R.I.P. Demonoid?

Today the ugly rumors were confirmed: Demonoid.com (reportedly one of the world's most popular BitTorrent tracker sites) has been shut down, but only for Canadians.

The group responsible for locking us out of our own collective media library is the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA); but these dinosaurs are enjoying what will inevitably prove to be a short-lived victory. Whether or not Demonoid itself is able to reopen to Canadian file sharers, as one poster recently put it: "We are in an era where the old rules of rights management cannot survive. Pandora's Box is open, the cat is out of the bag, you cannot go back without causing more damage, if you can go back at all. Adapt or die."

In my opinion, such confidence is securely founded on two things.

First, I am certain of the justness of file sharing, which, as another poster pointed out, is in fact the only means of accessing much "obscure" (ie: unprofitable) media: "People don't go to demonoid for Britteny Spears. They go for Jazz and Classical recordings that have not been available for purchase in the US for 20 years. They go for medical textbooks. I got a full Principa Mathmatica there for cripe's sake. It's where Americans get 30 year old BBC productions. I'd been wanting to see The Sweeny for years. I'd have paid for it given the chance. The copyright Nazis don't give a shit about 90% of what's there and 90% of the people using Demonoid don't give a shit about any of the stuff the copyright Nazis give a shit about.")

Incidentally, I also believe that the reason so much media remains unavailable except through file sharing is because of the dinosaur corporate business models that have not kept up with emerging technologies. Thus, we (media users/consumers) are punished doubly: first by having to work our asses off (for example) to digitize media that hasn't been/won't be remastered and/or re-released by it's original producers (instead of simply buying a digital copy of it, like so many of us would clearly be happy to do), and then we're accused of stealing it! Many media artworks (eg: movies available only in VHS; old/obscure publications [of particular interest to me is the library of millions of digital comic books created by readers who scan the often hard-to-find originals, a specialty of Demonoid]; as well as independent/obscure recordings) owe their entire contemporary (digital) existence and/or circulation to dedicated file-sharing fans - but instead of being thanked for enriching and maintaining our collective cultural heritage, we're threatened by bureaucrats and business giants who have no legitimate claim to the artworks we've rescued from oblivion.

The second pillar of my confidence in the inevitable vindication of file sharing is the conviction that media artists themselves will not tolerate the restrictions that the big business copyright-dinosaur lobby is pushing for. Already, a swarm of Canadian musicians have created an antidote to the CRIA, they call it the Canadian Music Creators Coalition. Through spokesperson Steven Paige (of the Barenaked Ladies), they say:

"We, as Canadian music creators, have identified three simple principles that should guide copyright reform and cultural policy.
- ...we do not want to ...coerce fans into conforming to a rigid digital market artificially constructed by the major labels.
- ... Laws should protect artists and consumers, not restrictive technologies [ie: DRM technologies]
- Third, we strongly believe that cultural policy should support actual Canadian artists. We call on the Canadian government to firmly commit to programs that support Canadian music talent. The government should make a long-term commitment to grow support mechanisms such as the Canada Music Fund and FACTOR, invest in music training and education, create limited tax shelters for copyright royalties, protect artists from inequalities in bargaining power and make collecting societies more transparent."

As for Demonoid itself, when i visited the site moments ago it simply said: "The latest changes to the site are giving us some problems - We'll be back soon"

Too good to be true? I certainly hope my favorite community-conduit to completely otherwise unavailable media reopens, or that another one, of equal quality, emerges to fill the crater left by CRIA's assault.

**EDIT [Nov 6]: Well, this has been a highly rewarding learning experience. There is always hope: Praise The Proxy Saviour!

**EDIT [Nov 10]: And sometimes hopes are dashed... The latest from Demonoid:
"The CRIA threatened the company renting the servers to us, and because of this it is not possible to keep the site online. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding."
...La lucha sigue. ¡Venceremos!

some things can't be explained...

(line from Dusan Makavejev's "Sweet Movie")

Too busy, as usual... Even less clarity, even less certainty, even more stress, even less sleep. We (Sara and i) went blackberry picking last weekend - inspired, for my part, by Steve Collis' reading at Under the Volcano two weeks ago (on the heels of our trip to Nova Scotia for my dad's 60th). But i wouldn't usually bother to post such quaint reflections to this blog... not that they're unworthy of commemoration, of course. But, rather, i was moved to update this page because:

I recently received word that there's been a paramilitary attack against the Zapatista municipality of Olga Isabel; the very municipality i visited (with an MSN delegation of human rights observers) in September of 2002. The courage, dignity and humour of the people who hosted our group for that week spurred me on to increased activism upon my return to Vancouver. In particular they prompted me to align myself with indigenous resistance in Canada, and to learn more about my own history... both of which are crucial elements of work i've done since. Here's a link to the details of the recent attacks against them.

