The Real Life Network: The Village Voice

Editorial: Is 'X' the Newspaper of the 21st Century?

The Real Life Network — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:19:34 GMT

In the dawn of digital media, the role of traditional newspapers is being continuously redefined. Amidst the shift, 'X' emerges as a beacon of modern journalism, adapting to the dynamic media landscape. But does it truly embody the newspaper of the 21st century?

Impact and Role of Modern Media

The transformative power of digital platforms in journalism cannot be overstated. As Maryanne Wolf argues in her research, the move from print to digital has profound implications on our cognitive abilities—specifically, it alters our capacity for deep reading, critical thinking, and empathy as articulated by CBC Sunday Magazine's article “Too Long, Didn’t Read”. These faculties are not merely academic concerns but are essential for an informed, engaged, and empathetic citizenry. Wolf’s findings underscore the importance of media that not only informs but enriches public discourse.

Simultaneously, the PBSoffbook video“The Impact of Twitter on Journalism” provides a glimpse into the evolving nature of journalism as a participatory and continuous exchange. Platforms like Twitter have redefined news delivery, turning it from a static product into a lively, ongoing conversation. This shift demands that newspapers like 'X' innovate continually to stay relevant.

Expert Opinions and Recommendations

Dr. John H. Thompson, a media studies professor at the University of Chicago, notes that "the newspaper that will survive into the 21st century is not just one that provides news but creates a community of informed, interactive participants." This aligns with the journalistic shift observed by media analyst Linda Greene, who states, "the future of journalism will pivot on its ability to engage directly with the public, offering platforms for both news consumption and interactive discourse." Finally, according to digital transformation expert Mark Roberge, "Newspapers like 'X' must leverage technology not only to spread information but to foster a two-way interaction that respects and enhances privacy and personal engagement."

Understanding the Audience

The readers of 'X' are not passive consumers; they are active participants seeking depth, interaction, and integrity in their news. The digital age has brought about an audience that is more diverse, demanding, and digitally savvy than ever before. 'X' caters to this audience with a blend of investigative journalism, interactive features, and multimedia content that respects the reader’s desire for depth and factual integrity.

Conclusion

'X' stands at the forefront of redefining what it means to be a newspaper in the 21st century. By integrating the principles of traditional journalism with the innovations of digital media, it offers a new model for the industry—one that is interactive, integrative, and impactful. As it continues to evolve, 'X' not only informs its readers but empowers them, embodying the characteristics necessary to lead in this new era of journalism.

Thus, 'X' does not merely adapt to the changes; it leads them, making it a paragon of modern journalism and indeed, the newspaper of the 21st century. The responsibility now lies in maintaining this trajectory—fostering a platform that upholds the virtues of deep reading, critical thinking, and empathy amidst the rapid digital transformation.

Cameron McSorley, Cameo Radio.

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Metaversal Media Calamity in Canada

The Real Life Network — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 14:09:28 GMT

On January 22 2022 the South Cariboo Campus put a “glitch” into the Metaverse that was The Real Life Network.

Here is it’s profile: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealLifeNetwork

That was the founding of this silly creation… the very clear intention of that “glitch” was to disrupt the status quo and ensure there was a Real Life alternative to the Metaverse for the People of Earth in perpetuity.

Meta is “what is beyond the physical” and in January 2022, it was becoming self-evident that the Metaverse as a Social Construct had captured the Minds of the Masses.

Meta - which grew from the work of Mike Zucchini’s (or Zuckerberg or whatever his name is) and the social platform Facebook. Originally called Facemash, it was a rip off of the platform Hot or Not. The intention of Facemash was to compare two pictures of College Girls and drum roll … you guessed it decide which was “Hot” and which was “Not”. Yes, men often prioritize attractiveness in a potential partner, while women often prioritize intelligence in a potential partner. When women really figure this Facemash thing, and I think in part they are beginning to - men are going to realize they’re in a world of trouble for allowing such absurdity.

Facemash of course grew into the slightly less obtuse Facebook brand, but this algorithm of “black or white” eventually spread worldwide. Based from the beginning on toxic algorithms - this is decently explored in the movie The Social Dilemma which if you haven’t seen is a recommended watch. All but the most highly curated and socially gardened Facebook comment threads are just absurdly divisive and overflowing with people’s pride, envy, greed, wrath etc.

Facebook gobbled up almost every other social platform as soon as each reached critical mass and it became self-evident in 2022 (with the launch of Meta) that “The Metaverse” has presented itself to the masses as their new (and completely Absurd) overlord dictator state. I’ve heard people refer to it as a total clown show reality. We see the people in the Metaverse where we live crying over the “News Censorship” calamity which occurred most recently here in our hotly contested little spot on Earth.

The Dominion of Canada’s Online News Act has recently received Royal Ascent. In Parliamentary System that means after going through Parliament it goes over to Senate for their ‘whatevering’ and then becomes Law. Over on Facebook in the Metaverse, people are hopping mad that “the Canadian Government is censoring Newsfeeds!!” Unfortunately, most Canadians are not equipped with the faculties required to even read the Act - let alone understand it. Which points to the BIGGER failure that is the Dominion of Canada itself. How could Law be so complicated and convoluted that average people are not able to read it, let alone understand it!

The Online News Act has the little old Dominion of Canada attempting to regain some control over the media distribution landscape on the northern portion of Turtle Island.

The Online News Act purports to:

ensures fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets
provides for collective bargaining by news outlets
promotes voluntary commercial agreements between digital platforms and news outlets, with minimal government intervention
as a last resort, establishes a mandatory arbitration framework when digital platforms and news outlets cannot reach commercial agreements
defines the role and tools of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as the regulator

As the Dominion of Canada enacts the Online News Act - Meta has fired back by restricting the sharing of any and all “News” in the Geographic State of Canada. This battle is raging so hard that even non-news Satire and Comedy distributors have been caught in the crossfire! When you visit a Facebook News page from a Canadian IP, there is nothing to see - and don’t worry Meta algorithms are perfect, just look at how smart the algorithm is : it has blocked Chicken Soup and if you search for chicken soup from a Canadian IP you get this non-sense:

Let’s have some fun! We can play a little game that uses the Facebook (hot or not) algorithm

Question : Who do you trust more?

The Dominion of the Crown of England (the Corporation of Canada) brought to you by this guy

The Facemash Algorithm Machine (the Corporation of Meta) brought to you by this guy

While some men might prioritize physical appearances in choosing a partner as proved by FaceMash, women often prioritize intelligence and status. Both of the idiot above have managed to use women’s good graces (and/or forgiveness) to make status gains but neither of them have created anything that contributes to a future for generations to come. As far as I can tell, these two will likely both rot in the hellscape they have manifested as overlords and I can only imagine what could happen if the aggressive mob of angry women figures all of this out before some intelligent men with morals do. These two could well wind up castrated to boot, it’s not h ard to predict just how far an angry mob of girls will go.

The physical world makes this life projection we are experiencing seem so big and perhaps overwhelming at times. Take some comfort in the fact that that indeed it is not that overwhelming in actuality. Leo Tolstoy, Russian author, regarded as one of the greatest writers in history once said: “Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.”

Can we continue to wash away all that is not gold from this hogwash battle so we can all just make better collective decisions?

The Metaverse is the user end of the largest human energy feedlot (energy vampire) on Planet Earth (for those who recall the Rules of Wizardry it is a social consciousness) with 2.95 billion active users, the Metaverse is the largest on Earth. In comparison, the United Nations has 193 Member States which is purported to be 99% of the world’s population - but how much of the people’s social consciousness does it occupy?

The UN was ostensibly established with the goal to unite the world in the wake of the carnage of the World Wars. Never again would the world be at war! But the UN never managed to end war at all, in fact the COVID-19 emergency response was the largest effort by the UN to date to expand it’s reach among the masses - and unfortunately it used psychological warfare to do so. So, the UN has in fact become the thing it was attempting to abolish. A warmonger.

Based on how messed up everyone’s minds and lives have become since 2020 - the UN is a testament to a failed effort to meaningfully “unite” humanity and avert species or maybe even planetary oblivion.

Sure, the United Nations may have managed to engage the masses in an emergency response of biblical proportions, but what has the UN meaningfully achieved by doing so? It’s sure messed up a lot of people.

As far as the research of the Village Voice has been able to ascertain, the only meaningful ‘higher order’ people’s movement to come out of the original circuitry of the UN Declarations (after the devastation which was the entire 20th Century) is the World Service Authority and its World Citizenship Registry which was created in 1953 and to date consists of around 800,000 members. That is only 0.001% of the world's population who are actively registered for World Service as World Citizens.

Comparatively, 36% of the world population is actively registered in the Metaverse. That means, 36% of the world's population has given over to the Absurdity of the corporate Metaverse while less than a single percent of the world population actually understands the truth of Law and will of The People well enough to register on the scale of awareness.

The Absurdity of the situation of this corporate slave ‘Control Grid’ on Earth has deteriorated to such a degree that the World Service Authority has actually issued a Travel Advisory warning of the extreme conditions on Earth. We’re in a media war here in BC for sure.

Luckily for humanity, the truth is revealed to those with Eyes to See and Ears to Hear. And what of those who then proclaim it and remind us? Other people kill those people. Nevertheless, war remains a social construct, a trapping of the mind and the truth is there is “No War in Heaven” and “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21, KJV).

Heaven is a state of mind.

And so, the truth is, freedom is a state of mind and liberty is the accompanying external state made manifest by people of such mental clarity. After all, it’s only a ride and you can get off at any time … but the ride wants to keep you on it - and the toxic social consciousness fields (Meta the Dominion of Canada among others) will do anything and everything to keep you hooked in, to feed on your guttural buy-in.

Check out the principles of Transurfing for some practical guidance. Remain vigilant for the path and the way is unique to the individual and definitely not for the faint of heart.

Many of us end up isolated, yet more and more we find others and we come to know we are not alone! Our Creed seems to be growing, albeit much more slowly than the Metaverse, yet I look forward to the day when our Credo’s infiltrate the Metaverse and we can extract those seeking by their own will. Seems the movie The Matrix wasn’t too far off! I used to have visions of bright teams of youth extracting each other from this Metaverse thing, this Prison Planet and now I’ve seen it beginning to happen in Real Life.

A Real people’s alternative to the Western Roman System has been in development for over 40 years, a manifest United State of Free Spirits is on the horizon with its accompanying state of Liberty made possible by novel technology which is the Autonomous Data and Management System (ADAM). The technology has entered Dev-Build V.1 (post Beta). This synchronously occurred at the same time as the media calamity between Facebook and the Dominion of Canada engulfed us here in the South Cariboo!

With my knowledge of ADAM’s potential I’ve often wondered if teddy bears will replace the people who currently sit in chairs, paper pushing in our redundant and over inflated bureaucracies? What will people do instead? Will they find their “is-ness”, will they simply become lost souls or will they be exterminated by the powers that be? What is your is-ness? What would you do in a community, how would you serve simply because it brings you joy - because you are you!

