Magic Statistics

Someone left bags of marijuana on the windshields of vehicles parked at several churches in Elkton, Kentucky, last week.  Not exactly manna from heaven—not even close.

“We got the first call from Elkton Baptist,” said Patrolman Michael Ayersman.

Several people at the church found a little pot bag with a note that says, “Peace poles Native American right” tucked under the wiper blade on the windshield.

As Elkton police began their investigation, they learned marijuana also had been left on vehicles at two other churches in town — at Phillips Chapel CME and Westside Church of Christ.

By late Thursday afternoon, police had collected 47 pages, all with the same note.

Police have arrested Ronnie Turner, 44, and are holding him in the Christian County jail.  Mr Turner has refused to explain the cryptic note.  Since the churches were all close by a middle school, he has been charged with 47 counts of trafficking marijuana within 1000 yards of a school.

Why did he do it?  According to a neighbour, Turner says that God told him to.

h/t: Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors

Previous related post: Stupid criminal tries to cash cheque from God

Calvin Helin (photo at right), a young aboriginal lawyer from the Tsimshian people of BC's north coast, has taken on the complex of problems at the root of native privation in Canada.  He rejects the culture of welfare dependency and entitlement, federal government paternalism, and the "Indian Industry" of chiefs and consultants who have a vested interest in the status quo.

Sounds like someone grievance-mongers would dismiss as an "apple Indian" (red on the outside, white on the inside), but he is surprised and gratified by the support he has received.

What Helin is calling for is "an Aboriginal 'glasnost' " similar to what Mikhail Gorbachev brought to the Soviet Union. He wants nothing to be beyond discussion, whether it be the vested interest of politicians involved in aboriginal affairs or the nagging stereotype of the lazy aboriginal who prefers welfare to work.

He is particularly tough on chiefs across the country, charging that a great many have no interest in anything but "keeping the gravy train going."

He is, surprisingly, no great fan of the Kelowna Accord struck by the previous Liberal government, an agreement reached by the various levels of government that would have seen $5-billion directed into aboriginal education and the eradication of poverty.

Poverty is also a priority with Helin, but for him the accord doesn't go far enough. "Unless you have a blueprint, a plan," he says, "you're just dumping money down a hole again."

Federal aboriginal policy is a proven failure.  Billions are spent on natives every year to little effect.  If money alone could solve aboriginal poverty, it would have disappeared long ago.

The cornerstone of Mr Helin's vision for aboriginal Canadians is economic self-reliance.

"Self-generated wealth," Helin says, "is critical to Aboriginal aspirations of self-government. Without a revenue source independent of the federal government, Aboriginal communities will continue to be trapped in the cycle of poverty."

He is convinced that social dysfunction in Canada's indigenous community will not be alleviated until natives stop blaming others and take responsibility for their situation.

More information on Mr Helin's book, Dances With Dependency: Indigenous Success Through Self-reliance, is available here.

Previous related posts:

• Canadian reserves: Candidates for international aid
• Burqa critics ignore discrimination on Canadian reserves
• We have a right to be unaccountable
• Why are aboriginals over-represented in Canadian jails?