There’s a lot of talk lately about the ‘so-called’ out-of-control behaviour of Fanshawe students in the student ghetto. The corporate media keeps pushing an image of Fanshawe students as no-good drunken hooligans.  The cops harass us at our doors, extort us for money with their endless fines, and occupy and patrol our neighbourhoods like we live in a fascist dictatorship.  And our own overpaid, underworked, weasel of a college president is threatening us with suspensions and even expulsions for things that we do on our own time, off-campus.
When I heard that police had laid charges on over 700 people in and around the Fleming Drive area in less than a week I wasn’t concerned about student behaviour, I was concerned about the police behaviour.  Students have always, and will always get drunk and party, especially on the first week of classes. The only thing that has changed is the heavy-handed response from the authorities who have obviously too little work to do because of how overstaffed they are.
I know one of the 700 people who were charged that week.  He got a drinking ticket for having a beer on his own lawn.
700 people being charged with noise violations and drinking means that there isn’t enough real crime happening to meet the demand of the endless supply of cops our police state is training and hiring to oppress us with.  Therefore these cops must create new criminals out of anyone they can.  And with a 24-hour noise by-law it’s clear they are criminalizing students in this city.
Next time you see a police officer, approach them and demand to know why they‘ve chosen to make a career out of repressing you and other citizens.  Ask them how they feel about being used as pawns to protect the wealth and power of the rich at the expense of everyone else.  Tell them they are not welcome in your community.  Remember that trust, respect, and communication are essential components of healthy communities.  The cops don’t respect you, trust you, or care to communicate with you unless they’re trying to get the evidence they need to arrest you, your friends, or neighbours.  If a cop stops you and asks you questions do not answer them.  It can never help you to talk to police because anything you say will be used against you.  They wouldn’t ask you anything if they didn’t need your help to ruin your life and the lives of others.
Don’t ever call the police or the ‘crimestoppers’ snitch line on a member of your community. Just think of how many charges could have been avoided if people simply knocked on each others doors and asked their neighbours politely to turn the music down instead of calling in the city’s armed thugs.

Tips for dealing with police and staying free

-You are not required to identify yourself to police, even when arrested.
-There is no such thing in Canada as ‘being taken in for questioning’.  You never have to answer any questions, nor should you.
-If approached by police immediately ask them if you are being arrested or detained, if they say no, you’re free to go.
-If you’re arrested or being detained stay silent until you speak with a lawyer.
-Never let a cop enter your house without seeing a warrant first.  Make sure you check that its signed by a judge, has the correct address, date, and items to be searched for and seized.
-Never consent to being searched.  If the cops forcibly search you, or your vehicle, loudly proclaim “I DO NOT CONSENT TO THIS SEARCH”
-Start a ‘Cop Watch’ program to monitor and document police activity and abuses in your neighbourhood.

By Darius Mirshahi

By: A Concerned Individual

I am sad to report that H.B. Beal Secondary School has a very open pro-military stance in regards to student recruitment.  Beal advertises military programming by making video clips of student recruiters and broadcasting them on the TVs throughout the school, hanging posters of military soldiers in the hallways, and hanging yellow ribbons around the trees in the front of the school without consulting its students.

After speaking with members of the administrative team I was informed that the military offers scholarship programs for the “less fortunate students, who want post-secondary education but can not afford it.”  This is highly offensive, morally destructive, and should not have any place in an institution which offers education.  Students who do not have the funding for post-secondary education should not be put in a situation in which they are persuaded to enroll in the army to achieve their aspirations.

Beal’s motto: “Our Mission is meeting the needs of a diverse student population to encourage individual potential and the achievement of excellence. Our Goals: (i) to provide an appropriate and relevant programme that meets the needs of Beal students in order to improve their academic achievement. (ii) to maintain a safe an positive learning environment.”

How are the needs of students met when the school and or government is unable to suggest forms of opportunity in post-secondary education or employment other than joining the military? No other post-secondary opportunities are advertised in the school with expensive large posters and television clips.

