Dick Cheney Protest in Vancouver

Wow, I can't believe it. Dick Cheney is coming to Vancouver to speak during his book tour. Now I know I'm going to be ill. Dick Cheney is not just a war criminal and a war profiteer. He's a fraudster that embezzled trillions of tax dollars many of which ended up in his private company, Haliburton.

The Invasion of Iraq wasn't a mistake, it was a fraud. The Bush Administration said we know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. Tony Blair was in on the con. Then the British weapons inspector in Iraq leaked out the fact that Iraq didn't have Weapons of Mass Destruction and that MI6 was knowingly assisting the fraud by giving the media false information in Operation Mass Appeal. MI6 was caught red handed and the whistle blower mysteriously died of a suspicious suicide. Again.

Set aside the fact that is was an illegal invasion and occupation of a foreign nation. Set aside the oil companies lust for Iraq's oil revenue. (Which they failed to pass any savings on to the pump) Let's look at the trillions of tax dollars wasted in that fraud and let's look at who directly profited from that fraud.

Dick Cheney was directly involved with Haliburton, a privatized military scam that made a fortune from Iraq. That's not just conflict of interest. That's not just murder and foreign invasion. That embezzling massive amounts of tax dollars which has significantly put the US's debt ration in crisis. Unbelievable how we can let this kind of atrocity in Vancouver. We ban Nazi war criminals, why not him?

The Georgia Straight is reporting that Dick Cheney is coming to the Vancouver Club at 915 West Hastings Street next Monday September 26 to promote his book In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir. The event gets underway at 6 p.m. Protesters will be present. It's a dark day for Canada when we can publicly endorse that serious of a fraud.

What Surrey Wants

Whalley exchange has sure come a long way. I remember when they first changed the name to Surrey Central. We all laughed and said you can change the name but you can't change Whalley. But they did. Surrey used to be the car theft capital of North America. Those stats have dropped dramatically. We all use steering wheel clubs now. We have volunteers patrolling Guildford and Surrey Place Mall and we have the Bait Car Program. All have contributed to a successful reduction in car theft in Surrey.

There's been some geographical transformations too. Whalley exchange isn't a dirty bus loop any more. It's a clean centralized transit hub of activity. The new SFU campus on site looks awesome. Especially at night. The new Holland Park is great. Not to be confused with the other Holland Park on 144st and 104th. I have no idea why they gave two different parks the same name.

Nevertheless, the new Holland Park is awesome. They've kept several old growth trees but cleared away a lot of the underbrush which greatly improved visibility. The lighting also helps reduce crime by making everything visible. The new library under construction looks fantastic. Soon we're told City Hall will even move in to
Surrey Central. Those are some pretty dramatic transformations. Likely the police will continue to be vigilant at arresting crack dealers there when City Hall moves in. It's all good for the community.

We've come too far to let Stephen Harper throw it all away. Remember Surrey is Chuck Cadman's stomping ground so it is. We wasn't a politician, he was an activist. He started a group called CRY - Crime Responsibility Youth after his son Jesse was stabbed because someone didn't like his hat. He felt that young offenders who commit violent crime like murder should be charged like adults. His activism successfully lobbied for that change in legislation.



He became the MP for Surrey North and ran for the Reform Party. When the Reform Party merged with the same Mulroney Neocons they broke away from, someone hijacked a party meeting and signed up a whole bunch of new members right before a candidacy vote and ousted Chuck as the party representative for Surrey North. So he ran as an independent and won. He put Surrey on the map when that seat held the balance of power in a teetering minority government. Harper's government trying to bribe him was just one of many dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

Surrey also had Joan Smallwood, Sue Hammell and Penny Priddy. Penny Priddy was one who said at Dianne Watts Crime Prevention press conference "I'm here because I'm a mother. When it comes to crime, I'm more right wing than my political opponents."

Surrey has a history. The slogan for Guildford Mall is Rich History, Bright Future. Surrey Central logo is The Future Lives Here. Indeed it does. We do have a rich history and a bright future. We really have come too far to let a fraudster like Stephen Harper take it way from us. Or worse yet, claim credit for something he hasn't done.

Years ago the Spice Girls wrote a pop song called What a Girl Wants. I don't know what a girl wants but I will tell you what Surrey wants. Surrey doesn't want a safe injection site. Surrey doesn't even like needle exchanges beside homeless shelters. When you put a needle exchange and stop exchanging needles and just hand out free needles beside a homeless shelter that homeless shelter become a drug house and our complacency has enabled it to become such. Letting crack dealers sell crack outside needle exchanges is wrong. Having a needle exchange beside and in the same building as the homeless shelter is wrong. We should keep the Front Room and move the needle exchange.

