Occupy Vancouver Day Two: The devil you know

Day two and more tents are up as the protest continues. There was a brief break in speakers for some song and dance. They played you say you want a revolution by the Beatles as well as a few other non violent activist songs. Turns out New York has a live stream for their protest and Julian Assange spoke at the London protest. An interesting thought from Toronto:



Here's another valid point coming out of New York:



Wall Street does need Adult Supervision. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is defending Ottawa's record on banking regulations. Banking regulation is not a dirty work. The right though the less red tape the better chances a free market has to succeed. In reality, deregulating the banks just paved the way for more investment fraud. That is the key.

I know every time we have a protest the Marxist Leninist party shows up and I know everybody thinks it's cool to wear a Che Guevara T-Shirt but we need to be mindful of how sometimes the devil we know as bad as it is, is better than the Devil we don't know. Let us remember Poland.

Hitler burned his own parliament building and blamed it on terrorist to gain public support to give him the powers of a chancellor. Then he burned a German radio station to gain public support for invading Poland.

Now let's remember how Poland was royally screwed. Lenin promised to help "liberate" Poland from the Fascists. He told the Polish underground resistance to attack from within and they would attack from the outside and outflank the Nazi enemy and liberate Poland.

Well the Polish resistance did indeed strike but Lenin held back until all the resistance were pretty much destroyed by the Nazi's. Then, when the underground was exterminated and the Nazi's weakened, Lenin sent his troops in to take over and bring Poland into bondage not into Liberation. That is an important part of history to remember. We need to address the fraud in Wall Street but we don't need to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Occupy Vancouver

What a wonderful day for a protest. The Occupy Vancouver Wall Street Protest went off without a hitch. Very peaceful. Very well represented.



Guy Faux was even there.



Interesting concerns about the legal liabilities of Corporations.



A lot of references to the Bull of Wall Street.



Even references to castrating the Bull.



A call to abolish the Federal Reserve.



Acorn was present.



A call to Water board Wall street.



An add about George Bush's upcoming visit to Surrey.



There was even a group of people meditating.



Tents are being set up for the occupation.



A stroll down memory lane past the old Vancouver stock Exchange. How ironic. Perhaps the focal point of the entire demonstration. Vancouver no longer has a stock exchange because they couldn't control the corruption. It was full of fake pump and dump stocks.



Cars broke out signs waiting for the march to pass.



Heart warming singers.



Talented musicians.



A call for money to be spent on housing instead of war.



An inspiring graphic design artist making free souvenir T-shirts. He was just accepting donations for more shirts. He ran out pretty fast but said he'd be there all week. If you bring your own shirt I'm sure he'd silk screen it right there for you. He designed the logo himself.

It says Occupy Vancouver with an open hand and the saying "You can't shake someone's hand with a clenched fist." A lot of calls for peaceful demonstrations and it was very peaceful indeed. A great start to an important message. Oh yeah, the 911 truth movement was well repressed too. Imagine that.

Shooting at Hells Angels funeral

Despite a heavy police presence at a Hells Angels funeral in San Jose on Saturday, a top bike-club enforcer nicknamed "Mr. 187'' after the state penal code number for murder was gunned down Saturday in front of stunned spectators.

Multiple sources told this newspaper the victim was Steve Tausan, a notorious sergeant-at-arms for the Santa Cruz chapter of the club suspected of killing another biker years ago.

San Jose police would not confirm the identity of the shooting victim, but did report that he was pronounced dead at a hospital at 1:44 p.m. Sources said the incident Saturday was an inter-club squabble set off when Tausan punched a fellow biker and the biker retaliated by shooting him. Police have no suspect in custody but are interviewing several witnesses, according to San Jose police spokesman Jose Garcia.

The funeral at the Oak Hill Cemetery was for fellow Hells Angel Jethro Pettigrew, president of the San Jose chapter of the club, who was shot in a Sparks, Nev.

William Mastop

Speaking of the Vernon Greeks trial, what's up with that lawyer who was charged with them, William Mastop? His bail conditions say he can't practice law right now. Seemingly the no-contact orders attached to Mastop’s release cover past or current members of the Hells Angels or the Greeks.

The Vancouverite claims Cops said Mastop also had alleged “dealings” with the Calgary chapter of the Hell’s Angels and the Kelowna East Side chapter. I guess the Calgary connection would be through Zenon Stepkowski.

His case should be going to trial this year. I've never seen Napoleon Dynamite with a gun but I'd imagine he'd loom a lot like this. Kinda reminds me of Dwight from the Office. A white collar nerd trying to be a gangster.

Another man gunned down in Edmonton

Edmonton Homicide investigators are probing yet another case after a man was gunned down outside a northside apartment building around midnight. The victim was shot outside the building near 132 Avenue and 67 Street. He was transported by ambulance to hospital but died of his injuries.



The case is being probed as the city's 43 homicide of 2011. Police tape still blocks access to the apartment building, which is directly across the street from Balwin Elementary School. As officers combed the scene Friday morning, children played in the school ground just yards away. The investigation is focused on the parking lot behind the Bayview Manor apartments.