How is the school encouraging individual potential and achievement of excellence by allowing child predators (recruiters) into their school environment making promises and using forms of manipulation/romanticization and their authority to recruit students?

“Our Goals: (i) to provide an appropriate and relevant programme that meets the needs of Beal students in order to improve their academic achievement.

How does providing a resource to war, murder, hatred, manipulation, abuse, and dishonesty a relevant programme to improve students academic achievement?

“(ii) to maintain a safe and positive learning environment”

Does advertising with posters of soldiers dressed in camouflage and armour holding guns provide a feeling of a safe and positive learning environment? Does is allowing recruiters into the school create a safe environment?

Young adults who are recruited may eventually face combat and/or eventually get a free education. These campaigns lure young people with the promise to “see the world” and to have post-secondary education paid for. As a student, I am deeply disturbed at the link between Secondary School Administration and the military, who seem to work as a team to find fresh stock to fight wars like the one we are currently fighting in Afghanistan. Not only do ordinary citizens not know what is actually happening there but certainly young adults at Beal are NOT being educated about these matters. Recruiting teens in high schools is irresponsible: if not simply because they could be killed fighting but because like other generations (such as those who fought in Vietnam) they don’t know what they will be fighting for.

By Enraged Bitch

After renting for many years I have come to the conclusion that there is no way for a renter to have autonomy or receive fair treatment in this society, despite the obvious wealth and resources around us. What I mean by autonomy is that because the renter or family is constantly subject to the whim of the landlord and the City of London, he/she/they are put into double binds that can prevent him or her from being able to improve or even achieve healthy living standards.
Let’s be clear about what renting is: it is NOT BEING HOMELESS. It’s not a privilege; it is a basic human right that is controlled by government, property owners and corporations, not people who reside in their homes. One step above not being homeless would be to have adequate heat, hydro and water. Quality of life would be having the ability to influence and control your living situation so that you are comfortable, healthy and feel like it is your home. How many of us have this?

The Double Bind
If I want to rent, I need at the very least these things:
o    good credit
o    money (1st and last)
o    references from other landlords

However, if I get the apartment and have problems that force me to move out such as:
o    poor heating, water or utility problems
o    no attention to repairs
o    unfair treatment or neglect by the landlord or company

That family or renter will be put in turn in the a situation where they may not have:
o    good credit
o    money (1st and last for moving, switching bills to new address)
o    PLUS the lease-breaking fee, possibly court fees
o    references from a landlord

Young people besides UWO students also have a hard time finding an apartment and being treated fairly. Unfit landlords and corporations such as Transglobe put hundreds if not thousands of renters in the city in unlivable conditions every year. These individuals and families must either cope with having their basic human rights ignored or be forced to find money, go into debt and find a new place. Those families who survive on Ontario Works have it even harder, and are not always eligible for assistance to move.
People who ask too many questions to a landlord are sometimes treated unfairly or not rented to at all. Often tenants live in fear of their landlord and are afraid to ask for their basic rights, and sometimes even misunderstand that it is they who are paying the landlord.

Solutions
1. There should be an independent body to assist with situations where a renter has no references because of a dispute with a landlord, such as a department of the Landlord and Tenant Board.

2. City Hall should enforce the heat bylaw (currently they do not) and raise the acceptable temperature from a cool 20 Celcius to a humane 23.
3. If landlords want to be cheap on heat, they should charge more rent. Heat is very expensive, but now landlords are including heat in the rent and tenants are paying high bills for electric heaters to compensate for poor heating provided by landlords, and therefore landlords save on heat bills.
4. Heat issues should be made a priority and temperatures should be written into the lease. In a situation where lawful temperature is not adhered to there should be at least no lease-breaking fee, or better still the landlord should owe rent back to the tenant PLUS the cost of moving (to say nothing of compensation for disrupting the tenant’s lives).
5. Ontario Works needs to review its policies to help families and individuals into better living conditions. Being poor doesn’t give anyone motivation to work if you don’t have hot water, clothing and the basic needs in life.
6. Lower deposit fees for Union Gas. Who can afford a down payment of 250$ ? If you have good credit with London Hydro you can request a letter of reference for Union Gas which will help to waive the deposit fee.
7. Consider the Repairs for Rent campaign currently being promoted in Toronto by the OCAP.