And speaking of resistance at home, the recent actions of the Quebec police deserve more outrage than they have elicited.

Oh, and i might be looking for a new job again - just maybe - for a couple of reasons that have basically nothing to do with my current job, which i love in every way except one: the schedule is slowly killing me just as it prevents me from taking so much as a single evening or weekend course... So if you happen to hear about a decent job with regular hours, don't hesitate to let me know... Thanks.

Restore funding for Aboriginal Languages

Greetings cyber-citizens!
As usual, it's been a while... Well, here's a letter i sent this morning to one of the few conspicuously legitimate elected representatives on this continent. I'll post any replies and follow-up... Once again, click here if you want to get a word in also.

Hello Mr Siksay,
first, thanks and congratulations for all of your good work keeping human rights on the federal agenda.
i'm writing to ask you if you have yet received any response from Bev Oda to your January letter calling for the reinstatement of the 160 million dollars of funding for Aboriginal Languages: Has the Minister responded (favourably)? If not, will you be raising the issue again? It has been brought to my attention by friends and colleagues from coastal First Nations that now is an appropriate time to increase pressure for this funding, with the AFN's National Day of Action approaching.
please let me know if there have been any developments in this area recently, and as a voter who is passionate about the revitalization of First Nations languages, thank you for your work on this important issue - as you know, it is an extremely time-sensitive one.
sincerely,
ryan andrew murphy

Cordón Blog / al cumpleaños

In the final hours of my 28th year, i contemplate my paltry blog and feel vaguely obligated to make a new post. The long pauses between postings speak volumes about unresolved conflicts:

As i divide my time between the banal interrogation of falsely modest personal demons, my "careers" (paid work plus largely unpaid creative and intellectual work), the ongoing recalculation of viable & sustainable degrees of involvement in activist/solidarity work and attending to my individual and relational well-being, it seems the same kinds of questions come up in all spheres:

What am i doing? (What is the nature of the projects i'm engaged in?)
Why am i doing it? (What is the purpose: for whom and/or what parts of myself am i doing it?)

What is this blog for/about?

Its inconsistencies, the shifts in style and content are a surprisingly accurate reflection of the tensions in my mind between different needs, desires, goals, visions, whatever. Between different ideas of who i am (and/or who i wish to become / again).

Thinking of Bridget Jones' Diary (to me, a film - though i'm sure the usual caveats about transmediation apply; maybe if i finish all these, i'll get around to reading the original) as well as having seen it done by friends in their admirable blogs, it occurred to me to infuse this entry with some data that might serve as a representative sample of my year:

Bachelor's Degrees earned: 1
Grad school applications rejected: 1
Concerts attended: lots
Concerts performed: 0
Songs included in compilations: 1
Poems published: 1
Visits with my Grandad in Florida: 1
Old friends rediscovered: several
Funerals attended: 1
Weddings attended: 2
Car accidents: 1
Collage parties thrown: 2
Lobsters eaten: 2.5
Brief bilingual speeches at protests outside the Mexican consulate: 1
Tattoos: 1
New languages studied: 1
Episodes of Star Trek TNG watched: all

Happy Birthday to me!
And to all of the blogosphere: yeehaw!

Colonial Art...

My friend Jerry sent this letter to the Sun (and me) yesterday. Enjoy.

..............................................
Steven Hume’s complaint (Vancouver Sun, 22 Feb 2007, pg. A.17) about “political correctness” in regard to what he terms “censoring art from our past” trivializes the issues by labeling the First Nations complaint with the catch-all term “political correctness”. By innuendo he insinuates that the First Nations’ concerns about the Southwell Mural entitled “Courage” in the legislature building are similar to Fascist and dictatorial regimes that destroyed paintings, burned and censored literature, banned and exiled authors, intellectuals and dissidents, and in the recent past destroyed statues, or pillaged libraries and archives. He refers to the “degenerate art” exhibitions as displays of artists who “offended” the German sensibility. He refers to the Taliban’s destruction of religious icons. His comparisons are cheap and historically false. The paintings from the “degenerate art” exhibits were confiscated, housed and held for ransom - that is stolen. Books were burned. Artists and authors were persecuted, imprisoned or murdered, and many were herded into reservations otherwise known as concentration camps. Political opponents likewise. The logic that the First Nations’ concern has any relationship to these events is guilt by association. It would be far more fitting of him to explain to readers why a people whose land has been confiscated, whose children were incarcerated in residential schools, whose households were turned into subsistence economies, and whose culture and languages were rendered obsolete might be “offended” by the art work in an official building representing them as subservient in a land where they are citizens. While stupidities have been committed in the name of ‘political correctness’ this concern about the painting goes much deeper. A more correct analogy would be if Jewish survivors of the holocaust were asked to accept as an official representation of their legacies and their lives the very stereotypes that were pervasive in the society that decimated their culture and their families because of phobias against Jews and non-Aryans. Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, the sick and crippled were the “natives” of the time. Yes teach the next generation and this one too about the causes, and find ways to do that. Keep the painting as illustration of a historical perspective. Consult many about how to do that. Don’t trust all art historians. Don’t trust all journalists. Don’t trivialize the issue by meaningless comparisons. By the way, Paul Klee is not a cubist.

