Temagami Scourge

They can when white men write treaties.Contracts that violate basic human rights are unenforceable. An employer can ask you to sign a contract that prevents you from working for a competitor for if you quit your job. However, such a contract cannot be enforced if the restriction prevents you from earning a living. The employer also has no right for compensation in these circumstances because it is 'water under the bridge'. Native treaties are unenforcable contracts for the same reason. River: Right now, treaties have been incorporated into Canadian law. If they aren't enforceable, then you better let the Government know ASAP, because they are certainly enforcing them. But on another note, you seek to interpret treaties using non-constitutional laws as examples, and this is a common failing that you consistently make. Bear in mind that they are constitutionally protected, so it makes it that much harder to change them at will, which you maintain can happen. If that was the case, wouldn't things have changed a long time ago?

River: I'd rather deal with the European Union than Canada. The EU pays better.

Charles" hey, I put a picture of my youngest son and my niece at the Hwy 6 roadblock, two days after the OPP raid, on the "My Photo" section of my I.D. go check it out. I put a helmet on him in case the Caledonians decided to throw rocks at him.

River: You certainly have an odd way of doing it, by maintaining that treaties were signed because Natives were taller than Caucasians, or was it because our skin was browner? Either way, I've often maintained that the treaties were created to remove any titular claims on the land we call Canada from the Indians and over to the Crown, in exchange for a series of rights...all done under British/colonial law. I can't help it if we just happen to be tall and brown.

Scrib: geez, I guess what one calls being "drowned out" is what another would call "standing up for oneself and their beliefs". Funny....

So the Manitoba blockade is off because INAC agreed to address the outstanding claims. If only INAC could do the same at Caledonia...... From CBC moments ago: Native leaders have cancelled a plan to block C-N Rail lines in southern Manitoba as a tactic to put pressure on the federal government to settle outstanding land claims with aboriginal groups. The leaders announced the plan on June 17, causing consternation among CN top brass who sought a court injunction to stop the action. Several southern Manitoba bands and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs supported the blockade, which was planned as a protest to what leaders call decades of federal government foot-dragging regarding long-standing native land claims. The groups had planned to shut down two rail lines, beginning on June 29, for 24 hours. First Nations lawyers, however, now say they have come to an agreement with the railway company. C-N has agreed to write to Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice to encourage him to address the land claims, and the native groups have agreed to hold rallies instead of blockades. Last week, a lawyer for CN pressed a Court of Queen's Bench justice to issue an immediate injunction in case the native groups decided to stage earlier blockades. The injunction had not yet been issued.

Betsy: yes...but at least with apples, you can see and smell the bad ones, thus avoiding or ignoring them. The same doesn't hold true for people, unless they are wearing something that clearly identifies their racist views. Some of the older ladies at Caledonia look like your basic librarian, whereas this one biker-dude was not pro-Native, but certainly was insulted by the way others were acting. Based on appearance, i'd thought I'd have more to fear from the biker guy than an older lady, but that certainly isn't the case. Take Marie Trainer. No one from Six Nations had a problem with her until she pulled the "monthly cheques" comment. she had no clue how insulting she was, and still doesn't, but many Canadians think that all Indians do is sit there collecting welfare. I can't remember who posted it, but I saw the same Chris rock HBO special, and I think that line he had was absolutely tops: "Yeah, a white guy wouldn't trade places with me 'cause I'm black...and I'm rich!" So true....

River: I'll admit that the system works for Anglo-saxons, but certainly not everyone else who has been colonized. The system has been installed in Africa, and much like what happens here and in the U.S., only a very few people have most of the wealth. The only difference being the lack of a large middle class in African countries, but then again, the system wasn't designed to create a middle class, but to ensure that a country's wealth keeps to a minimum of hands. I agree. But then the fee simple means that you must pay tax to the Crown or your land is forfeit. That is why Natives shy away from fee simple as it currently stands, because the land continues to ultimately belong to the Crown...and that will never sit well with native people. Read what occurred to the Roseau River folks at the turn of the last century a few posts back and that will give you an idea on why Natives don't want fee simple lands. Interestingly enough, some provinces have tried to overcome this issue by creating a form of land ownership called "similar to fee simple", so that taxes need not be collected from the Natives by the province, but rather that the Natives can collect those taxes from their own people. Interesting concept. Yeah right...separate from Canada when the Crown still maintains the land is theirs. I'll separate as soon as the land is returned, and you can keep your money and treaty rights. However, if Quebec ever decides to separate, I might just take you up on the offer if we fight les Quebecois and take the northern half of the former province.

