9-11: My uncle's death

Wrote this on June 14, 2004 (with further editing October 1, 2010), but the events took place in November 2003, so am posting here, as well.


Attended conference on Racism and National Consciousness, University of Toronto (Oct 25-26, 2003). Keynote speaker: Ward Churchill, well-known Aboriginal activist and academic from U.S.

[Note: Ward Churchill has been shot at (purportedly by the FBI), was fired from his university post, is often slammed by corporate media, and his wife died in a car accident, where the brakes failed. Besides his own struggles for Native rights, restoration, and autonomy, he also had ties to the Black Panthers, back in the day.]

Being outspoken, I posed questions to nearly all speakers. Met a woman named Beverley on first day; we left at the same time. She wanted to stay in touch, but would not give her phone number, and asked for mine, instead. She started saying things that made me suspicious. (I've encountered many people who have known things about me that they couldn't possibly have guessed - more below.)

Three days later, on Tues Oct 28, I distributed an email about surveillance, race, social power, capitalism, and socio-environmental activism. I explained why I think hierarchies make sense - especially given current population imbalances - yet I also feel social harmony is desired by many, and certain changes are needed. Being critical is only half the battle: healing and action are also necessary.

My mentally-handicapped Uncle Joseph suddenly takes ill five days later, on Sunday, November 2. I had had an incident with a nursing home staff the year before and had long predicted my uncle would be the first target, if authorities wished to suppress my outspoken socio-environmental concerns and attempts at activism. By this point, I'd already been experiencing harassment for several years; I often predict events before they happen.

During the week of November 3 - 9, I received a higher number of wrong number calls. This often happens, after I send out one of my email diatribes - or if I try to tell people about my surveillance concerns.

Got several calls from one number: turns out to be Beverley's. She leaves no message, so I assume it's yet another crank caller. (Hear some calls.)


(If link above doesn't work, use MisterPrivacy.com, then copy and paste http://oneadventure.tripod.com/one/id0.html.)

On Friday, November 7, after five days in Scarborough Grace Hospital's Emergency Ward, and after much loving attention from the nursing home staff, as if he might be on his death bed (despite his having been in hospital on previous occasions), my uncle goes home. But, by the next day, he's apparently contracted pneumonia and is back in hospital. At this point, I know my uncle will die.

On Sunday, November 9, I receive two calls, which I ignore. Just as I'm leaving to meet relatives for a family lunch, I get a third call. I answer, thinking it's my mother -- but it's Beverley. (Message below is her earlier call.) She asks if I'm all right, saying how worried she's been after trying to reach me 'all week' (the period my uncle is in hospital); she stresses this point.

We speak briefly, as I have to leave. Later that evening, my uncle dies. It is the 9th of November -- 9/11.


Beverley's Call

Questions About Beverley:

1. I've only met Beverley once; we had never spoken by phone before.

2. Why call all week just to tell me you're worried about me? (5 calls, no messages)

3. Why didn't she leave a message, if she wanted to reach me?

4. Calling twice within an hour on Sunday suggests urgency - yet, after a brief conversation, we make no plans and I never hear from her again.


Analysis of Phone Message:

1. Message is contradictory. She says she's concerned that she hasn't been able to reach me all week - yet in her first and ONLY message, she uncannily assumes I am:

i) home;
ii) not picking up my phone;
iii) awake (in order to get her message);
iv) willing, able, and likely to answer her 2nd, follow-up call an hour later.

2. We met two weeks before at a conference. She should have no clue what my habits are, or what I'm doing, yet she sounds pretty firm: 'Be there' and 'Answer your [my] phone,' as she will be 'calling back at 1 o'clock'.

3. How worried is she? She assumes I'm able to answer, but what if I was sleeping and am pissed off that she's calling back? If she were genuinely concerned, the polite thing would be to leave a message, asking me to call when I'm able.

4. It's true, I often don't answer the phone (see why). Yet Beverley, again, correctly guesses I'll be answering her second call. I only did so because I thought it was my mother calling with last-minute meeting changes.

