therealkarl: blownspeakers: crunkinpublic: megaphonemagazine: Introducing #COOLCITYBRO: T-shirts by local artist Justin Longoz launching tomorrow at the Chinatown Night Market and great retailers all over #Vancouver. Only $20, and 100% of proceeds go to Megaphone!! More @ CoolCityBro.com http://bit.ly/17vf9iv AWWWWW YEEEEEEEE Somebody go to the Night Market and get me one of these and I will give you $20. I will give you extra if you pick up some of that chicken rice and few lamb skewers too. I kinda want this shirt. I’d recommend getting one, stat - supplies are limited for online sales right now, but our retailers should be able to help you out. Here’s the list, from the project website: CHINATOWNBoard of Trade Co., 227 Union St. 778-318-9697COMMERCIAL DRIVEMintage Vintage, 1714 Commercial Dr. 604-646-8243GASTOWNCommunity Thrift and Vintage, 41 West Cordova St. 604-682 8535 Nouvelle Nouvelle, 209 Abbott St. 604-682-2234HASTINGS-SUNRISETiny Finery, 2162 E. Hastings St. 604-569-2171KITSILANOZulu Records, 1972 W. 4th Ave. 604-738-3232MOUNT PLEASANT The Goods Screening & Apparel, 335 E. Broadway 604-568-6169STRATHCONAShop Wrong, 1192 E. Hastings St. 604-251-1100
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therealkarl:

blownspeakers:

crunkinpublic:

megaphonemagazine:

Introducing #COOLCITYBRO: T-shirts by local artist Justin Longoz launching tomorrow at the Chinatown Night Market and great retailers all over #Vancouver. Only $20, and 100% of proceeds go to Megaphone!! More @ CoolCityBro.com

http://bit.ly/17vf9iv

AWWWWW YEEEEEEEE

Somebody go to the Night Market and get me one of these and I will give you $20. I will give you extra if you pick up some of that chicken rice and few lamb skewers too.

I kinda want this shirt.

I’d recommend getting one, stat - supplies are limited for online sales right now, but our retailers should be able to help you out. Here’s the list, from the project website:

CHINATOWN
Board of Trade Co., 227 Union St. 778-318-9697

COMMERCIAL DRIVE
Mintage Vintage, 1714 Commercial Dr. 604-646-8243

GASTOWN
Community Thrift and Vintage, 41 West Cordova St. 604-682 8535 
Nouvelle Nouvelle, 209 Abbott St. 604-682-2234

HASTINGS-SUNRISE
Tiny Finery, 2162 E. Hastings St. 604-569-2171

KITSILANO
Zulu Records, 1972 W. 4th Ave. 604-738-3232

MOUNT PLEASANT 
The Goods Screening & Apparel, 335 E. Broadway 604-568-6169

STRATHCONA
Shop Wrong, 1192 E. Hastings St. 604-251-1100

Source: megaphonemagazine

Photo by REUTERS/Scanpix. MEGA-NEWS: Sociologist surveys Canadian sex buyers by Katie Hyslop There is little research on who buys sex in Canada. Without that information, University of Victoria sociologist Chris Atchison says it’s difficult to keep sex workers safe. It’s a gap he’s hoping to fill with the launch of his new Canada-wide survey of sex work customers. “We don’t know enough about this population to really have any kind of sense of or any certainty as to what’s going to be found,” said Atchison, who has spent 18 years studying sex work. “If my previous research is any indication, what I could find is that there are a diversity of experiences that need to be accounted for, that depending on where one engages in commercial sexual activities, there may be a greater or lesser likelihood that those engagements will be safe, both sexually and physically, and economically.” Atchison says one thing we already know is people who buy sex aren’t just the stereotype of the heterosexual male, but include homosexual men, couples, people who need sexual surrogates, and clients of professional doms and dominatrices.  The anonymous survey is available online at SexSafetySecurity.ca and is being distributed by sex workers, escort service and strip club owners across the country. It specifically deals with clients’ health and safety practices, as well as conflict negotiation habits, beliefs and values surrounding their interactions with sex workers.  Although illegal in Canada and much of the world, Atchison says sex work is likely here to stay. He hopes information from this survey will help make it safer for sex workers. “The goal is to use the information in a way that policy makers, outreach service providers, educators and legislators can implement it or draw upon it when creating more intelligent outreach education and intervention strategies,” he said. This article originally appeared in Megaphone Magazine #130.
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Photo by REUTERS/Scanpix.

