Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Good + Bad News (Mostly Good)

Bad News: My Grandpa's cancer has spread and he will probably have to start chemo soon.

Good News: My grandparents decided to stop being stubborn, paranoid idiots, and told my mom the news. They're still insisting they can do everything by themselves, but at least they're not continuing to shut everyone out of their lives and pretend everything is just lovely. Which was creepy.

Good News: A woman who witnessed the "accidental" beating death of a young girl at Edmonton's residential school in the early '60s is going to name the staff member responsible at a news conference in Vancouver tomorrow. You can read the press release here.
A year ago Kevin Annett asked me to help confirm that the staff member was employed by the school during the time in question, and I did. It has been difficult for me to sit on this information for a year, so I can't imagine how hard it has been for Charlotte and the other eyewitness to cope with this in silence for so many years. I think she is a very brave, very strong woman and I will be with her in spirit tomorrow.
We don't know if the staff member is living or dead. I haven't been able to find a trace of her. Hopefully, naming names will flush out some alleged abusers. If they're innocent, they can defend themselves and clear their names. If they're guilty, no amount of time that has passed makes the residential school crimes acceptable and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law - not that this will necessarily happen. The general attitude is, "This happened a long time ago. Let's all forget about it and move on."

To anyone who feels that way, I recommend a careful listen to this song. It was written about Ireland, of course, but the message fully applies to our First Nations' situation in Canada, particularly these lines:

An American army regulation
Says you mustn't kill more than 10% of a nation
'Cos to do so causes permanent "psychological damage"


And if there ever is going to be healing
There has to be remembering
And then grieving
So that there then can be forgiving
There has to be knowledge and understanding

The Pope has apologized. Harper has apologized. The churches have apologized. But apologies, even if heartfelt, mean nothing if they are not supported by action. It is not time to put the crimes of the residential school system to bed ; it's time to finally bring them to light.

Good/Bad News: Bad news for 9/11 Truth, good news for me. I called it. So did the women of the local Truth group; our feminine intuition has been vindicated.
Today Richard received a letter from a former friend/landlady of Con McSwindleton, the douchenozzle ex-pilot who said he was too ill from some undisclosed condition to give his scheduled presentation at Richard's 9/11 Truth event earlier this month. I talked about him at the end of my post "People Who Suck".
This woman had some very interesting revelations. She says that Con is, well, a con. He lives off his friends, drinks and smokes away his money, and has no means of support aside from the Truth organization he started. That org, she revealed, is not a non-profit one as stated in its literature. Any proceeds go directly into Con's pocket. The week he was to be in Edmonton, he was drinking heavily. She still supports his work and Truth in general, but she resigned from the org because of Con's complete lack of integrity.
She also said that when Con has conned someone, he likes to put up such an obnoxious and aggressive front that his victims will back off. And it works every time.







5 comments:

Candy Minx said...

Sounds like your hard work has helped clear up a terrible history. Good on you!

Wandering Coyote said...

So sorry to hear about your grandfather, SME. My thoughts are with you guys.

And I agree with apologies. They mean NOTHING unless backed up by CHANGE.

Candy Minx said...

And I meant to add...sorry to hear about your grandfather. I hope he is able to be comfortable. Thinking of you.

S.M. Elliott said...

Thanks, guys. My Grandpa seems to be holding up pretty well at the moment.

The Zombieslayer said...

Alcoholics all have ways of getting away with stuff from people. Some play the sympathy card. Some play the forgiveness card. I guess Mr. Con-man here plays the aggressive card.

I don't think there's a statute of limitations for murder. Well, don't know about Canada, but there isn't one here as far as I know. Hopefully if that staff member is still alive, she'll be prosecuted.