Ill tell ya what Surrey wants. Surrey doesn't want you to hand out free crack pipes at taxpayers expense. Surrey doesn't want you to let people sell or smoke crack in public. Ticketing someone for speeding, smoking or seizing your car after two drinks is disproportionate when you let crack dealers sell crack in public. What are you thinking?

Surrey doesn't want mandatory minimum sentences for pot. Surrey wants mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime like murder. Surrey wants mandatory minimum sentences for prolific offenders who steal regularly to pay for their crack or their meth addiction. Surrey wants mandatory minimum sentences for selling crack not pot.

It is clear that Harper lives in his own world. His ivory tower that is very far removed from the grass roots public that Chuck Cadman was so in tune with. It is clear that we need to address these issues provincially and municipally. City Hall funds the police and can set policing goals and priorities. So can the Province. Harper lives in his own world but we are the ones that have to defend our homes and our community. We can do that through City Hall and the Provincial government because Harper's Government refuses to listen. We can't quit now. We have come to far and we still have a bright future if we are willing to fight for it. If they can do it in New York, we can do it in Surrey.

Harper bungled the Crime bills

Harper totally screwed up the crime bills which is not surprising in the least. Interject I told ya so here. The Harper tyranny pats themselves on the back and claims: "Canadians want and deserve to feel safe in their homes and communities," said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson at a press conference Tuesday morning. "We are delivering on our promise to get tough on crime and stand up for victims and law-abiding Canadians."

That is a bold faced lie. As soon as they got their coveted majority, they cut funding for the RCMP and the Gang Task Force. Now they've introduced a long list of "crime bills" and not one word mentioned about crack or crystal meth. Instead we read that anyone caught growing five marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking would face six months in jail Anyone caught growing more than 500 plants would face at least two years in jail Imposes a minimum one-year sentence for anyone caught trafficking marijuana, with a maximum penalty up to 14 years from the current seven.

The cost of this proposal is simply outrageous and will crash our fragile judicial system just like in California. We needed mandatory minimum sentences for selling crack, cocaine and crystal meth not for pot. The Harper government is inherently evil and completely inept. They are liars. They say they are tough on crime but they are not. White collar crime is rampant in Mr. Harper's caucus and he refuses to deal with the real plague that is crippling our communities: crack and crystal meth. Shame, shame, shame.



Eathon Baron from the Vancouver Province pointed out in today's paper that under the new bungled crime bills a Child rapist will get less time than pot grower. This isn't just stupid. This is outrageous. I could shrug it off and say well I don't smoke pot so it doesn't really affect me but it does. I pay taxes and I live in the community. Raising taxes to put nonviolent offenders in jail is not something I support.

Mandatory minimum sentences will do nothing to curb the Hells Angels profit from all the grow ops they run. All the risk will be passed on to the owner operator while the real gangsters get off Scott free. Mandatory minimum sentences for pot growers means we will not have the resources to address the real concern, that is crack and crystal meth. Nor will it allow us to address the chronic offender insanity where the more property crime a crack addict commits to pay for his addiction, the less time in jail he serves.

We need mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime like swarming or murder, for chronic offenders who commit an insane amount of property crime and for selling hard drugs like crack or meth. That is what we need. Instead Harper took us to the other extreme knowing that is not what the democratic majority of Canadian citizens want just because he can. Mulroney knew we didn't want the GST. Campbell knew we didn't want the HST. Harper knew we didn't want mandatory minimum sentences for pot. Yet they all proceeded unilaterally just because they could. They will go down in history as scoundrels.

John Cummins is much more honest and trustworthy than Stephen Harper ever will be. We need old school Conservatives like Ron Paul not Neo Con fraudsters like Stephen Harper. Harper, Campbell and Mulroney share their own hall of fame. Scoundrels Forever Forever Scoundrels.

Blog Traffic

Not that it matters, but I thought I'd make a simple observation. It took us two years of blogging to break 1 million hits. We just hit our second million in the last six months. That's not including the website. The point is simple. Crack is bad. Letting crack dealers sell crack in public is bad. Reporting a murderer or a crack dealer to the police is not being a rat. Selling crack and shooting a brother over greed is.