MEGA-NEWS: Sociologist surveys Canadian sex buyers

by Katie Hyslop

There is little research on who buys sex in Canada. Without that information, University of Victoria sociologist Chris Atchison says it’s difficult to keep sex workers safe. It’s a gap he’s hoping to fill with the launch of his new Canada-wide survey of sex work customers.

“We don’t know enough about this population to really have any kind of sense of or any certainty as to what’s going to be found,” said Atchison, who has spent 18 years studying sex work.

“If my previous research is any indication, what I could find is that there are a diversity of experiences that need to be accounted for, that depending on where one engages in commercial sexual activities, there may be a greater or lesser likelihood that those engagements will be safe, both sexually and physically, and economically.”

Atchison says one thing we already know is people who buy sex aren’t just the stereotype of the heterosexual male, but include homosexual men, couples, people who need sexual surrogates, and clients of professional doms and dominatrices. 

The anonymous survey is available online at SexSafetySecurity.ca and is being distributed by sex workers, escort service and strip club owners across the country. It specifically deals with clients’ health and safety practices, as well as conflict negotiation habits, beliefs and values surrounding their interactions with sex workers. 

Although illegal in Canada and much of the world, Atchison says sex work is likely here to stay. He hopes information from this survey will help make it safer for sex workers.

“The goal is to use the information in a way that policy makers, outreach service providers, educators and legislators can implement it or draw upon it when creating more intelligent outreach education and intervention strategies,” he said.

This article originally appeared in Megaphone Magazine #130.

Wei Ting reads at Megaphone’s Voices of the Street 2013 launch in April. Five minutes with Voices of the Street 2013 contributor Wei Ting On her inspiration to begin creative writing in English “Around the time I wrote ‘Searching’, I was looking for affordable housing and sustainable employment - for the longest time, I was focusing on looking for work because I was attacked at [my previous job] and that made it feel not very safe to continue in that area. So I felt I needed a change of career, maybe in business administration or office administration. But I was actually failed by an English teacher, based just on my grammar. She was so anal - my commas, full stops, and semicolons were not in the right places, so she failed me in that program. “I had spent so much time getting my application for EI together, but because of failing that English class - and I have a mental health condition called General Anxiety Disorder, so I get very antsy mouch more easily that other people - after three months of that, it was a total collapse. I left with this feeling that my English really sucks, and I lost confidence. Anytime you lose a job, or anything you have so much emotional investment in, you feel this sense of failure. But I’m very stubborn [laughs], I want to prove myself, and I’ve always enjoyed writing but I’ve never had that confidence. You know, English is my second language - and with that experience, I felt I needed to do something to prove to her, ‘my English is good!’ [laughs]” On Megaphone’s community writing workshops “Usually when you’re not working full time, you don’t have a lot of financial resources, so you end up hanging out at community centres instead of going out, because that ends up costing a lot of money, you know, $4 or $5 for a cup of tea. So in accessing community resources, I looked at that [Megaphone] writing workshop at the Gathering Place for quite a while but never had the energy or focus to do it, until I lost my job and my funding. That’s when I said, ‘okay, maybe it’s time to hang out with these writers.’ At my last job, I always felt squashed down, like it didn’t matter what I said. So I feel this this is a way of expressing my voice, you know, of making noise, like using a megaphone! “The first time I went to that workshop, we had some writing prompts, and everything just poured out of me for ten minutes. And then I read it to the class, and thought ‘oh, what name should I put?’ I like playing with words sometime, and I remembered hearing in an old cartoon about ‘a lady in waiting’ and I thought ‘Wei Ting’ - it’s just so fitting, you know? I’m still waiting [laughs].”   Searching Searching for meaning and searching for a platform to stand on: sustainable employment, affordable housing. Do I have to be down, out, and under, in order to qualify for any assistance? Take a number, fill in this referral form - take a number and apply on-line - specify your location you want to work in - take a number and call, Leave your name and number - take a number, leave a message - someone will get back to you - Did you fax it to the right number? Did you fax it to the right person? - take a number - Did you do the follow up? - No, we can’t tell you your information on your file -take a number - Ah she is on holiday, ah, he no longer works for us - No, you can’t apply to this course - take a number - leave a message - the manager will come back to you - Searching for food, money to buy food, searching for job, so that, I can have money to pay rent - Searching for meaning - take a number -he will talk to you - I will talk to him - you shouldn’t have to go through this - Searching for the status of your housing application - your file had been de-activated for the past 11 months - searching for my own tail - the insanity of searching for sustainableemployment - searching for affordable housing - phone this number - Michael -St- Peter’s 604- 562-85xx - phone 604-623-55xx store manager - Harry Porter - store number 4679 - Bravo! - DIRECT PHONE NUMBER 604-625- 55xx - Before I bid farewell to my folks back home and came to this great land of opportunities: I was searching for a land of equal opportunity, Where women are treated equal as men -road paved with gold - the land of equal opportunities - take a number! A land of great sustainable employment - so that I can feed myself, my family … well, take a number … Somewhere in the land of OZ - It’s been 20 years, my kids had grown up - I asked myself what am I searching for? Am I holding the wrong end of the stick - Holding on the wrong line, wrong country, wrong planet, I am searching for the exit of this madness … Wei Ting is a participant in Megaphone’s community writing workshops. Her piece “Searching” appears in our 2013 Voices of the Street literary anthology, on sale now for only $5 from your favourite vendor. This spring Megaphone needs to raise $12,000 to keep the voices of the Downtown Eastside strong. Please show your support for our writing workshop programs by making a donation (through Hope in Shadows) here.
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Wei Ting reads at Megaphone’s Voices of the Street 2013 launch in April.