Jerry Zaslove
Professor Emeritus
Simon Fraser University

happy holidays blogworld!

"Goodness makes the badness go away
Goodness makes me happy every day
Badness cannot start
if there's goodness in your heart
Goodness makes the badness go away"
- The Smurfs

Feliz Cumpleaños

Happy Birthday to Cam and Silvio Rodríguez.






Vamos a Andar, amigos...

I need a new cave

Been away from the blogosphere for a while - busy back in "reality" with writing, work, etc. but two urgent items were brought to my attention this evening, so here they are... If you're reading this i hope you have a minute to take some action (write to the bad guys / donate to the good guys / tell others)...

First, i heard about the Massacre in Chiapas...

Then (moments later) i learned that Bear Mountain Resort CEO Len Barrie meant it when he said "if we want to blow up a cave and put up a hotel we will" (whether or not it has traditionally been used for Native ceremonies and burials).

According to Cheryl Bryce of the Songhees First Nation, the Bear Mountain developers (led by Barrie and fellow former-NHL player Mike Vernon) blew up just such a cave today.

In an email, Justine Batten (Director of the Archaeology Branch of the BC "Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts") explained to Bryce that blowing things up is the best way to understand and protect them: "... the Heritage Conservation Act does not protect sacred sites that contain no physical evidence of use or habitation. Before we know whether this cave does fall within the protection of the Act an impact assessment needs to be completed and this can only be done safely by removing the roof of the cave. This work will recommence on the site."

If you have questions about this method of "assessment" (reminiscent of witch trials: the destruction of the cave enables us to determine whether or not it was sacred), feel free to contact Ms. Batten (Telephone: 250 952-4305 / Fax: 250 952-4188 / email: justine.batten@gov.bc.ca). Just be prepared to hear something along the lines of: "...the Provincial position is: Given the existence of the Douglas treaty, aboriginal rights and title were surrendered under the terms of that treaty..."

How am i supposed to sleep with all that noise??

Viva Vitus!

Last night, on my first excursion to this year's VIFF, i was lucky enough to catch Vitus. I can't remember the last time i had that much fun watching a movie - it was even more euphorically adventurous than any of the high-quality superhero films of recent years, perhaps at least partly because the "hero" of this one is seven years old for the first act of the film, and twelve for the second. Here's the trailer (which naturally doesn't quite do justice to the film, but gives a fair sense of it). Apparently, as i discovered during a perfunctory web search, the film exhibits many parallels to the legend of St. Vitus, who (according to some sources) is the patron saint of children...

Toes get stubbed on borders

Celebrations are in order, as a good friend has at last gained "residency" in Canada - after having resided here for many years. Life's a lot less stressful when you don't have to worry about getting deported. The timing is a little ironic, as she turns her sights southward to her family... and the ongoing electoral crisis in Mexico.

The CEPR (a group of American economists) has been analysing the 'partial recount' data released by the Mexican electoral authority; they found "a significant reduction" of votes for Felipe Calderón (whom the electoral authorities have nonetheless declared president-elect), and correspondingly significant gains for populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador (aka: "AMLO"). Their most recent update contains even more dramatic numbers; note in particular at the bottom of the page where they estimate that "it would take about 200 hours" to decipher the data. Clearly, no official effort will be made to determine the actual outcome. Obrador will announce his next move at the "Democratic National Convention" this weekend.

If you can read Spanish (or have a good bilingual dictionary, a verb conjugator, and a little patience), you might enjoy Marcos' insightful response to ("friends" and) critics of the "other campaign" (who have claimed that the EZLN and allied groups do, or should, support Obrador). Essentially: the election was a fraud, but even if it had been legitimate (and the 'leftist' candidate had won), little would have changed for those who are concerned with building alternatives to the state.