Betsy, the minute I can spot a racist Caledonian from a non-racist one is the minute I stop. I can't tell who is and who isn't racist in the same way that I can't tell who a virgin is and isn't by sight. But I was surprised by the number of people who thought nothing of using racist terms to express their anger. It's one thing to counter-protest, but another to use racist language as casually as one would water a lawn. Is that the Canada you want?

Accepting non-Aboriginal authority over our own land is little more than prepetuating a system that has been a proven failure, which is why I'm confused by your position on this matter. You want us to banish the reserve system and have no treaty rights, but then encourage doing things the same way anyway? Besides, bear in mind that Natives didn't ask for Canadian citizenship. It was imposed on us in the 1950's by law as an Indian Act amendment, so it appears a tad disingenuous that we should give up our land in exchange for something imposed on us by non-Native law. That's the same as when Goebbels called the German retreat from Russia an advance into the Balkans. We aren't that stupid, river, so quit assuming that we are. What's next? Offers of trinkets, baubles and whiskey?

Talk about things being propitious..... Here is an article off of CP from this morning: Native land claim disputes simmering Backlog of cases blamed for recent escalation of tensions By SUE BAILEY and PETER ST-ARNAUD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — More Caledonia-type conflicts are brewing as the number of native land claims nears 800 and the average wait time for settlements tops nine years. The most complicated cases take longer. It’s not unusual for the federal justice department to take five years to draft a legal opinion on a claim’s basic merits. Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says he plans a major "retooling" of a badly flawed system that critics blame for rising tensions and stunted development. "The backlog is not acceptable and we’re working on it," Prentice said in an interview. "Claims vary in complexity. But by any measure, the current system is not working effectively." A three-day conference starting Wednesday in Gatineau, Que. will gather experts on ways to push for improvements. Prentice says he’s considering increased mediation, more skilled negotiators and other ways to simplify a notoriously cumbersome process. More funding may also be needed for a system that cost Ottawa $536 million in 2004-05 to negotiate, settle and implement land claims. Prentice led more than 50 public inquiries into such cases as co-chairman of the federal Indian Claims Commission. He was a bared-tooth critic of the sluggish pace of settlements while in opposition. Today, communities embroiled in often testy disputes across Canada are looking to him for answers. Prentice says he appreciates that "there’s frustration out there." It most recently erupted in Caledonia, near Hamilton, Ont., in a series of nasty confrontations over a subdivision on land reclaimed by Six Nations members. In Manitoba, a half dozen bands threatened this week to block rail lines around the province as part of a 24-hour protest over delayed land claims. On Tuesday, aboriginals in northern Quebec announced they have relaunched a lawsuit that now seeks $11 billion in damages for 13 hydroelectric dams built 50 years ago on territory they claim as their own. The Pessamit Innu originally filed a $500-million lawsuit with Quebec Superior Court in 1998, but agreed to put it aside four years ago to pursue negotiations with the Quebec government. Now Innu chief Raphael Picard says those negotiations are going nowhere. "There is no more good faith," he told a news conference in Montreal. "There is no progress at the table." The reactivated claim, which targets both the federal and provincial governments as well as Crown corporation Hydro-Quebec, argues the band’s ancestral rights were violated when 13 power dams were built on the province’s north shore during the 1950s and ’60s. Prentice blames the former Liberal government for letting the number of unsettled specific claims soar from about 200 to more than 750 over the last 13 years. Yep...you have to love the speed of government.

