Vancouver's topics - tribe.net

Good campsites around Hope?

2008-07-15T01:25:33Z

Can anyone recommend a nice, quiet campground in the Hope area for a weekend camping trip? We will be tent camping but coming in by car, and would like a quiet, secluded site.

posted in Vancouver - 3 replies

World Bank Secret Report confirms Biofuel Cause of World Food Crisis

2008-07-11T23:46:28Z

World Bank Secret Report confirms Biofuel Cause of World Food Crisis

By F. William Engdahl URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9547

Global Research, July 10, 2008

A secret study by the World Bank, which reportedly has not been made public on pressure from the Bush Administration, concludes that bio-fuel cultivation in especially the USA and EU are directly responsible for the current explosion in grain and food prices worldwide. The US Government at the recent Rome UN Food Summit claimed that "only 3% of food prices" were due to bio-fuels. The World Bank secret report says that at least 75% of the recent price rises are due to land being removed from agriculture—mainly maize in North America and rapeseed and corn in the EU—in order to grow crops to be burned for vehicle fuel. The World Bank study confirms what we wrote more than a year ago about the madness of bio-fuels. It fits the agenda described in the 1970’s by Henry Kissinger, namely, ‘If you control the food you control the people.’

According to the London Guardian newspaper which has been given a copy of the suppressed report, the World Bank study was completed in April, well before the June Rome Food Summit, but was deliberately suppressed as "embarrassing to the position of the Bush Administration." The President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, is a former top Bush Administration official. Washington is trying to use a crisis which its bio-fuel subsidies created, since a new Farm bill passed in 2005, to advance the spread of Genetically Manipulated Organisms such as GMO maize, soybeans, rice and other crops patented by Monsanto and other "gene giants."

Their strategy is to use the explosive rise in grain prices worldwide, a rise fuelled by hedge funds and troubled US and European banks and investment funds pouring billions of dollars into speculation that grain prices will continue to soar. In other words, the food "crisis" is a crisis of speculation in food futures. The planned EU and USA bio-fuel acreage quotas and the periodic droughts and floods in key growing regions such as the USA Midwest then provide backdrop for speculative price run-ups. But the main driver is that tens of millions of hectares of prime agriculture land in the world’s two largest food export regions—the USA and the EU-- are being permanently removed from food production in order to grow raw material to be burned for vehicle fuel.

The suppressed study

The World Bank study, the most detailed analysis of the global food crisis so far, concludes that bio-fuels have forced "food prices up by 75%." That is far more than previous estimates. That is a damning refutation of the politically-motivated US Department of Agriculture estimate that plant-derived fuels add only 3% to food prices. The report is expected to increase pressure on the European Union governments as well as Washington to change their present bio-fuel subsidy and support policies.

The report has been leaked just days before the important annual Group of 8 industrial nation leaders’ summit held in Hokkaido Japan. The food crisis will be a major topic there as pressure on governments grows to do something.

The World Bank report estimates that doubling and tripling of world food prices in the past three years have forced an added 100 million people below the poverty line. That has triggered food riots from Bangladesh to Egypt.

The report as well calculates that even the successive droughts in Australia and other major food regions have had only a "marginal" impact on food prices.

Within the EU, for example, as of April all vehicles in the UK must contain fuel with at least 2.5% bio-fuel. The EU has in place a target of mandatory 20% by 2020, a staggering amount.

George W. Bush has cynically claimed higher food prices are merely due to higher demand from India and China. The leaked World Bank study refutes that: "Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases."

"Without the increase in bio-fuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate," the World Bank report states. The basket of food prices examined in the study rose by 140% between 2002 and February 2008. Higher energy and fertiliser prices accounted for an increase of only 15%. Bio-fuels have been responsible for a 75% jump over that period.

The study demonstrates that production of bio-fuels has distorted food markets in three main ways. First, it has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going to production of bio-diesel. Second, farmers have been encouraged to set land aside for bio-fuel production. Third, it has sparked financial speculation in grains, driving prices up higher.

The real agenda behind the food crisis

The World Bank study is the first to include all three factors. What is missing from the World Bank study however is the longer-term geopolitical agenda behind the present global food and energy crises. As I document in great detail in my book, Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation, the long term agenda of powerful leading circles in the West, particularly represented in tax exempt private foundations such as the Rockefeller, Ford and Gates foundations and the private wealth behind them, is a long term agenda of population reduction, in the interests of the global economic and financial elites.

Food scarcity, higher prices for basic foods in developing countries as well as control of food seeds through patent and Terminator suicide seed sales by Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont, Dow, BASF, Bayer and a few select agriculture chemical seed giants—the "horsemen of the GMO Apokalypse," have been developed to advance the agenda of massive depopulation of the developing world.

The policy goes back, as the book documents in detail, to the early years of the 20th Century when Rockefeller, Carnegie, Harriman, Gamble, H.G. Wells, Margaret Meade, and other wealthy circles backed the development of eugenics research. The Rockefeller Foundation financed the eugenics and forced sterilization research at the Berlin Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (today's Max Planck Institute) until it became too politically hot in 1939.

. After the end of the war, Rockefeller and others in the eugenics movement decided for political reasons to change the name of eugenics. The new name they chose was "genetics." GMO is a project, based on wrong science, financed with over $100 million of private money from the Rockefeller Foundation. The ultimate aim is for the first time in history to control life on the planet. As Henry Kissinger put in during the 1970’s food crisis, "control the food and you control the people."

In this light it is worth noting that as a solution to a crisis which it deliberately created by its massive government subsidies to farmers to grow bio-fuels instead of food, the Bush Administration made and continues to make a major pressure at the Rome Food Summit in early June and after, to open the doors to GMO as the alleged "solution" to world hunger.

On June 13, just after the Rome UN Food Summit, John Negroponte, US Deputy Secretary of State, stated, ""We therefore are strongly encouraging countries to remove barriers to the use of innovative plant and animal production technologies, including biotechnology," adding, "Biotechnology tools can help speed the development of crops with higher yields, higher nutrition value, better resistance to pests and diseases, and stronger food system resilience in the face of climate change." Washington and the GMO companies now use the more deceptive term, "biotechnology" instead of the controversial GMO term, in a linguistic ploy to overcome opposition.

