Phoenix Riting!

August 15, 2024

Summer is passing by at light speed, so much happening so fast it’s making me dizzy. Changes, events, art, the beach, sunshine, a spot of rain here and there (not enough) and music. Yes, music! So much music. The Festival was wonderful as always; I had a Farm Pass for the dancing acts; so much fun! Then I saw Chase Padgett’s stunning and virtuosic show at the Hall, called “6 Guitars,” which, wow. One man, one guitar, six characters and six styles of music seamlessly woven together, shifting sometimes mid-sentence and even mid-song. Unbelievably excellent, so if you get a chance, and you missed it here, definitely go. Chase has performed this show around the world more than 700 times now. I’m sure he’s doing it again someplace.

This is a summer of many changes on our little island. Everything is becoming new again. The Coop is going to be new, which will change so much around the Ringside. I have decided to reserve my opinion about that until I see how it unfolds. It might be okay, and who knows? It may even be a good thing, in the long run. We humans are constantly changing everything and also constantly resisting change in equal parts. Some things work out, and others suck, it’s the way of the world.

I want to tell you about an upcoming event that I am particularly excited about. Yes I am about to hype myself! I’m finally going to have a CD release concert for my album “Late Bloomer.” I’ve been asked a lot about when I was going to do one, and my answer was, “Um?” I had no idea how to go about that and I felt lost at sea as to what to do. Then I had a brainwave. We have an Arts Council on Hornby, and I am an artist member, so maybe…? I emailed them asking what they could do to support me in putting on a CD release concert, and at first, the answer was, “We’re in transition, we have no employees right now, we can’t help you, sorry!” The next day, Larry Rossignol contacted me on their behalf. Before I knew it, he had spearheaded the project and went ahead to produce the show, designing the posters and advising me every step of the way. He has made it so easy and I’m very grateful to him and to the Hornby Island Arts Council.

Sadly, Larry and Julia will be in Ontario eating peaches and will have to miss it (I might give up a lot for some peaches right now myself! Mm, peaches). I want to give him a shoutout for his amazing support and help. The Arts Council is supporting, sponsoring and presenting my show, which will be at New Horizons on Friday the 23rd of August. Please come out and support HIAC in supporting local musicians!

Music is love! It makes me happy. Hard feelings transform into joy when they are rendered into music, and joyful feelings expand into bliss. I hope it makes you happy too. If you want to hear the album before the show, my Bandcamp page is phoenixbee.bandcamp.com. You can also look me up on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube or Amazon under “Phoenix Bee Late Bloomer.”

Check out my Substack at phoenixbee.substack.com, where I write these days. Email me at phoenixonhornby@gmail.com with your thoughts!

Shucking Oysters: Life is a Highway

August 15, 2024

Today, everything is supposed to be done quickly. Hurry. Hurry. Come on. We praise the fastest runner at the Olympics, crave the fastest sports cars, and demand the fastest Wi-Fi … the list goes on. We seem to be obsessed with speed. Is this need for speed built into our genes?

Take the upper highway on the big island. They bumped up the speed limit to110K and now everyone is driving 120K or more. We like to trespass into the prohibited territory, because we secretly crave speed, height and adventure. In a 2023 Canadian Automobile Association survey, Canadians admitted to speeding on the highway (45%), engaging with technology in their vehicle (32%), speeding in residential zones (22%), driving “well over” the speed limit (19%) and driving when too tired (18%). Which one are you? On Hornby, tourists in the summer drive 30-40K in the 60k zone, then 60K in the school zone. Analyze that.

Leon James, a psychology professor at the University of Hawaii, said on NPR that folks are inclined to speed because we don’t call it speeding. According to James, people simplify their own definition of speeding as going over posted limits by 20 or 25. They don’t even consider their speeding or consider that something is unsafe. Most people take risks when they are driving and this is true of any activity. The risks we’re taking tend to be very consistent. And it depends slightly on the situation, but when we’re in a hurry and we decide that it’s safe to break the speed limit by 20 then we go ahead and do it.

There is a phenomenon, similar to herds of sheep, of driving in packs in the passing lane. Many studies show that the person who goes much faster or much slower than the pack, creates a traffic safety hazard, but not the people who are breaking the speed limit in the pack. This is why certain people should not be part of the pack. Take that herd mentality and park it in the right lane, buddy. In other words, if you can’t keep up with the pack, stay out of the way.

It feels almost natural to drive over the speed limit. Everyone is doing it after all. We’re going with the flow, because if you don’t you’ll hear about it. Is the practice of speeding a learned behaviour that we’ve grown to accept as normal? Speed is certainly something we celebrate in our society and if you look at car commercials and gadgets, you can see the emphasis placed on going fast.

