow be better o r worse than today they' ve promoted the minister of pennies to be in charge ofyour tomorrows always thinking that th M inister of WhatLies-Ahead has to know that the tears that could form an ocean are the ones you and I have shed.

By ROBERT McGILLIYRA Y

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