Independent scientific studies and countless farmer reports have shown that long-term planting of GMO or bio-tech crops as the gene giants prefer to call it, far from giving higher crop yields, lowers the yields and development of resistant "super-weeds" usually mean more, not less Roundup or other GMO-paired chemical herbicides and pesticides are needed. In short the glorious claims for GMO are marketing fraud.

According to highly informed reports, Washington had been told that Pope Benedict XVI would endorse the spread of GMO, something the Vatican until now has been strongly opposed to on moral and other grounds, as a solution to world hunger. At the last minute that endorsement did not happen for reasons only the Pope perhaps knows. Groups like Greenpeace and the London Independent newspaper in the days before the Rome UN summit reported interviews with senior Church figures stating that the policy reverse was expected.

There is strong circumstantial evidence that the entire Rome UN Summit was orchestrated by Washington, London’s Gordon Brown and other Malthusian governments in part to try to convince the Pope to reverse its policy on GMO. The Roman Catholic Church today stands as one of the most important moral barriers to widespread acceptance of GMO in many developing countries such as the Philippines and Latin America.

The leak of the World Bank report adds a dramatic new element into what is becoming one of the major political issues along with oil price manipulation.

F. William Engdahl is a leading analyst of the New World Order, author of Seeds of Destruction, Global Research,2007 [see below], and the best-selling book on oil and geopolitics, A Century of War: Anglo-American Politics and the New World Order,’ His writings have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

He may be contacted via his website at www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net.

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

WATERFIGHT saturday July 12th 1pm

2008-07-09T20:47:04Z

Who wants to have a waterfight this summer? raise your hands, and pull your trigger finger, cause we're going to get Soaked, totally saturated! and no one is going to stop, till this town runs dry!

need directions : click the link for a printable map
http://mattpearson.net/images/2008WaterfightDirections.jpg

Code of Conduct:

1) This is a water fight - don't bring any other weapons apart from water pistols, WATER BOMBS ARE MESSY SO CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF - littering is a crime and we love out planet.

2) We are not going to be your parents, nor are we going to be the police, if you see some one doing something stupid tell them to stop - if your doing something stupid - don't, your going to ruin it and this has the potential to be a massive laugh

3) Dress for the occasion, your going to get WET !
shorts, bikinis, flippers, floaty arm bands, whatever ?

4) Don't terrorise the public - if they want to get involved let them . THIS IS AN OPEN INVITATION

5) Don't bring camera's. They're going to get wet and DON'T come complaining when they don't work. There will be plenty of othere people involved devoted to taking pictures.

6) This is a LAUGH, don't take it too seriously, and don't beat each other up over it (close up shooting and all that).

7) Don't leave any mess behind!!! We come and then go (the place looks the same as it does when we came, that inlcudes plastic bottles e.t.c)

Cool DON'T GET THE ARMED POLICE DEPLOYED BY BRINGING WATER PISTOLS THAT LOOK LIKE REAL GUNS!!!!!!!!!

9) Please try not to use more water than you have to - preserve your supplies...... REMEMBER there could be a water ban this summer.

10) If anyone asks whos organised it - we all happened to be in the same place at the same time. amazing isn't it ?

11) No one get naked in the fountain - you could be arrested

12) No dyed water - it stains cloths AND it could stain the pavements..... Not good its vandalism

13) SPREAD THE WORD !!!!

14) OK, get naked, but I can't promise there will be a fountian......

http://www.flashmob.com/

See all the fun we had last summer -
Vancouver Waterfight group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2236325047

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Wake Up Call 3.0 Percy Schmeiser on Genetically Modified Food

2008-07-09T01:18:46Z

On Friday night at the Vancouver public library The Socety for a GE Free BC kicked off a 5 city speaking tour to educate British Columbians about Genetically Modified Food and to aim at creating a Genetically Free zone.

The featured speaker was Percy Schmeiser, who is the Saskatchewan farmer who was sued by Monsanto when their seeds blew onto his field. If you don't know this story or know only a little it is worth your while to hear him out, his story is very interesting to say the least.

Here is Percy:
http://blip.tv/file/1057865

In part 2 of Wake-Up Call 3 the other 4 speakers appear:

Tony Beck introduces the GE Free BC Society's goals and mission. He then introduces Aaron Stevens, the founder and president of Nature's Path.

Phil Vernon then sings a tribute to Percy Schmeiser.

Aaron then introduces Tom Rudge who speaks about what it is like to be an organic farmer in the Yukon and their campaign to make the Yukon free of genetically modified food.

Last to speak is Josh Brandon, the agricultural campaigner for Greenpeace.

Together with Percy Schmeiser in Part 1, they give very informative insights into what is happening in Canada, BC, and the rest of the planet regarding genetically modified food.

Canadians wanting to understand the genetically modified food industry would do well to watch both of these episodes.

Part 2 is here:
http://blip.tv/file/1060140

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

White Trash 3 : Trailer Trash

2008-06-19T08:04:33Z

Welcome in the WHITE TRASH EVENT!!!!

You've been to our Global Warming Parties, you've warmed yourself beside our fires at most major events....you know you love us, AND WE KNOW how to throw a good party!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Disaster Area is Proud to Present their next fundraising event of the SUMMER!!

White trash 3: Trailer trash.

The 3rd annual incarnation of the redneck night market invasion party has been expanded to 2 full days of fucked up debauchery!!!!
for only $25
Friday, June 20 thru Sunday June 22th.

***psst...buy your tickets here....buy them NOW... http://disasterarea.tempco.org

FRIDAY night's gunna be more on the mellow side as we roll in the trailers from far and wide---if you have a trailer contact Lummox daniel_s at shaw dot ca We'se gunna create our own trailer park so we can feel all at home like!

Things really ramp on on SATURDAY Afternoon!

On the 'To Do' list will be:::

~Will it mow. (wall mounted lawn mower to throw things in)
~Will it throw. (play catch with catapults that can throw things the size of...cats)
~Will it microwave.(you know all those things you're not supposed to microwave... here's your chance)

Saturday NIGHT is the annual invasion of the Richmond Night Market! Put on yer cowboy hat, yer wife beater n boots and cruise the good ol night market for tentacles on a stick and glowy stuff's that you'll never use, or eat. It's worth the journey...and there's safety in numbers!!! 8 till 10pm ish.