I just received this email: From: Chief Terrance Nelson Roseau River Railway Blockade Information from Chief Terrance Nelson Roseau River will peacefully blockade two railway lines for exactly 24 hours starting Thursday June 29th at 4:00 p.m. and ending Friday June 30th at 4:00 p.m. One of these railway line blockades will be north of Dominion City, four miles east and one and half miles north of the main Roseau River reservation, the other railway line to be blockaded is north of Letellier, which is approximately two and half miles west of Roseau River and one mile north of Letellier. Both railway lines move goods and services into and from the United States and will affect business in North Dakota, Minnesota and beyond. Both railway lines run on our traditional territory, we hold underlying title to those lands. At noon on Thursday June 29 in front of the Roseau River Community Hall, two Roseau River drums will begin singing. People will gather to hear from the elders, the leadership and from the people themselves why First Nations are angry enough at Canada to initiate this action. Roseau River's traditional territory was over 2000 square miles in south central Manitoba prior to the signing of Treaty # 1 on August 3rd 1871. The Crown promised that no white man would ever be allowed to set foot upon the reservation without our permission. The Crown pledged on their honor that if we agreed to the treaty giving them access to our 3 million acres of land that the reserved lands would be ours forever. Just 32 years later on January 30th 1903, the government would force the surrender of 12 sections or 70% of our reserve. Mr. Atkinson would be shot and killed for refusing to leave his home. It takes the Minister of Indian Affairs, twelve days to recommend an Order in Council and in just 26 days by February 25 1903 the white farmers have full ownership of 12 sections of our reserve with a signed Order in Council. In 1993, we had RCMP snipers in our fields when we tried to open a casino that could have bought in 100 million dollars a year for us. Once again our jurisdiction, our right to govern ourselves was denied by force of arms. We still have 77% unemployment. We are denied any recognition of our right to lease our 3 million acres of traditional lands and each year we receive less and less funding. It took us 125 years to get Treaty Land Entitlement recognized. Eight years we have waited to have our TLE land converted and still we have to wait, but it took the white farmers only 26 days to get an Order in Council taking our 12 sections of reservation lands away. Roseau River is owed at least 60 million dollars from the 1903 land claim. We have been peaceful, we have been patient, we have waited 103 years for justice but meanwhile in Caledonia the white people got compensation already, millions of dollars have already been pledged by the government, yet the white people only had to wait 100 days, not a 100 years for the government to act. Yes we believe that there are two sets of laws in Canada, one for whites and another for the Indians. The Supreme Court of Canada decided in Haida that "Knowledge of a credible but unproven claim is enough to trigger a duty to consult." In spite of the law as decided in Mikkisew, where Justice Binney of the Supreme Court wrote that it was illegal for government officials to be indifferent, it is exactly what the Government of Canada does, Liberal or Conservative, they ignore the law if it is in favor of the Indians. Why do you think that in 1982, Premier Lyons of Manitoba would absolutely refuse having the Right of Property recognized in the Charter? They tried to stack the law in their favor but it didn't work so they ignore the law when it is convenient for them to ignore it. Over five hundred murdered and missing First Nation women in Canada. Our people fill the jails and prisons in Canada. Over 50% of the people killed at the hands of police in Canada are First Nations people. Many land claims are in limbo because Canada refuses to put in place a process that will `deal with these matters. The Conservatives refused to deal with the Kelowna accord despite the fact ten provincial premiers, three territories and the previous federal government had agreed to it. In Six Nations/Caledonia land issue, it was the people who took action, it was the people who finally had enough and decided not to be sidetracked by a useless Canadian government process, they, the people took direct action. So I ask the question, are the people tired? Are you tired of watching hundreds of billions of dollars of resource wealth paid to the governments of Canada, while you, the original owners are denied a share of your own wealth. Are you tired of the housing problems, the lack of education opportunities, the denial of health coverage, the injustice, the brutality, are you tired of being the poorest of the poor in Canada. Are you tired of watching immigrants to our lands taking our resource wealth, while at the same time they call you down for not paying taxes to their government? We at Roseau River will stand up as we have always done. We will not be ignored. We will not obey any white court injunction that the railway companies might try and get imposed upon us, an injunction that will be unilaterally imposed, an injunction that would deny our right of property. We signed a treaty with Canada. They are obligated by the terms and conditions of that treaty. The immigrant to our land gets their title from the Crown but the Crown got their rights from us, the indigenous people of these lands. We were here first, these are our lands. We hold the underlying title to all these lands including under the rail lines. At 3:30 p.m. vehicles will pull out of the reserve headed to the blockade sites. At exactly 4:00 p.m. cars will be driven onto the rail lines and we will stay exactly 24 hours to send a message to Canada, that we will no longer tolerate our rights being ignored. The Okiijida Society will provide security and will not tolerate any acts of violence from anyone. We will welcome all peaceful people to join us on June 29th and 30th 2006. We ask that you get there at noon in order to ensure everyone knows their responsibility. Chief Terrance Nelson 204-782-4827 I hope that some of our Native brothers and sisters from here will be able to make it to the blockade. It sounds like the Manitoba people are fed up with the Feds dragging their feet, but that is a common complaint. I couldn't help but laugh at the 100days for white Caledonians and 100 years and still waiting for the Manitobans.