Five minutes with Voices of the Street 2013 contributor Wei Ting

On her inspiration to begin creative writing in English

“Around the time I wrote ‘Searching’, I was looking for affordable housing and sustainable employment - for the longest time, I was focusing on looking for work because I was attacked at [my previous job] and that made it feel not very safe to continue in that area. So I felt I needed a change of career, maybe in business administration or office administration. But I was actually failed by an English teacher, based just on my grammar. She was so anal - my commas, full stops, and semicolons were not in the right places, so she failed me in that program.

“I had spent so much time getting my application for EI together, but because of failing that English class - and I have a mental health condition called General Anxiety Disorder, so I get very antsy mouch more easily that other people - after three months of that, it was a total collapse. I left with this feeling that my English really sucks, and I lost confidence. Anytime you lose a job, or anything you have so much emotional investment in, you feel this sense of failure. But I’m very stubborn [laughs], I want to prove myself, and I’ve always enjoyed writing but I’ve never had that confidence. You know, English is my second language - and with that experience, I felt I needed to do something to prove to her, ‘my English is good!’ [laughs]”

On Megaphone’s community writing workshops

“Usually when you’re not working full time, you don’t have a lot of financial resources, so you end up hanging out at community centres instead of going out, because that ends up costing a lot of money, you know, $4 or $5 for a cup of tea. So in accessing community resources, I looked at that [Megaphone] writing workshop at the Gathering Place for quite a while but never had the energy or focus to do it, until I lost my job and my funding. That’s when I said, ‘okay, maybe it’s time to hang out with these writers.’ At my last job, I always felt squashed down, like it didn’t matter what I said. So I feel this this is a way of expressing my voice, you know, of making noise, like using a megaphone!

“The first time I went to that workshop, we had some writing prompts, and everything just poured out of me for ten minutes. And then I read it to the class, and thought ‘oh, what name should I put?’ I like playing with words sometime, and I remembered hearing in an old cartoon about ‘a lady in waiting’ and I thought ‘Wei Ting’ - it’s just so fitting, you know? I’m still waiting [laughs].”

 

Searching

Searching for meaning and searching 
for a platform to stand on: sustainable 
employment, affordable housing.

Do I have to be down, out, and under, in order 
to qualify for any assistance?

Take a number, fill in this referral form -

take a number and apply on-line - specify 
your location you want to work in - take a 
number and call,

Leave your name and number - take a 
number, leave a message - someone will 
get back to you -

Did you fax it to the right number? Did you fax 
it to the right person? - take a number -

Did you do the follow up? - No, we can’t tell 
you your information on your file -take a 
number -

Ah she is on holiday, ah, he no longer works 
for us -

No, you can’t apply to this course - take a 
number - leave a message -

the manager will come back to you -

Searching for food, money to buy food, 
searching for job, so that, I can have money to 
pay rent -

Searching for meaning - take a number -
he will talk to you - I will talk to him - you 
shouldn’t have to go through this -

Searching for the status of your housing 
application - your file had been de-activated 
for the past 11 months - searching for my 
own tail

- the insanity of searching for sustainable
employment - searching for affordable 
housing - phone this number - Michael -
St- Peter’s 604-

562-85xx - phone 604-623-55xx store 
manager - Harry Porter - store number 4679 
- Bravo! - DIRECT PHONE NUMBER 604-625-

55xx -

Before I bid farewell to my folks back home 
and came to this great land of opportunities: I 
was searching for a land of equal opportunity,

Where women are treated equal as men -
road paved with gold - the land of equal 
opportunities - take a number!