As i witness the unfolding electoral spectacle (and contemplate its consequences), i can't help but wearily recall the perennial debates around whether or not a principled engagement with electoral politics can be consistent with anarchism. It's a pretty boring and sophomoric discussion for the most part, in my humble opinion. Much of it boils down to false dilemmas ("to act" rather than "to elect" - can't we do both?) and posturing. While i agree with virtually every word of Jaggi Singh's analysis, i am nevertheless convinced that we can choose the lesser evil and refuse to co-operate with it. Or as Jaggi himself has said: we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Anarchists sympathetic to the Parti Populaire des Putes (People's Prostitutes' Party) could show their support by voting for them as well as supporting sex trade workers by direct action (like Copwatch).

I consider voting to be another form of harm reduction: injecting heroin is inherently harmful, but at least one can use a clean needle (and a safe injection site); states are inherently harmful, but at least citizens can exert an influence on the state (unlike a corporation, unless you buy shares) - to hopefully make it slightly less harmful. It may not seem like a worthwhile difference to some (especially to people of privilege), but to people on the margins it can matter a whole lot where the lines get drawn...

Anyway, here in the land where elections are lost "fair and square", an almost-amusing group of the usual, hard-core loonies (who warn of "secularists attempting to eliminate Christian morality") has recently complained to the provisional Canadian government about the continued funding of Out on Screen, the group whose hard work brings us the delights of Vancouver's Queer Film Festival (and whose Out in Schools project is especially impressive, i think).

As usual, click here to find your MP and, if you have a minute, remind them that not all of their constituents are anti-choice, homophobic neanderthals (it's probably easy to 'forget'). You could even warn them that some of their constituents might be anarchists - who actually vote!

The Hunsdale of Notre Dame: A True Story

Once upon a time, while i was quixotically studying French amidst a throng of anglophone revelers at l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (a dismal experience, but with some highlights, including a brief detour to the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair), i met a friendly, charismatic young man named Shawn. Years later, having begun my degree in Linguistics and Women's Studies at SFU, i bumped into him again. Naturally, this coincidence gave rise to a measure of mirth for both Shawn and i, and we forged a rapport characterized by good-humoured greetings in the hall and on the street.

I had been organizing events with the SFU Linguistics Student Union - an activity in which i was aided considerably by the exemplary work of Hattie Aitken, the SFSS student union organizer at that time. The following spring i decided to become even more involved in student union activities, and i won (by acclamation - meaning no one ran against me, a process which i believe should be replaced by a "yes/no" vote for unopposed candidates) a position on the board of the student society. My acquaintance Shawn also ran for and won a position in the election. That fall, he enrolled in a Women's Studies course that i was taking. Thus, inevitably, we ended up spending a lot of time together.

By that point, i had already developed a degree of frustration with this young man's penchant for sophistry, but that's a common vice in academia, so i didn't allow myself to become seriously upset with him. Rather, i would usually try to laugh off his refusals to genuinely engage with the serious and complex issues we faced in class and at work: He's just one of those incorrigibly playful and free-spirited 'artists', i would tell myself...

As a side note, having spent the last few weeks carefully dissecting (and savouring) Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", i have a renewed contempt for poseur artists (and a renewed appreciation of Joyce, about which i will write at a later time).

Eventually there was no denying that his unwillingness to take things seriously had myriad negative consequences, including two that i find inexcusable: other people consistently ended up doing work that Shawn neglected, and valuable class-time was regularly spent entertaining his specious and frivolous arguments - which he dependably interjected to demonstrate his ignorance of the course texts (not to mention the problem of men taking up lots of space in a Women's Studies class). In fact, the only mitigating factor in the crescendo of my irritation with this colleague of mine was his frequent absence from both meetings and classes.

Towards the end of the term i served with him, i began to notice a strange and troubling pattern in his voting: an unprincipled fidelity to the positions of the Canadian Federation of Students. This kind of behaviour always baffles my poor, naive little mind at first. Why would anyone ignore facts pertaining to specific issues and simply advocate allegiance to a particular party? But upon reflection, there's no mystery to it: Shawn Hunsdale is a polititian, in the most common, vulgar sense of the word.

Many months have passed. I've completed my undergraduate studies, and my brief career in student politics is over (though i continue to work on projects initiated during that period, including an upcoming issue of West Coast Line which will document the series of anti-colonial events i co-organized). But Hunsdale continues to haunt me. A couple of weeks ago i joined a long list of former student society board members in signing a letter condemning recent actions of the current SFSS board (of which Hunsdale is now president).

The most egregious offense of the Hunsdale board is their recent firing of Hattie Aitken - the very one whose expertise and organizational skills inspired my initial confidence in the SFSS, which prompted me to get active on campus.