From your own words: Fee simple ownership is what everyone else uses. Why should aboriginals get something different?There are two structures which Natives can use.... No matter how you spin it, you are demanding "special privileges". River: Neither type of land would be acceptable to a first Nations because ultimate ownership will still lie with the Crown. You might want to ensure that you control the Native's land, but the Natives certainly don't. Historically, the Crown has "reposessed" Aboriginal hunting and trapping cabins because "taxes weren't paid on the land they occupied", even though these camps had been in these families since before europenas came. given this historical example of the crown using the law against Natives, the natives are doing their best to ensure that situation like that will never happen again, which is why it is unacceptable to take land under fee simple, reserve or municipal or corporate. The bottom line is that Canada will have to draft up another form of legal land use to accomodate the Natives, or there won't be any settling of land claims. Natives will never accept land whose ultimate legal authority is not them. We already know the impact of having non-Native authority on our lands, so why would we go back to doing the same thing over again. Besides, there is much in your justice system that needs restructuring.

what's so explosive about it? I still think that seeing people's true colors shining through is a good thing. Why would I want to spend my hard earned money at a business where the proprietor despises my skin color. Betsy...you haven't been exposed to the racist filth coming from the mouths of people you wouldn't expect. Mothers with their kids in a stroller standing there and yelling "timber niggers" and "wagon burners", and then running to the mainstream media and telling them how their children are scared. What bullshit. Instead, I see a whole new generation of racists starting to grow considering the way their parents act, and all that means is my little niece and nephew will have to deal with this Caledonian kid calling them timber niggers and wagon burners twenty years from now. you don't see that. I've not seen that concept in any of your posts. Instead, you've justified the racist ravings of these Caledonians by saying that they are only doing that because of the Native protestors, hence the Natives deserve it, or in classic holocaust-denial fashion, you try to tell enskat that his video of drunken Caledonian thugs hurling rocks and insults at Native protestors (who, mind you, don't say much other than offer the odd riposte, as they've been asked to do and as I've said often enough) is possibly an altered video designed to make Caledonians look bad. Give me a break. I go there. I see what happens with my own eyes, I hear what's being said....and I'm damned happy to see what many Caucasians truly think about Native people in general. After having seen this for myself, I think that Native people will need to take steps to prepare to defend themselves. that might sound provocative, but look at the kinds of opinions we see even here. We have people like riverwind who believe that signed legal agreements are to be ignored, or folks like Kindred who feel that the army should be used against Natives to beat them into submission, or like Montgomery Burnski, who wants to hunt Natives with a gun in Regina. These people all get to vote, and I'm sure that they would vote for any government that promised to ignore the law and deal harshly with the Natives. ...and all because the province saw fit to sell land that was supposedly put on hiatus when Six Nations switched from litigation to negotiation in 1995. The Feds had 11 years to deal with this, or go back to court, and they did, and continue to do, nothing. Well...I don't see the feds having fireworks or rocks shot at them, or racist names being yelled at them. no, the Caledonians go for the natives because no on goes to jail for doing that to them!

Natives are not demanding rights to the land - they are demanding special privileges that no one else is allowed to have. Fee simple ownership of land should be more than sufficient to address old treaty obligations but many natives insist that they should be entitled to a special kind of land ownership because they are aboriginal. This is not about inheritance or contracts to be honoured - this is about one ethnic group thinking that they are superior to all others and demanding that the gov't give them privileges that no other ethnic group has. Actually River, I'd much rather have the land back any day. The rights exchanged for the original land purchase I can do without. I've even posted that on other threads. I'd gladly give up tax exemption, and all treaty rights in exchange for the land at anytime, on anyday and anywhere. Although I do have one question. Could you enlighten me as to what "special priviledges" Natives have been demanding? I know I must sound like a dullard, having previously worked on land claims and court cases and stuff, but I'll admit that I'm not aware of any special priviledges.