Help Now
What we have now: If you are having trouble with a landlord contact or look for information on:
o    The Landlord and Tenant Board
o    THAW program see London Hydro website
o    LIFE SPIN
o    I do not recommend expecting help from City Hall, I recommend contacting them (Heat Bylaw manager, Mayor, your Ward councilor etc.) and telling them to be aware that the heat bylaw need sot be enforced, but I wouldn’t expect help.

HEAT in your home, school and workplace
IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT.

Protesting the SPP (Montebello)

Because there are only a few ways to attempt to influence government such as writing letters, becoming a politician or a lobbyist, everyday people band together to make politicians who ignore them, know their grief. In Canada not many people bother to protest (compared to Millions in countries like Mexico). Protests and those involved are seen as irritating and irrational, and are often portrayed by the media as violent.
Politicians and others are protected by the police who are often violent. Quebec police admitted to placing cops in protest-wear to incite a riot at Montobello, QC in August of 2007 (google/youtbe it). Officials were expecting thousands of protestors and prepared the small town with hundreds of armed and armored cops, barricades, cages and designated protest areas. Why? Stephen Harper was meeting with President Bush and the Mexican Prime Minister Felipe Calderón to plan the already-in-progress anti-national unification of these 3 countries (this is called the Security and Prosperity Partnership, but that’s another story: a scary one).
Protestors do provoke police and politicians by yelling and staring them down, occasionally vandalizing. Cops however ruthlessly beat protestors, man or woman, old or young, whether they are defending themselves or not. Crowds are pushed back and controlled with tear gas, sound machines and other high-tech equipment that violate human rights.
Protestor Dudley George was shot by police because they claim that they thought he was carrying a gun (it was a stick) during a legal protest. They also shot his dog. The ways that First Nations peoples are treated in protests and in other situations is disgusting.
Why do we “need” so much force put upon our peoples? The Canadian government must not be doing its job if the people are unhappy and feel left out of their own politics.
The next time you hear about or see a protest happening try to find out about it, participate or honk your horn to show solidarity and support. It’s cathartic, creative and really a lot of fun too. More than that it’s important to show politicians, corporations and each other that we care and we are willing to do something to ensure that our people, animals, land and resources not be exploited by our leaders.

A note about HEROES:

This is a culture that constantly labels police and the military as Heroes. I find the fact that we treat those legally licensed to kill above all other citizens this way to be disturbing: ARE HEROES SUPPOSED TO BE VIOLENT?
My Heroes are: teachers, nurses, farmers, wait staff, writers, spiritual leaders, construction workers, activists and protestors to name a few. These people put out an effort to ensure that we are well as a community and as individuals.
Note that they are not licensed to carry firearms or kill.

A vaccination is an administration of antigenic (an unnatural substance which causes a direct bodily response) which is used to “protect” the body from disease and or infection.  Currently vaccines are used as cost effective, convenient ways of “preventing” or “stopping” an infectious germ from attacking the body.  Vaccines contain substances that are forms of bacteria or viruses (infectious toxins or poisons) and often animal viruses such as Cowpox.  Cowpox disease provokes symptoms such as red blisters that form all over the body when a human comes into physical contact with an infected cow udder.
Not only do vaccines contain animal viruses but they also contain additional harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde, aluminum phosphate, phenols, alum, acetone, and mercury.  Harmful chemicals are added to vaccines in order to make them more powerful.  These chemicals are neurotoxic and have been linked to serious health issues such as Autism, and Attention Deficit Disorder.  The medical community will claim “no conclusive evidence” in the link between vaccines and such disorders.  These studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies (multi billion dollar corporations) which irresponsibly avoid participating in studies concerning the overall health factor of vaccinations.
Because it is flu season you will likely start being pressured by doctors, school officials, administrative government, and the media to get yourself and your children vaccinated.  These authority figures will try to convince you that receiving your vaccination is the right thing to do, and may threaten you with “mandatory vaccination.” Many of us succumb to the social pressure to get shots so as not to “infect” those around us should we catch the flu. In a non-capitalist society, we would value home-rest and natural cures when we are ill. Instead, we are pushed to buy and consume chemical products and get back to work!