5. None of this makes sense - especially coming from a total stranger. My own mother would not assume so much about me - ie, my whereabouts (am I even home?), am I likely to retrieve my voice messages right away, my ability to answer a follow-up call (maybe I'm asleep, or the ringer's off, or both).

Day After My Uncle's Death: Another Strange Call

(emphasis and name edits are mine)

What: Email from my aunt to the family re: my uncle Joseph's death.

Date: Monday, November 10, 2003

After [XXX] called me last night about Jo's passing, I immediately called my boys. As [D.] was busy on the regular tel with someone, I called his cell phone.

"Hello." he answered the phone.

"Uncle Joseph just died." I informed him.

"Uncle Joseph just died." He repeated after me word for word, totally devoid of emotion or feeling. [emphasis mine]

"Yea." I said.

"........." total silence from him.

I thought it's really strange of his reaction and response.

"Who is this?" I then asked.

"I think you got the wrong number." He said.

What's so funny about it was this stranger repeating what I said, trying to figure out who the heck was Uncle Joseph.

[Edit: So thankful my aunt posted this incident. Mirrors exactly the odd phone calls I've been getting for years, always at specific times (eg, caller's tone, timing, seeming/possible line interception). Authorities can easily *intercept* and redirect calls - even if you've dialed the right number. I've had many such incidents - but again, hard to demonstrate/prove to others. Please see 'Technology glitches continue' and 'Big Brother - It's all in yer head'. 01/10/10]

The night of my uncle's funeral, I was hit on the head, while sobbing into a payphone at a subway station. A strapping young fellow fumbled with the payphone next to me (or pretends to dial). Then, holding the receiver in his hand, he hit me on the side of the head with his hard knuckles. Stunned, then angry, tears streaming down my face, I asked why he hit me, and why he hasn't bothered apologizing. Turning to his buddy, he says: 'Oh, we thought you were a guy. Didn't we?' (har-har)

If I was a guy, is that a reason to whack me? I was wearing a baseball cap and was hunched over, half-kneeling, crying over my uncle's death and 2.5 years of sheer stress. I've never bawled like that in my life. This guy's deliberate assault and mocking comment, along with my friend's response in a time of need - literally on the saddest day of my life - were a devastating psychological blow.

-------------------------------------------------


Incidents happen to me on a near-daily basis.

As shown above, it takes a lot of explaining to analyze ONE of thousands of interactions and incidents I am constantly having  - never mind vandalism in my home, people approaching me in the street, well-timed computer glitches, website errors, power failures, phone problems, and so on. Over the course of several years, stress also takes a toll.


*************************************


The Real 9/11 - Do you value your FREEDOM


Within days of the horrific World Trade Centre attacks, I had started collecting and distributing investigative news articles that questioned basic facts around 9/11 (as it came to be known).

For example:

1. President George W. Bush's 23-min. delayed response (he was notified 3x);
2. Failings of a trillion-dollar military system;
3. The perfectly imploding buildings;
4. Destruction of a 3rd building (former FBI building, WTC7);
   Note: "Explosions occurred in WTC 7 before it sustained any damage from the twin towers' collapses." (source)
5. Plausibility of the Pentagon attack;
6. The resulting war on Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, which happens to be in sightlines to oil resources.

And finally - if America was 'under attack,' with the World Trade Centre being the U.S. economic centre, and the Pentagon being the U.S. military centre, why in heaven's name was there never a moment of concern for President Bush's safety, since he is Head of State. Considering the number of assassination attempts on U.S. Presidents throughout history, is this not a glaring oversight?


Anyway, see Loose Change, or read Citizens' Inquiry into 9/11 or watch GreatConspiracy.ca for intelligent, investigative journalism around 9/11 and the unnecessary deaths of nearly 3,000 people, the aftermath and global implications.


Complete 9-11 Timeline



(Take note of the 'Spam' comments attached to this and other posts. 'jobopportunitya' and their 'sell structured settlement' is interesting. Nearly all have to do with MONEY (not sex, viagra, etc). From January 2002 to August 2003, I went through 33 jobs, and I claimed there were moles among my co-workers - many of whom were ethnically diverse. Transient and temporary work - telemarketing, waitressing, bartending, etc - lends itself well to casual moles/operatives. I worked at the Granite Club, the Distillery District, and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, for example. Anywhere where mass population information is handled and identities are disclosed - especially of progressives - is guaranteed to have intelligence agents. Think Call Centres and classifieds departments of newspapers. It's a fine line between gov't espionage and big business.)

