Kings and Parasites, by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Whence, thinks't thou, kings and parasites arose?
Whence that unnatural line of drones, who heap
Toil and unvanquishable penury
on those who build their palaces, and bring
their daily bread?
From vice, black loathsome vice;
from rapine, madness, treachery, and wrong;
from all that 'genders misery, and makes
of earth this horny wilderness;
from lust, revenge and murder.

And when Reason's voice,
loud as the voice of Nature,
shall have waked the Nations; and mankind perceive
that vice is discord, war and misery; and
that virtue is peace, and happiness and harmony;
When man's mature nature shall disdain
the playthings of its childhood, then
Kingly glare will lose its power to dazzle;
its authority will silently pass by;
the gorgeous throne shall stand unnoticed in the regal hall,
fast falling to decay;
Whilst falsehood's trade shall be as hateful and unprofitable
As that of Truth is now.

good luck to them

these primates were rescued from lab experiments etc

considering alternative economic ways

Face to Face with Frank Rotering and the Contractionary Revolution from I.C.T.V. Victoria on Vimeo.

capitalism is crazy

personally i don't eat anything that used to have a mother, or was able to poop, but i know there are lots of good veggies and soy products in canadian dumpsters too. often the dumpsters are locked, to keep the divers out. it's shameful.  for more info on the film release (happening now) or to join up, visit http://www.divethefilm.com.

sean penn's haiti camp 2010

Stolen Sisters Memorial March-Feb 13, 2011. from Martlet on Vimeo.

La Colmenita, the Cuban Children's Theatre group, performs for child victims of Chernobyl in Havana

Chernobyl Catastrophe: 25th Anniversary of World’s Worst Nuclear Accident

Chernobyl: 25 years later

related article: No to Nuclear Power – Nobel Peace Laureates to World Leaders

Narayanan Krishnan - protecting the powerless

more info about this here

Direct Action Opposing South Fraser Freeway

click here for more information


W2TV: Direct Action Opposing South Fraser Freeway from Sid Tan on Vimeo.

another saturday night

i feel compelled to write, even though it's 1:30 in the morning and i'm only just now returning home, somewhat intoxicated.

this is not something i regularly do, this returning home after midnight, in fact i'm usually very boring (and financially challenged) so most nights i'm happy to stay at home and i'm usually asleep by now. but tonight i was invited to two events: the TED talks, and a friend's birthday party. the ted talks are about watching some very interesting presenters discuss all manner of things and then talking about what they've said, usually with people i've not met much before. i like that it's some kind of philosophy in action, and i usually end up thinking about things i haven't previously contemplated. the birthday party was at a pub downtown. i had to pay $5 just to get into the pub and then, when the place was closed around midnight, i paid another $5 to get upstairs to a place i found most intruiging, but which i would not be sad if i never visit again.

Bolivia enshrines natural world's rights with equal status for Mother Earth

Teabagger uses racism to explain that the Tea Party is not racist

Sogorea Te (Glen Cove) Sacred Site Resistance

raging granny ruth miller sings "harperland"

Obama declares WikiLeaker Manning guilty without trial

avatar grove

first nations water crisis

The documentary will be shown for the first time on Tues., April 26, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at UVic’s Centre for Aboriginal Health Research Office, Saunders Annex, Room 130C at University of Victoria. The public is invited to attend this free event.

The Magic of Easter: As Told By Kids - watch more funny videos

fukushima vs chernobyl re: health impacts

Statement of Opposition to the signing of the St'at'imc Hydro Agreement

click here for an hour of audio with two native elders from the region.

April 19th, 2011                            

To Whom it May Concern,

We, the youth, women and families of the St'at'imc Tribe have protected this land since time immemorial. We deliver now the thundering demand of TRUE justice.

