More Gang Shootings in Vancouver

Although gang related shooting have eased off slightly this year from last year, there still continues to be spikes in the violence which makes tracking every shooting impractical.

However, I will cite a recent one which reaffirms the disproportionate response to justice in BC. Seizing your car for two drinks while letting gang members run around with guns shooting each other in public and saying it's OK the victims were known to police doesn't make sense. The amount of gang members in BC who have guns and use guns yet receive no real consequence for doing so is staggering.

A masked gunman armed with an assault rifle lay in wait outside Best Neighbours Restaurant early Sunday -- then shot 10 victims Rambo-style, spraying dozens of bullets.

The shooting was apparently retaliation which was likely a retaliation for a retaliation and so on... Const. Jana McGuinness said all the victims had gang affiliations and no one outside of their group was shot.

Seizing your car after two drinks is wrong

The Vancouver Province ran an interesting article about an experiment they did testing just how many drinks you can have before you are over the new legal limit. A great idea because there is so much ambiguity about it, no one really knows. The rule of thumb is one drink is safe, two drinks is not.

Obviously other factors like how much you weigh, over how long of a period you consume the drinks and whether or not you eat with the drinks are other relevant factors. Nevertheless, the general conclusion of their test showed that Reporter Damian “Grizzly” Inwood, 60, 190 pounds, six feet tall, blew .067 after two sleeves of strong IPA.

So there you have it. Two pints of strong beer for a grown man is over the new legal limit and will not only see you get a roadside suspension and a criminal record, it will see your car seized. Having your car seized for two drinks is just plain wrong. Even the Vancouver police complain about how that's tying them up and preventing them from doing real police work. It crosses the line in turning us into a police state where the government controls every thing we do.

I am not advocating rights for drunk drivers. I'm saying that when a grown man has two drinks, he should not get his car seized. To do so is wrong and becomes intrusive on our civil liberties relating to both protection of property and one's mobility rights. Over .08 is a different story. That definitely warrants an impaired charge but even seizing the car at .08 is intrusive. Warning at .05, impaired charge at .08 and seizing the car at .10 - that would make more sense.

Ethan Barron is a pretty bright guy and a great columnist. Yet when he writes an editorial claiming after their experiment "We prove the new .05 limit is a good one" I'd have to say no you didn't. You just proved it's absurdity.

Same with the new speeding laws. They are seizing the cars too soon. It becomes way too intrusive. It perpetuates the dilemma. We ask Ottawa for mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and they respond with mandatory minimum sentences for possession of pot. That is nonsense. Our prisons are overcrowded as it is. More realistic sentences for violent crime would be just. Sending everyone to jail for minor infractions would be fiscally irresponsible.

Take a look at the Hollyburn Killer. Here's a guy that gets sent to jail in 2008 for committing murder. He stabbed someone more than 30 times and only gets a 5 year sentence. That was in 2008. Now he's applying for early parole again. Family of the victim are hopeful he won't be released before two thirds of his sentence is served. Two thirds of a five year sentence for committing murder and he's out of jail automatically. That is statutory release.

The family is just trying to make sure he doesn't get out before then. 3 and 1/3 years for murder is insane. Yet we are too preoccupied with seizing people's cars after they have two drinks. You have now entered the Twilight Zone. Welcome to Beautiful British Columbia.

Hogtied and Tasered

40 per cent of cases in Canada in which someone died after being hit with a Taser stun gun the person was hogtied. As a result, the watchdog over the RCMP is urging the police force to clearly tell officers not to hog-tie people and use the generally forbidden technique.

The next obvious question is, why on earth would the police taser someone after they were hogtied? That makes no sense whatsoever. The whole law around the use of reasonable force authorizes force to be use to restrain someone not punish them. After someone is hogtied they are restrained. There is absolutely no legal justification to taser someone after they have been hogtied at all. To do so would be a violation of the law and just cause for a civil law suit.

Personally I oppose the type of taser that shoots out an electrode where after impact the officer can crank the voltage going into the suspect like a shock therapy horror movie. I heard one officer rationalize it's use when the person had a knife and was attacking. The projectile taser was safer. I'll admit that does make sense. Yet if someone is hogtied they aren't in the act of chasing someone with a knife. Tasering someone after they are hogtied is a violation of the law.

The next obvious question is about the act of hogtying. The article states that hogtying is a generally forbidden technique even though it was used in 40 per cent of cases in which someone died after being hit with a Taser. That would imply that the "generally forbidden technique" isn't generally forbidden and is still being used in Canada.



That brings us to the case where a 15 year old girl was left hogtied in her cell in Victoria. Leg irons is different. Often a dangerous offender will be put in leg irons as well as handcuffed when being transported to and from court.