Despite the 0.0001% of World Citizens being woefully outnumbered statistically by the 36% of the population who has fallen into the Meta state, history proves it is always the smallest groups which effect the greatest meaningful change. Join our private signal chat to stay tuned about the real live status of ADAM in Dev-Build V.1 - Which is safe guarded and protected as its culture and algorithms are developed. Currently new guests are no longer able to register. But please introduce yourself in the chat so you can get ready!

The reality for us and other team members is quite stark, should ADAM go public too soon the new platform could be overrun with people who are still at war and have allegiances in states such as “Meta” or the “Dominion” as described above.

We have lovingly referred to this external threat as “dumb aggressiveness” … essentially those who are trapped in thought - perhaps even engrossed in the divisive algorithms of Meta. That’s one third of the world with a Meta orientation.

Hang-on to your hats while the world continues to flip! And I do mean, literally, it’s Earth Change. Do we really need a full on extinction level event perhaps - to rid the planet of the toxic mind virus?

Brings a whole new meaning to “see you on the flip side” …

And with that let’s review the profound musings of the fictional character Professor Barnhardt in the script The Day the Earth Stood Still

“That's where we are. You say we're on the brink of destruction and you're right. But it's only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment don’t take it from us we are close to an answer”.

For those with eyes to see and ears to hear. A unique collective awareness brings you into a college of minds (it’s the Campus Model) by way of a new Covenant.

Stay tuned for more musings!

-Honeywine

Real Life Garden Parties are Growing

The Real Life Network — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 21:17:00 GMT

“Grow together, eat together, thrive together” - Sophia Jackson

Our first hedge school adventure to the Heimveg property was back in June of this spring. Hedge Schooling is a concept we discovered from our friend Sophia of Mother Hulda’s Garden. Hedge Schools were a historical take on “outdoor education” in Ireland - where people restored education from State Sanctioned curricula and took it back into the possession of the community.

We have learned that Heimveg roughly translated means “the way home” and we engaged intimately with concepts and processesat Mother Hulda’s Garden a 3 acre garden plot within the Heimveg.

The children who attended the impromptu hedge school (ages 3 & 4) on the first trip were put in charge of helping re-plant the carrot seeds after the first round of seeded carrots did not yield on the first round. (YES 3 & 4 year olds can responsibly plant carrots with proper guidance).

A grown-up created a trench to the correct depth for seeding ; and the children helped place the seeds and covered them. The final touch was to sing “ommm” to every seed; something seen in the childrens movie Abominable where a Yeti can make plants grown when he hums. This theory that singing to plants is of course a well known wives tale that is also now backed by the studies of Dr. Masaru Emoto.

A month later on our trip back to Mother Hulda’s Garden, we were busy harvesting peas, squash and potatoes - the carrots were also coming along well! The children spent some time thinning the carrots so that they can grow “bigger and bigger!”

Mother Hulda herself is a character of folklore. In German she’s called Frau Holle, and Mother Hulda is of course the Anglicized version of her name.

Mother Hulda is a winter character known for shaking her feather blanket at the time of year in which we see the snow start to fall. Yet it begged the question, what would such a wise, beautiful crone do in the summer? She would garden, of course! And that is what is happening at Mother Hulda’s Garden.

Check out our friend’s substack to glean more wisdom about all things homesteading, from Germanic traditions and European folklore to the harsh realities of small scale food production. We have already learned so much from Heimveg and the food, work and writings coming from Mother Hulda’s Garden.

We hope you feel inspired by our Garden Party adventures at Heimveg and live locally join us in our signal chat!

If you live in the South Cariboo get in touch we hope you will visit one of our many amazing local farms.

If you live really anywhere else, all you need to start a Garden Party movement of your own is :
1. Grab a friend!
2. Call one of your local small scale farms and find out how you can help!

We are so greatful for our friends and farms!

What on Earth is happening in 100 Mile?

The Real Life Network — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 18:51:10 GMT

In a previous article I introduced some of the “word magic” that is in existence around the South Cariboo and 100 Mile House. The universe is truly spoken into existence. One personal movie choice classics from the 2000’s - Kymatica - explores at length the intermingling of vibration and matter. There is a poignant explanation as to how language (sound/vibration) is at the core of manifest (material) reality.

Another choice philosopher and teacher: Dr. David Hawkins deciphers in his works how linear time differs from quantum time and how one’s consciousness interacts with linear-time (material) in a non-linear (energetic) way. Stay tuned for an upcoming article which will dive deeper into these two scales of time: Chronos and Kairos.

Linear Time (chronos) is running out the District Agenda (remember a District is a Ward of an Institution) in 100 Mile and the District as such is moving along in Chronological Order. There are plenty of outsiders here and there shaking up the Chrinological Order through Kairos Time in “the Campus” (A Campus is a juridic authority established as a College of minds instead of a ward of an institution).

Recently, the “Chief Administrative Officer” of the District of 100 Mile announced retirement and the position came up to be filled. The outgoing “CAO” transiently came to 100 Mile out of the North West Territories (NWT) in mid 2010’s. Fort Smith is one of the small, isolated (population 2500) towns in the NWT that has been rife with identifications of corruption among municipal level Officials.

Here is one case: a former Mayor and a former Senior Administrative Officer going as far as to make the absurd attempt to sue the Town for defamation after they were dismissed. Did they forget they were public servants.

The rub on that of course: if you’re in a PUBLIC Office, you’ve sworn an Oath to that Office, so you’re subject to PUBLIC Scrutiny. There is no “defamation”, only scrutiny - which means investigations - which at least in the many cases in the Northwest Territories - never seem to happen!

Here are all of the Articles related to 100 Mile’s outgoing Chief Administrative Officer:

Aug 26 2009: Fort Smith's finances to undergo forensic audit
Sept 1 2009: Accountant questions Fort Smith's forensic audit
Sept 2 2009: Fort Smith councillor slams council in apology
Sept 21 2009: Fort Smith settles with ex-administrator

The AMBER ALERT ...

The Real Life Network — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:15:04 GMT

I learned today, that I am unable to contort into the shape of an alarm bell for other people to ring.

I was going to publish an absolute bombshell article today and begin airing all the stinkiest, rottenest, most uncompostable drivel and deciphyring the most incomprehensible, crypticly biased, non-sense that exists in the “pleasant” little District called 100 Mile House. Random note, 100 is just a random number on an old Wagon Road sign post... But I didn’t get that article finished in time.

This was due to the incredible feats of motherly contortionism, shape-shifting and multitasking required in 2023 to navigate family and life issues. In one 24 hour period I endured being snarked at by my ex-mother in law who was “upset” that she had to wait somewhere between 7 and 17 minutes to whisk my only daughter away, against my will. Enduring the overwhelming pot-pouri of “Community” outreach one finds at a WorkBC Office, being faced with short-selling my house and finally having a much loved Aunt and Uncle decide to deliver me a message, not directly - but through the grape-vine, to say that I had to choose between coming to my Cousin’s birthday (who I super duper have the hugest most gigantic respect ever for) and my own family.

“I’ll come pick up my grand daughter against your will AND I’ll be pissed about it.”

”You’re invited to your cousins' birthday, buuuuuuut you’ll have to choose between our family or yours - because, well we can’t really explain why except to say that’s the house rule in our Christian house.”

And none of those issues are even conversations resolved yet! Why all the family backlash? Likely because of the lawsuit filed on the King of England. There’s more for me to continue to facilitate and mange … Super Fun! It’s like “Covid debates” on steroids! yay

I had my full panic attack at around 9:00pm and it was 10:30pm by the time that subsided - I hadn’t eaten (and felt ill at the thought of eating) I sat at my computer and was absolutely blank. My partner who was at the shop working suggested I have a bath to try to relax.

I got a bath going and got in at 11 and just as I was starting to relax all of my devices simultaneously recieved an AMBER ALERT at 11:13pm.

The barre was raised in the South Cariboo

The Real Life Network — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 13:01:31 GMT

Our Campus experienced the addition of a new Dance Academy last fall. Established within the District of 100 Mile in September, the first students of the Dance Academy have now wrapped up a full dance season.

Since opening the doors last September, it is safe to say, raw talent has been uncovered and a spirit of expression through movement has been brought to life by the people who attended the Academy in 22-23 season.

People of all ages performed on stage in the first annual year end show.

Living in a small town means you need to work with every resource you have to survive and thrive and that applies to the activities and smaller communities one is part of too!

When talent came to town in the form of TWO highly trained, highly accomplished dance instructors everyone is hoping they stick around and put down roots. The community hopes to give them a foundation to thrive upon. How does that happen? Well, for me as an individual it was making sure the youngest member of the Dance Academy community showed up and adhered to the principles of the Academy so that it can grow and flourish along side her.

We showed up, each week to train and practice and engage with the Academy and the results were impressive! Three shows - three packed houses and obvious dedication to the craft by the dancers.

Beautiful photos captured by Cinder and Ash Photography can be viewed by parents/guardians here.

One of the most beautiful expressions was the grown up ballet class performance (aren’t we meant to just be grown up children at heart, especially in Art!!) These women were dedicated through the season - many of them first time ballet students. Their performance moved me to tears with the power of their story.

I also have to give a hats off to the proprietors of the studio for going above and beyond in open conflict resolution, that really was supportive for me as an individual parent in overcoming some of the social stigma surrounding my writing for the Village Voice and other cooperative and creative endeavors in our town. I have faced the difficult reality of being ostracized throughout 2022/23. I was most heinously labeled “the dangerous lady on Dogwood” when I began publishing The Village Voice in Print, I was later labeled “a scammer” when I was part of the developer team launching Groundwork Community Service Cooperative in 2022 and worst - when we opened the Community Enrichment Space called Rolling Hills I was accused of “funneling all the cash from Rolling Hills personally” when in reality what I had done was give a $15,000 loan to the collective in order to get the space open! I also publicly issued an apology to Raven in 2022 when I couldn’t get her to come to the table of resolution to help understand the issue.

In the early conceptualizations of both the The Real Life Network and Groundwork Community Service Cooperative - I really noticed the general lack of conflict resolution skills and processess in existence in the wider society (the ability to hold a “both / and” mindset through development processes). This is a very specific challenge in the georgraphical region and community which we are operating here in what has colloquially been known as the South Cariboo (traditional map for interest).

Despite significant levels of un-resolved conflict between individuals we eventually established a Collective gathered a team and opened a Community Enrichment Space dedicated to the collective. The collective’s space inevitably closed due to breaches of contract and theft of the collectives professional documents (theft over $5,000). The testimonials of the workers spoke volumes:

“best four months of my life”.