A land of great sustainable employment - so 
that I can feed myself, my family … well, take 
a number …

Somewhere in the land of OZ -

It’s been 20 years, my kids had grown up - I 
asked myself what am I searching for? Am I 
holding the wrong end of the stick -

Holding on the wrong line, wrong country, 
wrong planet, I am searching for the exit of 
this madness …

Wei Ting is a participant in Megaphone’s community writing workshops. Her piece “Searching” appears in our 2013 Voices of the Street literary anthology, on sale now for only $5 from your favourite vendor.

This spring Megaphone needs to raise $12,000 to keep the voices of the Downtown Eastside strong. Please show your support for our writing workshop programs by making a donation (through Hope in Shadows) here.

MEGA-NEWS: Young woman dies at Imouto House

  

by Katie Hyslop

A controversial supportive housing project for young women in the Downtown Eastside had its first visit from emergency services on April 25, when a 19-year-old Imouto House resident died of an apparent heroin overdose. 

The woman’s name has not been released by Atira Women’s Resource Society, which operates Imouto House. What we do know is she moved into the supportive housing facility at 120 Jackson St. last September, where she received alcohol and drug counselling.

The young woman’s drug of choice was alcohol, not heroin, according to Michelle Fortin, executive director of WATARI, a service provider that works with Imouto House. In and out of treatment programs all over the city, she had been receiving substance abuse services since before age 12. 

“[She] would have some insights and then slide back,” said Fortin, adding the young woman was in the process of being evicted from another program when she moved into Imouto.

“We’re really saddened by the loss of this strong, young Aboriginal woman and that to a certain extent she was a real leader at Imouto, and our hope is that the impact of her death has some positive outcomes for some of the young women that are left behind.”

Ray Cam board member Judy McGuire, who has spoken out against Imouto House before, says the death proves the need for more youth safe housing, detox, and mental health services outside of the Downtown Eastside. 

“We don’t want to lose any of our children, and frankly to place them in the Downtown Eastside where there are so many predators and there are so many problems, it’s not acceptable,” she said. 

“I don’t care what the rationale: you have to find a better way to take care of our children.”

Atira Women’s Resource Society will be conducting a review into the death.

This article originally appeared in Megaphone Magazine #129.

OPINION: Local group calling on BC politicians to overhaul archaic liquor laws and loosen restrictions on all-ages shows by Safe Amplification Site Society The Safe Amplification Site Society is urging the Province of British Columbia to improve liquor laws to facilitate live music for people of all ages. We’ve launched a petition at safeamp.org/liquorlawpetition, and here’s why: It’s widely known that BC’s liquor laws are outdated. In reality, they’re more than that: they’re ageist, stifling, and dysfunctional. In particular, they make it very hard for music venues to admit people under age 19 – a demographic that includes about 20% of British Columbians. We believe this is wrong, because music is good for everyone. We’re urging the Government of BC – and all the candidates running for that government – to support the following three improvements to BC’s liquor laws: 1) Create a new liquor license that permits minors on the premises of live music venues while alcohol is served to those aged 19 and older. Under existing law, the only permanent liquor-serving venues that can allow minors are theatres, restaurants, and stadiums. But because concert-goers want to dance, don’t want to eat, and don’t like stadiums, most spaces don’t fit into those categories. In this expensive province, venues rely on alcohol sales to cover costs. To do that legally, they have to ban minors, even though a lot of minors could care less about alcohol and simply want to see their favourite bands perform. It’s immoral that 20% of BC cannot attend most concerts simply because of their birthdate! It would be wrong to ban people from events because of their race, gender, sexuality, or religion, and it’s wrong to ban them because of their age too.  2) Overhaul BC’s Special Occasion Licenses (SOLs) and base the categories of licenses on audience size rather than public vs. private. SOLs allow a facility without a permanent liquor license to serve alcohol on ‘special occasions.’ There are two types. ‘Private’ SOLs are cheap and easy, but the audience has to be invited and must buy tickets in advance. ‘Public’ SOLs are much harder to get, but anyone can attend and pay at the door. Weirdly, there’s no differentiation based on the size of the event: a rock concert for 500 invited guests who buy advance tickets can use the easy ‘private’ license, but a piano recital that ten people wander into off the street needs the difficult ‘public’ license. This unfairly punishes small independent events, even though those are generally safer than massive parties. Instead, we think it should be easy to license an event for, say, 100 people or less, and harder to license a bigger event. 3) Immediately repeal Policy Directive 12-09, which disallows liquor primary venues from temporarily de-licensing to host all-ages events. Prior to 2013, bars and clubs could temporarily ‘de-license’ to host all-ages events. This meant a nightclub could close their bar, lock up their liquor, and allow minors at whatever event was happening there that night. Citing anecdotal and spurious claims from “police, LCLB and communities” that minors attending de-licensed events were “consuming liquor either prior to entering or outside the establishment,” the Liquor Board banned this practice in January. As has been documented here, here, here, here, here, and here, we believe this was a terrible decision; it should be repealed immediately.
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OPINION: Local group calling on BC politicians to overhaul archaic liquor laws and loosen restrictions on all-ages shows