When you've had yer fill of squiggly food and blinky toys, bring it right back to the Trailer Park baby and dance yer pants off to the two sound systems that'll be set up and even see some live bands in Full White Trash Action! We're gonna have our own Front Porch n Everythin!

If'n ya git hungry from all the shennanigans...donchyou worry! We'se gonna feed ya too! That's right kids, we're roasting up a whole PIG...nuthin says white trash like the sight of a big ol pig on a spit! There'll be extras akutrimonts to add on...or heck! Bring yer own to add n share with folks! Ya'll love pot lucks right?! We'se gonna have ourselves a good ol' fashioned white trash picnic!

If ya git thirsty there'll be a bar onsight with $3 beers and a gas powered blender, 25CC 2 stroke, making yer favourite drink! Mmmm...I'm thirsty just thinking bout it! Don't fergit that you kin add yer beer cans to the local art scene (on site) or create yer very own beer gardin too!

Did I mention that there's a real live flush terlit in the garden area?
Yup.
I ain't shittin ya.
There is.
And it works!

If'n yer chilly into the night there'll be a big ol bonfire to warm yer booties by after you git outta dat hot tub.

What would Disaster Area be with out some true explosions and fire! Yup. We gots dat too and we ain't shy to show it off! We'se made sum new toyz since our last party and we wants to show em off to ya! But we ain't gonna tell ya what they is...you gots to come and find out fer yerself! Heck, we may even let you shoot something off!

Now here's the deal...you gots to BUY yer tickets in advance. Jes go to dis lil website here::::

http://disasterarea.tempco.org

and buy yer tickets.

Come Early....Stay Late!
GIT ER DONE!
Click on the damn link
http://disasterarea.tempco.org
We're gunna sell out YO!
You know we always do...don't leave it to the last minnit cause I know ya will!

Git yer wife beaters, cowboy hats n boots on n GIT over here ya hear???

The Crew at Disaster Area!!!

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

Stilting Ala Grande

2008-06-12T16:35:27Z

If you are a stilter, or want to learn to stilt professionally meaning running , jumping , climbing stairs, dancing and pretty much everything else you can imagine but much taller then please contact me. There is also job opportunities here !!!

Contact me for more information either here on tribe but preferably at finefoto@hotmail.com .

Thanks,
Byron

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

It's a beautiful day if....

2008-06-04T21:44:12Z

These 3 things don't have an effect on you, your future, and your family:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--gSXPefFy4

If you would liike more detaisl, please visit or contact

Steve

www.newfutre.com

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

Fire Hula Hoop workshop info!

2008-05-22T14:24:46Z

It's the moment you've all been waiting for, and you didn't even know it!

Come make yourself a special, spectacular six spoke swirling ring of fire!!!!

Hardware make you break out in a sweat? We take orders too!

Sunday June 8 at 2:00 P.M

Cost $180.00 everything included (and you don't have to worry about shipping it)

We even offer a collapsible option! WOW!

Save the date and your pennies!

To Register, Go to Cinderbellas.com or email Cinderbellas@gmail.com

Happy Hooping!!

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

looking for like minded people

2008-05-15T06:04:53Z

I'm wondering if there are any wicca's/witches/pagans in the house?
Would be nice to get out a bit more and talk with some like minded people in person instead of online all the time.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

oh canada

2008-05-11T20:25:37Z

in light of bill c-51, please remember why we love canada so much.
maybe this can help:

http://healingsolutions.ca/ohcanada.shtml

some of the images are really beautiful - especially the one of vancouver :)

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Fire Hula Hoop making workshop with the CinderBellas Fire Troupe

2008-05-08T03:40:14Z

It's the moment you've all been waiting for, and you didn't even know it!

That's right, the CinderBellas are doing a hoop workshop.

Come make yourself a special, spectacular six spoke swirling ring of fire!!!!

Hardware make you break out in a sweat? Don't worry, you can order it already made.

Sunday June 8 at 2:00 P.M
Cost $180.00 everything included (and you don't have to worry about shipping it)
We even offer a collapsible option! WOW!

Save the date and your pennies!
More details coming shortly.

If you can't wait, email Heather at onrushinglife@gmail.com

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Tibetan Freedom Torch and Festival

2008-05-06T01:07:16Z

Light the Passion, Share the Dream: Freedom and Justice for Tibet

***********
The Tibetan Freedom Torch symbolizes the hopes and aspirations of the Tibetan people for freedom and justice and the commitment of people around the world to helping achieve this dream. As the Freedom Torch reaches Vancouver Tibetans and Tibetan supporters will share in the spirit of survival, celebrating the hopes and determination of Tibetan people.

***********
Rally at the Chinese Consolate -12:00pm- 1:00pm

Lighting Ceremony, speeches, facepainting and rally. Runners will be cheered on as they make their way to the closing ceremonies at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Placards will be available.

***********
Tibetan Freedom Festival- 2pm - Vancouver Art Gallery (North Side)

Speeches and Performances by...

Hayfa Makes Music
Tibetan Childrens Choir
Sonsta Generation
Pepe Danza
+ More

www.tibetanfreedomtorch.org/
www.tibet.ca/

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

Juicy Danger meets Burning Man & Larry Harvey in Vancouver!

2008-04-29T20:59:16Z

Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man
DVD Release Screening, Q&A, and Dance Party
Saturday, May 10 at 7 pm, Japanese Hall (487 Alexander St)

To commemorate the 10-year anniversary Special Edition DVD release of David Vaisbord's Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man documentary, Larry Harvey, Executive Producer of Burning Man, will be in Vancouver for an evening of celebration and debauchery on Saturday, May 10, 2008, at the Japanese Hall (487 Alexander St, Vancouver.) The evening will begin with a screening of this cult classic film and escalate into pure riot and revelry! The after party for this even could only feature a Burning Man inspired fashion show, Blackberry Wood, Jay Michael and DJ Timothy Wisdom – not to mention food, fire... . a mobile boardroom parked outside to settle emergency red tape, celebrity monkeys and a giant mechanical mondo spider.