A former colleague of mine, who enjoys a reputation for diligence and attention to detail, has posted information and comments concerning these events on his blog, including the letter to which i attached my name. The Georgia Straight even ran an article on the "controversy" last week, and another one this week about the political fallout (quoting yet another former colleague, who is now engaged in the optimistic enterprise of impeaching Hunsdale and the others responsible for Hattie's dismissal).

In principle, i believe Hattie should be reinstated with compensation and an apology (because i am convinced of her innocence, and of Hunsdale's ulterior motives, as described in the Straight articles); however, if i were her, i can't imagine i'd be eager to return to a work environment where i had been so badly mistreated. I sure as hell wouldn't work with that guy again. On the other hand, in her decades of service to SFU students, Hattie has seen many dozens of board members come and go... both good and bad.

Meanwhile i still can't speak French worth a damn, but i did enjoy the film Bon Cop Bad Cop, even though i probably only got half the jokes.

Grand Men . . .

R.I.P Murray Bookchin, 1921-2006.

I read some of his history of the Spanish Anarchists while i was living in Barcelona in 1998. I think i'll pick it up again to toast his memory tonight.

The toxic load really got me down at work this week. After involuntarily sleeping for 14 hours, i took a day off to get diagnosed with prepatellar bursitis and watch Leonard Bernstein's first "Unanswered Question" lecture. That, along with Ibuprofen, made me feel a little better.

In a particularly serendipitous turn of events, i finally got around to sending Noam Chomsky a copy of my book (of poems about him and Jack Spicer) a few weeks ago. His thank-you note arrived on Saturday afternoon, moments before i had to head out the door to work. I had been in a pretty foul mood - having missed a booklaunch, a concert, and a tea party in the preceding 12 hours due to my stress-induced coma, but somehow a few words of thanks from Chomper seemed to outweigh all the bad stuff. I climbed on the bus feeling safe and protected in a happy little golden bubble of satisfaction. Remarkably, no one threw an egg at me.

Today my dad shared a great quote with me: "The right to swing my fist ends where the other [person]'s nose begins." It is attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. I like it as a concise corrective to one of my perennial pet peeves: infantile libertarianism. Yes, Dorothy, there are other people to consider.

It's a little frustrating (to an obsessive citation-monger like me) that - like Freud's famous remark on the Irish - there is no identifiable source for Holmes' gem. However, i'm working to develop appreciation for the uses of such phrases, independent of their dubious authenticity. I can usually resolve the whole wrestling match in my mind by invoking that great scene from Smoke Signals, where Thomas is asked "What do you want, truth or lies?" and he replies "I want both." I found this interesting article on the film today, which reminded me of Ward Churchill's piece from several years ago.

Speaking of Churchill (and footnotes), is anyone else out there feeling the same mix of emotions about the conclusions drawn by the Boulder research misconduct inquiry? What i mean is: i'm deeply troubled by the prospect of specious, cynical dismissals of all of Churchill's work on the basis of its purported flaws, and by the highly suspicious timing of the investigation itself. Ward insists, in his response to the committee, that no serious scholar's work "could withstand the type of scrutiny to which [his] has been subjected".

I'm inclined to believe him, and it seems likely that he is currently facing termination because of the backlash against his statement about September 11th. However (especially after my recent experience as a juror), i couldn't help empathizing with the committee members during their press conference. I've been ambivalent about some of his ideas for a long time, but i have insisted and will continue to insist that - like the authors of The Rebel Sell, elsewhere on the left - Churchill asks difficult and very important questions that deserve to be taken seriously (whether or not "we" like their implications, and certainly whether or not he has always footnoted scrupulously - which is argumentum ad hominem). Simply put, we ought to honour his call for all lefties to operate "on a basis of mutual respect" - which i think might best be accomplished by embracing what has come to be called "diversity of tactics" rather than interminable and self-defeating factionalism (the absurdities of which were hilariously demonstrated in the second half of my favorite scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian - the first half can, i think, be read as both feminist and pro-trans, but i tend to read generously).

Okay, i've got a hike to Berg Lake (and subsequent trip to Worsley, AB) to prepare for.

A Diabolical Turn

There must be some physicists who can back me up on this one: heat makes time flow more slowly.... I experienced it the past three days at work.

My mind's been busy this week (in moments when a cool breeze has disrupted meditation on what lobster death must feel like)...

The Vampire government continues to demonstrate spectacularly deadly short-sightedness on both the foriegn and domestic fronts. Fresh from applauding the PM's outrageous statement on Israel's bombardment of civilians (and now UN observers) in Lebanon (and his cynical encore photo-op), the conservatives have now announced they'll sit back and record the death-throws of Insite before they'll consider renewing the successful program's funding. Click here for an *easy* way to tell Harper that his contemptuous indifference is disgusting.

