October 31st, 2008 will go on record as being one of the quietest hallowe'ens that Victoria has seen for a long time, at least in my neighbourhood. I'm very thankful that folks around here seem to be finding hallowe'en fun in costumes and make believe rather than simulated war games. There's enough of the rockets red blare from those neighbours just to the south of us - their majestic Olympic mountains are visible from my apartment window, just beyond the sea of autumn colours. We get enough of their war economy influenced commercial television and magazines and radio. I know there are lots of good people there, and I hope they conquer this up-coming election so we don't have to live in fear for another four years. (vote for ralph!)Yesterday morning I donned my elaborate hallowe'en costume, consisting of a headband with a set of wiry boingy springy things with cloverleafs on top (they've been occupying space in my apartment for years, I think they're intended as St. Patrick's regalia) and travelled downtown for my ritual Friday morning coffee meeting. I am a visiting alien, I explained to anyone interested, on a peaceful quest to examine your earth ways which are increasingly baffling to us.
Don joined me at the coffee house, he's one of the Street Newz writers who's just commencing a later in life journey of his dreams thanks to the free University that's enabled him to study full-time. After he shared his latest victories (successfully written papers and exams, hope-filled conversations with professors, recollections of a nation-wide free university conference in Calgary) we talked about the most incredible thing to happen to the street community in recent memory - Judge Madam Ross' recent BC Supreme Court Decision that renders a city by-law incapable of punishing people for protecting themselves from the elements overnight. Indeed, it has been found to be in violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms to prevent people, who otherwise have no place to sleep, from erecting a tarp or tent for their own safety.
Don studies a lot of history, and he told me that there were hundreds of tents surrounding Fort Victoria when the gold rush was on. In those days tents were a sign of prosperity, but nowadays tents are evidence of the failure of capitalism and those proponents of an increasingly failed economic system are too big-headed to admit it so they continue to punish the victims. We didn't realize it at the time, but while we were sipping on coffee and matcha in a warm welcoming coffee house, some brave souls were contributing to the story of history of homelessness in Victoria. They had camped the night before next to City Hall. They represent the 1500 other homeless people who have been identified. Not surprisingly our brutish out-going mayor, Alan Lowe, had them all arrested and later in the day I watched the corporate media's account of the story.
The corporate media spoke of 'David Johnston's group,' in a flagrant attempt to label and identify a single perpetrator. I know that these are all individuals who are fighting, peacefully and non-violently, for the rights of all homelesspeople everywhere. Unfortunately, the corporate news attempts to pander to the lowest common denominator, the thug mentality. They would prefer we celebrate the theft of citizens' money to 'bail out' a failed economic system, at the same time denouncing its victims as criminals.
So Tavis had good reason not to be at the Solstice for coffee - not that it's an obligatory event, just an informal gathering and he had mentioned, the night before, that he'd try to get there. Chris J. did show up, and the three of us talked about the radio show (streetnewz radio, or some such) and how we can facilitate a place where the ever increasing numbers of homeless victims of capitalism can tell their stories ... hang on, Chris my flat-mate has emerged from his space to inform me he's found the research about the method they used to haul Tavis away ... but first he wants to try my funky new ergonomic keyboard and mouse ....
"there comes a time in the course of events when men and women of conscience are challenged to take up arms and stand against the injustices of the system," Chris wrote.
Indeed, we are living in such a time. The method Victoria's police used to haul Tavis away was identified during the Spanish Inquisition and it's called 'strappado.' Basically they handcuffed Tavis' hands behind his back (not sure if they used Oak Bay's senior friendly cuffs or the real metal kind) while he was laying on his stomach, then they lifted him from the cuffs. Another officer held his legs. His back was bowed, his arms stretched unnaturally upwards behind his back.
I was wincing while watching Tavis who must have been in extreme pain. Chris suggests that if our little local war were recognized as such, the police officers could be charged with a war crime, in violation of the Geneva Convention, for this tactic. And it's essentially illegal to film this, and humiliate their victim, though if they hadn't filmed it and aired it on television, we wouldn't have seen. Strange, too, that Alan Lowe is speaking the very same words they're hearing from Seattle's mayor Greg Nickels who claims that the folks living in Nickelsville, one of Seattle's tent cities, are not actually homeless.
(You're full of shit, Alan Lowe, and your American minded police are violating international conventions. You're completely missing the point. There are a small handful of your homeless community, the community you've watched during these nine years of your development minded administration grow from essentially nothing to now over 1500, who have a clear understanding of why homelessness exists and who its victims are and how evil it is for you to sit on your fat ass and laugh while people die. Those people are in your face with it, lest you forget. And now you've endorsed Dean Fortin to carry on with your death-affirming policies ....)