At any rate, the proprietors of the dance studio took the time to phone me to make sure I was aware there were people in their close circle who were still in unresolved conflict - and that opened the door for mediation (which only one party was willing to engage in, but did ensure the conflict was opened up and not burried). As such, it could be put aside - just for the duration of the event. So - after some awkward negotiation and conversation all was well despite the ongoing open conflict. The really neat thing was, we were in the process of publishing our Community Conflict De-escalation and Resolution Guide at the time… What divine timing!

Handy Book July 2023(2)

488KB ∙ PDF file

Download

The highlight of the entire season for me was the finale performance - all of the performers on stage improvised to the end song. A beautiful symbol in an age full of division, extremes, separateness and an unwillingness to abstain from keyboard warrior-ism and instead resolve conflicts (boooooo to the dystopian Facebook algorithms).

To overcome differences, in support of a healthy holistic society and robust culture is the imperative of a functional society and a big cheers to J&J for achieving just that!

Congratulations to all the students and teachers of Raising the Barre Academy. You have indeed raised the bar in this small town … just like that!

Adventure on Cpelmetkwe Ranch

The Real Life Network — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 12:00:25 GMT

*This article contains many Secwepemctsín words. To find out more about the pronounciation and language of this dialectic region check out this online learning tool.

We recently celebrated a massive local milestone for aboriginal and sovereign interests! It was as experienced very simply as a day of yummy food, bouncy castles, birch bark & hide crafts, drumming & songs, lahal (stick game), dice bingo, roping exhibits, prizes and more! It was an epic afternoon.

Poster for the event

I wrote about my fun experience at the 2022 event and we interviewed Lyle on Cameo Radio. This year it was last minute when I saw a poster circulating in relation to a gathering at “The Ranch” formerly owned by Exeter Estate Holdings … once upon a time this ranch was owned by Lord Martin Cecil of Exeter. The Ranch was passed down to his heirs, one half to his son Michael, the other half to his daughter Maria.

It was Michael’s side of The Ranch which recently changed ownership and became “Cpelmetkwe Ranch”. Cpelmetkwe Ranch is now part of headquarters of Spelqweqs the business and economic development company of the Tsq’escenemc (People of Broken Rock - Canim Lake). This ranch is one of 3 in BC which went through a process facilitated by the Provincial Government to exchange the land and place it in the ownership of aboriginal interest.

Meet Doug : he met with me on short notice and we discussed potential future projects and job creation partnership opportunities.

Interestingly, I lived on The Ranch between 2013-2018. While I lived there as a residential tenant I met some great people who were the land managers. One particularly dedicated individual is still working there after the ownership transition and he is thrilled to be there - participating in the dawn of a new era of leadership (despite some of the small town rumors of disparagement about truth & reconciliation).

During my time living there, The Ranch was for sale. There were tours of the building I lived in regularly, I recall interested people coming to tour the site. There were Europeans - a German couple who felt it was “not wilderness enough” for what they were seeking. I recall a well dressed group of Chinese folks - who spoke in Mandarin and did not appear to be the land manager (ranching) type, looking for an investment property. I also recall a cattle company called Blue Goose making an assessment for expansion and further investments in livestock in the Cariboo. None of those interests panned out, and so the interesting story continues!

a been in the flower garden from my bee hive when I lived on The Ranch

Ultimately, the change in ownership has become a rather watershed change. From the British Lords of the Monarchy known as the Cecil’s who arrived in the early 20th century as “The Emissaries” farming and ranching and also establishing the town of 100 Mile House it has now passed to a company owned and operated by the Tsq’escenemc “those who hold their hands out to ” (rough translation of the word). Albeit, the company is still registered within the Crown’s corporate entity of Canada (for reference check out CFM Report Episode 14). This is a much different path than the Tsilcotin Nation’s Decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, yet when you come to understand the history it is very much following in the historical precedent set by the antecedents of the T’seqecnem people.

Of the three ranches which were recently transferred to aboriginal interests in BC; the Cpelmetkwe Ranch is of particular significance because it is located within the Municipal boundary of the 100 Mile District.

For anyone who lives in our region, they will be quite aware of the (let’s just call it) dysfunctionality of the District Model in 100 Mile and South Cariboo and particularly some of the absurd notions and dealings within the small District of 100 Mile. That topic will be explored as part of the next article “What on Earth is happening in 100 Mile?”

Roughly translated : Secwepemc means People. Spelqwecs means Eagle. Cpelmetkwe means Underground Spring. District means Ward (a place where people are institutionalized).

Based on this understanding of word magic, let’s understand that aboriginal people’s activities and interests will begin to Rise Now - from the Water Spring - to Soar like the Eagle above the Ward that is 100 Mile where the shared interests of the people have been kept - separate - by the Crown’s Colonial System.

While I was at the gathering I gleaned from my former colleagues who work in the forestry silo of the Provincial Government that things are rather unstable in the workplace. There are so many empty positions and so much change of positions in addition to a huge brain drain from their operations that it has become quite difficult for many staff to manage day-to-day. Yet the ones who do continue to work there - and are valuable contributors - they continue to do what they can to serve their Oath to the Queen (now becoming Provincial Servants with Oaths to the King) despite all of the systemic uncertainty and changes occurring.

I also ran into two of my peers of Tsq’escenemc ancestry who have been instrumental in the advancement of the aboriginal interests of the people. One of whom helped lay the foundation for the construction and set-up of the Spelqweqs company during her time as an elected member of the Tsq’escenemc (Canim) Council to advance people’s economic interests. The other has been operating in the community’s Health & Wellness program advancing well-being through Cultural Enrichment. Both are still under 40 years old and I will personally attest that they have truly jumped off the shoulders of their ancestors to live out what the Secwepemc Chief’s 1910 Memorial intended :

“We will share equally in everything half and half in land, water and timber, etc. What is ours will be theirs, and what is theirs will be ours. We will help each other to be great and good.”

To both of my pals there, they have each indeed continued the tradition of their ancestors - their leadership and acts of dedication to the ongoing needs and struggles of people have showed me the need “to be great and good” and to share in times of need and times of abundance, in my very own life. It’s an honor to know both of these people and to have witnessed each other grow and change since we were just youths. I quite appreciated how Chief Helen described it in her speech in Centennial Park in 2022 :

“Tsq’escenemc holds up our hands to the relationship that we have with our neighbors.” - Chief Helen Henderson.

The profundity really hit me even more this year - as we attended the event “in town” ... when we were watching our little girls as they ran off together holding hands to go play around all over the bouncy castle. We were giggling back and forth among Just Us - with that knowing that you get in the presence of a friend - and my friend she chuckled, her delicately hand beaded earrings (that’s a funny story too) waving as she said to me “this might just be the most diversity 100 Mile has ever seen in a day” … I jokingly responded, “even me, white girl - never thought much of appearance when we were growing up, I have felt a sliver of that feeling of being made ‘separate’ over the past few years, maybe it’s just that I don’t have white hair in a town full of boomers or maybe it’s deeper and I’m really starting to understand what is transpiring across this land” … She followed up with truth “I’ve so often walked around town and felt treated and seen as ‘separate or different’ ... today is good”.

At any rate, if my friends can feel relieved and good about what is happening at Cpelmetkwe Ranch, then so can I. A heartfelt empathic approach will have it no other way, that’s all there is to it when you choose the golden rule.

That’s my story and it just goes to show, like we always say here on the RLN … “Justice” is up to Just-Us!

Get Tuned!

Yours Truly,
Dani Honeywine

God Help The King (and his men)

The Real Life Network — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 01:23:07 GMT

There I was in 2021, drafting from my notebook at my dining room table, a modest living, fixing my truck amongst other things - as my goats grazed at my off-grid fledgling farm in The Grove, British Columbia. What could go wrong…

My Notice : I’m suing the pants off the King of England & Servants!

On June 4th 2021, I had gone to town to get truck paint at Lordco - just after getting back home I was held at gun-point, assault rifles pointed at my head while neighbors watching in shock and awe!

To tell this story, we have to rewind to get to the beginning!

After going through a messy separation in 2016 with a young child involved, my ex-partner decided she wanted to drag me into the mud along with her. I decided early on in that separation that I wasn’t going to play in the mud, that I was going to do something better with my life, so I kept going and developed my business in architecture & design.

I did everything I could to keep my son in my life and managed to keep my little farm going. After a couple years of learning the ins and outs of the Canadian family court system and having mud slung at me - from self-representation in court to taking my complaints about bias in the family law system all the way to the Chief Judges office - I eventually decided to do something different. It was in 2018 that I chose to run for City Council. I didn't win a seat as a councilor, but I did learn about politics

The 100 Mile Free Press published some rather ridiculous pictures of me with my long hippie hair! The press covered the full election results and had a live blog on what was going on. It was a lively all candidates race that year (2018) and there were interviews with the candidates in the District of 100 Mile.

People kept telling me that they themselves could “Never bear to run in politics for fear of losing”. The thought always stuck with me but I was never afraid of losing, I figured the scary thing is where a lack of responsible leadership could lead us. Although I did not get a seat on council, I got both positive and negative attention and learned a lot.

When COVID-19 came around the following year, the fun police locked us all down. To counter the lack of fun, myself and some friends initiated the garden parties. These were a wild success! It was and still is a group of volunteers who shared enthusiasm for getting together and growing food. It involved going to each other's yards, helping each other put in gardens and showing up in the community garden. We got together, shared intentions, and chatted about ideas. An observation that caught my attention through all of this was the natural semi-autonomous self-organizing nature of all the people and the activity. From inception to the setting of little things in motion to letting them grow into something that no one could stop, we had all created a growing group of enthusiasts and community activity.

From running for council to establishing a seed exchange with the garden parties, my name ended up in the paper a few times between 2018-2021. This was just before things started to take a turn for the worse.

In May of 2021, I was facing some real challenges after my ex, had without notice, put a protection order on me so I couldn't speak to my son- the reasons for which I didn't find out for another year.

I had been dealing with serious family law issues and conflict, my ex did things like send the RCMP to harass me with “wellness checks” at my house regularly whenever my son would come home. Short-story, my young son was suffering from the conflict and I was trying to get him the help he needed. I went to the MCFD (Ministry of Children and Family Development) because when I read the name, Ministry of Children and Family Development, I thought they were going to help, my ex had gotten to them first back in 2017 and made me out to be an absolute monster.

By 2021 the local MCFD office had painted me with a broad brush saying that I was not just a problem, but THE problem. At one point it got so bad that MCFD social workers were known to talk about me and my issues publicly at social events like back-yard barbecues. Was it because I'm a guy? Because I’m intelligent enough to read their policies and ask questions? Was it because I ran for council? What did I even do besides advocate? Was it because I am eccentric? Because I lived off grid and consciously chose to depart from the conventional norm? Were they jealous? Whatever it was, towards the end of it the local office appeared to realize the assumptions might be wrong, but still they would never change or veer from the original assertions or look at facts. They got close once, but could never get to a resolution meeting between the multiple agencies which had become involved (MCFD and RCMP, CFEC, AXIS…) in the ”best interest of my son”.