The truth is: VACCINES ARE NOT MANDATORY according to the Canadian Constitution.  Ontario schools do require proof of diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella immunization for school entrance.  Exceptions are made for medical and religious reasons. Download an exemption form at:

http://vran.org/legal/forms.htm

For more information visit:
http://www.vran.org

The single point that drives my political stance more than any other, is summed up best in a question posed to me by a mother with three little ones, while we were registering for the Salvation Army Christmas gift program a few years ago. She asked, “How come some kids end up with nothing for Christmas, while other people’s kids get the catalog Christmas? What decides who gets more or less?” That question echoes with me today.

What is the criteria for a child to have a Christmas holiday of plenty? Successful parents? Educated or skilled parents? So, children of those not as educated or skilled should pay a price for that fact? Maybe in a capitalist society we are to reward the financially stable. Financial stability achieved though what? Luck, if you read the headlines of numerous plant closures and layoffs, more sure to come as the reverberations of the earthquake that struck Wall St. shakes us all. I’m unconvinced that there is any justified reason that one could say to another as to why their child should do without, while yours does not. I would think that any loving parent would find such a proposal offensive and insulting. Yet, we accept living under such conditions perennially. Every Christmas is another year of doing without for a growing portion of our population. All while some celebrate in decadent opulence. Why do we tolerate these outrageous methods of distributing the joys of the holiday season?

How do we allow so many children to go without? These children are our neighbour’s children, our friend’s children, our children’s friends and classmates. These children are no different than any other, and deserve no more or less than anyone else’s. I don’t want anything more or less for my child than someone else’s. We teach our children to share equally, and that is an ideal that we all should stand by. Fair is fair, any way you slice it.

It is seriously scandalous that in this country 15% of our children - more than 1,000,000 kids – live below the poverty line.
Recall that more than 15 years ago Parliament voted unanimously to end child poverty. Is it too much to ask for a national early childhood education and care plan, affordable housing, a livable minimum wage, and support for the National Child Tax Benefit?
Or maybe we should just forget about such difficult social issues and have another election.

The Canadian (NATO) mission in Afghanistan is often hard for people to understand without doing significant research into the history of the country and region. It is a complex area of the world where many different elements have to be considered in understanding what is happening today. This article is designed to illuminate various facts that disprove the idea that Canada, which is a part of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and the U.S. are ‘doing good’ or ‘motivated to do good’ in Afghanistan. Hopefully this article will provide some intellectual self-defence not only by presenting arguments that challenge orthodox conceptions about the war but also to give relevant facts that are commonly hidden, on the subject of Canada’s military and governmental role in Afghanistan. Also, Canada’s involvement in oppression and meddling in Haiti, Israel, the Philippines, Iranian waters, Iraq etc. are not mentioned but are no less important.

1. The Afghan mission that Canada is involved in is lead by the United States. Remember there are two wars: one in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. These wars have been meshed together as the “War on Terror” and by the lie that Saddam Hussein was supporting bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan and therefore enabled the September 11 attacks. These two wars are orchestrated and designed by the U.S.; Canada is mainly supporting their efforts.

2. The U.S. is one of the most responsible actors on the planet for the rise of the Taliban. The U.S. sought and enabled their rise by giving guns, supplies, and training - this was done mostly with the Pakistani ISI (similar to the CIA or CISI) and Saudi Arabia. The Taliban agreed with the construction of the ‘Afghan pipeline’ coming from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to profit the U.S. owned petroleum company UNOCAL. *It is true that there is no oil in Afghanistan but the oil factor comes into play with the plan to create a pipeline through Afghanistan- a plan made long before the 2001 invasion. UNOCAL by the way is the same company that the current Prime Minister, Karazi was a former lobbyist for. The Taliban currently are the ‘new’ enemies of the U.S. and their allies (including Canada) for they are no longer playing along with the U.S. and their geopolitical and corporate objectives.