We affirm these tribal lands were never sold, surrendered, or given to anyone, or anyone who would claim jurisdiction as a foreign corporate Government defacto State called CANADA (0000230098) in which they hire subjects to conduct business as ministers, officers, agents, or employees registered as an entity in a sub-corporation called BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCE OF (0000014306). We are the witnesses to those who stood before and passed on the oral history of the Indigenous place names, traditional culture, language and songs of the peoples of the St’at’imc Tribe.

how many people have to refuse to play this game before it's declared invalid?

street newz 7th birthday party

click here to see photos ........ click here to see a short video

one reason i don't watch award shows is it's such a challenge is sit through the thank-you speeches. but after our street newz party i have a much better appreciation of how difficult it is to acknowledge an accomplishment,  and all the people who help make it happen, without boring everyone to tears with a long list of thank-yous. i think we covered it .... we thanked the vendors and the writers, without whom the street newz wouldn't happen, and we thanked the people who read and buy the paper, whose contribution is equally as important. we thanked the musicians (the rabbleberries, art & terry, without a net) for all their fabulous musical contributions, and michael who organized the music and provided the sound system, and colin who facilitated the sound, and gordon who went the extra mile and got us a vegan and gluten free cake (from origins bakery, very yummy!). we thanked the people who offered up gifts for the raffle (hemp & company, christine comrie, kim fagerlund, christina nikolic, chris cook), and the management and staff of the solstice cafe.  I hope we remembered everyone. did we thank james and kim, intrepid board members, for their help coordinating and facilitating?  we meant to.

the party was lots of fun. we had three different musical groups, and just enough time to hear enough of each of them to make it worthwhile for all involved (i hope!).  we raised a bit of money towards sending rose to scotland for the international conference in july.  we had an appreciative crowd, happy vendors (they work hard selling the paper and it was so great to see them enjoying themselves), and a chance to reflect on 7 years of independent media. i was a bit too stressed to really appreciate it, i was running around trying to take photos and make sure everyone was being introduced around, and all that party organizing stuff, but i had moments of sitting and relaxing and being really truly grateful for all of it.

shayne and tim, the solstice staff, were real troopers .... we ran a tiny bit over time but a few of us stayed to help rearrange the tables and clean up so hopefully they were able to get out of there and on with their friday nights without too much delay. i used to work in food services, i know what it's like to want to close up on time, especially on a friday night. so thanks to them for all their friendly customer service, and especially to david cardinal for allowing us to access the very unique and special space he's created at the solstice cafe.

with any luck we'll do it again next year!

happy 122nd birthday, charlie chaplin

RIP Vittorio Arrigoni

2 pianos, 4 hands

if you ever had piano lessons, or even if you haven't, this is a laugh out loud funny show. with awesome music too. expensive, but the actors get paid and the belfry's a fantastic theatre that refuses to sell bottled water and buys recycled paper products and earth friendly cleaning products.

2 PIANOS 4 HANDS by Ted Dykstra & Richard Greenblatt from Belfry Theatre on Vimeo.

Living Wage pre-release from Point Blank Creative on Vimeo.

Helen Caldicott at Darlington Hearings from Money Cannot Be Eaten on Vimeo.

Urban Sprawl+ Sustainable Development: Southern Vancouver Island from Orcacedarbough on Vimeo.

maybe he's referring to unreported corporate crimes

a doc film work in progress about children in usa prisons

i love the raging grannies! did you know they originated here, in victoria bc, got together to oppose nuclear ships coming into our harbour? they were originally called "extenuating circumstances" after their regular attendance at the naval base's open houses resulted in an end to those, and a posted sign saying "cancelled due to extenuating circumstances." most of the originals are still around, they're amazing women!

Leuren Moret - Coverup - California Northwest USA BC Canada under radiation threat as high as Japan from Alfred Webre on Vimeo.

except for the fact that it depends on the continued proliferation of bottled water (which implies privatization of water, and all that's required to continue producing and selling plastic bottles), this is a great way to use up the bottles that already exist.

my contribution to the election discussions

al jazeera story about insite, in vancouver