Meanwhile the Edmonton Sun is reporting the names of the victims shot in the SUV at Rosehill Cemetery Tuesday are Trevor Greenway and Jason Trundle. Turns out our tip was right. The media asked me where I got the info from and I just said it was an anonymous tip but there was a facebook memorial page already set up. Looks like the media got the information from the family and friends not the police.

I'm not sure why the EPS would hold that information back. Surely they're not trying to hide the fact that some of their record breaking homicides has something to do with the drug trade. Why would they want to hide that? You'd think they'd want more resources to address the problem.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Monday afternoon. If the death is officially confirmed to be a homicide, it will be the 43rd in Edmonton this year. If it's confirmed to be a homicide? How can they say that with a straight face? Three fatalities in three days from shootings and they still have to determine if those suspicious death are actuality homicides. Give me a break.

Meanwhile Edmonton police charged two men in a shooting last Tuesday night at an apartment building in southwest Edmonton. The two men, aged 23 and 27, were arrested in Sherwood Park on Wednesday and charged with aggravated assault, robbery, wearing a disguise with intent, forcible confinement as well as various firearm charges. Yet their names have for some mysterious reason not been released. Sounds like a lot of strange things going on in Edmonton.

Police will no longer probe police

B.C. police who are involved in an incident involving death or serious harm will no longer be investigated by fellow officers, the province's attorney general announced Wednesday.

Shirley Bond said the government is creating a civilian-led body to conduct criminal investigations into incidents resulting in death or serious injuries involving municipal police and RCMP.

The chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office will be in place by the end of the year and the team will begin investigations in the first half of 2012, added David Loukidelis, deputy attorney-general.

Three cheers. Now that's better than another stat holiday. There is irony in a civilian body conducting a criminal investigation but I think the public's intent is to have police misconduct allegations reviewed by civilians not by more police.

Now for the impossible dream and get the intelligence agencies publicly accountable and subject to the law. Like that's ever going to happen.

Oppal's tab keeps growing and growing

Michael Smyth made a good point. He said the least-surprising development at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry so far is that it will last much longer, and cost much more, than previously anticipated.

Everyone knew this inquiry was ripe to transform into the political circus it's become, and Wally Opal is not known for his efficient work habits — especially when he's bagging $1,500 a day plus expenses. Now hang on to your wallets. On the very first day of the inquiry, Opal's chief counsel confirmed what everybody had been expecting — the budget and deadline are likely to be blown out of the water.

Wally Opal is financially benefiting from this circus side show. I can't stomach reading all the bs drama about the inquiry venting on the police. What a side show. What a waste of money. The real issue is who else was involved, who killed all the other missing women and which drug dealers are pushing Native Women out of hotel windows in the Downtown East end over drug debts. The real questions aren't being asked.

Guantanamo Bay detainee denied entry to Canada

Guantanamo Bay detainee denied entry to Canada while George Bush who vetoed the bill to stop the CIA from torturing prisoners is welcomed in as well as Dick Cheney who's company Haliburton made a killing from the invasion of Iraq based on a lie. This is so wrong.

Since Stephen Harper fired and slandered the whistle blower for leaking out the fact that Canada was knowingly handing over prisoners in Afghanistan to be tortured, perhaps he just doesn't want Moazzam Begg to tell us about the torturing going on in Libya that Canadian tax dollars are supporting.

Another Edmonton Murder

Edmonton Homicide investigators spent much of Tuesday combing through a bullet-ridden black SUV - parked at a cemetery - that contained the bodies of two men. They're treating the deaths as suspicious but they need time to investigate before they can call it a homicide.

One would think that the bullet ridden SUV might be suspicious indeed. If it is determined to be another homicide it would mark Edmonton's 41st and 42nd homicide this year. Much more than the annual rate of 27 in 2009 and 2010 and has now broken the record from 2005 of 39.

One blog reader claims that the murder victims are Trevor Greenway and Jason Trundle which has yet to be confirmed. I'm not sure why the police aren't releasing the names of the victims. Seemingly Greenway has a criminal history which includes two years in custody for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in Saskatchewan. Gee there's a gang war going on in Winnipeg...

Bacon brothers parents drawn into drug deal

Locally, Jarrod Bacon's parents and the mother of his child were drawn into the accused's alleged cocaine conspiracy, a judge heard Tuesday. Bacon, 28, and Arnold Wayne Scott, 55, have each pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic cocaine in Abbotsford and elsewhere in B.C.

After Bacon indicated he had up to $3 million in financial backing to buy and then traffic up to 30 kilograms of cocaine a week, police tried to arrange the first transaction of 10 kg. In the weeks leading up to the transaction, Scott passed on information to his daughter, Carly Scott, to forward on to Bacon himself, court heard. Carly is the mother of Bacon's child.

Later in August 2009, on the day of the transaction, Scott was captured on police intercepts discussing the drug deal with G.L., prosecutor Peter LaPrairie said in his opening statement Tuesday. Scott told G.L. that on the previous day he had met Bacon at Scott's residence in Abbotsford to discuss the transaction, LaPrairie said. "Mr. Scott indicated that Mr. Bacon's parents were present for the meeting and they indicated suggestions for how to carry out the transactions." What a deranged family.