The event will be presented in two parts:

FULL MEAL DEAL: Film Screening, Discussion and Party: $25 advance, $30 door
7pm Doors
7:50pm INTRO! And ... . Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man film presentation!
9pm-10pm Panel discussion and Q&A with David Vaisbord, Larry Harvey, Tiny Taylor & Tom Comet

PARTY ONLY: Schmoozin' & After Party: $10 advance, $15 door
10pm Doors
10:30pm Playa on the Runway :: Fashion Show feat. DJ Jay Michael
11:15pm Blackberry Wood
12:30-2am DJ Timothy Wisdom

Tickets to this event are limited and will sell out.
Advance tickets are available NOW online at www.JuicyDangerMeetsBurningMan.com and at Zulu Records (1972 West 4th Ave) and Highlife Records (1317 Commercial Drive).

Guests will be treated to an evening of pure revelry, mischief, stunning media and all night entertainment. View the film that changed the face of the underground, creative community of Vancouver amongst the same colourful and energetic crowd that inspired it. The Japanese Hall will be cleverly disguised as a piece of the "Playa". We have a host of mischief makers plotting the uprising.. . . On visuals: David Rimmer, James Deane and Media Victim. Bid credit also goes to Burn BC, GVIAS and the Inner City Commune -- these folks know how to throw down a party. Cash bar, brilliant art installations, décor, fire shows, food, costumes and clever surprise theatrics all part of the scene. Costumes encouraged. Anything goes.

The film Juicy Danger Meets Burning Man is a fascinating look at the lives of two of Canada's most brilliant and dangerous performers, Tom Comet (Circus Orange) and Christine "Tiny" Taylor, who take their act of extreme hazard, buzzin and sparking with chainsaws and flame throwers to Burning Man (www.burningman.com). Seasoned Burners and inquisitive minds alike will marvel at the scene -- filmed at the renegade desert city 10 years ago! In those 10 years, Gemini nominated filmmaker David Vaisbord, creator and producer, has shown this film to seduced audiences via TV Ontario, CTV, and BRAVO! It played to sell out audiences in New York and Chicago, made celebrities out of its two leads -- the hair-raising comedic/thrill-seeking duo Tom Comet and Christine Taylor -- and received the Special Jury Prize at the Yorkton Short Film festival. David Vaisbord, Christine Taylor, Tom Comet (Circus Orange), as well as Larry Harvey and Marian Goodell from Burning Man will be holding the discussion panel following the film and shakin' it up with us at the after party.

Indeed, this is more than a DVD release. This is a unique, creative and inclusive community celebration. Get involved with the crew!
There are still a few volunteer positions available. Get a hold of Andrea Curtis, the event mama at orangeandorange@gmail.com.

Flyer: http://burningvan.org/images/JDMBM_flyer_web.jpg

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

dog needs a new home

2008-03-28T05:00:24Z

hey,
our friend needs to find a new home for his dog.
please get in touch if you, or someone you know, who wants a new dog.
really really cute, male, neutered, boxer/terrier/something cross, house-trained, knows how to sit and lie down, very energetic but very loving, about 3 yrs old.
please see my blog for a pic.
thanks!

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

free global tv

2008-03-25T03:18:14Z

my new favorite site, besides tribe, it grabs the best videos www.freeglobaltv.com

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Yay for Global Pillow Fights!!

2008-03-23T18:17:11Z

For those who know and forgot, this Saturday, March 22nd, is International Pillow Fight Day. The Vancouver Pillow Fight is going on at 3pm at the Art Gallery. There is more info in the events tab of this tribe.

For those who have never been to one of these, they are massive fun!! A whole mass of folks (anyone who wanna who brings a pillow) get together and at 3pm we all pillow fight. The one I went to before had hundreds of folks and was a super crazy exhilirating step out of the everyday and back into the wildness of childhood. Feathers flying, peals of laughter, and friendly whomping. What a lovely way to take a few hours away from normal with your fellow citydwellers!

posted in Vancouver - 5 replies

Vancouver Pillow Fight - Videos and Photos

2008-03-23T10:50:22Z

Videos:

1) http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iXljibc21s8

2) http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=JoF26OVGgrk

Photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emorey/sets/72157604206380836/

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Stand with Tibet - Rally March 22nd @ VAG

2008-03-19T22:32:07Z

Please consider taking action to support Tibet. I strongly believe that this is an opportunity to show the world what a collective voice sounds like.

1. Sign the petition (see below)

278,124 have signed the petition in the last 36 hours. Help us get to 1,000,000
(5000 signatures were added while I wrote this blog)

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/97.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

2. Attend the rally on Sat March 22nd @ 12 noon at the Vancouver Art Gallery (North Side)

3. Write your MP and/or the Prime Minister's Office to let them know how you feel about Canada's position and/or to urge them not to attend the Beijing Olympics.

4. Additional ways to support Tibetans are listed at the Canada Tibetan Committee.

http://tibet.ca/en/newsroom/news_releases/102

Watch the High-Altitude Free Tibet Protest on Mount Everest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J9rUC1m8e8
________________________________

Stand With Tibet

Dear friends,

After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people's frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.

The Chinese government has said that the protesters who have not yet surrendered "will be punished". Its leaders are right now considering a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.

We can affect this historic choice--China does care about its international reputation. China's President Hu Jintao needs to hear that the 'Made in China' brand and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention--and we need it in the next 48 hours.

The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world's people to support him. Click below now to sign the petition--and tell absolutely everyone you can right away--our goal is 1 million voices united for Tibet:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/97.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

China's economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and the government is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China, respected as a leading world power. China is also a very diverse country with a brutal past and has reason to be concerned about its stability -- some of Tibet's rioters killed innocent people. But President Hu must recognize that the greatest danger to Chinese stability and development comes from hardliners who advocate escalating repression, not from Tibetans who seek dialogue and reform.

We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese officials in London, New York, and Beijing, but it must be a massive number before we deliver the petition. Please forward this email to your address book with a note explaining to your friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-friend tool to email your address book--it will come up after you sign the petition.

The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for decades. It is finally their moment to speak--we must help them be heard.