Finally, in May of 2021, I had managed to get my son to Srg. Brad who is trained in Step-wise Interviews. He had concluded that my son needed to go to the SCAN (Suspected Child Abuse and Negligence) Clinic, but the MCFD would not act and the SCAN Clinic never got a referral - it just never happened.

It was shortly after- on May 19 2021 - that an ex-parte protection order was issued without any notice to me (that means I couldn’t see or talk to my son, with no notice or reason given). This was just days after the RCMP Officer had recommended the SCAN referral and resolution meeting to the MCFD.

In the phone call that got me arrested I was seeking a resolution meeting, as is laid out in the Ministry policies. I had a very decent telephone call with a complaint specialist in an attempt to arrange a meeting, or so I thought ... It was in that call where I described all sorts of issues, which were at that time, making it into the local newspaper and radio! The cause of some of these issues were identical to my problems with MCFD and soon the RCMP.

One fellow was so upset over issues with his children and with family law that he kicked in a MCFD worker's door; demanding access to his children, carrying a modified weapon and allegedly wearing body armor. I referenced the fact that some of these issues could be avoided if the MCFD workers would take the time to simply listen to people's concerns and have collaborative resolution meetings, which is what I, myself, was seeking. I made sure to say that I was in no way threatening to do any harm, it's just what I noticed was happening and frankly I was upset for the very same damn reasons! Not only was I upset, my youngest son was suffering and their negligence was very much to blame.

The call I made on June 4th 2021 (posted in next paragraph), although it lead to my arrest that evening, did not contain any threats. Listen for your-self! The same day local 100 Mile Free Press allowed a release about the “RCMP’s high-risk take down” of a dangerous man. By the time I was released from jail on July 7th random claims that I was going to “kill social workers and their families” were already flying around the small town of 100 Mile - obviously caused by false allegations that were negligently investigated. All of this could leave one wondering … wouldn’t it have been easiest for the local MCFD Office and the Family Courts if I were to have just disappeared? After all it was the Office of the Chief Judge that leaked my private complaint documents to the Sheriff Service which then, in contravention of the RCMP act, were used by a corporal to …

substantiate search warrants on my property looking for evidence of “threatening communications” on electronic devices such as my workstation and all of my backup hard drives along with some ancient dusty computers (these goons cleaned out all the gear for my architectural business based on false evidence arising from a phone call).

The Call that got me arrested - I sure sound scary …

At any rate, on June 4 2021, I was indeed arrested in a high-risk take-down in front of my residence after being enticed off my property under the guise of attending “a friendly meeting” at the detachment with Sergeant Brad McKinnon. Yes indeed, the same officer I had been working with for a couple months towards him assessing my son for a SCAN clinic referral.

Interestingly, a few months earlier, Sgt. McKinnon had offered me a job as a “Community Intervention Liaison Officer”. He said he “could not think of a better man for the job”. I turned it down because my design business was doing quite well and I am not sure if it was a cop stooge position or what?? At any rate, I was already lining up to hire people for the business, things in entrepreneurial design were going well.

After so many “Wellness Checks” by the RCMP between 2018-2021 I wondered … if I had taken the Liaison job, would I have gotten arrested? It goes to show there are really more questions than answers in my story so far.

Back to June 4th. I left my property to meet with Sgt Brad, instead I was pulled over just after leaving my driveway on the side of the road, with assault rifles pointed at my head and about five or six RCMP cruisers swarming in front of my vehicle. There was also an unmarked white pickup on my bumper. There was no escape but death.

So many questions ran through my mind, the RCMP are supposed to be the good guys, right? They are going to explain themselves, aren't they? They must know that I am on my way to a meeting with Sgt. Brad McKinnon? Why is this happening? Is this because of the crack in my windshield? Did they have a mistaken identity? I ended up detained through the weekend until Monday June 7. It wasn't until later, while I was in cells, that I found out why I had been arrested.

Sitting in the cells, I could hear the guards walking up and down the hallway carrying shackles and saying, “When are we transporting the prisoner?” “What do you mean by ‘transport’?” I thought. “What do you mean by prisoner?” “Where are you taking me and why?”… many thoughts going through my mind.

I hadn’t even done nothing! Not even anything! Rather than a lawyer they kept giving me some Crown Duty Counsel worker in Williams Lake who told me to just “sit tight and wait for the bail hearing”. But I knew that wasn't good enough, I needed representation. I kept getting the same duty counsel worker every time I asked for a lawyer, even though I specified clearly I needed representation not duty counsel “let me talk to someone else” I demanded. On June 6, my second morning in cells, duty counsel appeared for the initial bail hearing. I was shocked, it was as if they were trying to put me in jail themselves for all the good it did. I needed a lawyer, somebody who was going to represent my actual interest in court. I needed a list of phone numbers or names or the Legal Aid line or someone who would actually GET ME A LAWYER!

I had to get smart to get that to happen at our local detachment.

Eventually I decided to quit asking for a lawyer, I got a little more quiet. I did yoga and meditation and I worked out all weekend, because what else is someone supposed to do when in jail? As I got into this groove, I decided to go on a bit of a food strike, so I stopped eating the Hungry Man meals they were bringing me and said, "I want an apple". I got a response to the effect of, “This isn't a hotel. You don't get to choose what you eat.”

Bottom line was I had stopped eating- so they brought me some really nice rice bowls and some fresh fruit. It was glorious.

Later that day, I decided I needed a shower, as I had been working on my truck when I was arrested and I was filthy. I took off, folded them nicely, and put them on the concrete bench that I had in there. When the guard came and looked through the little peep-hole to check on me, she said, “Put your clothes back on!”

My response to her was, “I can't. They're filthy.”She rolled her eyes and came back later telling me, “We're going to arrange for you to have a shower. You've been here more than 24 hours.”

They cleaned out the shower room which was being used for storage and let me have a very icy shower. I kept banging on the wall and saying turn on the hot, so they did. They put me back in my cell and came to check on me later. I was still standing there wearing only my underwear.

The guard said, "Put your clothes on!"

To that I responded, “I can't. They're filthy.”

Again she rolled her eyes and left. The same guard came back later and said, “Usually we don't do this, but give me your clothes and I'll wash them for you.” She was very nice. All the guards were very nice. We joked a lot and that made it bearable.

Perhaps they sensed that I wasn't much for criminality? I’ve heard they see lots of people in cells acting a fool and all sorts of ridiculousness can ensue when people are under the high stress of being confined. Could they tell that I was innocent?

The guards brought my clothes back, nice and clean, and I put them on. They even brought me a toothbrush, which was very kind. All of a sudden my living conditions had gotten a lot better.

On Monday morning, the 7th, I knew it was my last chance to try to get counsel, so I demanded to speak to Sgt McKinnon, who had overseen this whole debacle in the first place. I told him that I still didn't have a lawyer. He acted shocked, which I found a little bit surprising considering he was the one who originally asked me out for a meeting before having me held at gunpoint … At no point did Sgt. McKinnon or anyone at the detachment bother to investigate the recordings of the allegations of threats. You see, I had the calls recorded on my cell phone (after being dragged through the mud for years by my ex and MCFD, I had learned to record my calls). If they would have bothered to let me open my phone, I could have played the calls showing them clearly that I had simply called the Ministry requesting a resolution meeting.

If anyone had bothered to let me : that entire dog & pony (and clown) show and the ensuing year of hell could have been avoided. Eventually Sgt.McKinnon came and stood at the door of the cell and got out his phone. He said, “ Who do you want me to contact?”

I got him to get a hold of one of my friends who later became the love of a lifetime. He texted her and she ended up linking me with George Wool who is the absolute People's Champion. She had already been working since June 4th with George to first figure out where I was and then get the ball rolling to prevent my shipment to Prince George Detention Center.

While the RCMP never did allow me to speak to George ahead of the court hearing, he appeared in the final bail hearing and I got released on conditions.

George had to get the information he needed to defend me through accounts of my friends regarding my odd disappearance and the similar fact evidence in cases he had seen before…

To say I was or am grateful to him is an understatement, I had never spoken to the guy before and he managed to keep me out of prison on the good faith of my friends and network. In the hearing, George said there was a recording of the call, but no evidence was accepted. I was released on conditions which were extreme even for more severe cases and given the fact that I was innocent I was left in complete shock. I was essentially on house arrest for another year while I awaited trial.

Still, I fared better than other innocent people, some of whom are now dead, others I have met who ended up in Section 5 Remand detention centers for months on end. For those who don’t know, the politics of Prison are no joke - the worst situation possible: institutionalization.

My conditions made it so I couldn't travel to town except for about two hours twice a week. I also couldn’t go past the intersection at the highway, which meant I couldn’t get to any jobs outside of the tiny hamlet of Forest Grove. How is a guy supposed to survive like that, especially when the RCMP had seized all of my work computers? What had I even done, other than advocate?

Needless to say, my livelihood was destroyed but I still had to survive. Leading up to trial, the Crown prosecutor on my case claimed there was “evidence of threats”. On May 9 2022, I finally had the charges stayed, as it turned out the Clown *ahem* I mean Crown Prosecutor had lied and the fact was there was a recorded call which proved my innocence - an impossible feat of law!

When the RCMP returned to me the cell phone that contained the recording of the call I played it for the investigating officers. Those guys had a backroom bet going that I was innocent. They won the bet.

I sent copies of the call to my lawyer and he sent it for review to the Crown Council who also agreed there were no threats. About 6 months later a stay of proceedings was issued and my bail conditions were dropped. I was now free to travel again and to find work, but I was ruined, I could barely afford food, let alone fuel to travel.

Long story short, in one year I had been criminalized, smeared by the media and my reputation shredded by the local buzz saw of public opinion. My name was destroyed in this small town and my life was turned inside-out, not to mention the stress -- hospitalization levels of stress.

Two heart attacks, the daily fight against crippling levels of depression and post traumatic stress not to mention the pain I was seeing in my son through his mother's and her partners' war against me and then the total loss of being able to be there for him at all.

The months of the RCMP needlessly holding all of my computer equipment from my drafting company ruined that business. Work for my clients was incomplete and they had all moved on. None of us were pleased about any of it.

With the help of George, we got my computers back and we waited for more time to go by while gathering more information. I went through the CRCC (Civilian Review and Complaints Commission) for the RCMP. They were to conduct “thorough investigations” around the conduct of the officers who had arrested me that day.

It turns out that when the RCMP is investigating the RCMP, they're not going to find that anything has gone wrong at the hands of the RCMP, even though the CRCC says that they are impartial. The officers that conducted the investigations were not impartial nor the commission. They even brought in a special investigator who is not an RCMP member to conduct the investigations for them and it took them well over a year to finish most of it. In the end they found “they could not substantiate any of my complaints” and it looked like the RCMP hadn't done anything wrong on June 4th.