We like to cut corners where ever we go, as my mother used to say, “we are all in a hurry to get nowhere.” We’ve become more impatient. The internet is not fast enough. Time is precious. Hurry. When we cut corners we think we’re saving time. Even though the actual savings in time is insignificant, it’s the feeling of saving time that makes us feel good. It gives us a rush, when we’re in a rush.

A study in the US proved that if you’re going 10 above the speed limit in a 45 mph zone, you’re travelling 30% faster but, you save yourself only six minutes. If the speed limit is 65 mph and you’re going 75 mph, a mere two minutes was saved – even though in both scenarios, you’re going 10 over the speed limit. Ponder that.

Since I switched to automatic, I’ve noticed I’m bit more chill on the highway, and blissfully watch all those speeders whizzing by me with determined abandon. Some lane swerve and tailgate dangerously – only to find themselves next to you as you gingerly approach the stoplight. Wow. You’ve come a long way baby.

The threshold for excessive speeding in BC is travelling more than 40 kph over the posted speed limit. In addition to a ticket, a minimum $368 fine, your vehicle will also be impounded for seven days or more. The badge of honour also comes with three years of driver risk premium payments and possibly a driving prohibition. These are pretty serious consequences compared to a regular speeding ticket for travelling anywhere between 1 and 40 kph over the speed limit, which carries a maximum fine of $196, but no impound, and no driver risk premium.

Even in 1899 you could get into trouble on the road. A New York taxi driver named Jacob German was thrown in jail for going over the 8 mph speed limit on straight roads and 4 mph around corners in his electric car. According to the cop that threw him in jail, he was endangering the public by driving an astounding12 mph.

When it comes to excessive speeding it’s often all about testosterone and sports cars. But when it comes to road rage, the American Automobile Association found that women admit to the same road behaviours – although not to the full extent. Regardless of gender, nearly 8 in 10 drivers resort to aggressive driving behaviours. So, instead of being in a rush, maybe we need to take the road less travelled – indirectly is a far more scenic route.

Green Wizardries: The Harvest

August 15, 2024

Green Wizardries, The Harvest by Maxine Rogers

The first of the tomatoes are coming in and some of them are so heavy, they have fallen off the plants while they are green. We brought these few tomatoes into the house to ripen. Tomatoes keep very well indoors if you spread them out on newspaper in a single layer and put them stem side down. This stops them dehydrating and shrivelling. After a few days, they will ripen and can be used in salads or cooking and they can be dehydrated. Don’t use them for canning though. Use only vine-ripened tomatoes for canning.

The bulk of the tomato harvest will be coming in a few weeks so now is the time I make sure I have all my canning supplies. It is a mistake to wait until canning season is on to go shopping for jars and lids as there is not so much selection and, sometimes, supplies run short. I remember at our local hardware store, being shown the last three boxes of canning lids from the valley. We were allowed to purchase one box and we were grateful for it.

Since then, I have started to use Tattler reusable canning lids. These are similar to the canning lids used by very old ladies when I was a kid. They had glass lids and rubber rings that they could use, over and over again, until death separated their owners from the need to put up preserves.

The current reusable lids are plastic and the rings are rubber and they can be used in water bath canning, pressure canning and vacuum sealers. The lids are said to last indefinitely and the rubber rings are good for ten years or so. You can buy extra rubber rings for the lids. I like them and they are vastly less expensive than the single use canning lids. I bought mine over the internet.

On that subject, I was watching a video by a lady who was brought up in the Old Order Mennonites and when she was a girl, it was something of an occasion if her mother or grandmother opened a box of the metal self-sealing lids as they used those lids over and over again until they simply refused to seal. I have tried reusing the single use lids and they worked fine for me. That is just for general interest, it is not to be taken as advice.

Now is also a good time to make sure of having enough pickling spice on hand as it looks to be a good year for cucumbers. One of my nephews makes a great pickling spice mix and I must get his recipe to share with you. I don’t have to can dill pickles this year as I did a huge batch last year. We only planted a few cucumbers of various types that were given to us by a very sweet friend.

One of my favourite ways to serve cucumbers is my version of Sichuan cucumber salad as it is crisp and both hot and cold at the same time. It consists of a large Suyo Long cucumber sliced or cucumbers of anther variety if that is all you have. One teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of vegetable oil, one tablespoon of minced garlic, two teaspoons of cider vinegar, one teaspoon of soy sauce, one teaspoon of sesame oil, one teaspoon of sugar and a half a teaspoon of dried chili flakes. I just mix that all together and serve and it is wonderful now with the fresh, crisp garlic we just harvested.