With hope and respect,

Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Paul, Galit, Pascal, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team

PS - It has been suggested that the Chinese government may block the Avaaz website as a result of this email, and thousands of Avaaz members in China will no longer be able to participate in our community. A poll of Avaaz members over the weekend showed that over 80% of us believed it was still important to act on Tibet despite this terrible potential loss to our community, if we thought we could make a difference. If we are blocked, Avaaz will help maintain the campaign for internet freedom for all Chinese people, so that our members in China can one day rejoin our community.

Here are some links with more information on the Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:
BBC News: UN Calls for Restraint in Tibet - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7301912.stm
Human Right Watch: China Restrain from Violently Attacking Protesters - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/15/china18291.htm
Associated Press: Tibet Unrest Sparks Global Reaction - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSSpPcDOPMoAiRLhPUyezuCRiXBQD8VFDD680
New York Times: China Takes Steps to Thwart Reporting on Tibet Protests - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/world/asia/18access.html?ref=world
--------------------------------------------

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Baby Groups for new moms

2008-03-15T04:01:01Z

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone knew of any baby groups around the south Granville area.
I've been looking on line but can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

free futon in the west end

2008-01-28T01:58:30Z

we bought a new couch today so we are giving away our futon.
it is good shape.
it needs a new home by tuesday night.
cheers.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

strategies for self-care

2008-01-21T23:56:43Z

hey,

i just finished an article that some people might find helpful:

http://healingsolutions.ca/article_grounding.shtml

cheers :)

posted in Vancouver - 2 replies

reflexology

2008-01-14T08:18:06Z

hey,
i have been having weird pains in my feet since i was in an accident awhile ago.
i think starting physio yesterday has helped but am wondering if anyone can recommend a good reflexologist?
thanks very much to anyone who has any info to share.
xo

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Hi Vancouver, new guy in town

2007-12-31T05:22:54Z

Hi. I just moved to Vancouver and looking for any of the following:

friends
creative collective
a job
friends

Also, can anyone tell me what cool/freegan/diy/fun stuff there is to do in this city?

Thanks!
Stëvo

posted in Vancouver - 3 replies

Newbie, guy from states, want to escape to van, asap.

2007-12-28T01:09:38Z

hi, first off, i would love to receive an invitation to any newyears happenings.
iam mod oriented, northern soul to the Jam. Modern stuff as well.
Also, looking for help or sugestions on making to move from the states to canada.
Anybody open to sponcering me, or moc, or a real realationship begining, all are of interest.
will send my phone to any one interested.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

love vancity

2007-12-27T20:03:02Z

im new here but i love it.have plans to stay here for a whuale.we just have to make it better.and party hard.and have many new ideas to make it more fun for everybody.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

solstice lantern festival is on!

2007-12-17T22:52:05Z

it has been on for a while actually, but you can still get in on some lantern making leading up to the big climax this friday!
there are also other goodies to see and hear on friday, like drumming and kira's aerial dance show at the roundhouse!
come out of your cocoon and check it out:

http://www.secretlantern.org/index.html

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

bali summit petition

2007-12-13T17:39:45Z

Hi,

Right now, a major UN summit in Bali has just a few days left to hammer out an agreement on stopping catastrophic climate change. But instead of helping out, Canada is actually sabotaging the talks! On Saturday, experts gave us the global 'fossil' award for being the worst country in the world on climate change.

There's still a few days left to save Canada's reputation -- and the climate -- but we need a massive democratic roar to remind our Prime Minister what Canada is all about, and stop him from blocking the world at Bali. Click below to sign the petition, which will be advertized with the number of signatures in an ad campaign across Canada this week. The goal is to get 25,000 people to sign in the next 3 days -- before the ads run. After you sign, forward this email to all your friends and family right away:

www.avaaz.org/en/another_...crime/98.php

Prime Minister Harper's short-sighted, undemocratic and big oil-driven policy on climate change is damaging the world and destroying our image as a good country. We're supposed to be the nice guys, who try to do the right thing in the world.

The vast majority of Canadians are hopping mad on this issue -- we can win this. We just need to show Harper how serious we are that he change course. Sign up now and forward this email to everyone you know - we've got just 3 days to hit 25,000 signatures!

Thanks for you help!

PS - Here are links to some more info on this:

David Suzuki (the Nature of Things) calls the government's spin on climate change 'humiliating' and 'ludicrous'
www.thestar.com/News/article/283829

The former editor-in-chief of CBC news discusses the damage done by Canada's climate policy to our international reputation:
www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoi...sue_of_c.html

You are receiving this email because someone sent it to you via the 'tell-a-friend' tool at Avaaz.org. Avaaz retains no information about individuals contacted through this tool. Avaaz will not send you further messages without your consent--although your friends could, of course, send you another message.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

sublet

2007-12-11T17:03:31Z

Looking to sublet my furnished room from
January to May 2008.
It's bright and clean, in a 3 bedroom main floor house
near Main and 20th, shared with two wonderful people and
a chill cat.
There is wireless internet, laundry, parking, cable and back deck.
$415 plus utilities.

interested?
winterbamboo@gmail.com

please and thank you,

winterbamboo

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Handling the Holiday Blues

2007-12-10T02:38:53Z

I just finished writing the newsletter for my work and thought others might find this information useful as well.
xo

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dealing with the Holiday Blues

Below I have provided some information and 26 tips to help.

The holiday season can be a difficult time for many. Dealing with feelings such as stress and loneliness during the holiday season can take its toll. It is meant to bring joy and celebration but sometimes this time of year can bring sadness and despair. Changes in life, such as being separated from family and friends, or living through the grief of a loss can be especially hard.

Holiday blues are also thought to be primarily caused by expectation and comparison along with a lack of planning and action. People generally have high expectations for the holidays. We often hope that they will make up for a year gone wrong. We expect family members to become friendly, season’s greetings to be sent, gifts to be given, and happiness to reign. The mass media, through news stories, TV specials, and advertising, raise this hope for "what may be." The reality of "what is" often falls short of the expectation and there is disappointment.

Negative memories may also be associated to the holiday season and those suffering with depression and other mood disorders can be affected at this time of year due to change of day light.

Many people are lonely at this time of year if they are working or going to school without a way to get back to your family for the holiday season. You may have not been in Vancouver long enough to make many friends. It can be hard to find comfort.

Characteristics of “The Blues” are emotions—sadness, loneliness, depression, anxiety—and, although intense and unsettling, are generally short-lived and usually subside within a few weeks once a daily routine is resumed.