3. Often it is said that one of the objectives of the Canadian mission is to improve the rights of women in Afghanistan. RAWA (The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) is the most respected and hard-working women’s group in Afghanistan fighting for the safety and autonomy of women in that country. They of course have received not one cent from Canada or the U.S. This is probably due to the fact that RAWA is itself against Canadian aggression in Afghanistan as well as the aggression the Taliban and Northern Alliance inflict on their own population. In Justin Produr’s interview with a member of RAWA, Miriam responded to the question Is the NATO’ occupation helping or harming Afghanistan?, by stating, “it was clear that the U.S. (and Canadian) government still continues its wrong policy of supporting the fundamentalists (current government) in Afghanistan. We saw that the US relies on the fundamentalists of the Northern Alliance to fight another fundamentalist band – the Taliban. It doesn’t matter if they fight the Taliban or “terrorism”, they are supporting the Northern Alliance, and for Afghans both are the same – both are terrorists and fundamentalists, supported by foreign governments”. They both are repressive to women. 70% of the current parliament in Afghanistan is made up of the old warlords and drug lords of the Afghan War (late 1980s), who continue to be involved in violence and corruption. This government is known as the ‘Northern Alliance’ and is being backed by the Canadian Government, U.S. and NATO.

4. After 9/11 the U.S declared that international aid be halted from an already starving Afghanistan and that immediate bombing should commence. This indeed happened, killing thousands and creating thousands of refugees - an odd way to show you want to help. With the on-going war aid is nearly impossible to get to people in need.

5. Al-Qaeda (with bin Laden as the leader) grew out of the Mujahideen who were supported by the US financially and militarily in fighting the Russians in the 80s. Zbigniew Brezinski the National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter wrote to Carter stating, “We now have the opportunity of giving the USSR its own Vietnam War”, (meaning a real mess that Brezinski calls the “Afghan trap”) apparently at any cost to the people of Afghanistan.

6. Osama bin Laden, like so many people claimed ‘enemy’ by the United States, was considered once a valuable asset and friend. Ironically CIA agents were meeting with him two months before 9/11 in a hospital in Dubai and again knowingly on September 10, 2001 in Pakistan. This is at a time when he was claimed a “wanted man” by the U.S. government.

7. Canadian participation in this war started by the U.S. and “The War On Terror” in general is an example of how current government corporate puppets such as Harper and the former, Martin, are further integrating our country with the U.S., and basically everything that goes with it including our military, resources, business, laws etc. This is all being hammered out in back door meetings at the highest levels of government and therefore to U.S. corporations. Check out the (SPP) ‘The North American Security and Prosperity Partnership’.

8. Canada is the sixth largest supplier of military goods in the world. In the article ‘Why are we    in Afghanistan?’ Jason Kunin writes, “Between 1997 and 2002, Canada’s Military exports rose from $23 million to $678 million. Since then, according to a recent CBC investigation, Canada’s military exports have tripled.”  He also points out “the Canada Pension Plan has invested over $2.55 billion in military and related industries both in Canada and abroad. This makes every Canadian, knowingly or unknowingly, a war profiteer.” The war is currently costing 50 million a day and the Harper government plans to give 490 billion in the next 20 years.

9. Media censorship is systemic in Afghanistan both on side of the Afghan government and the U.S./ NATO forces. The practice of ‘embedded journalism’, which confines journalists to view and report on war from the side of NATO/U.S. military and not the Afghans is common in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Waheed Warasta writes about Afghanistan’s new media law in “Freedom of Expression in Afghanistan: Restrictive laws, self-censorship keep criticism to a minimum”. He states that “no one has the right to write or say anything that is considered against “national interests”. According to Waheed Warasta, the Press Guidelines in the new media law states that, “no media could run information about suicide attacks of the Taliban on the news headline, nor could they criticize the US-lead coalition, and no one could air and publish news that would decrease people’s morale and spirit.”

Please look for Part 2 of “Reasons To Question The Nobility Of The Canadian Military In Afghanistan” in the following Iconoclast issues.