The celery is also starting to be of a size to pick and preserve for the winter. I cut the celery into manageable lengths and blanch it for two minutes in boiling water, chill it in ice water and dehydrate it.

Most years, we are self-sufficient in celery. I have been growing celery seed for years now and my variety, whatever it is, is very hardy and trouble free. Celery seed was so expensive that I bought some celery seed as a spice to make pickles and tried to germinate some. It all came up and I gave away heaps of seedlings to the Garden Club. I am still propagating that same variety.

If you want to try growing celery for seed, you will need to lift about ten celery plants and put them into a greenhouse and mulch them heavily with leaves and throw some remay or an old blanket over them when it gets frosty as celery cannot endure a frost. If you can get them through the winter, they will go to seed and provide you with heaps of fresh, really vital seed the next summer. It is best to keep at least six plants of any variety for seed to avoid inbreeding depression. You may lose some plants over the winter so planting extra is a good idea.

Fake Revolutions Everywhere You Look

August 15, 2024

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE

AUG 11, 2024

Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

Elon Musk has just made a post on his social media platform that is so astonishingly ridiculous and awful that it needs its own article.

Musk tweeted a graphic containing lines that Palestine supporters have been usingwhen opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, but used it to frame himself as standing on the side of the resistance against a tyrannical oppressor. It reads as follows:

You watched “The Hunger Games” and sided with the resistance.

You watched “Star Wars” and sided with the resistance.

You watched “The Matrix” and sided with the resistance.

You watched “Divergent” and sided with the resistance.

You watched “V for Vendetta” and sided with the resistance.

When it’s fiction you understand. Yet you refuse to see it when it’s the reality you’re living in.

Wild.

It’s hard to be sure what’s going on in Musk’s sluggish mind, but at the moment he appears to be referring to the white supremacist rioting that’s been occurring in the United Kingdom, which he has come under fire for enthusiastically supporting. It really doesn’t matter, though, since there’s no way a billionaire Pentagon contractor who’s been forcefully backing Israel in its genocidal atrocities in Gaza could possibly be considered a part of any kind of resistance.

https://x.com/elliotsteelcom/status/1822354867026809170

There are fake revolutions everywhere you look. This happens all the time these days: people who are inextricably intertwined with establishment power structures posturing as brave revolutionaries leading a resistance against the very establishment they themselves are a part of. Elon Musk is no more a part of any “resistance” than Joe Biden or Bill Gates, but his sycophantic fanboys will mindlessly gobble this garbage up like popcorn chicken.

They serve up fake revolutions to stop you from waging a real one. Here, fall in line with this billionaire military-industrial complex plutocrat, he’s leading the resistance. Here, fall in line with this oligarch-backed presidential candidate, he’s waging a populist war against the Deep State to Make America Great Again.

Don’t like right wingers? No problem! Join progressive Democrats like Bernie Sanders and AOC who’ll support the same establishment interests as Elon Musk and Donald Trump, but they’ll do so while paying lip service to social justice and equality to make you feel nice inside.

More of an independent? Support RFK Jr who has pledged “unconditional support” to the state of Israel but is totally gonna end the wars and fight corruption!

The more discontented the populace grows with status quo politics, the more you’ll see the empire which benefits from status quo politics serving up fake revolutions for people to throw their political energy into so that nothing ever changes. They don’t just control both parties, they control the top political factions which claim to oppose the establishment in both parties. They don’t just control the opposition, they control the opposition to the controlled opposition.

They’re able to pull off this scam because most people don’t lucidly understand the difference between fact and narrative. Human psychology tends to be so intimately wrapped around mental stories that it’s often hard to differentiate between someone who’s telling a story about being an enemy of the establishment and someone who’s actually working against the interests of establishment power.

The trick is to ignore the words and watch the actions. Is someone being elevated to prominence by the very establishment they claim to oppose? If they are, they’re not its enemy. Are they taking meaningful concrete actions which go against the planet-dominating interests of the US-centralized empire we live under? If they’re not, then they’re not part of any meaningful “resistance”. Are they playing to either side of the two-party scam, both sides of which are complete tools of imperial control? If they are, then they’re not an enemy of the powerful. Are they constantly feeding into partisan feuding and divisive culture war wedge issues which threaten the powerful in no meaningful way? If they are, then the powerful are cool with them.