Other symptoms of the holiday blues may include:
• headaches
• inability to sleep or sleeping too much
• changes in appetite causing weight loss or gain
• agitation and anxiety
• excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt
• diminished ability to think clearly or concentrate
• decreased interest in activities that usually bring pleasure, such as:
o food
o sex
o work
o friends
o hobbies
o entertainment

The most important things to remember are: it's a normal response to a stress-filled time of the year and you don't have to suffer unnecessarily. If you anticipate feeling very lonely on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, there are ways that you can help yourself feel better and survive the holiday season.

1. Volunteering offers a way to interact with others, give to the community, and help keep your spirits up through giving. The Union Gospel Mission, Salvation Army, Carnegie Community Centre, or various churches will provide Christmas dinners and benefit by receiving help from volunteers. This is a good way to help yourself by not being alone and by helping others in need.

2. If you are in a new community, try to get an invitation somewhere for Christmas. Let others know that you would enjoy having dinner with them.

3. Invite someone to join you in celebration.

4. Find out what the community offers and participate in it. Go to the concerts and parades. Get involved.

5. Takes gifts to a children’s home.

6. Be active by going for walks. Getting some exercise keeps mood levels up. Don’t stay cooped up inside too long. 20 minutes of exercise every day will raise endorphin levels and allow you to absorb what sunshine there is.

7. Be aware of your diet - try not to overindulge in alcohol or sweets. Alcohol and sugar can really affect mood and brings on ‘moodiness’.

8. Get enough rest: general self-care of the body is important.

9. Organize your time: make lists and prioritize.

10. If you are going home to be with family, bad memories might come up that can be really stressful. Take items from your current home that you have positive associations with. This might be a teddy bear, pictures of friends, a good book, or candles. Anything to help you feel more comfortable.

11. Planning time away from family. If you are going for a few days, it can be stressful. Getting away can help to lessen the stress.

12. If you find that you fall back into old patterns when you are around family members, it can he helpful to remember that you are an adult now and you have the ability to behave and respond in a different way. Spend some time planning ahead. What kinds of circumstances will occur that might bring up old feelings?

13. Be Prepared. There may be certain things that happen every year that drive you up the wall. This year, talk to the people involved ahead of time and try to defuse those situations before they occur.

14. If finances are a concern, be aware of this and set reasonable limits.

15. If there is a significant loss that you are reminded of this time of year, such as a death in the family or a divorce, it can be helpful not to push it away and pretend it didn’t happen. Recognize that there was a loss and take time to acknowledge it. Create a healthy way of remembering. Examples could include putting out favorite photographs and light a candle before them.

16. If you are in a new city or find yourself lonely, try to create new memories for yourself. You may enjoy events around the city such as the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden.
(Dates and times: 4:30 to 9 p.m. every night, December 7th, 2007 through January 1st, 2008 except December 25th when the Garden is closed.)

17. Another tool to help you get through the Holiday Blues is to remember that the Christmas season will pass.

18. Also, remember that winter will pass. Winter does not last forever.

19. Remember to take your medication. Also, taking a multi-vitamin and fish oil capsules daily can contribute to overall health and keep stress down. Other vitamin supplements such as Vitamin D or a B Complex can be helpful for mood.

20. Keep yourself busy to take your mind of things if that helps. Make plans to go out for lunch, go for walks, go to the movies or even curl up at home and watch a movie.

21. If you are suffering from clinical depression, getting some help can be beneficial this time of the year. Go to see a therapist, look for a support group, or contact the mental healthy team in your area. Get as much help and support as you can.

22. Give yourself a break -- plan to prepare (or buy) one special meal, purchase one special gift, and take in one special event.

23. If you don’t like shopping, shop online or make gifts.

24. Do your best not to create unrealistic expectations and don’t get caught up in comparisons.

25. Find someone to talk with who can help you through this difficult time -- a family member, friend, a spiritual leader, or professional counsellor.

26. Call a crisis line in your time of need: Vancouver area 604-872-3311.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Christmas Parade

2007-11-24T05:26:30Z

I'm taking my kid to the Rogers Christmas parade in downtown Vancouver this Sunday. Any suggestions on a good spot to sit and when would be a good time to arrive? Thx.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

i got hit by a car and need a lawyer

2007-11-23T05:58:43Z

hey,
if anyone can recommend a lawyer to help, that would be great.
i was a pedestrian and he ran a red light.
thanks,
janel

posted in Vancouver - 5 replies

Powell River Tribe!

2007-11-22T20:36:24Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/powellriver

Pass it around! :)

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Fred Bass's Missing 14 year old grandson

2007-11-17T21:14:58Z

A message from Fred Bass concerning his grandson who is missing. Please
read the details below and distribute widely. Many thanks

Dear Friends,
My grandson, Thor Che Dehr, walked out of Kits Secondary School at
noon Tues Nov 13 and has not returned home. We know he went to the bank
and to a store to look at a guitar at 1 PM that day but have not heard
from him since.
Please help to find him by distributing this email as widely as
possible. Go to:
Jennieandsteve.wedquarters.com
and go to the link that says Missing Child.

My Facebook Photos has Che's picture.

The Missing Persons information from the Vancouver Police record is
copied below.

Thank you very much.

Thor Che DEHR
14 years old

Thor left Kitsilano High School yesterday November 13th prior to 12
noon and was last seen at a music store in the 3100 Block Arbutus at
12:40hrs.
Thor is a respectful and well behaved youth however there are some
issues and pressures that he is currently dealing with, causing him to
avoid returning home, having contact with family and attending school.

Police patrol officers and the Missing Persons Unit with the School
Liaison members have conducted a thorough investigation. He is
currently characterized as a "missing person."

He was last seen wearing a black skateboard T-shirt with the word
INDEPENDENT across the front and a large red, black and white
"independent" cross on the back. He was wearing dark blue jeans and
grey runners..

Thor is described as a W/M,14 yrs, 5'4, 130 lbs, dark brown crew-cut
hair and blue eyes.

If any of Thor's friends know of his whereabouts or if anyone sees or
knows where Thor may be, please call The Missing Persons Unit at
604-717-2530.