AMEN Kindred: Don't bother aiming posts at me. GC has already responded to you on the same subject in a concise and telling manner. The most I can do is agree wholeheartedly that you believe that you are somehow responsible for the inventions of others solely based on your skin color. GC and I find that, well, kind of a stupid argument. In fact, I was watching the movie "Slapshot" last night, and I had a heck of a laugh during the scene where Paul Newman's character teases the goalie named Hanrahan for having a lesbian wife. Hanrahan makes the point that if his wife is a dyke, then that makes him a "fag". I started laughing because I thought that certainly was a "Kindred" argument. In fact, I'll probably refer to those types of situations as "a kindred" from now on.

Live: Good, then we agree on something! I'll admit that not every Native knows much about forest management, let alone environmental consciousness, but education is the key to overcoming this issue Canada-wide. I also feel that enforcement 9on lakes and in the bush) can be linked to a greater degree with S & R and Fire, and that conservation officers need broader and stronger powers to enforce laws. I also think that they need to work in teams of three because some of the worst situations can occur way back in the bush. I'd also love to have a cop have the power to board a pee boat and arrest the pee'ers...slap them with a four digit fine and then see who laughs. What kinds of resources were you into? Where you public or private sector, if you don't mind me asking.

August: Ya call's 'em as ya sees 'em, bud.

GC: Hey...you read Kindred's post, eh? I had a good laugh too. I always get a kick out of white folks taking personal responsibility and credit for everything under the sun, like Kindred actually invented the phone and snowmobile. The funny part is that they always do that because they happen to share the same skin color as the inventor. That would be like me saying that I'm responsible for the success of actors like Adam Beach because I'm native too. HaHaHa.... I see that you picked up on that point too. However, I don't see people like Kindred claiming responsibility for the holocaust in Europe because he has more in common with Hitler vis-avis skin color than I do, but it must be that selective, tunnel-vision style of thinking that so many have here.

traditionally, a person should urinate and defecate at least seven man-lengths from a water body, like a lake or river. Unlike the drunken non-Natives partying it up on the houseboats of Ontario, we don't piss directly into a lake that everyone else is swimming, fishing, and sometimes, drinking from. I hope that helps Canuck. We need you to do your bit for the environment too. Considering that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources came down to Toronto to ask me to advise on the forest management plan for Nipissing district, probably, but I'm not going to identify myself because I don't want people stalking my children. What I can do is point at North Battleford and Walkerton and say "nice job, guys...way to poison and kill people that relied and trusted you for clean drinking water". Now that I think of it, why don't you come down to southern Ontario and drink straight from Lake Ontario or Lake Erie....I dare ya....

I never said they were. I just said they aren't any better at it that whites or non-natives. And they won't be. No racial group will be. Environmental protection really starts with attitude. And no group has a monopoly on that! This isn't a race question, but rather a question of experience, lad. I can point at my experience in northern Ontario, and the traditional forestry management knowledge acquired there. That is why I have a concern with watersheds and their management. No one else ever thinks about managing water or forest on a watershed basis, even though that makes much more sense given the lay of the land, and yet many bands practise that style of management. Even the province has taken on many Native management suggestions, like shelterwoods, selective cutting and buffer zones. For example, when timber cruisers first set foot in the Northern Ontario forests (south of the James Bay watershed), most of the cover was mature red and white pines. We know this from old forestry records. Clear cutting began immediately, with the idea that whatever is cut will grow back into the same for forest. Unfortunately, the timber people found out that what grows back is what grows the fastest, not what was most mature. Now current northern forests are a sea of poplar and birch, interspersed with the occasional pine. The Indians living there knew this would happen, but no one listened to them because of attitudes like Canuck's, who assume that non-Natives will always know better. Therefore, current forest and water managment practices can use traditional Aboriginal knowledge to improve the basic strategy and maintain the forest/water interrelationship. Hence, it is experience and not "race" that matters. Just because the Indians happened to live in these areas since the ice melted has more to do with it than their skin color.