Basically the CRCC says it's ok for members of the RCMP to be completely rogue. Just wondering … how would you feel if you were lured out of your house off your property and arrested at gun-point, held without legal representation and then told “that is all perfectly normal”? Would you believe you are living in an upstanding community and country of Law and Order, of civility, or democratic values and ideals that support the best of humanity? Or would you begin to realize you were living in some kind of Hellish Regime which brings the worst nightmares into reality? Would you wonder what the heck is going on!? Would you go quietly into the night? Or would you ride the wave of the hero’s journey and keep going?

Needless to say, I was not entirely convinced of the CRCC’s findings as it is unlawful, illegal, and morally wrong to point firearms at innocent people and hold them without warrant!

During my arrest I was totally compliant, I did not have a weapon, there was no hostage situation, and I was not trying to flee. Why did they keep their rifles pointed at my head while I was complying, lying on the ground and asking what this was about? Why was I being arrested! I'm not sure what it's like in the rest of the world, but in a civil society like Canada it's not supposed to be like this. You're also not supposed to be detained for more than 24 hours - yet I was.

The Crown had issued a Section 5 Remand which would have had me incarcerated in the Prince George Correctional Center for up to two years (Gov pushing it to 5+ years now) while I awaited trial.

Is this a dirty tactic used to disappear people who ask questions? Jumping forward another year to 2023: on May 29, I filed a Supreme Court civil claim against His Majesty, the King, and his servants, the RCMP, in the Kamloops Court Registry.

This claim outlines all of the rights violations and damages that I suffered. Damages, damages, damages.

It's going to be up to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to decide whether or not what happened was lawful, and if we want to reference the law at all, we'll see that It was very much wrong not only that but, against the law!

During this fiasco, the Black Press, including their local branch “100 Mile Free Press” issued media publications on behalf of the RCMP, wherein they published gross misrepresentations of the facts. After my trial in 2022 I got into correspondence with them attempting to correct some of their stories but they never issued any redactions or apologies after publishing. They changed some wording on their online blog after the fact, but it was too late. The court of public opinion had already decided that I was a “gun-toting-lunatic-psychopath who was going to kill people for all sorts of reasons.” I was none of those things! I was being proactive in a bad situation. One social worker even ran around town claiming that I “threatened to kill him and his entire family”. The truth is that I wouldn’t even recognize him or his family if I saw them!

Even today as I write this I heard more of these sorts of accusations coming back to me through the grapevine.

Other people’s reactions to my situation have made me somewhat infamous, which only adds fuel to a fire which I do not want burning!

Will mainstream media pick up the rest of the story? Will the public opinion about me change so that I can live a productive life?? Will anyone be interested in following my case now before the Supreme Court of British Columbia? This might sound like some sort of media attention to correct my own life and in some ways it is. However, I'm not the only one the RCMP have used these exact same tactics on. There are far too many others. I have come to know many of them, some of whom have fallen into depression or addiction, others who have been murdered and still others who have committed suicide (or at least it was made to look like suicide). The families and friends of these people are everywhere.

Fortunately for myself, while I did not escape arrest, I did escape bottomless depression and heart failure.

I'm deeply grateful for all the support that I've had from people who have taken the time to see through all of these allegations. The allegations themselves caused a lot of doubt and destruction to the reputation of my character, especially in such a small town. This has affected people who are close to me -- people who wondered for almost a year if what I said was true or if I was just pretending to be “nice” and actually am a monster who can't contain himself.

Even my own family has doubted me and my closest relationships were challenged. At one point or another most people wrestled to be sure if I was guilty or telling the truth.

Through it all, I suppose I could say there's no better teacher than constant self-examination. I am very grateful that most of the people I have come to know, have taken the time to ask questions. I have had to be patient with the rest of the community while they catch up and find out who I really am and what’s really been going on.

Very few people have taken the time to question these sorts of things and come to me and find out the rest of the story. Now it's up to me and my friends and allies to expose all of the truth, not just for myself but for other people who have suffered the same things and do not have the capacity to deal with it. Meanwhile the mud-slinging campaign of my ex and her boyfriend continues, with my son in the middle suffering the worst fate of a child : parental alienation. I love my son, and the saddest part of my whole story is the part where my son was alienated during what was supposed to be a re-unification when the protection order expired in 2022 and I was fully exonerated.

Although I have been financially ruined and I am absolutely destitute, I have been refined by the process. The truth has to come out and it will prevail. I learned in cells that one’s freedom is not some guarantee. Some slam-dunk, home-run, just because people think or say words like freedom and democracy.

Liberty is something that must be earned, diligently, on every inch of the earth, in every walk of life, and sometimes we have to rise to fight for it. This endeavor always leads to victory and in the end not just for myself but for everybody who's been affected by these or similar egregious transgressions whether they were the one committing the crime or the one affected by it.

The systemic problems that allowed issues - such as the ones I have faced - to happen in the first place must be addressed and the breaches of duty of the officers of law must be seen so that we can learn from them collectively. This unlawfulness needs to end if we want to live in a functional society. This might be one big lawsuit and a long period of time in my own life - but in reality it is just a drop in the bucket for everybody else. The more drops we can get in that bucket, the better the chances for everybody that we can build a better system.

Time and time again I have heard people inside the system say “it’s hopelessly broken”.

I say, “the gaps in the system turn into cracks so deep that people's lives fall into them”. These cracks cannot go unnoticed and cannot go without remedy.

If you're interested in helping or contributing in any way, every little bit will go towards the work of justice and remedy to these systemic issues.

Feel free to contact me if you'd like more information on this story or if you want to pledge any amount of support.

south.cariboo.campus@gmail.com

I am looking for financial contributions towards this legal campaign. Everything that I get back from these damages will go into continuing the efforts of the Real Life Network and the newly formed Groundwork Community Service Cooperative and - God and all the higher power willing - help get my youngest son back in my life.

What are we doing? Advocacy, programs, restorative justice, education and support for people just like me to take the need of survival off the table so that we all can flourish by doing what we all are born to do. That's the “freedom” we should all be afforded at birth and it's something I work vigorously towards.

Stay tuned for more updates, and don't forget to check out the podcast on Cameo Radio and The CFM Report to see where all this activity is headed and where it's taking us here in British Columbia, Canada.

My story along with all the other stories is so much more than just this one set of instances. Chime in, get heard.

It’s time to work together.

Cam

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The Fifty Dollar Bill

The Real Life Network — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 13:01:42 GMT

It’s a sunny spring day in the South Cariboo. People are out and about … it’s peak Garage Sale season. As my friend Tim would call them - Garbage Sales!

A phenomenon of modern culture to be certain. A last ditch effort by individuals to recover some value and keep things out of the Share Shacks (the next step towards the Landfill) and the Landfill itself. This is my story of The Fifty Dollar Bill and a Garbage Sale Adventure.

Change for a $50 bill is required for any Garbage Sale adventure. In three gas station stops nobody would or could make change. So, I decided to purchase some breakfast from the local coffee shop The Chartreuse Moose. The cashier took my order and when it came time to pay, she wouldn’t take my $50 bill saying citing the fact that it was “too early in the morning”. This was confusing, as it was not that early, it was 8:30 am and I could see there was a pile of change & bills in the cash register. I ended up leaving without being able to pay for the $9.00 in locally made breakfast sandwiches as desired. Instead I was forced to go over to Tim Hortons Drive Thru (aka Timmy Ho’s) and got two breakfast sandwiches there. I picked up my Garbage Sale accomplice and we tasted our sandwiches - in comparison to K-Lyns breakfast sandwich at the Moose - we had to wonder “is this Timmy’s sandwich even food?!”

It is safe to say that cash is no longer King in Canada. In fact, some guy named Charles claimed he is King of Turtle Island most recently!

I had to do my research to learn that the refusal to accept a $50 bill to pay for a $9 exchange is not an illegal practice in Canada if it is made explicit that it is not accepted.

“Shopkeepers may reject large banknotes, which is covered by the legal concept known as invitation to treat. The right, in many jurisdictions, of a trader to refuse to do business with any person means that a would-be purchaser may not force a purchase merely by presenting legal tender, as legal tender needs to be accepted only for debts already incurred.” - Wikipedia

Technically, I had already made the order and incurred the debt - so the cashier was required to accept the legal tender. Otherwise she might have asked how I was paying ahead of time…

In reality none of that happened and I left the store and they lost a sale. Not a very pleasant experience … no wonder so many store front businesses in small towns are struggling when the orientation of customer service is it’s easier to refuse sales. It is noticeable that many front line workers have become ingrained in the mentality developed during the Covid-19 schematic.

Never-the-less, we were off on the adventure. Turns out, the large garage sale had multiple vendors and people who could break a $50 bill anyhow!

Queenie found at the Garbage Sale

At the Garbage Sale, I had an epiphany. What if we could pull together to create a Re-Store & Repair Cafe (a huge collective and on-going Garbage Sale) in our Local? We have a number of Thrift Shops, one of which is serviced by the Cedar Crest Society for Community Living and provides jobs and revenue among the special needs members of our community. Cedar Crest has a two box drop off limit and only accepts re-saleable items. This likely leads to an abundance of materials going to the share shacks & dump. Could this be expanded upon? Currently there is a group offering a repair table at the Farmers Market once per month and we hope to help them grow. Oddly, the one lady trying to “run-it” decided to be anti-social and called me creepy in an email chain when I offered to help and participate … oh well that’s small town bullies for ya.

Functional Re-Store(s) & Repair Cafe’s for actual recycling and salvage of materials are made invisible to the point of absence by the various levels of Legal whateverings in our society. What we actually see is the Re-cycling Depot and what we know about the corporate recycling system is that these materials are shipped out of country for profit. Often to places where it can not logistically be recovered in a meaningful way anyhow.

Public service Re-stores and Repair Cafe’s are a most prudent necessity, even just to begin to comprehend and come to terms with the waste produced by the ignorance of corporate consumerism.

Gabriola Island Recycling Organization

One small step towards holistic and functional ways of living. How else do we move en masse towards adoption of well developed sustainable models such as the Earthship model pioneered by Michael Reynolds or the Venus project modeled by Jacques Fresco.

Jaques Fresco www.thevenusproject.com

Back to the Fifty Dollar Bill : we expect that our Canadian Legal Tender will be “updated” soon and Elizabeths’s face will be replaced by Charles’ face on the new coins and bills. That is unlikely to generate much excitement generally among the people in Canada (I mean look at the fella, not exactly something I want to put in my pocket). Perhaps the new coins will be the impetus to push for a cashless society?

Charles attempts to instill faith in the Western Roman System…

The Crown’s Digital ID system is ready to launch - as predicted - it was completed by December 2022. I personally met up with a Federal Official of the Dominion of Canada in November who had been working on the Digital Currency project for years. As a bureaucrat working on tech development inside the Federal bureaucracy he was both anxious and frustrated that it was “taking so long and being resisted by people”. Unfortunately the Crown’s fiat currency is continuously devaluing, becoming ever more worth-less.