Zoltan in Kelowna

Anyone in K Town heard of a kid named Zoltan? He supposedly was close to the Bacon brothers and is a Hells Angels associate. Then again, he might just be from outer space. That sure is some gang sign. Someone else thinks he's from Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania. He has a Hungarian name. The Hungarians in Romania live is Transylvania. K-9 is from Romania and he plays on the other team.

Khun-Khun shooting

The Montreal Gazette is reporting that the id of the Surrey shooting victim is Khun-Khun. I'm assuming that would be Jujhar Khunkhun who was arrested for trafficking cocaine in Nanaimo. Gee I wonder who would be shooting at him for trafficking cocaine in their area. Big surprise. Yet this guy didn't shoot Larry Amero or Jonathon Bacon. I can't find any police warning about him either.

These guys are just a Bindy or Bal Braindead remix. They are insignificant. Sure they are cold hearted and will kill their own. They'll even kill their own sister if they could make a buck off it. They're just not professionals. The Kelowna hit was a professional job. It was way out of their league.

I'm all for creating a scape goat and a diversion to let the real murderers slip through the cracks. I think we should spend more time and energy looking for who killed Geoff Meisner and Britney Irving than looking for who killed Jonathon Bacon. No one cares about that.

Kim Bolan has confirmed that it was Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun who was shot in Surrey Friday night. That Sukh Dhak is just plain ugly. Dhak and the Duhre brothers just aren't credible. Sure Peter Adiwal might have been involved with the Loft Six murder but that wasn't a professional hit. They just went shooting in a club. Donald Roming was a piece of garbage anyways beating up a senior citizen to take over the stripper agencies.

Yet Peter Adiwal owed John Punko money. According to court documents, every time Adiwal would set up a time and place to pay him back, the police would show up coincidentally. So Peter Adiwal was supplied by John Punko, owed him money and ripped him off. That's kinda what I mean about not being very credible.

The Police's Duty to Warn

A reader asked me what I meant by the police's legal obligation regarding their duty to warn so I thought I'd explain. It's rooted within the Jane Doe VS Metropolitan Toronto Commissioners of Police decision. In that case the police failed to warn the public after they realized a serial rapist was on the loose.

Jane Doe was one of the Balcony Rapists victims after four other women were targeted in similar circumstances. She sued the police for their negligence in warning the public about a serial rapist as well as their statutory duty to protect the public from criminal activity. She won and was awarded $220,000.00 in damages.

My use of the term duty to warn with regards to gang activity was simply a quote when Kim Bolan used the term regarding the recent shooting victim in Surrey. She said: "The 24-year-old has a history of police that stretches back to his late teens. When a gunman opened fire about 9:30 p.m. Friday, he was with others who have been the subject of police “duties to warn” because there are others out there that want them dead. The victim remains in critical condition. He is currently out on bail on trafficking charges."

On that subject, the only people I remember the police issuing a public warning about was the Bacon brothers and that came from the Port Moody Police so I am keenly interested in who the others the victim was with that were subjects of a duty to warn and are still loose in the community. Jonathon Bacon is dead. Jammie Bacon is in prison and I have no idea where Jarrod Bacon is. Who these other friends that were with the victim that have been the previous subject of a police duty to warn is clearly a matter of public safety. The police should not be withholding that information from the public.

What if someone living next door to them is not aware of the warning? What if one of their family members is shot dead in the cross fire when the gangs come looking for their neighbour? That family shouldn't have to sue the police for a wrongful death and for being negligent in their duty to warn. The police should do it because it's the right thing to do.

In the police's defense I will concede they are likely worried about their legal liabilities from both sides. More so from the criminal suing them then the law biding citizen suing them which happens much more often. The person who was shot in Surrey is well known to police and has was released on bail for drug trafficking. Releasing that name to the public is not a breach of his privacy rights. If he has been charged with a crime, it is not unlawful to state so. Gordon Campbell was charged with DUI in Hawaii. It is not slander to say that.

The fact that this drug trafficker was shot at in Surrey and the people he was with were the subject of a police duty to warn because people out there wanted them dead and they are now at large, that increases the legal liability ten fold. The citizens of Surrey should not have to file a class action lawsuit against the police for failing to maintain their duty to warn. The police should do it because it's the right thing to do. How can the police build bridges of trust with the community when they are still knowingly alienating them? That is why I say we have come one step forward and two steps back. If find it profoundly disappointing.