This is very uncharacteristic of Thor and his family is very
concerned and desperately wish for him to contact them and return home.

Sgt. 1090 Ron Fairweather
Missing Persons Unit
604-717-2529

Please forward any information to the Vancouver Police Department,
Missing Persons Office 604-717-2530
VPD File #07-228859
CPIC BC:30012

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

NCEF! Media sabotaged! Hijacked by lone wingnut! Accused of fraud and embezzlement!

2007-11-07T04:32:59Z

NCEF! Media in Humboldt County, Ca. is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Other legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group. Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitamate environmental nonprofit:

Dog Days
From: http://northcoastjournal.com/100407/cover1004.html
October 4, 2007
Money On Trees

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: http://northcoastjournal.com/101107/news1011.html

Trees Foundation Wins

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Rumba & Orishas workshops with Yoruba Andabo from Havana!!!

2007-10-19T20:04:24Z

Hola amigos;

Take advantage of this GREAT opportunity to learn Afro-Cuban dances when Havana's # 1 Rumba & Orishas group, YORUBA ANDABO, will arrive in Vancouver on Oct. 28th to teach workshops and appear in concert as well. YORUBA ANDABO is one of the groups that, along with Los Munequitos de Matanzas, performed in the Grammy Award winning album "La Rumba Soy Yo".

See them on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtqWI5wEfNI

Here are the details:

RUMBA & ORISHAS DANCE WORKSHOP

Sunday October 28th from 1 to 3 pm
Polish Community Centre, 4015 Fraser (corner of 24th Ave.)
Admission $40. Must register in advance!
Contact: eljabaito@yahoo.com

RUMBA & ORISHAS DRUMMING WORKSHOP

Monday October 29th at 8:30 pm
Forufera Dance Centre,
505 Hamilton St. (between Pender & Dunsmuir)
Admission $40. Bring your own drum(s).

Must register in advance for either workshop!
Contact: eljabaito@yahoo.com

For info on their Vancouver concert appearance on Sunday October 28th, call the Centennial Theatre at 604-984-4484.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Shakti Lounge on Commercial Drive (exotic teas,elixers,treats,entheogens,vapor and hookah lounge and more!)

2007-10-16T18:40:21Z

http://www.shaktilounge.com/
http://www.myspace.com/shaktilounge

Warm Autumn Greetings to Everyone...

Just wanted to let you know a few things:
Our grand opening is happening on the Full Harvest Moon this October which falls on Friday, October 26th. For more details check out our Grand Opening poster: http://www.shaktilounge.com/assets/shakti_grand_opening.jpg There are two amazing workshops
happening at Shakti this month
facilitated by Taoist instructor Minke DeVos.
One is a Tao of Sex Yoga workshop
and one is a Feminine Treasures workshop
exploring Jade Egg kundalini raising techniques for women.
Here is a link to the beautiful poster with more information
on both workshops:
http://shaktilounge.com/assets/tao_tantra_yoga_poster.jpg

And,
here is a link to the updated calendar of events
at Shakti this month:
http://www.shaktilounge.com/assets/events_oct_07.pdf
We look forward to sharing some Autumn cheer with you soon...

Love & Blissings,
Shakti
Website: http://www.shaktilounge.com
Address: 1340 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC
Phone: 604-255-0900

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Simone Forti "Logomotion Writing Workshop" \ project in residence

2007-10-14T00:12:31Z

Caravajal15 residenza dinamica
Orvieto \ Italy
International Projects 2008

Hello!
We are happy to announce that Simone Forti will be again the guest artist of our residence, for giving her intensive residential workshop “Logomotion Writing Workshop”.
The intensive workshop with Simone Forti is in the ambit of our international projects 2008, and will be from March 8 to 15 2008 in the beautiful Etruscan city of Orvieto, in mid Italy.
The workshop is limited to 16 participants.
The intensive workshop will be held at the headquarters of the cultural Association Caravajal15 residenza dinamica, in the prestigious sixteenth century rooms of the Palazzo Caravajal-Simoncelli, in Orvieto.
The fee is 400 euros, which includes also hospitality, reception and meals.
Application for registration is open from October 15th.
For information write to: info@contactfestival.it, or telephone to +39 0763.341479.
Info and texts below.

Simone Forti \ Logomotion Writing Workshop
Intensive residential workshop
8-15 March 2008
maximum 16 participants
7-day workshop, plus one day pause
fee 400 euros (including meals and lodging)
pre-registration: 150 euros

Logomotion Writing Workshop
Sometimes our words don't have access to what we know in our bones.
In this workshop we will be improvising moving and speaking, and we will be writing.
While our writing will stimulate our imagination and support our improvisations, our improvisations will enrich our writing with a kinesthetic timing to phrasing and windows on sudden thoughts and memories.
Our activities will include studio sessions of improvisational moving and speaking, spontaneous writing, walks in town, with partners, for conversations about matters large and small, and private times to write and to craft our writings and to read them to each other.
We will borrow from the writing practice of Natalie Goldberg as found in her books “Writing Down the Bones” and “Wild Mind”, discovering the associations that gather spontaneously around a chosen point of departure.
As our movement work will include many activities in partners and in groups, some of our writing will include more than one voice, focusing on the relationships between the thoughts of different people.
A goal will be to write with wild mind and intention, and with awareness of world.

Jennifer Dunning writes in her 1991 New York Times review: “Simone Forti presented her first dance program in 1960 and has since then had a steadily increasing influence on post-modernist choreographers interested in exploring ‘natural’ or non-formalist movement and dance”.

Info and reservation
Caravajal15 residenza dinamica
Via Malabranca 15
05018 Orvieto (TR) - Italy
tel +39 0763341479
fax +39 0763340669
mobile +39 3391017492
info@contactfestival.it
www.contactfestival.it

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Landing in Vancouver

2007-10-09T21:13:35Z

Hello everybody!

My hubby Mike (can) and I (est) will be landing in Vancouver on December 30th, to celebrate the New Year's Eve as the beginning of our new life in Canada. We are leaving our wonderful jobs in Estonia behind because of the impending economic doom / kroon inflation / Russian threat, and hoping that Vancouver will satisfy our need for change and permanence.