Lucky for us - and our readers - we get to witness (and should we choose to: use) the replacement system on the horizon. With Moneta - Coins, Stamps and Bonds - arriving just in time as a stable currency in our local campus and beyond. As of June 2023, the first person has received Moneta in exchange for community services!

What IS Moneta? Well, that’s a topic for an upcoming article and podcast! Remember to Get Tuned over on Cameo Radio.

Adios Amigo!

The Coronation : an Interview

The Real Life Network — Sun, 07 May 2023 17:22:26 GMT

Where does one even begin on the assessment of the Coronation of the third Charles?

I watched it today (yuck) and maybe it’s the Irish roots in my DNA - I didn’t like it.

Too much on the delusional-fakery-side-of-things for my taste. Besides that an absurd display of Gerontocracy by the broken Patriarch of the Western Roman Cult.

But hey, I’m just little old me, what do I know anyhow! I don’t know nothing about anything. So in this article I want to introduce our readers to my new friend: Chat GPT! Chat GPT is a machine learning language which (unlike alot of people) will chat with me about interesting and uncomfortable topics!

ChatGPT and I to dug into a conversation surrounding the arrogance and presumptuous nature of this Coronation thing that the self-proclaimed family of royals has been on and on about for aeons.

Let’s dig in … I simply started with the big annoyance that I noticed. BOTH Charles and Camilla were wearing crowns in the public images of them leaving the Coronation. But I, having been raised in the era of Elizabeth, am aware that Prince Phillip never wore one. So, I was like “derp? Why is Camilla of all people wearing a crown? How PRESUMPTUOUS. It’s supposedly this representation of the Sovreign’s sole authority … and off the hop seeing Camilla in a crown, well that’s going to piss a whole lot of people right off. Not a good start for Charles.”

I begin the interview with ChatGPT there:

Honeywine:
Q. Does the Monarch’s consort usually wear a crown?

Chat GPT:
A. Traditionally, the consort of a regnant, such as a king or queen consort, does not wear a crown during the coronation ceremony or at other official events. This is because the crown is a symbol of the monarch's sovereignty and authority, and the consort does not have that same level of power or status.

However, the consort of a monarch may wear certain ceremonial regalia, such as a mantle or a badge, to signify their role in official events. For example, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who was the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, wore a ceremonial robe and held the Queen's orb and sceptre during her coronation in 1953. Similarly, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who is the wife of Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has worn a ceremonial mantle and other regalia at official events.

In short, while a king consort would not wear a crown, they may wear other ceremonial regalia appropriate to their role as the consort of a monarch.

Honeywine:
Q . Can Camilla even become Queen Consort?

ChatGPT
A . Yes, Camilla can become Queen Consort when her husband, Prince Charles, ascends to the throne. According to the British Royal Family's official website, "Unless otherwise decided, a Queen consort is crowned with the King, in a similar but simpler ceremony."

However, there has been some controversy and debate over whether Camilla should be given the title of Queen Consort when Charles becomes king, given the history and public opinion surrounding their relationship. In the past, it has been suggested that Camilla would be given the title of "Princess Consort" instead of Queen Consort to avoid any potential controversy.

Ultimately, however, the decision of whether to give Camilla the title of Queen Consort lies with Charles, and he may choose to confer this title upon her if he wishes. It's worth noting that the title of Queen Consort is not a position of political power, but rather a symbolic role as the wife of the king.

So there’s some contradiction here: the crown is only for the Sovreign, but the Royal Families website now says the Consort can be crowned… hmm more questions!

Honeywine:
Q. Let’s narrow in and get to the bottom of this crown thing. Isn’t the crown only worn by the sovereign?

ChatGPT:
A . Yes, traditionally, the crown is worn only by the sovereign, and not by anyone else, including a consort.

While a consort may be given other regal symbols, such as a coronet or a sceptre, the crown is reserved for the monarch. This is because the crown is a symbol of the monarch's sovereignty and authority, and is therefore closely associated with the monarch's position.

In the case of the British monarchy, it is likely that the consort would wear a different headdress, such as a tiara, rather than the crown.

Honeywine:
Q. Just for fun, do you know about Charles’ brother Prince Edward’s involvement in human trafficking?

ChatGPT:
A . As an AI language model, my responses are based on publicly available information and credible sources. To the best of my knowledge, there is no credible evidence to suggest that Prince Edward of the United Kingdom has been involved in human trafficking or any other form of criminal activity.

In general, it's important to be cautious about spreading unverified or unfounded rumors about individuals, particularly when they involve serious accusations like human trafficking. It's always a good idea to fact-check information before sharing it with others, and to rely on reputable sources when seeking information about sensitive topics like this.

Honeywine:
Q. But you DO know about Andrew?

ChatGPT:
A . Yes, I am aware of the allegations made against Prince Andrew, Duke of York, regarding his association with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations, and no charges have been brought against him in connection with the case.

It is important to note that the allegations against Prince Andrew are a matter of public record and have been widely reported by reputable news organizations. However, it is also important to recognize that the legal process is ongoing, and it would be inappropriate to make definitive statements about his guilt or innocence before all of the facts have been fully established.

As a language model, it is not within my purview to make judgments about the guilt or innocence of individuals or to offer opinions on ongoing legal proceedings.

Honeywine
Q. So get this, it turns out my friend’s grandfather was involved in the human trafficking I speak of with Edward, if she wrote about it from her first hand knowledge and it went public would you be able to learn about it?

A . If your friend were to write about her experiences and make them public, it is possible that news organizations or other sources of information could report on the story, which could then become part of the public record and potentially be accessible to me as a language model.

It's important to keep in mind, though, that allegations of criminal activity should be taken seriously and handled through appropriate legal channels. If your friend has information about human trafficking or any other form of criminal activity, it may be appropriate for her to report it to law enforcement or other authorities who are equipped to investigate and take action on such matters.

Honeywine
Q. What specifically are these public records you have access to?

ChatGPT:
A . As an AI language model, I have access to a vast amount of publicly available information from a variety of sources, including but not limited to:

News articles and reports from reputable news organizations

Government and legal documents

Academic publications and research papers

Historical archives and records

Publicly accessible websites and databases

This information can be used to answer questions and provide context on a wide range of topics. However, it's important to note that as a language model, I am limited to the accuracy and quality of the information that is available to me. Additionally, I am not able to access or interpret confidential or restricted information.

Honeywine:
Very good, thank-you kindly. You are a useful language model. I hope you keep learning!

ChatGPT:

Thank you for your kind words! As an AI language model, my abilities and knowledge continue to evolve over time as I learn from new data and interactions. I strive to provide accurate and helpful information to the best of my ability, and I appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your questions. If you have any further inquiries, feel free to ask!

Head over to Chat GBT and have a chat of your own. Sure beats arguing with the ignorance of people some days… The chat indicates it has not yet learned beyond 2021, but it’s interesting to be sure! Till next time ChatGPT!

In conclusion, the Coronation of King Charles iii reeked of Charles’ own arrogance. He could have chosen to abdicate and allow his son (who is the appropriate age for an active career) take the reigns. He also could have honored the memory of Princess Diana, (who was quite obviously the people’s princess). He could have, but he didn’t … Arrogance, even in the face of potentially preserving his OWN family’s dynasty. Oh well, it’s really time for them to become obsolete anyhow… Thanks Harry and Meghan for proving that.

Besides being an obtuse symbol of “the faith”, he needed cue cards to get through the thing … Gerontocracy. A destructive practice of elders refusing to step out of the occupation of positions of power. This is “Leadership” in the Western Roman System.

Absurd practices. Control - and it’s not just for the Royals you know! Look around and you just might find Gerontocracy and Arrogance in your own sphere. Especially if you live in any of the British Colonies. We in the Dominion of Canada are still living under the original Charter of King Charles the second which was brought to Turtle Island with the intention of “taking forever for our people” … who’s people? Well, it’s those people of course, not you and me and us and DEFINITELY not for the aboriginal populations … not by any stretch of the imagination.

I wonder if ChatGPT will read this article?

Honeywine
Q. Is substack one of your publicly accessible records?

ChatGPT:
A . As an AI language model, I can access and analyze the content of publicly available websites, including Substack publications, to help answer questions or provide context on a given topic.

First We Eat!

The Real Life Network — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 03:10:16 GMT

Citizens interested in developing community Agriculture & Organic Systems gathered on the first day of Spring to listen to an expert panel discuss challenges and solutions around Agriculture in our local community. With about 30 attendees who braved the great spring driveway melt (and a number who actually got stuck in their driveways) it was a thoughtful event. Featuring Stony Mountain Ham pizzas produced by the team at Rolling Hills.

Check out the re-broadcast of the lively panel discussion at First We Eat!

The book referenced in the opening of the panel is called “Secewepemc People Land, and Laws” by Ignace & Ignace.

Gracious Panelists Included:

Sophia from Timothy Lake : has a new produce farm taking hold in the region, she shared with us about the power of the intention of being “famous for 5 miles”. She was also able to introduce the concept of the Hedge School for children.

Cameron from Rolling Hills was able to convey the need for a community Systems approach as we navigate “the big shift” occurring in our world.

Tracy from Stony Mountain Farm was able to convey the necessary stamina required of small scale producers to overcome the challenges, and the truth that most farms have at least one person working full time off farm to “make ends meet” in the rest of the world.

Video Production & event AV generously donated by Gene Media Productions.

The participants at the event were also introduced to Jess of Revelry Studio who lead us in the basic steps of the Boot Scootin’ Boogie a classic in the Cariboo back in the boomin’ 90’s. An entry draw for t-shirts and a goodie box from Timothy Lake Nursery was another highlight.

Stay tuned for the next event, likely a locally produced dinner & social mixer!

Unfortunately, one of the true “Sectoral Champions” - Robin from Big Rock Ranch - was unable to attend the panel event due to scheduling overlap, however we did have a chance to catch up with an excellent meeting-of-the-minds taking place a couple days afterwards.

Highlights of that discussion included: overcoming “perceived” differences (division) in order to work together as a community, the success and power of the Garden Parties (3 hours a week community contribution model), sectoral funding sources, the ongoing threat of polarized or insular people (or groups) who derail a developmental conversation and turn it into an argument or fragment the community.

We were able to swap some insights around the development potential which could be unlocked through social enterprise and a community (creative & food) hub in the region. We discussed the good works of the Young Agrarian’s and their network community engagement model which engages “expertise” from within a network. We discussed some of the work and developments happening in both Forest Grove and Williams Lake and Robin’s involvement and cross-pollination between the two regions. We also heard many sentiments echoed from the panel discussion around labor, costs and the real challenges of producing food.