Hog tying is when the feet and the hands are bound together and the feet and hands are shackled tightly so the feet have to be raised. When the person gets tired it puts pressure on the hands and the whole body. It is cruel and inhumane. Leg irons is common and acceptable. Hogtying is not and should never be used. Tasering someone after they are hogtied is simply criminal.

Julian Assange - WikiLeaks Master

There are a few things I want to say about the Wikileaks controversy but first I want to touch on an editorial in the Vancouver Sun by Peter McKnight called The sociology of secrecy.

Mr. McKnight states: "Politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum seem to agree on two things: First, the information WikiLeaks recently released is unimportant, irrelevant and was already in the public domain. And second, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be drawn and quartered for his act of high treason." That crucial observation is paramount but before diving in I want to touch on something else he said.

It's pretty obvious Mr. McKnight is highly educated. He goes into a deep philosophical reflection about how we as humans need to keep some things secret which in turn makes us who we are. He states "The act of keeping secrets about ourselves from others permits us to gain a sense of ourselves as separate from the rest of the world -that is, it allows us to form an identity."

He goes on to cite Harvard philosopher Sissela Bok, whose work is influenced by Simmel, puts it in Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation: "With no capacity for keeping secrets and for choosing when to reveal them, human beings would lose their sense of identity and every shred of autonomy."

When I reflect upon the solemnity of Mr. McKnight's discourse I'm forced to stop and respond with a "Narley Dude!" before I respectfully disagree. Without spending too much time explaining why I disagree I will simply state that I do not believe our identity is dependent on the secrets we keep. I believe that is an intellectual fallacy but It was a noble effort I'll have to admit.

I'm going to compare Julian Assange with Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn won a Nobel Peace prize for exposing Stalin's death camps. Indeed he revealed State Secrets. Revealing that Canada handed over Afghan prisoners to be tortured was a good thing. Whoever did reveal that. It is hypocritical for a Capitalistic society to give one person a Nobel Peace prize for exposing State Secrets within a Communist regime yet claim to do so within a Capitalist regime is treason. The logic fails miserably and is painfully obvious.

Today we also read about Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who received the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia. Liu asked for the prize to be dedicated to the "lost souls from the 4th of June" -- a reference to the massacre of protesters at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

I do think Liu Xiaobo is worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize as was Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I just think it's absurdly hypocritical to claim that when Julian Assange reveals things that are unfavorable that is treason and someone should assassinate him. That kind of thinking opens a huge can of worms which we shall no doubt dive into shortly.

Russian officials have suggested that WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange should receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Now isn't that ironic.

King and Queen Pinheads

The Vancouver Sun reported that Dale Habib is the president of the Kingpin Crew in Kelowna. Also known as the Pinhead crew according to the PI guy tracking their defaulted leased vehicles. Sounds more like a bowling league than anything else. I guess that makes Dale the Queen head pin. He's the one with the dirty knees. This must be his manpurse.



Since the Hells Angels always assign one person to be in charge of their puppet clubs, I wonder which one is in charge of the Pinheads? One person said Dale was friends with Richard who sponsors the pinheads affiliation. Another person said a Hells Angel with gold in his name might know the whereabouts of Geoff Meisner. Richard Goldammer is a name that fits the bill. Dic is listed as one of the owners of the Kelowna clubhouse.

Not to be confused with his brother Roger. After All Cycle Logic is a far cry from Downtown Cycle. So I guess Dic is the Kin Pinhead and Dale is the Queen. Go figure. I guess the show must go on. Sounds like a Bohemian Rhapsody.

B.C.'s Fractured Political Landscape

One thing the toxic Wrath of Kwan drama has shown us is that voters concerns were valid. The NDP can't run a peanut stand let alone a government. Yet the NDP is by no means the only fractured political party in BC. The whole political history of the Province is a mine field of sensationalism and extremism. The Social Credit party is gone and the Liberals are clearly on the brink of ruin just like Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives on the Federal map.

Voters in eastern Canada are much more stable than they are here in the west. Take New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for example. There voters sometimes vote how their parents voted. They don't seem to be as fickle as we are in the west nor do they seem to be as consumed with toxic drama. Perhaps they get enough of that from daytime television so they don't have the same need we do in BC to create our own drama.

The fast ferries scandal was no scandal. If the ferries worked, it would have created jobs and revenue for the province. Yet the Liberals intentionally milked that beyond what it was worth just to make voters think it was a big scandal. Gordon Wilson marrying one of his MLA's wasn't a big scandal - he married her. Yet that was enough of an opportunity for a used car salesman to take over the party he put on the map.