We're 25 and 30, both working in the postproduction / multimedia industry. I am a video editor / compositor whereas Mike is an audio engineer / DVD programmer (Sonic Scenarist). Links to our demo reels/resumes are http://www.creativefrequencies.com/kristel/ and http://www.creativefrequencies.com/michael/resume.html [in process]. We'd naturally appreciate any career-related suggestions or references that you may have!

Since I am from the middle of the Baltic Sea and Mike's BC residence is limited to a rather short period of time, we kind of need some help.

We work in a relatively noisy industry, so we're looking for a quiet place to rent. When looking for apartments, should we aim for Commercial Dr. or Kits and what are the pros and cons of each place these days? Can you recommend other places to look other than Craigslist?

Is there a coverage package that we should be aiming for when going to job interviews? Is it common to have dental/maternity benefits in multimedia or artsy/techie jobs?

Coming from Europe, I'll probably be feeling a need for a cell phone. What is the company and plan to use in the Vancouver area if one does not make any "national" phone calls and wants to pay as little as possible to call friends? Or is there no such thing?

Which bank would you recommend for everyday banking purposes, provided that one wants to do as much online/simplified/integrated/automated/environmentally friendly banking as possible?

Where does one register for a family physician and do you have to be working to be able to have one?

Can you recommend a good place for a gym/yoga center, that is down to earth and not overly yuppiefied ( :) ) where i could continue my (preferably Ashtanga) yoga practice?

Any suggestions for New Year's Eve 2007/08?

Oh, and do you still like Vancouver?:)

All replies welcome!

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

building citizenship talk at liu center

2007-10-07T17:18:08Z

The Liu Institute for Global Issues and
Centre of International Relations Present :
Michael Ignatieff
“Building Citizenship”

When : Thursday, October 11th 12 :30-2pm
Where : Liu Institute, Multipurpose Room

Michael Ignatieff is a prominent author, academic, and Member of Parliament. Mr. Ignatieff is the former director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights and Policy at Harvard University. He is one of the most influential voices in the global debate on human rights, and the author of such award-winning works as American Exceptionalism and Human Rights (ed) (2005), The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (2004), Empire Lite: Nation-Building in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan (2003), and Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism (1995).

Mr. Ignatieff received a degree in History at the University of Toronto and a doctorate at Harvard University. He is a former Senior Research Fellow at King's College, Cambridge, and has held teaching posts at Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, the University of California, the University of London and the London School of Economics. Mr. Ignatieff has written extensively about the challenges Canada faces in the 21st Century and the urgency of making Canada’s voice strong and credible on the international stage. Mr. Ignatieff has also been a regular broadcaster and critic on television and radio. He is presently the Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Lakeshore and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Opposition.

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

oct. 11 sutstainability festival, SFU

2007-10-07T16:44:57Z

October 11, 2007 SFU presents SustainAB!LITY festival 2007. The SFU Sustainability Festival 2007 is a collaborative event organizedby the Climate Change Action Group, Sustainable SFU and the Resource andEnvironmental Management graduate student union. The festival isintended to raise awareness of sustainability issues with a specificfocus on climate change and to celebrate sustainability solutions thatindividuals can immediately apply to their daily lives. This festivalhas a positive and playful focus, which is intended to inspire, engageand entertain SFU community members. Climate Change is a complex andsometimes terrifying concept that can have a paralyzing effect on manypeople. This effect on a societal or community level leads to adangerous form of collective procrastination on the development andimplementation of climate change mitigation solutions. This festivalwill focus on reducing the complexities of the climate change problem,inspiring people to celebrate and integrate solutions into their dailylives and empowering them to make this step by providing them with tools and resources. SFU Theatre, Burnaby Mountain Campus;604.291.3514,www.sustainabilityfestival.org

10:00 am
Festival Opens on Convocation Mall
DJ on Main Stage
Marketplace Opens
Learning Exchange Opens in Freedom Square
Bellydance
10:30 am
Beverage Garden Opens on Convocation Mall
11:00 am
Mojave on Main Stage
Face painting Begins on Convocation Mall
11:30 am
Beverage Garden opens
Mojave on Main stage
11:45 am
Westcoast Imaging on Main Stage
12:00 pm
Open Performance - TBA
12:30 pm
First Fashion Show on Main Stage
1:00 pm
Open performance - TBA
1:45 pm
Piper Davis on Main Stage
2:00 pm
Piper Davis on Main Stage
Visioning session
2:30 pm
Second Fashion Show on Main Stage
Visioning session
3:00 pm
Beverage Garden & Learning Exchange Closes
HOT AIR: Meeting Canada’s Climate Change Challenge presented by Dr. Mark Jaccard at C9001
3:15 pm
Belly Dancing on Main Stage
4:00 pm
Charles Ho from Burnaby Mountain Toastmasters on Main Stage
4:15 pm
North by Northwest
5:00 pm

posted in Vancouver - 0 replies

Looking for office space downtown

2007-10-05T03:55:17Z

Hi,

I am a therapist in private practice. My client base is growing very quickly and will soon be too large to stay at my current location. i have started looking for a new location downtown so thought I would post here to see if anyone might know of a healing centre or other office that may have a room for rent appropriate for counselling?

So far, I have been looking at office space shared by other healing practitioners as well as doctor's offices.

Thanks very much for any info people may have to share.

Cheers, Janel

posted in Vancouver - 1 reply

voices of burma demonstration oct. 4th

2007-09-30T22:18:11Z

Hi everyone,

As discussed today at UBC, Voices of Burma is planning a demonstration Oct. 4 at 5pm outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery. We have a planning meeting tomorrow, Sept. 25 at 7:30pm. This will be at my house.

843 Union Street - BASEMENT
Coming from Broadway, go to Clark Drive and take the #22 bus North and ask the driver to let you off at Campbell Street. Walk up Campbell Street and turn left on Union. I am the lower door. From downtown, take the 22 on pender or on burrard, from kits, the 22 on cornwall.

We are holding this demonstration later next week to be able to publicize widely and show International Solidarity. Please come to the organizing meeting if you can. Hopefully we will have posters available to distribute on campuses.

Please to distribute this email widely.
--
In Solidarity,
Deanna Scott
National Voices of Burma Initiative
Vancouver, BC

posted in Vancouver - 2 replies