Don’t let these pricks draw you in. Focus your political energy on opposing the actual mechanisms which hold the actual power structure in place: War. Militarism. Propaganda. Oligarchy. Exploitation. Tyranny. Ecocide. Government secrecy. Help get people focused on the raw nuts and bolts of the imperial machine instead of the empty diversionary narrative fluff they’re being encouraged to focus on.

If we can get enough people ignoring the sideshow distractions and focusing on the actual machine that is the real source of their discontent, we stand a real chance at dismantling this thing. Letting the revolutionary zeitgeist get bogged down in fake revolutions waged by fake resistance fighters will keep us chasing shadows until these bastards get us all killed.

__________________

If you’d prefer to listen to audio of these articles, you can subscribe to them on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud or YouTube. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to find video versions of my articles. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.

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Featured image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

ICJ Occupation illegal (Part 3: Implications)

August 15, 2024

In its historic July 19, 2024, advisory opinion on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, the World Court (International Court of Justice) unequivocally set out the obligations of Israel, other states and the UN in its conclusions. The Court said that Israel has an obligation to end its occupation which it called: “an unlawful act of a continuing character, entailing Israel’s international responsibilities” brought about by Israeli practices and policies. It must end the occupation “as rapidly as possible”.

Significantly, the Court made clear that Gaza remains part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and has been since 1967, despite Israeli claims to the contrary when it removed its settlements from Gaza in 2004. The Court stated that the decisive criterion is the authority the occupying power holds over the particular territory, not the physical presence of the occupier inside the territory. This means that Palestinians in Gaza have the legal right to resist their occupation even if that means using force, and the Israelis do not have the right to use force against this occupied population.

It stated these as Israel’s obligations:

Cease all new settlement activity (West Bank & East Jerusalem).
Repeal all legislation and measures creating and maintaining the unlawful situation.
Provide full reparations, be they restitution, compensation and/or satisfaction. This includes return of the “land and all assets” since 1967, including all “cultural assets” to the Palestinian people.
Removal of all settlers.
Dismantle the parts of the Wall that are in occupied territories.
Return of Palestinians to their residences displaced during occupation. If they can’t return, compensation is required.

(ICJ Video of ruling @ 1 hr.6 min.)

The Court indicated that all states must cooperate with the UN to put the modalities (which will be created by the UN to realize Palestinian rights to self-determination) into effect. To this end, the Court stated that all member states are under obligation NOT to recognize the occupation as legal, NOT to render aid to Israel to maintain the occupation, and to distinguish between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

What difference could this make for Canada?

Abiding by the ruling of the ICJ means that people can no longer be prosecuted or discriminated against for boycotting Israel. The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement will not be targeted; it will be the law to oppose the occupation, exactly what BDS has been advocating since 2005. The “IHRA” (International Holocaust Remembrance Association) definition of anti- Semitism which has been promoted by our government will have to be shelved. The definition

is designed to prevent criticism of Israel. Under this ruling, condemning and refusing to aid Israel’s occupation in any way is a legal requirement. The 200+ Canadian charities that funnel money to Israel (which has a GDP per capita the same as ours by the way) to support its settlements in occupied territory and the Israeli army that enforces occupation, may well go the way of the Jewish National Fund and the Ne’eman Foundation of Canada, both of whom just had their charitable status revoked by the CRA, after years of public complaints about illegal misuse of our taxpayer money. (info@justpeaceadvocates.ca. 10 August, 2024)

The International Criminal Court will now have the backing it may feel it needs to issue the indictments of Netanyahu and Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that the prosecutor has requested. And they may well issue more arrest warrants for senior Israeli government and military officials if Israel fails to comply with the ICJ ruling.

The World Court articulates a vision for a world that considers everyone equal. Their rulings have a moral aspect to them, which was set out by our predecessors in 1949. International human rights law and humanitarian law set out standards for global cooperation and understanding – not only the legal aspects – that we often don’t see recognized in Western courts. This opinion, like the ICJ’s 2004 ruling that Israel’s Separation Wall is illegal, will likely be ignored by Western media and politicians. That ruling was much narrower though, than the current one. It was about the Wall, not the occupation. It imposed no obligation on states other than Israel. Independent journalist Jonathan Cook, formerly with The Independent,

calls this ruling “earth-shattering” and then says, “Israel is a rogue state, according to the world’s highest court. For that reason, the judgment will be studiously ignored by the cabal of western states and their medias that for decades have so successfully run cover for Israel”. (Jonathan Cook, 23 July, 2024)