by Safe Amplification Site Society

The Safe Amplification Site Society is urging the Province of British Columbia to improve liquor laws to facilitate live music for people of all ages. We’ve launched a petition at safeamp.org/liquorlawpetition, and here’s why:

It’s widely known that BC’s liquor laws are outdated. In reality, they’re more than that: they’re ageist, stifling, and dysfunctional. In particular, they make it very hard for music venues to admit people under age 19 – a demographic that includes about 20% of British Columbians. We believe this is wrong, because music is good for everyone. We’re urging the Government of BC – and all the candidates running for that government – to support the following three improvements to BC’s liquor laws:

1) Create a new liquor license that permits minors on the premises of live music venues while alcohol is served to those aged 19 and older.

Under existing law, the only permanent liquor-serving venues that can allow minors are theatres, restaurants, and stadiums. But because concert-goers want to dance, don’t want to eat, and don’t like stadiums, most spaces don’t fit into those categories. In this expensive province, venues rely on alcohol sales to cover costs. To do that legally, they have to ban minors, even though a lot of minors could care less about alcohol and simply want to see their favourite bands perform. It’s immoral that 20% of BC cannot attend most concerts simply because of their birthdate! It would be wrong to ban people from events because of their race, gender, sexuality, or religion, and it’s wrong to ban them because of their age too. 

2) Overhaul BC’s Special Occasion Licenses (SOLs) and base the categories of licenses on audience size rather than public vs. private.

SOLs allow a facility without a permanent liquor license to serve alcohol on ‘special occasions.’ There are two types. ‘Private’ SOLs are cheap and easy, but the audience has to be invited and must buy tickets in advance. ‘Public’ SOLs are much harder to get, but anyone can attend and pay at the door. Weirdly, there’s no differentiation based on the size of the event: a rock concert for 500 invited guests who buy advance tickets can use the easy ‘private’ license, but a piano recital that ten people wander into off the street needs the difficult ‘public’ license. This unfairly punishes small independent events, even though those are generally safer than massive parties. Instead, we think it should be easy to license an event for, say, 100 people or less, and harder to license a bigger event.

3) Immediately repeal Policy Directive 12-09, which disallows liquor primary venues from temporarily de-licensing to host all-ages events.

Prior to 2013, bars and clubs could temporarily ‘de-license’ to host all-ages events. This meant a nightclub could close their bar, lock up their liquor, and allow minors at whatever event was happening there that night. Citing anecdotal and spurious claims from “police, LCLB and communities” that minors attending de-licensed events were “consuming liquor either prior to entering or outside the establishment,” the Liquor Board banned this practice in January. As has been documented here, here, here, here, here, and here, we believe this was a terrible decision; it should be repealed immediately.

sophia-ahamed: I designed the visual data graph used for this months cover of Megaphone Magazine! Grab one from a local vendor in and around Vancouver! The cover of the new issue of Megaphone is a graph using python, a data visualization application. Using code, I was able to create an abstract graph that displays regions effected by homeless deaths according to the latest BC Coroners Service report.
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sophia-ahamed:

I designed the visual data graph used for this months cover of Megaphone Magazine! Grab one from a local vendor in and around Vancouver!

The cover of the new issue of Megaphone is a graph using python, a data visualization application. Using code, I was able to create an abstract graph that displays regions effected by homeless deaths according to the latest BC Coroners Service report.

Congratulations to Gen Why Media on its successful Indiegogo fundraiser for its upcoming documentary Fractured Land, which looks simply outstanding. Check out the trailer here.

From FracturedLand.com:

Fractured Land tells the story of a young Dene warrior from northeastern BC, taking on Big Oil and Gas to protect his land and people from the ravages of neocolonialism – all the while learning to accept the role he was born for, as one of Canada’s next generation of leaders.