On a more positive note: as i settled into my new "youth counsellor" duties this week, i was momentarilly relieved when i read about the intuitive approach to recovery outlined in this article (from the straight).

Also, the Tyee posted their Canadian Books story, including a slimmed-down version of my statement. Here's the original:

On Joy Kogawa’s Obasan
by ryan andrew murphy

Canada is full of great writers. Canada is also full of crap. Many of Canada’s best writers know this, but few have indicted Canada as artfully as Joy Kogawa.

While Kogawa may shrink from the credit I wish to give her, I like to think her character Aunt Emily would not. Every page of Obasan is brilliant; however, Emily’s dialogue in particular stands out from the tapestry of memories and dreams. Early in the text, Emily cautions her niece (the protagonist), “You are your history. If you cut it off you’re an amputee.”

If Emily is right, then Canada is a land of amputees; the self-congratulatory exaltation of “multiculturalism” only masks a powerful and long-standing prescription for quiet homogeneity.

Emily, like Kogawa, is Canadian and demands to be recognized as such. But unlike many “Canadians”, especially “white” Canadians (from where?), she refuses to amputate her history, despite all it’s pain and horror, because that would let other Canadians – the ones who bore responsibility for (and inherit the spoils of) the Japanese internment, for example – off far too easily.

Emily even writes a manuscript attempting to “find the right mix [of words]” to “make familiar, make knowable, the treacherous yellow peril that lived in the minds of the racially prejudiced... Like Cupid, she aimed for the heart. But the heart was not there.”

Does the praise that Obasan has won suggest that Kogawa has found the words her character sought, and that, after all, there is a “heart” in this country?

I think it is several generations too soon for anyone to indulge in the luxury of imagining that we live in a vindicated Canada. But if such a vision is deemed worth pursuing, Kogawa’s book may be our best compass.

I had considered flogging the metaphor some more (mentioning that one needs more than a compass to find one's way), but i was already well over the 150-word limit. They seemed to like it anyway, which is nice. Thanks dad, for attending the symposium on my behalf (and getting my prizes signed by the authors)!

On the heels of last week's serendipitous theme of good people, this week seems to have brought visions of bad things happening to them... The first time i heard of Mike Frastacky was this evening, when i read that he'd been killed. Made me think of Rachel Corrie; not because of the circumstances of their deaths, but because of the choices they had made.

Similarly (but of much greater importance - because we can do something to help him), the first time i ever heard of Dr. Gazi Walid Falah was this afternoon, when i learned that he'd been arrested by the Israeli police earlier this month, in a Kafkaesque manner reminiscent of the "Secret Trial Five" in Canada. This news naturally brought the Cuban Five to mind, but it also made me think again of the Portnoy Family (in Newfoundland) for whom i wrote this letter of support two months ago:

Dear Honourable Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Monte Solberg.

In October of last year over one thousand people gathered at the Sacred Heart Parish in the small Newfoundland community of Marystown for a special prayer service in support of the Portnoy family - who have taken sanctuary in the church since early that month. The Portnoys, originally from Moldova, sought sanctuary in the church to avoid deportation to Israel.
As if the threat of deportation weren't sufficiently troubling, Angela Portnoy is pregnant and has been repeatedly denied safe passage to a hospital for medical attention. Thus, the immigration bureaucracy's apparent determination to destroy this family's well-being extends not only to the parents and their four living children (two of whom were born in Canada), but also to their children yet unborn.
I join the thousands of Canadians who have demanded a stay on the deportation order that continues to menace the Portnoys; I join them in demanding that Alexi Portnoy (who has already been deported) be allowed to return to Canada immediately, and that the entire family's immigration application be fast-tracked in recognition of the completely unwarranted suffering they have already endured due to the immigration bureaucracy's unconscionable blindness and callousness.
It is in your power, Honourable Minister, to exercise Ministerial Discretion to overrule this deportation order. I hereby add my voice to the chorus of Canadians urging you to do so.
I further join the many Canadians who are calling for an immediate moratorium on all activities of the Canadian Border Services Agency in light of the number of conspicuously incredible deportations performed by that agency in recent years. This agency should, in the interest of Canada's professed commitment to human rights (enshrined in our Charter as well as the UN Declaration), be publicly investigated for human rights abuses.
The Portnoy family, who have lived in Canada since 1996, are only one of many families who have been denied a life in Canada - after having already built one. Such abuse of power by unelected bureaucrats must be halted immediately.
I await a substantive response to these concerns.

Sincerely,

ryan andrew murphy
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

...Monte has yet to get back to me.