Ignoring a law doesn’t make it less valid. History will point to these moments of truth-telling, and see the ICJ as being a court of integrity, despite its shunning by US empire and its sub- contractors, who would prefer not to know of these inconvenient decisions. That’s the thing about our World Court and the rule of law and why our civilization established it in the first place. It’s not just there to do our bidding. It’s there to articulate basic principles of international law – how to organize our global society in times of conflict – and give guidance on human conduct in order to help us to survive in the only home we have – planet Earth. We would do well to pay attention.

summer haiku

August 15, 2024

summer haiku

some are bees, some not

summer bees don’t live ’til fall

there’s still time to fly

thomas p. hunterson

Cowboy Corner: The Holiday

August 15, 2024

As I stood on the sandy tropical beach watching the sun set in the western sky, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people had stood there before me, witnessing the same awesome beauty. Then I wondered how many of those people had stood there in bright yellow polyester pants that were four sizes too small, with a ten inch zucchini stuffed in the crotch, like I was.

platter of facts

August 15, 2024

Fanfarra Cinemática presents ‘Music for The General’

August 8, 2024

A unique opportunity is coming to Denman Island when the wind ensemble Fanfarra Cinemática presents an evening of live music and silent film. Buster Keaton’s masterpiece of silent movies, ‘The General,’ will be paired with veteran composer Gregg Moore’s innovative, entertaining, and eclectic score.

Moore, an accomplished wind, horn, and string musician, passed the greater part of his career in Europe where this score was originally commissioned by the Cine Clube de Covilha in Portugal. Together with production manager Ruthie Tilston, Moore has assembled a six-person multi-generational ensemble of talented musicians including a trumpeter, a clarinetist, a percussionist, and two saxophonists. This sextet guarantees to entertain with a thrilling combination of cartoon music, circus mayhem and 19^th century parlor music.

This diverse music provides the perfect backdrop to Keaton’s silent movie, ‘The General’, widely considered to be the pinnacle of the early years of cinema. Keaton upended convention by setting a comedy in the American Civil War and portraying the Southern cause as the ‘good guys’ in a love story of a plucky railway engineer saving his beloved train as well as his heroine. Throughout the movie, Keaton displays his signature physical theater and storytelling genius.

Best thought of as a concert of music with visual accompaniment, the sum provides a rollicking good time for all ages!

When: Saturday, August 17th

Showtime: 7:30pm

Where: Denman United Church

Tickets: $15. Available at the door (cash or e-transfer).

*Children under 12 free.

Please email Ruthie Tilston at ruthietilston@yahoo.ca for reservations and any further information.

Community Feast August 27th

August 8, 2024

Community Feast August 27th

The FREE Community Feast is back for its third year! We had an incredible turnout last year (nearly 400 people!), and the Uvic Students are gearing up to offer another evening of scrumptious local food and community connection to islanders.

What: a free community feast, featuring a range of local meats and vegetables. There will be gluten free and vegan options available. All are welcome.

When: Tuesday August 27th

Time: 6:30pm dinner will be served

Where: Community Hall

There are a few important changes we are making this year:

– Please bring your own plate, cutlery and cup.

– We are seeking volunteers to help serve food! (please email Teesh at: teeshy@gmail.com).

– There will be two buffet lines to help alleviate the length of time it takes to get your food.

Some of you may remember from last year, but for those of you who haven’t been to the feast before here is some explanation of why this event exists!

There will be 19 Students camping on Denman for the last two weeks of August through a course named “Cultivating Alternatives to the Dominant Order” through the department of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. Nick Montgomery is the instructor, and Teesh Gardner and Emily Guinane will be helping run the field school (along with a TA named Julia Weder who comes all the way from Haida Gwaii).

The program gives students a glimpse into the many ways people on Denman are creatively responding to the challenging political, spiritual, emotional and economic times we are living in. From visiting a local land cooperative, to learning about off-grid power systems, all the way up to uncovering the concept of attention liberation through bird language- the students will have the opportunity to see a snippet into the weird wonderfulness that exists on this tiny island.

Through the course the students learn how to use consensus decision making, and ultimately the feast is their opportunity to practice these skills. The students will spend many hours preparing for the feast and creating a system of cooking and cleaning that works for everyone involved, and that uses the local ingredients we’ve sourced.

Ultimately, the feast is a gift back to the community for the hospitality and rich learning experiences the students will carry with them, as well as an opportunity to support local growers and producers on the island. Not only this, but the feast is yet another opportunity for the students to see the incredible social fabric that exists on this little island, and the unique culture that has been cultivated through many generations of resistance, bravery and creativity.

We hope you will join us, and please share the word with your neighbours!

Teesh, Emily, Nick & Julia

(the field school crew)