Well, as a Native, I know that our traditional boundaries incorporated whole watersheds because it was common knowledge (to us, I guess) that what you do in one spot affects the whole watershed. Now Caucasians have this habit of using water as boundaries, whether national or regional. In their infinite wisdom, this means that the filth disgorging from the American side of the Niagara River gorge goes into the Niagara river, where it makes its' way via the currents east around the south end of the lake, and then swings back west on the north side. Therefore, Toronto gets to quench its thirst on American industrial waste. Or Ottawa gets to drink Hull's pee, and recent water events in North Battleford and here in Ontario clearly indicate that our Caucasian neighbours are having a tough time just handling water. Even the water system at Kashechewan was built by Caucasians...after the Indians said they didn't want to live there. But we aren't done yet. Who was the fool that tried to graft the square pattern township lines in the Canadian shield? Using this system to divine regional boundaries for little things -like forest fires- means that North Bay district has to respond to fires on the west side of the Ishpatina ridge/ Sturgeon river system, instead of Sudbury district, who can drive there, and take a boat to any site west of the Sturgeon. North Bay has no choice but to respond by helicopter, which is infinitely more expense than a car and boat. somebody was obviously thinking. ...and we haven't even started on tree management yet... Live China, can you prove that Natives are incapable of managing the land and water they live on? i've seen the tourists pissing into the Lake from their rented houseboats, so I know they don't care. They just go back to wherever they come from with the obiligatory hangover and another story about a drunken weekend.

Kindred: Well, if I must suffer from your moving away, then that's just a chance I'll have to take. For some reason I think you believe I do. Fortunately, I do have some of the skills needed to live off the land (in northern Ontario). I'd be lost on the prairies, or in the mountains. I am being honest with myself. If you took away all your tools and houses, we'd just make more tools and build more houses after you leave. Do you think Natives are skilless and stupid? don't you think that there are Natives who know the smelting process? or are tool and die makers? carpenters, contractors? Go ahead, take all you want, but you can't take the knowledge in our heads. Sorry....and have a nice trip. I'll keep the country warm until you make it back here.

As it stands to today crown land is owned by all Canadians and the elected representatives are responsible for managing that land for the good of all. You want to change it so Crown land is owned by a small group of Canadians identified by their ethnic origin. Such a system is basically Apartheid by another name. If natives want to have collective ownership of the land then they can form a corporation and purchase that land like any other Canadian. Land claims settlements could include the cash necessary to make the purchases, however, these native corporations would still be subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws. Creating 'aboriginal title' land category simply entrenches racism into our land ownership structure and is completely incompatible with the prinicpals of liberal democracy. Fee simple title is all that is necessary to provide a stable economic base for aboriginal groups. Ok...that's it. I made a promise to myself that if River brings up the "race-based" thing again, i'll agree with him. River: You are right. The Treaties were signed because Indians were taller on average than Caucasians, so you are right about race. The Caucasians looked in awe at these tall people and just had to sign perpetual agreements with them. Ok...so I'm being sarcastic, but it just happens so naturally around you. As for the "apartheid" and "race-based" claptrap, the problem you are displaying is that you are making the Indians out to be one people again. When I am referring to land and water, I'm referring to my own Nation's traditional area. I have no interest in what happens among the Haida, Blackfoot, Inuit people or the Mik'maq. Just the approximately 4000 square miles that was my Nation's traditional area. I believe that this is substantially less than 100% of Canada. As for democracy...you are likely correct in your opinion. Voting of any kind may not matter, or maybe it would. As far as I can tell, traditional Native governments did not operate on a voting principle, so they may not in the future. However, that mechanism might be adopted if people are monetarily taxed, but that would be up to the people to decide. I know that your heart and soul are wrapped in democracy, but let's be honest...has it been proven to be a good form of governance in this world? Remember, what works for you is not necessarily best for all. Tradionally speaking, only Crane clan people would be political leaders because that is the inherent strength of that clan. The Bear clan people would be the Warriors, or police, because that is one of the inherent aspects in that clan. Being part of the hoof clan means that I'd gravitate towards teaching, possessing knowledge and education. However, the Creator may give people in the various clans special gifts that make them stand out in the community, so that they may become leaders or teachers instead of what they normally would settle into. Likewise, when something disastrous like a wars ensues, then everyone has to become a warrior. I'd love to go on and on about traditional governance, but I know it would be lost on you.

Kindred: Oh...it would just break my heart, but don't let me stop you from moving away. Please, do take everything and go. You would be teaching me an important lesson, and I'm sure I'll suffer unbearably without your presence...but feel free to leave, and take everything with you! This is likely the best thing I've seen you say yet, but for some reason, I think you like your life here, so you'll probably stay anyway. darn...