All in all, the heat and the heaviness of this week have fostered a (slightly crispy) black humour in my waking mind, and a straightforward Inferno in my sleeping mind (and the two have been overlapping more than usual lately). If it hadn't been for a couple of therapeutic visits to The Irish Heather, and a couple of well-timed mood-boosting news stories (like this one - which my mom passed on to me), i hate to think what might have become of me... I might've become just a little bit bitter or something.

peace out,
ry

I see good people . . .

This might sound crazy, but i'm actually feeling quite optimistic at the moment.

Sure Israel is on an insane killing spree, but i've been really encouraged by the ubiquitous outrage that the slaughter and destruction has elicited. The best part is: people are being moved beyond disgust - to resistance. Naturally, everyone i've talked to is especially furious about Harper's pathetic response: essentially applauding Israel's "twenty heads for an eye" approach to "defense".

The most crucial thing that needs to be understood, as i see it, is that the Israeli assault on Lebanon is terrorism pure and simple: terrorizing and holding an entire nation hostage (including - "the real story" according to the Canadian media - anyone who presently happens to be within the Lebanese borders), in response to a particular group's actions.

If you wanna add your voice to the chorus, one of the most under-appreciated activists in Vancouver has posted some helpful info on her blog. And the indomitable Libby Davies has of course posted an examplary statement on her site.

Besides that, there seem to be a lot of cool things coming up in the next little while, like "Selling Security" tomorrow, or the booklaunch for "Sociology for Changing the World" next week... or the Bedouin Soundclash show at the Malkin Bowl (ie: where we can sit outside and listen for free in the park).

I guess i'm probably also in a good mood because i'm one of the winners of the Tyee's "Canadian Novels" contest - they're going to publish my short statement on Obasan by Joy Kogawa.

In other good news, Guujaaw (aka: my buddy Gwaai's dad), is being honoured with the Buffett award for Indigenous Leadership today.

So maybe i'm just nuts, but somehow i can't shake the feeling that things are gonna be ok... eventually.

Head-in-the-Sand Holiday

Sara & ryan's long weekend film binge:
On Saturday we saw The Devil Wears Prada at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas. Place your bets now on whether or not Meryl Streep wins her third academy award for this movie. I've got $50 says she does.

Then we went to the Pacific Cinematheque to watch The Battle of Algiers (it was encouraging to see how many people agreed that watching a film about an anti-colonial revolution was a good way to spend Canada Day; of course we all should have been here).

The next day we picked up Sara's (first ever!) new bike and went out to Riverport in Richmond and saw Superman Returns (in Imax 3D, of course). I laughed, i cried, and i left the theatre beaming with absurd euphoria.

After the movie, as we were riding our bikes toward Steveston, thinking of visiting Finn Slough or maybe stopping in at the tea room of the London Heritage Farm, some exemplary human specimen threw an egg from a moving vehicle... After indicating my disapproval of such behaviour, i threw my yolk-soaked shirt on the road. Sara rinsed it with water from her bottle, bless her perversely inperturbable heart. We carried on riding into the late afternoon sun until i heard a fishy noise and noticed a rusty nail in my tire.
Whoosh! The following evening we rode to the Hollywood and saw The Notorious Bettie Page. We stayed for the double-feature and caught On a Clear Day, which i loved. It almost made me regret spending the weekend watching movies instead of swimming... Maybe i'll go swimming tomorrow.

I guarantee you that swimming will be more fun than Nacho Libre, which sets a new low for fart-joke films. It manages to be mostly boring despite all the action and absurdity; i recommend postponing the three funny moments in this movie until it airs on tv. I should have been even more disappointed, considering how much i actually like some of (writer) Mike White's other work.

The highlight of the weekend turned out not to be a movie after all; this afternoon i spent an hour wandering through the Haida exhibit at the VAG, with Jerry Zaslove. So i'm feeling pretty luxuriously overstimulated now.

Oh and: Happy Birthday Caelie! Sorry we missed the sing-along.

Hope in Hicksville

I have a new job! I'm a full-time youth counselor (starting in two weeks). I'll be working here. I'll keep my old job, but just part-time/on-call. I'm really stoked about moving in a new direction (more suited to my skills and temperament)... especially since i've been so frustrated lately by constant communication problems and conflicts at work. Nevertheless (and maybe it's just because i know i'm not 'trapped' there anymore, but) i actually do feel like things are starting to change, slowly, for the better - so i'm willing to stay involved with DEYAS for now. Maybe it'll actually start to honour the exemplary commitment of its founder.

Anyway, i wanted to announce to the world that HICKSVILLE by Dylan Horrocks is the single greatest comic book of all time. Period. I'm going to be standing on streetcorners downtown once a week from now on, handing out copies of it like The Watchtower.