Bingogate wasn't a real scandal. Using Bingo to raise money for political contributions would reduce the panhandling politicians do in every mailing they send out. Even the hospital has a lottery. Fantasy Gardens wasn't a big scandal. You want someone in charge of your tax dollars who is good with money.

So what's the real deal? Why are we so fickle and why are we so addicted to the drama? I heard an Easter sermon once tittled "From Hosannas to Crucify Him." The minister talked about how Christ was welcomed to Jerusalem at the end of his mission with palm branches and cheers from the crowd. He was welcomed as a king. Yet as soon as he confronted the religious leaders at the time they had him arrested and in a very short time the cries of Hosanna changed to jeers of Crucify him.

That was a pretty extreme transformation in a very short time. It shows how fickle the mob is and how easily they are turned. Perhaps we would do well to adapt some of eastern Canada's stability here in the west. Let's use our brains and see through the sensationalism and the self serving drama.

Choosing a government should not be a survivor fashion show. Human nature does not want to be told the truth. They want to be lied to and flattered. That is why they keep electing used car salesmen. Why on earth are they then surprised when the liars they elect lie to them?

Gordon Campbell said one thing that was true. People don't like taxes. No one does. Yet we need taxes to pay for our services like roads, police, fire department, hospitals and schools. Yet wasting money by selling public assets to their friends like BC Rail or BC Hydro is simply bad business.

Everyone thinks Alberta is so great because it has less taxes. Indeed that is one of the things that attracts business to that province. Why on earth would we then elect an Albertan to raise federal taxes and introduce the Harper Sales Tax? That's why Reform revolted against Mulroney and now we see they have dropped the ball and have come full circle by becoming a carbon copy of what they set out to reform.

The people want a balance between fiscal responsibility and social justice. You can't have social programs without fiscal responsibility. Yet cruel heartless fiscal responsibility oppressing the elderly and challenged is just plain wrong. It's really that simply.

I cannot comprehend why we refuse to seek balance in life and in politics. It all boils down to not wanting to be told the truth and preferring to be lied to and flattered. Then somehow we are surprised when the liars we elect lie to us. It is a wild world indeed. Perhaps if we weren't so fickle and weren't so addicted to the drama we could use our brains long enough to make this world a better place. J'imagine.

Joseph Bruce Skreptak charged with Break and Enter

Kelowna Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak is now also facing charges of aggravated assault, assault, uttering threats and breaking and entering to commit a criminal offence in regards to an assault which took place at a Kelowna residence.

Another Kelowna Hells Angel charged with B & E. Sounds like Kelowna Hells Angels Robert Thomas. If the Hells Angels do B&E's then who are the real rats anyways? That's so Surrey rat car thief, not big time gangsters.

Jenny Kwan is a Political Tramp

Michael Smyth from the Vancouver Province wrote a painfully true synopsis of the Jenny Kwan drama and referred to it as the Wrath of Kwan mocking an old Star Trek episode. Several other media outlets have also coined the phrase. Others have referred to it as a Monty Python sketch.

When Cope swept the Vancouver civic election under the banner of Larry Campbell, it was a united grass roots movement as it was when Reform swept the West under the banner of Preston Manning in opposition to Brian Mulrony's fiscal irresponsibly. The infighting that Jenny Kwan is publicly festering is childish and selfish. 13 MLA's is not a majority so STFU.



When I saw photo's of Carol James disappointment the nobility was clear. Carol James has been the advocate for the people throughout Gordon Campbell's tyranny. She has consistently preached everyone matters. When I saw the disappointment on Carol James face it was not about her. It was not about her losing her position as leader of the party. It was about her disappointment that at the crucial opportunity her dream for the people and her vision for the future was being shattered by another political opportunist who wanted to change the vision and making all about her. A survivor fashion show.

Well that's not what this is about. This is about being fiscally responsible while retaining a semblance of dignity by having the kind of self respect that displays compassion for their fellow man. That kind of dignity Jenny Kwan can not understand.



When I saw a photo of Bruce Ralston, Mike Farnsworth and Adrian Dix standing beside Carol James in her crucial hour that's all I needed to see. I have seen all three actively involved in their community in grass roots activism on public safety and crime prevention issues relating to gang violence.

The picture reminded me of the scene from A Knight's tale when the hero was in the stockade yet his real friends stood beside him against the mocking crowd. The real King saw that and could see the man's nobility while standing in chains.

I still support Carol James and the Bill Vander Zalm coalition.

If there is a question of leadership there should be a leadership convention. Call the question, count the votes and stop complaining about democracy. However, it could be too late for that. The damage is already done. If Kwan becomes leader I certainly won't vote for the party and it has nothing to do with her being Asian. It's the other MLA's pulling her strings that concern me.