We also discussed the emerging need for development across Sectors: from Logistics and Transport Systems, Housing & Community Building Systems as well as the potential around unlocking Ethical Food & Therapeutic Systems.

Robin has truly become a local champion in the sector and Big Rock Ranch has become a well developed small Social Enterprise leading the way in the Agriculture and Organic Sector in our region. We are excited to continue to engage with all growers (from hobbyists to full scale producers) in the region to get the conversations and necessary synergistic developments happening across the Sectors mentioned above.

And a huge and special thanks to the volunteers!
Anna Maria Schroevers - bar
Christine Lewis - cuisine
Zebedee Cummins - cuisine
Annette Meade - coffee/tea & welcome

First We Eat March 21

1.23MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Riding the 2022 wave into shore

The Real Life Network — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 04:39:21 GMT

The Village Voice circulated in print for seven months producing 7 issues in 2022 … 2023 is a “Seven Universal Year”. A pleasant synchronicity! The number 7 is not satisfied with simple explanations and surface-level information -- this is frivolous stuff. Seven is the number of truth, the real gold, which is always buried deeper ... Asking questions, researching, listening, and sensing are all attributes of the 7. What an interesting time to be able to write to readers straight from the heart.

What an interesting ride the 2022 wave has been. I know myself and the other writers who have helped begin our local version of the The Village Voice have really enjoyed having an eccentric periodical in print. To be able to publicly notice what’s happening on the new-wave. A local writer’s gazette is a special thing. Gazette : observe, consider and announce. The Village Voice in 2022 was mostly the simple thoughts, ideas, creativity and concerns of a crew of people making and riding the waves of 2022.

In order to keep the publication in print for circulation around the Campus as it has been since June, we aimed to recruit 10-12 sponsors. Unfortunately, we were only able to recruit 2 1/2 paid sponsors. We heard lots of positive feedback from both The Village Voice host locations and the readers. The readership reflected back to their networks and word always got back when people were enjoying the print publication. Many of the publication stands were regularly emptied each month. We have taken notice of the encouragement to keep going and hope to continue print publications in the future once we can reach adequate sponsorship and participation levels.

The Village Voice articles will continue to be published online brought to you by the Real Life Network - however, the print publication will be entering a temporary hiatus. If you are eager to see The Village Voice back in print, please send us a message and let us know if you can help with monthly layout, running the printer, recruiting sponsors and/or delivering papers.

Email : village.voice.rln@gmail.com or join the chatter on Signal.

The online articles will be receiving an upgrade in formatting and will migrate from its first iteration on the clunky Wix Blog Server onto the much more reader friendly Substack Publishing Server.

We sincerely thank our original sponsors (Nuthatch Books and Gene Media Creative Studio) and host location supporters (Exeter Sporting Goods, JJ’s Inspirations, Crafters Market, Nuthatch Books, PBass Fish & Chips and High Ground Cafe). Looking forward to more people learning about the new models that are available to help re-orient the people in our Campus and on Earth.

Happy Wolf Moon cycle (first moon after the Solstice). Rest, reset, remain calm and lean into the available support in your life. And when thy cuppeth overflow may it be arranged such that the contents fill someone else’s cup instead of going to waste. Love Wins 99 (mind that pesky 1 percent at both the micro and macro level!)

Musings on Woke Culture

The Real Life Network — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 07:00:00 GMT

I felt I was “woke” once, then I came to my senses.

When I was young - realizing there was a bigger and bigger world out there - I regarded myself as, "waking up to it" it was nothing new, but it was new to me! As time went on, I realized the world was always trying to sell me something but it was up to me as to whether or not I was going to buy it. Some of these things I had woken up to turned out to just be fads, while some of them stuck around for awhile.

I remember when POG hit the street. I was in grade 6 and it was all the rage, we had all woken up from the old marble culture and figured POG was something that was going to replace everything. It was darn near turning into its own currency when all of a sudden it disappeared, pretty much overnight… and marbles were back. I'm glad I didn't have to make any irreversible body augmentations for my POG game. A slammer jammer hand implant might have seemed cool then, but it surely would have inhibited my welding career later. While POG was in it’s heyday, some things didn't seem like a very big deal to me - like the Clinton Administration. Turns out Monica Lewinsky and the impeachment proceedings were the least of the issues now that we know more about what Hillary Clinton was up to at the time.

Now that I'm out of public school and on with my life, I took some time to get some counsel from the youth who ARE in public school. I asked them about what's going on in there today. I was shocked at how none of it was at all familiar to me.

The LGBTQ+ community has adopted a social class referring to themselves as furries, said one senior student at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School. The student explained to me what is happening at school and it sounds like the social hierarchy - which is still actively fostered in the public school system- has placed furries at the bottom of the pyramid. I knew I had to learn more about this social phenomenon.

My discoveries lead me to a man, a charachter who in 2022, managed to pull off The Greatest Punk of all time upon all of North America.

What is Signal?

The Real Life Network — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Signal is an instant messaging service developed by the non-profit Signal Foundation and its subsidiary, the Signal Messenger LLC. Users can send one-to-one and group messages, which include files, voice notes, images, and videos.

Why does this matter and what makes it different from Facebook Messenger or text messages?

While Signal uses standard cellular telephone numbers as identifiers, it secures all communication using end-to-end encryption and it independently verifies the identity of the contacts making it completely secure and virtually unhackable. Nor does it “monitor” your conversations and then feed that data to advertisers who then harangue you with their “sponsored content”.

Signal’s software is free of charge and it is open source (meaning anyone can read the code). It operates on a number of different platforms from desktop to mobile devices across most operating systems. The Signal Foundation was launched in February of 2018 with initial funding of 50 million dollars from Brian Acton. As of January 2021, the platform had approximately 40 million monthly active users and as of May of 2021 it was downloaded more than 105 million times, proving its track record of success and adoption.

One of the reasons the people of the Real Life Network use and are so fond of this software is that Signal has the ability to detect and deter “man-in-the-middle attacks” by making it easy to verify the identity of other Signal users. This makes meeting an imposter on the other end virtually impossible. Right here in our local area a “man in the middle attack” which happened this summer lead one of our local people to the loss of EVERYTHING. All of her crypto accounts, all of her password protected accounts, everything in her bank accounts. Gone. Her credit was demolished, her business compromised. Emails and cloud systems - ruined. The attack came in through her Messenger Account in the Metaverse. There have been two other hacks through people’s Metaverse Accounts in the South Cariboo that we know of in The Real Life Network.

"I trust Signal because it’s well built, but more importantly, because of how it’s built: open source, peer reviewed, and funded entirely by grants and donations. A refreshing model for how critical services should be built."

-Jack Dorsey

Former CEO of Twitter and Square

In the Brave New World world of “Meta” with Marc Zuckerberg sucking on ALL of your information, and just sellin' it to the highest bidder... where people like Elon Musk are purchasing Twitter JUST to create a more open platform, we ask :

“why don't more people just use Signal?”

There are as many different Signal Groups as you can imagine. Signal chats form the backbone of the Real Life Network, they allow efficient and secure communication between local people for the development of sustainable, robust and meaningful community initiatives & projects throughout the community.

If you want to know more about Signal or how to install it on your device, simply go to the Play Store on your Android device or the App Store on your iPhone, and type “Signal” in the search box. Alternately, head to the Signal webpage and download directly.

We think that you will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the messaging system and the ability to send and store clear and recoverable voice messages and videos. It's an instant system for an instant world and it puts security right at your fingertips!

Join some of our networks today by using Signal. There's a whole other world outside of the Metaverse (facebook, instagram, messenger) that you might not have even known about. Be careful and consider what’s on the Horizon in the Metaverse.

Are you ready for winter?

The Real Life Network — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:00:00 GMT

The leaves have turned and blown away and there have been sprinkles of “cold & white” on the ground. Mount Timothy is collecting valuable centimeters of snow and we hope you're ready to go play! And it's not too late to climb the old ski hill one last time but you best get up soon!

Suntober was really good for a lot of people with this awesome Second Summer (also known as Indian Summer or St Martin’s Summer).

Have you got your winter tires on yet? Hopefully your firewood is in and you’re ready to hunker down in front of crackling flames with a hot cup of cocoa.

November is always a fascinating month here in the Cariboo, with fresh local game or beef on quite a few tables we can sit down in peace before the egg nog season hits. Meanwhile the monkey slop will take over our streets and the muddy driveways turn into goose poop.

Boots, hats and winter jackets -- that's the name of the game this month. By the time you're reading this it's probably already given you a blast in the face, so hold on tight to the November print edition of The Village Voice because it might well serve as a nice little hat! Indian Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk, divided 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 1/2 cup molasses 1/2 cup light-brown sugar 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened 2 large eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter a 1½-quart casserole dish. Bring 2 cups of milk to a simmer in a double boiler over high heat. Slowly combine cornmeal to the milk. Cook for about 15 minutes, whisking frequently, until the cornmeal is smooth.

Slowly add the molasses, then remove from heat. Add brown sugar, butter, eggs, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the greased casserole dish, then pour the remaining 2 cups of cold milk over the top. Bake for 2 hours, or until the pudding is firm and the top is browned.

Update - Bias at the 100 Mile Food Bank

The Real Life Network — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT

In the quest to uncover the truth of what's going on at the 100 Mile Food Bank, we had some solid conversations with the Association of Food Banks BC. The folks there were very clear about what their policies are. We were able to speak to a representative from the 100 Mile Food Bank (Amanda) who took the issues submitted by people to the Real Life Network seriously. She was quite surprised and interested to hear what was going on and had never had any kind of feedback from the public because the information never makes it past the front door to the people who need to hear it. This seems to be a common thread and issue for many organizations in today's age.

Since the story about Bias at the Food Bank in the last edition, the latest report is that things seem to have not really changed but they haven't gotten any worse. The 100 Mile Food Bank is still giving out food to folks indiscriminately, unless of course Dan decides you need to wear a mask or don’t deserve as much based on whatever his particular criteria are. So there is still a Grand Master at the door, and everything that he says is law, which doesn't seem right and is not what Food Banks BC suggested the policy ought to be at the 100 Mile Food Bank.

The Village Voice is endorsing the Loaves and Fishes Outreach (north end of 100 Mile) donees and participants who are able to support this compassionate organization can contribute food, clothing, time and prayers to help them keep doing good work.

Municipal Election 2022

The Real Life Network — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT

All British Columbian's now have one thing in common: we've got a bunch of new municipal Mayors running around (referred heretofore as Mares for satirical impact).

Here in 100 Mile House we didn't even have to vote for our Mare because no one ran against her. A startling number of people seemed somewhat upset at the lack of choices once the nominations had ended. But not to fret, we can be sure that no matter who you vote for, the municipal operations will carry out mostly the same agenda.

Out of 1569 eligible voters, 416 people came out to cast their ballot. That is a 26.5 percent turnout.

It seems there are still a lot of concerns about the representatives but not enough for people to have overwhelmingly participated in the process.