Strawberries and teachers against the war

God it's hot today.

Cheers to anyone who made it to the Peace Forum march... or the West End Seniors' Network's "Strawberry Festival" (where i could be seen volunteering despite acute sleep deprivation).

In unrelated news, i recently reconnected with two of the amazing teachers whose hard work (and patience and creativity and determination, etc...) made it possible for me to graduate from high school.

If you're looking for a really easy way to tell Gord Campbell to start treating teachers with the respect they deserve, click this: http://www.bctf.ca/Fax/

Time for me to take my frothy Irish vitamins,
ry

Forum On Oaxaca, Atenco, and "the Other"

I just heard about this event (below).

Also, for anyone interested, a 47-minute documentary about Atenco ("ROMPER EL CERCO") produced very recently by canalseisdejulio and Promedios/CMP and other independent media collectives in Mexico, is now available.

I haven't seen it yet, but i've ordered a copy from http://www.mexicosolidarity.org
and as soon as it gets here, i'll be able to lend it or make copies...

Incidentally, i found it interesting that the event is sponsored by a church group; i've just started reading the autobiography of Daniel Berrigan, a pacifist catholic priest who was imprisoned for his activism. It was a graduation present from my dad's friend Garry.


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"Repression in Atenco, Mexico
and
Why the Other Campaign?"

A PUBLIC FORUM
Saturday June 24th

6:00 p.m. Unitarian Church
949 49th. West Ave. (near the corner of 49th & Oak)

Free! Everyone is welcome!


We hope you can join us for this event, where we will have at least 4 very special guests from Mexico, including:
Gabriel Sainos (Totonaca healer who participates in the Other Campaign), Heriberto Salas (of the People's Front in Defense of the Land of Atenco), and a teacher from Oaxaca who will discuss recent and ongoing police repression in that state.
We will also have guests who are participating in the Six Nations and Sun Peaks struggles, as well as a traditional Coast Salish welcome.


The Forum will discuss:
- The Other Campaign in the context of the national social movement and the Mexican federal elections
- People's Front in Defense of the Land and the repression in Atenco
- The role of the independent media in the case of Atenco
- The defense of the land and connections with the Indigenous movement in Canada.


Sponsored by:
The Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church
Organized by:
The Other Campaign Vancouver and Organizations in Solidarity with Atenco
Email: atenco_vancouver@yahoo.ca

the good, the bad, and us

Hello friends and neighbours,

Thanks to those of you who sent me graduation well-wishes.

To show you all how much i appreciate your support and encouragement... i invite you to read the story below (from the CBC) about how our Conservative government is representing the interests of "Canadians" at the UN. But if that's too depressing, just remember:

MEANWHILE...

On June 16th, 8000 people came out to "RedStock" (AKA: the Concert for Kanenhstaton) in Brantford, Ontario. Well over $18000 was raised for the Six Nations protesters during the 12-hour, 40-band outdoor concert. The protesters continue to hold their ground at the barricade, despite on-going threats and harrassment...

AND... (if that's too much like "chicken soup for the anarchist soul" here's a reality check)

In Mexico, as the Presidential election-circus continues, the "Other Campaign" (which developed from a proposal of the Zapatistas' 6th declaration: "It is like a campaign... but very otherly, because it is not electoral" - Marcos) is building momentum. Some of the biggest demonstrations in Mexican history have been organized in the past two weeks, many fueled by massive outrage in the wake of state terrorism in Atenco.

The brutal repression of the "Other" perpetrated there by the Mexican police included hundreds of beatings and arbitrary arrests, more than 40 vicious rapes, including that of Italia Mendez - the first individual to report her assault publicly, and two confirmed killings: 20 year-old Alexis Benhumea, who died (after 34 days in hospital) from injuries inflicted by the police, and Javier Cortés, the 14-year-old boy whose autopsy confirmed what the witnesses already knew: that he was killed by an officer's bullet during the police riot on May 4th.

All this horror is unfolding during the first weeks of Mexico's tenure as the president of the new UN Human Rights Council - which brings us back to the article below...

The first session of the UN Human Rights Council is happening right now (June 19 - 30) at UN headquarters in Geneva. If you're in the neighbourhood, say hi to them and congratulate them on their timing.

The long and short of it is: there's a lot of ugly, evil shit going on. But if you're pissed off and wanna do something about it - you're in good company. So let's get it on.

love,
ryan andrew murphy


=====================================

Canada opposes UN aboriginal treaty

CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/06/20/aboriginal-declaration.html


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"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time...
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine,
then let us work together."
- Lilla Watson