Keeping 'Tabs'

Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: surveillance and harrassment

hi barbara (and others),

My uncle passed away yesterday. They disconnected his life support just before my mother and her sisters got there. His lifeless body was still warm when they arrived. This is somewhat unusual, I believe, as family normally spends the last *living* moments with the patient. But what do i know?

As for the surveillance, it's not clumsiness: it's a catch-22. They have pushed me intensively to the limits for more than 2 years, not only to see what they could learn, but also perhaps hoping to drive me crazy in the process and make me less credible. But as things got more involved, there were too many 'incidents' for them to hide their tracks about.

I have done NOTHING WRONG. I want a regular productive decent life, while still being myself. Yes, I do need to question things, that's called being intelligent. It's what universities teach: critical thinking.

Also, I would be far less politically-involved, if they had just left me alone. But instead, I am being terrorized. I have tried desperately to find someone who will believe me. It's like being a rat in an electric shock cage, but no one else can see what's going on. It's non-stop harrassment, and any concessions they've ever made was merely a ploy (eg, I was called in for a job interview with one of Canada's most exclusive members' clubs on September 11th -- 9/11 -- where I did a short stint as a Bartender). If they could eliminate me with no repercussions, they would gladly do so. They've clearly learned a lot from Hitler's era.

I will say unequivocally that I believe it is my various thoughts, ideas, interactions, and writings about socio-environmental change, as relates to race, class, orientation, Canadian identity, and Canada-US relations, which have indirectly led to some recent turn of events, including, dare I say, the SARS 'epidemic'.** The media hype and timing of this health concern just days before the launch of war on Iraq is a bit much, if you ask me. And how about the superfluous last minute show of allegiance by Japanese and Filipino troops in Iraq?? These seem like political gestures, rather than military necessity.

How better to pit different racial groups against one another?

How is all this relevant? Well, I believe they've learned a lot from me about racial divisiveness because I have tended to piss people off (BIG TIME) by being too conscious about race. (This stems from emotional pain. Being born in Canada, and growing up believing I am Canadian, plus having relatives who are several generations Canadian, it has been hard to deal with the profound judgements and negative prejudices I seem to get from people constantly.) Plus my creativity in resisting their efforts to control and harrass me has proved useful learning for my surveillers, as they have watched person after person turn away from me.

I'm not 'special' -- I'm simply an affordable educational lesson for the 'powers that be'. My interests in transformative learning, co-operative action, organizational learning and change, social activism, spirituality, environmentalism, socialism, etc, are an interesting mix. I also happen to have a lot of outspoken views on identity, race, gender, orientation, socio-environmental innovation, and so on.

What they want is: DIVIDE AND CONQUER.

This may sound like delusions of grandeur, but the close correspondence between what I have REPEATEDLY SAID OR WRITTEN and what is going on is a bit much. I can cite many specific examples in my own neighbourhood of political and commercial strategies that closely mirror things I've actually said, done, or experienced. [More specific details to come...]

... Getting back to my uncle. I wrote an email yesterday after my uncle's death saying: all I want is for the constant surveillance and harrassment to stop. I'm not a 'vengeful type'. Yet this is precisely how they continue to handle my surveillance: like I'm a dangerous criminal.

Today, a Deacon called my mom today to say he would be conducting the funeral services for my uncle. It is strange that he would call my mother. My mother has more than one sister and it is another aunt who has been far more involved in my uncle's care.

I've been staying over at my mom's, and can overhear her side of the conversation. The Deacon is telling my mother his name is "Tab" Charbonneau. He even emphasized his first name, spelling just this part for my mother - 'T-A-B'. One would think the emphasis would be on the getting the last name right - especially with official personages of this sort - but no, my mother only repeated his surname once - no spelling, nothing. So when my mom called her siblings, she told them Deacon 'Tab' would be presiding over the funeral service.