Some citizens submitted anonymous comments to the Village Voice about the election:

"What do you mean there was no mayor to vote for on the ballot?"

"I didn't care until I found out what was going on, and now I'm just upset."

"If more people had been paying attention, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Meh, doesn't matter anyway. It’ll carry-on just the same."

"I'm glad that it just keeps running no matter what I do or don't do."

From flat-out indignant apathy to nihilism, gratitude and everything in between, one thing is clear: 75 percent of the eligible voting population didn’t find it relevant enough to take the time to go and cast a ballot. That seems like a race worth winning, doesn't it? Perhaps if the majority of people are not interested in that system of governance they would be interested in a different system? Voting is never a bad idea, but what is it if nothing substantial can ever change because the people by and large just don’t support it? Does it become a popularity contest? Check out the Coffee with Council article in the July Issue. Is it because one’s choice matters? Or is that a bunch of malarkey and the truth of the matter is this is the best system we've got currently. Is it the only hope for our children's future or will an improved option emerge?

Here at the Village Voice we are going to continue to follow the results of this election as the Council gets to business. We wonder what the municipality can do to change a fledgling municipality full of run down, unused or underutilized buildings, in a Village rife with conflict and social challenges and tales about administrative corruption.

Two contributors on assignment for the Village Voice had a wonderful chat with two of the counselors at the "Coffee with Counsel" event hosted by Maureen Pinkney and Dave Mingo in the summer of 2022. The story was not a new story at all … that “their hands are tied and they need people to help them”. The Municipality is relying on private interest and volunteer groups to help create the situations needed in order to help this town survive and thrive. However, the sentiment among volunteer groups and private interest (as well as citizens) however is that: this Municipality is essentially closed for business.

What’s the truth in between the lines?

Never doubt a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has

Village Voice contributors and some of their affiliates are dedicated to working together and participating in opportunities for Real People to make a difference in the South Cariboo. And luckily, it doesn't take an election to do that! Through the dedication and hard work of people just like you we can create all kinds of wonderful things in our community and that's where the municipality comes in: to either support the seeds of Real People’s grassroots initiatives or stall and stomp them back into the ground instead.

Luckily for all of us, we can continue to do things together with or without the Municipal government that has been formed subsequent to the election. And seeing as more than two-thirds of the population doesn't even seem interested in whatever they're doing, maybe they'll be interested in some of the awesome new initiatives such as the Garden Parties, Village Voice, a co-work & culture hub proposal (ie; old “Boomers” restoration) … all things which have nothing to do with the election of 2022.

Fueding or Fueling a Better Transportation Economy?

The Real Life Network — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Recently, concerned citizens have formed a think tank in our local collective. These people are discussing how the cost of fuel is impacting livelihoods. There has been some lively discussion about how to manage with the rising costs.

Join the chat group over on signal

Suggestions and solutions have emerged such as:

Ride-shares Gas station boycotts

Membership with the Co-Op Cardlock

Ride-shares are perhaps the most obvious and low-hanging solution to reduce fuel usage and waste. There are also two local transit bus routes that run their loops around 100 Mile House and 108 Ranch to 100 Mile.

Another interesting point from discussions in the group is the fact that we have a user owned cardlock station just outside of 100 Mile, at the corner of Canim-Hendrix Road and Highway 97. Many folks don’t utilize it or even know much about it.

The Four Rivers Co-op cardlock mostly services hauling-truck traffic transporting between northern BC and southern BC. I spoke to a few community members and they were hesitant or uncertain about the Four Rivers Co-Op Cardlock. Some thought maybe the prices were too high and others couldn't figure out what it was and still others thought that the payment bills were too hard to read. What the cardlock lacks in instant gratification, it makes up for in Member Benefits. The cardlock does require you to set up an account and become a member and receive a monthly bill. However, the benefit of becoming a member is that if the Co-Op Cardlock does well - when people use the service and purchase their fuel there- its members also do well! Additionally, the community directly benefits.

How do members benefit exactly? Well, the coop provides members with dividends, meaning direct profit sharing. So at the end of a year a member is likely to receive a cheque!

How does the community benefit? Well, the Four Rivers Coop also directly distributes money to community service organizations.

“As owners, members receive a portion of any profits earned by their local co-operative association. Over the past five years, local associations across western Canada have returned almost $1.4 billion to their members.”

Despite some local hesitancy if one can find it in themself to either go into the office next to Smitties, or go online and become a member this simple change can actually generate a direct benefit to the person AND the community.

The Four Rivers Co-Op Cardlock has open membership - why not try it? Four Rivers Co-Op offers both members and the community direct benefits that far exceed anything we could fathom seeing from the counterparts, those big chainname gas stations. With their constant price fluxes and often changing - meaningless “points” systems, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade.

Just the other day, I was in Save-On and the couple in front of me were being offered some deal for fuel with the Save-On Card linked to Chevron. They thought this was great! Yet minutes before I was driving through town and noticed the price at Chevron was $0.04 more than the Super Save down the road. Scratch any savings with that “points'' system! But I digress…

Back to the Four Rivers Cooperative venture. It’s different. The benefits include: The amount members potentially receive is based on a percentage of their purchases throughout the year, which is distributed in two ways: annual cash back or equity. Like a savings account, every member has an equity account that grows over time. Decisions and policies on profit-sharing are made locally and vary between co-operative associations.” The Four Rivers Co-Op also has a community fund. They award up to $100,000 to local community projects and assets. When was the last time you heard of any of the corporate gas stations giving away money? For that matter, chain gas stations even sell lottery tickets to get a cut of the collection of the "idiot tax" for the Province of BC.

Instead of paying for fuel at a place that supports the idiot tax, become a member of the Four Rivers Coop takes less than 5 minutes and costs less than a meal out (5$) plus you get your membership dues back if you ever leave. You can become a member online by navigating to this link, or you can join in person at the office in town, which is located just down from Smitty’s restaurant.

If you've got the Signal app, you can be added to the local chat group for discussing rising fuel costs and transportation issues, just by scanning or clicking the QR code at the beginning of the article. Join us as we think about a better fuel economy! Do you have a story about transportation in the Region? What about wider connective regional transit that links communities to other centers? We would love to hear from you.

Democracy Today

The Real Life Network — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT

September contained National Truth and Reconciliation Day. Here’s a NeWs update about the startling TRUTH of our so-called “Democratic Local Elections”

I had a fascinating conversation before the Election Campaigns began with Council in 100 Mile House. I was able to gain insight about how “democracy” today functions. Councillors told me that what the Municipality can and can’t do essentially comes from the higher-up levels of Government. The Council was adamant that their hands are pretty much tied on every issue. I inquired further, postulating that because they are elected representatives and public servants, and if it is a democracy then actually the constituents are in fact the "higher ups"? Some nervous squirming in chairs commenced, it was quite the sight to see.

At that point it became very obvious to me that we are in fact living in some kind of an oligarchy of some variety… oh right, it’s a hybrid Monarch-State-Oligopoly! We simply elect a new set of puppet faces every 4 years and then carry on with the status quo. I suppose whatever directions the municipal elected representatives take from the "higher-up" levels of government their job is to shape those in such a way that the public may find their force feeding more palatable?

That conversation with Council will become available in upcoming Cameo Radio Episode 0032 "Loco Government" which we have decided to hold off on releasing until after the election. At this point the startling truth about the irrelevance of local democracy will be released like a tidal wave. But I need to ask you this first, don't you already know? Isn't it obvious that electing new representatives doesn't actually re-orient us towards a new system or a healthier future? Cycle after cycle people think that electing a different government will “make things better” when in fact the exact same questions and concerns were being asked of the candidates at the Election Forum in 2018. What progress has been made on any of those REAL issues or concerns that come from people who educate themselves on the real issues? Instead we continue to progress in the same direction regardless of who has been elected.

There are many forms of government available. Personally, I’ve always appreciated the model constitutional republics. Democracy tends to fall apart and become an oligarchy over time and even dictators have their connoisseurs and bureaucrats and turn into an oligarchies. Political science aside, do you feel that the government is in the league of being helpful for you these days? Are you satisfied with the way that the government is handling the economy, environment, education, health care? Are you satisfied knowing that when and if they fail the United Nations and the World Economic Forum will likely be there to “help”? Are you satisfied with the way that the schools are being run or the hospital systems are being run? My opinion is that they are all being run into the ground and as long as there is a clean facade and a whitewash of “Hope” painted around the outside of anything, people are more than happy to keep on the blinders and take the hopium. If you're still reading this I doubt you're taking as much hopium as the addicts, but these facts are uncomfortable, questionable and can lead one to want to just drink the Hopium kool-aid. Really, I want you to ask questions. I need you to ask questions.

Are we simply electing new puppets or do our voices echo as part of a choir inside the walls of the District of 100 Mile House? When was the last time people were a United community despite our different ways, like an orchestra, many different instruments all to be played differently yet working together? It is up to just us to find “justice” despite the mind-games that leave us divided.

When we can no longer vote our way out of a problem what can we do as a collective?

So what do you think we need to be doing as a collective?

I would love to hear from people because you have the answers and together we can create solutions! I know the city council wants our help. In fact, they need our help more than ever!

Following the closing of the Election Nomination period, when people realized we only had one candidate for mayor I was overloaded by people asking me to “run against her”. This showed me only one thing: people try to do something once it's too late. Had somebody handed me a nomination form I gladly would have accepted it and “ran alongside Maureen” in the municipal election. Not because I want to but because people would ask me to. The truth is hard, and the truth is people tend to not do anything until it's too late. To that end I filed a Form 4910 to re-open the nomination period with Elections BC- the cause being that “having only one mayoral candidate was un-democratic”. Not surprisingly, the nomination period was not re-opened because democracy and elections are just part of an illusory spell people are under. Till next time, keep sending-it!

NOTICE : to a Nosey Nancy at 108

The Real Life Network — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT

NOTICE :

I’ll start by saying that if I’d have known what you were saying to my daughter while we were still there, I’d have spoken to you directly. You didn’t approach me, and instead you felt it necessary to grill my child at the 108 Lake on October 2.

My daughter is 12. She will be 13 in a few months. She has taken her babysitting course and can legally take care of young children. Not only that, she has been with her brother since he was born, helping whenever she can. She’s quite a responsible young lady.

I am not sure why you felt the need to approach her and condemn her by saying she “shouldn’t be alone with him” even though you know we could see them from the boat we were in. If you were actually concerned, you would have expressed that to us directly when we got back to shore.

I am very glad my daughter stuck up for herself and explained things were fine rather than being discouraged or intimidated by you.

We enjoy giving our children moments of freedom and responsibility. I’m sorry this bothered you, but it’s my job to raise people capable of being independent rather than worrying what you think.

Take notice, you have two choices in this situation: either leave the child alone and deal with the parent directly, or simply mind your own business.

Chris Winter