I think getting a multicultural presence is important, just not that way and not that kind of presence. We don't need more dirty deeds in parliament. God knows we have enough of that already.

It's kinda like how the Federal Liberals dumped Dion and said we traded in a dud for a stud. Well Iggy is certainly no stud and Dion was no dud. English wasn't his first language. I don't give a rat's ass what language the guys speaks, I care about what he says and what he does. Dion was way better than Iggy.

Iggy's just a used car salesman opportunist. He desperately wants to be Prime Minister and Harper desperately wants to "govern" with a majority so he can do whatever he wants like the Mulrony way of railroading the voters in the Harper Sales tax.

The Federal Liberals could have formed a coalition government with Dion at the helm. They threw that away for Iggy because they wanted what they perceived to be a stud when he clearly is not. Like I said, it's not a survivor fashion show. This is about human beings and displaying the kind of dignity that was removed from politics a long time ago.

Kevin Falcon is a Campbell Clone

The Langley Times ran an amusing cartoon about Kevin Falcon. It was referring to Kevin Falcon giving new leadership to the flailing BC Liberals. There were three drawings of him with the caption, What if he combed his hair? And then Bleached it? It showed if he did those two things he would look like a Gordon Campbell Clone.

Dianne Watts was the only person possible that could have given the BC Liberals a new direction in leadership. Everything else is the status quo that forced Campbell to resign and be the Premier with the lowest approval rating in the history of Confederation. They are the ones that froze minimum wage for so long. They are the ones that refused to listen to the public about the HST and even spent taxpayers money on televised addresses that they know better than the public who elects them.

Kevin Falcon will simply be a Campbell Clone like all the others.

David Giles and the Kelowna Hells Angels Plan

Well since some representatives from the Kelowna Hells Angels made the news recently, I'd like to know what Davie Giles says they were going to do with all those guns, ammo, balaclavas and cell phone jammers.

The prime suspect is full patch member Joseph Skreptak. He was one of the founding members of the Kelowna chapter. The interesting thing is, Davie Giles was caught on wire barking orders about the establishment of a Kelowna chapter.

He was clearly calling the shots and said he was "tired of drivin' a ... thousand miles, kilometres every two weeks" to attend chapter meetings in Vancouver. He said he was working with members of the East End chapter "to convince them how to feel comfortable with what we wanna do, and then go forward."

So... whatcha wanna do with all those guns and ammo? Surely a founding member of the chapter David Giles helped set up wouldn't do anything with Hells Angels colours unless he was on official business with the permission of the local executive. So surely David Giles had foreknowledge of the road trip and they had his permission. He sure must be a nice guy.

I don't think Juel Stanton was executed for robbing grow ops and taking them over for the Hells Angels. That part was doing the East Vancouver chapter's business. Speaking of Juel Stanton, how can the East Vancouver chapter make an executive decision without involving the executive of the chapter?

Why did the East Vancouver chapter hire Mickie (Phil) Smith and Yurik to murder Paul Percy Soluk at a crack house in Surrey? How could that decision be made without David Giles' knowledge and permission?

In 2005 police raided a grow-operation in a Kelowna house that East End Hells Angels member Joseph Skreptak owned, but had rented out. Skreptak was not in the house when the raid occurred, but his truck -- with a Hells Angels sticker on it -- was parked there and another Hells Angels sticker was on the front door of the home.

So what's the K Town Plan? Is it the same as the East Van Plan - to take over grow ops by force? That surely is what the evidence points to.

This "joint" article between the Vancouver Sun and the Victoria Times talks about the Hells Angels involvement in the stripper agencies in BC. We know CJ Spoon has ties to the Hells Angels. He was the guy that got house arrest from Peter Leask for trafficking cocaine for the Hells Angels. Now he's a dweeb on the Dirty running a stripper agency on Facebook.

We also know that Gino Zumpano was tied to Brandy's strip club in Vancouver. Mixed reports are coming in about how since Gino no longer works there the Hells Angels won't let any of the girls who work there work in any of their clubs. That would be another example of taking over a market not just participating in it.

We know the Hells Angels were involved with the Orange Number 5 in East Van as well as the Cecil. I hear the Cecil shut down and a new dive has opened up in Surrey in addition to Tbars. Both clubs recently allowed knives past their security which resulted in targeted double stabbings.

Being involved in the stripper business is one thing. Taking it over is another. Being involved in grow ops is one thing. Taking them over is another. Being involved in the BC Bud for cocaine trade is one thing. Using violence to take it over is another.

Glad to hear the Nanaimo chapter lost their appeal over their seized clubhouse. That's kinda like one step forward two steps back when we see how the courts are enforcing some of the criminal org legislation but not all of it in BC.