I checked the dictionary: TAB is a British military term for 'keeping check on' things.

Reading subtle and potentially threatening innuendos into this would be ludicrous - if I hadn't already had so many weird experiences. I've had strange people following me at night, people trying to befriend me at activist events and in other situations, computer files have been destroyed, internet hacking, a harassing landlord and neighbour(s), endless crank and wrong number calls (over 2 years), and of the few people I came across whom I would try to tell about the surveillance, several came to unexpected harm. (Before you dismiss these as trivial or coincidental, you need to read more about these incidents...)

In short, things have been HELL for the past few years.

lana

PS - I believe everyday people are being presented detailed information about me, in order to gain their co-operation and complicitness in my surveillance. There is no other way to explain how various people - complete strangers - can make such knowing comments about me.

Cell phones are NOT secure

[EMAIL FROM MY AUNT THE DAY AFTER MY UNCLE PASSED AWAY.]

After Irene called me last night about Jo's passing, I immediately called my boys. As DaDa was busy on the regular tel with someone, I called his cell phone.

"Hello." he answered the phone.

"Uncle Joseph just died." I informed him.

"Uncle Joseph just died." He repeated after me word for word, totally devoid of emotion or feeling.

"Yea." I said.

"........." total silence from him.

I thought it's really strange of his reaction and response.

"Who is this?" I then asked.

"I think you got the wrong number." He said.

What's so funny about it was this stranger repeating what I said, trying to figure out who the heck was Uncle Joseph.

Uncle Joseph dies...

[EMAIL FROM MY MOTHER THE DAY AFTER MY UNCLE’S DEATH.]


"Dear family,

"[We] went to the hospital around 6 last night (Nov 9) after the call from Agincourt House. After waiting for about 10 minutes [emphasis mine], we were told by the attending doctor in the Emergency that Joe had already died.

[An aunt later comments they probably did it this way 'on purpose', so family won't try to have him resuscitated. Her observation indicates that the timing is a bit unusual.]

"His body was in the room across the hall. When we touched his forehead and his shoulders, he was still warm, so death must have occurred within the previous 1/2 hour.

"It could be that Joe's heartbeat was so faint that eventually it just stopped without a clear-cut death time. He looked peaceful, with mouth partially open. We spent some minutes with him, which I appreciated.

"The 3 of us immediately went to the funeral home to make the arrangements.

"Friday Nov 14, 2003, 10 am for viewing, 11 am for a short Catholic service.

................ [snip]


"So our dear Joe will be missed not only by the immediate family, but by some others as well. He had been such a gentle and happy person. love to all, S."

Beverley's Call

On Sun Nov 9, I receive two calls, which I ignore. Just as I'm leaving to meet family and relatives for lunch, I get a third call and answer, thinking it is my mother. But it's Beverley. (Message below is her earlier call.) She asks if I am all right, saying how worried she's been after trying to reach me 'all week' (the period my uncle is in hospital); she stresses this point.

We speak briefly, as I have to leave. Later that evening, my uncle dies. It is the 9th of November -- 9/11.

Beverley's Call

Questions About Beverley:

1. I've only met Beverley once at a Racism & National Consciousness Conference- we had never spoken by phone before.

2. Why call all week just to tell me you're worried about me? (6 calls)

3. Why not leave a message, if you want to reach me?

4. Why call twice within an hour on Sunday?
This suggests urgency. Yet, after a brief conversation, we make no plans and I never hear from her again.


Analysis of Phone Message:

1. Message is contradictory. She says she is concerned about my well-being due to not reaching me. Yet in her first and only message to me, after four previous attempts, she says: 'Be there' and 'Answer your (my) phone,' as she will be 'calling back at 1 o'clock'.

2. If you can't reach someone all week and still get no answer during the weekend, do you assume this person is home and just not picking up their phone?

3. Do you then leave a message that assumes the person will get your message in time for your second call an hour later?

4. None of this makes sense - especially coming from a total stranger. My own mother would not assume so much about me - ie, my whereabouts, the likelihood of picking up a message right away, and my willingness or ability to answer a second call attempt.