For God's sake folks, and I don't even believe in the patriarchal deity, but for Heaven's sake, for the Goddess' sake, for all our sake ..... don't vote for more ego-driven maniacal police inspired leadership. There's a clear choice here - are you in favour of helping, in a small way, society's most vulnerable? Not with more rhetoric about education and housing first policies, but immediately, now, with the establishment of a tent city? To any and all who would argue its merits, I say Portland's Dignity Village and no, I don't trust you anymore.
I realize that in recent posts I've described myself as an anarchist, mostly because I cannot stomach the idea of endorsing politicians who vote, for example, without asking my opinion, to appeal perhaps the first supreme court decision that has been argued in favour of homeless peoples' rights. In light of this war we're waging, peacefully and non-violently, with the enemy clearly defined as those who would deny people tents through yet another Canadian winter, who would do absolutely nothing to help people establish even the most rudimentary self-security, I'm going to take a big risk and endorse Steve Filipovic in the November 15th municipal election. I've known Steve for many years and his values and principles remain consistent. He is reasonable, educated, compassionate, and I believe he can offer leadership that will bridge the gap, whether it's illusory or as real as we've been led to believe, between the local business community and the growing number of capitalism's victims.
Steve listened carefully on Thursday night as lawyers Irene Faulkner and Cathie Boies Parker explained the history of the legal suit, and the judge's verdict. There's introductory information from Rose Henry, also a candidate for councillor, and it's all unedited and online in the podcast section. There's also a 10 minute video summary here .
I had started this post as a sort of journal of yesterday - it was an interesting hallowe'en for this space alien, one I'd like to reflect on in my elder years which will undoubtedly be spent either huddling under a tree foraging for food, or in a solitary cell at gitmo.
After the morning conversations I got on the wrong bus and found myself on Quadra rather than Douglas St. but I was in no rush - I'd decided I needed a day just to putz around on this illogical and too often cruel hearted planet. I discovered some wonderful things - the Naanwich place (a subsidiary of Sabri - yummy Indian buffet) and got a massive big vegan lunch/dinner for six bucks; the Simply Accounting friendly staff who searched the internet help me in my quest to find an ergonomic keyboard while I wrestled with a strange capitalistic hording tendency to purchase extra power packs and batteries to prepare for the impending doom of its financial crisis; many driving large public transportation vehicles dressed up as what you call 'bus drivers' as I travelled downtown to London Drugs and then back along Quadra St. to their other location where I eventually became the proud owner of a body friendly wireless keyboard and mouse. I don't own any other microsoft products, I've tried to avoid the empire (though now it seems Apples is one too), but I must say I'm very happy with my new acquisition. Hopefully it'll save me from pain and some alternate therapy money in the long run.
Along the way I talked with Peter the binner who, since being 'evicted' from UVic after having been such a delightful fixture there for so many decades, now hangs out near the bottle depot on Quadra. It's been months since I've seen him. We had many interesting conversations on campus and this one was no different - I told him how different it is without him at UVic, he asked me about my Cuba journey, we discussed the absurd nature of our society that continues to reward corporate criminals while punishing their victims ... until a a man from a shop across the street told Peter there's a big bunch of recyclables awaiting him and we parted our ways.
I got my keyboard and spent too much money at the organic store next door, and found myself back on the buses to home, again surrounded by all sorts of interesting looking characters.
Last night I wandered over to the Oak Bay fire department bonfire. I had wanted to get to Fernwood's fabulous pumpkin house, but the day had been rather tiring for this middle aged space cadet. I'm lucky to live about half way between Oak Bay and Fernwood (if Oak Bay is behind the Tweed Curtain, then our little neighbourhood is the Tweed Curtain) and chose the slightly closer location. I talked to the people dressed as Fire-fighters, asked how they protected the ground from the big bonfire. Sand, I was told. And what are we burning? Palettes, was the reply.
We can't find a little piece of land for people to pitch tents, or build small structures for themselves (of course not, the mayor's an architect), but we can burn perfectly usable pallettes. They cut down the forests, and they throw them away. They fuck, they fertilize the egg, they throw the person away, and they call themselves 'pro-life'.
Alien being signing off .... hoping to find more intelligent life here when I next return. (In comparison to other planetary existences, Earth is really fucked up).