Another tragedy at the Regent Hotel

Another suspicious death at the Regent Hotel in East Vancouver Friday night. A woman fell from a six story window. A witness heard her scream help me right before she fell. This death falls upon the anniversary of another tragic death at the Regent Hotel where witnesses claim Ashley Machiskinic was pushed out of the window for a drug debt.

We know that Hells Angel associate Tony Terezakis was a convicted drug dealer who filmed himself beating addicts for drug debts at the Cobalt and the American Hotel in East Vancouver. This is why letting the Hells Angels have a monopoly on the drug trade in East Vancouver is not a good thing.

Another Surrey Shooting

Well John was right. Another gang related shooting in Surrey last night. I drove right by around 10:30 PM and saw the police cars and the blocked off street. Didn't realize it was another shooting. I did notice CBC had camera crews outside the Pho Hoa restaurant on 104 Ave and 144 next to the Hen Long market around that time.

Everyone is wondering if it's in retaliation for the Kelowna shooting. The police aren't releasing his name or gang affiliations other than saying he is known to the police and does have gang affiliations. It sure doesn't look like we're making much progress from the Surrey Six murder. All these guys are still known to the police but not known to the public. Surely there is a legal liability the police are breaching in withholding that information. It's really sad we can't all just work together. Why withhold that information and put the public at risk?

Kim Bolan is reporting that the Duhre brothers in Abbotsford are denying involvement in the Kelowna shooting. Like they would admit it if they were involved. Even the Hells Angels deny when they are involved in a shooting. I really don't think it was them though. Kim is also reporting that Larry Amero has been flown out of the province to recuperate from the shooting. Back in the day, people joined gangs for protection. Now that it's all about selling crack, joining a gang is like wearing a t-shirt that says shoot me.

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Wow. 1:00 PM Saturday and the police are still on the scene and the road is still blocked off. "Well known drug corner?" I'm not so sure about that. The 24-year-old has a history of police that stretches back to his late teens. Kim Bolan is reporting that When a gunman opened fire about 9:30 p.m. Friday, he was with others who have been the subject of police “duties to warn” because there are others out there that want them dead. The victim remains in critical condition. He is currently out on bail on trafficking charges

Subject of a duty to warn because others out there want them dead? Then who are they and who are they affiliated with? Revealing that would fulfill the legal obligation of a duty to warn. Withholding that would not. Looks like we've taken one step forward and two steps back with regards to the duty to warn. Looks like there were two unrelated shootings close by last night in Surrey.

Diary of a Vancouver beat Cop

There's been a few stories in the news about a new blog by Steve Addison called Diary of a Vancouver beat Cop. It's being billed as a new voice for the Downtown Eastside.

He claims Members of the Vancouver Police Department have a history of being on the cutting edge when it comes to using media to educate and inform people about the tragic and wasted lives on the Downtown Eastside. Indeed they have.

Sgt. Toby Hinton, (Ret.) Const. Al Arsenault and the rest of the Odd Squad led the way with Through a Blue Lens, produced in 1999 by the National Film Board of Canada. The officers carried video cameras on the beat to document the existence of several Downtown Eastside residents and their fight to survive.

I think highlighting the problems of East Van is a good thing. I don't think handing out free crack pipes to mental patients on the street is the humane solution to closing down mental institutions.

The other extreme I'd like to cite is the concept that some police claim that the 'Void' in drug underworld cause of biker war in Winnipeg. Just as the VPD want to highlight the social problems in the Downtown East side, I want to highlight the misconceptions that enforcement is wrong and being enablers is right. That is absurd.

The biker war between the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels support clubs was not because the police cracked down on the Hells Angels and the Zig Zag crew. It was because the Hells angels killed one of their own to let the Ontario Hells Angels take over the drug trade in Thompson Manitoba. That created an internal rift where Hells Angels members crossed over to the Rock Machine and fought back.

It had absolutely nothing to do with making Hells angel and Rock Machine arrests. If the Hells angels hadn't killed one of their own, they all would still be working for the Hells angels even after the Zig Zag crew were arrested.

Enforcement is not wrong. It is a civic duty. When you see the problems of the Downtown East Side you can see that enabling addiction is not humane. Giving an alcoholic alcohol is not the answer. Neither is letting the Hells angels have a monopoly on the drug trade and profit from all that exploitation.

The Hells Angels are recreating the social problems in the Downtown East side in smaller communities across the province and across the country. This greed driven exploitation needs to stop. We need to pull together to address the problem and over come it. It all begins with enforcement. That is the New York model. Letting crack dealers sell crack in public is morally wrong. We need to target the dealers not the addicts.