Women not Wanted in the RCMP

After my "get to the point" post about the latest RCMP harassment charges by a female officer in Surrey, one reader sent me a link to another case involving Sherry Benson-Podolchuk who wrote a book about her experiences in the RCMP entitled Women not Wanted.

I'll admit the situation is out of control. Bob Paulson has his hands full in turning the tide of arrogance and abuse within the force. He now claims women should have a greater role in RCMP leadership. True but just not any women. Women who are competent at the job. No doubt there are many. We just don't need the status quoe to recruit a handful of women to do their dirty work for them like Barbara George did.

Someone else sent in an article about two Manitoba Mounties convicted of beating a handcuffed prisoner. They illegally arresting an innocent man, beat him and then jointly tried to make him look bad in police reports.

This is another example of why the charter of Rights is so important and why the new US National Defense Authorization Act is so bad. In a free society, you need to be charged with a crime before being arrested. You are entitled to speak with a lawyer and have the right to a fair trial. The NDAA removes those requirements and lets the military arrest whoever they want, whenever they want and do whatever they want with them. If that act was passed in Canada, these two Mounties could not have been charged.

It appears that in the Manitoba case, pride was the root of the problem. Schulman convicted the officers of assault in September. He said the two officers “exaggerated” Papineau’s actions in their police notes and reports, not knowing the assault was captured on a security video.

They were outside a Grand Beach bar. The suspect complied and gave the police his id. The suspect admitted to snatching it back from the officer when he was done and started walking back to the bar. The officer then tackled him from behind, arrested him without charge, beat him while handcuffed and held him over night. The guy snatched back his id and the p=officers ego was bruised so he over compensated.

Again I'm going to say to fix the problem we need to begin at the beginning. We need to change Depot. We don't need to make it any easier. We just need to clean it up and get rid of the abuse. Sure officers face abuse on the streets. That doesn't mean they need to face it in the office as well. We need to empower officers to withstand abuse by building their self esteem not by teaching them abuse is acceptable and you need to abuse new recruits to teach them a lesson.

Recently, Ian Atkins, a retired superintendent was on The Fifth Estate and interviewed about a RCMP officer accused of assaulting and sexually harassing four female colleagues in the late 1990s. The female victims were also on the televised episode.

Former Governor of Illinois sentenced to 14 years

Now this guy really looks like Austin Powers. Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for trying to auction off President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat and a host of other corruption charges.

The Democratic governor was arrested in the midst of what prosecutors called a "political corruption crime spree" just weeks after Obama's November 2008 election. Blagojevich was convicted of 17 corruption counts in June after his first trial resulted in a hung jury on all but one of the charges.

Five of the past nine Illinois governors have been indicted or arrested for fraud or bribery. Blagojevich's predecessor, Republican George Ryan, is currently serving a six-and-a-half year jail term for fraud and racketeering.

Five of the past nine Illinois governors have been indicted or arrested for fraud or bribery. That is astounding. Here's a governor who gets caught trying to auction off a senate seat and gets convicted of 17 corruption counts. He's a Democrat. Usually we associate fraud and corruption with the Republican party but we have to open our eyes and see that it clearly affects both parties.

I want to know about Senator Dodd. Michael Moore highlights senator Dodd's involvement with mortgage fraud and he's told to cool it. What about the governor of New York? He's a Democrat. Catherine Austin Fitts claimed that under Andrew Cuomo's leadership "HUD was Being Run as a Criminal Enterprise."

The Coumotarp blog refers to Andrew Cuomo's Predatory Heart Of Darkness and claims: "As Secretary of HUD, Andrew Cuomo reversed the policy of selling defaulted mortgages so that families could keep their homes. Instead, he chose to foreclose on mortgages, which meant that families lost their homes and insiders cleaned up on fire-sale priced properties. The US Treasury also lost billions."

Retired US Navy Intelligence officer Al Martin claims Andrew Cuomo was involved with the National Heritage scam. Martin claims "Andrew Cuomo, through his father Mario's influence, was hired on as a consultant to the corporation. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Heritage Life at $50,000 per year. When Andrew became Director of HUD, Andrew helped cover up Heritage's scams vis-a-vis HUD. Heritage in turn not only buys up HUD property, but it also becomes its own insurer of HUD property. For example, it would claim that the insurance premium on XYZ property was $1 million a year, when in fact the insurance was only $100,000 a year."

Fred Broad looks like Santa

Speaking of Hells Angels and Pagans in New Brunswick, here's a guy called Teddy who one source states he claims he's with the Hells Angels and brags about getting Bacchus their 1% status. I'm not really sure that's something to brag about since Bacchus are the patron saints of homosexuality and their nose is so brown they have to wear a condom on it but to each their own.

Personally I think he looks like Santa with that red nose and rosy cheeks. Then again judging by the company he keeps that might just be the alcohol. The source claims Fred is friends with Roy Achy Breaky Gallant who seems to be involved with the Anarchy bikers baseball team. He was asking so many questions all the locals thought he was an under cover cop until he claimed to be with the Hells Angels. The source claims he's from Hamilton and isn't local. Perhaps he should stay home and lay off the sauce. What can ya do with a drunken santa?

Suspicious bombings in Afghanistan

Two suspicious bombings in Afghanistan don't fit the norm. It's the first time a religious sect has been targeted on a religious holiday. The Taliban denied responsibility for the "inhumane" attacks in Kabul and Mazar, blaming "the invading enemy" - an apparent reference to the 140,000-strong foreign force in Afghanistan.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force declined to address that claim directly but its commander, U.S. Gen. John Allen, condemned the blasts as "an attack against Islam itself."

Afghan Interior Ministry spokes-man Sediq Sediqqi, meanwhile, blamed Taliban-led insurgents while confirming the death toll as Karzai plots to stay in power.

We remember Karzai. He's the one who said an opium drug raid was a violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty. Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali, is a suspected player in the county's once again booming opium trade and is said to be on the CIA payroll according to the New York Times. Fahrenheit 911 claimed Karzai used to work as a consultant for Unicol but he denies that.

Karzai is a former associate of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and worked for the CIA during the Soviet invasion but so did the Taliban. Unicol didn't pull out of the oil pipeline by the way. They freaked after wining and dining the Taliban, the contract for the pipeline was given to Bridas an Argentina firm. After the invasion that decision was reversed.

We need to remember that Operation Northwoods was real. It wasn't the figment of someone's imagination. It was a declassified document signed by the Director of the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of staff. If Kennedy hadn't vetoed it, they would have done it. That is a historical fact. We need to remember that according to the Italian government, when that joint chiefs of staff was reassigned to Europe, later on a similar plan in Europe was actually implemented called Operation Gladio. We need to remember that after Kennedy was assassinated, President Johnston recalled the air support for the USS Liberty because he wanted that vessel sunk.

These are important fact to remember when we ask ourselves what on earth were two MI 6 agents doing in Iraq with a car load of explosives dressed as Arabs? They exchanged fire with the Iraqi police the British and Americans had put in power and killed one. When interrogated they said they were on a secret mission and they had to ask their superiors if they wanted to know what their secret mission with a car load of explosives dressed as Arabs was all about. England ended up leveling the jail and breaking them out of prison instead of disclosing what that secret mission was.

There are a lot of strange things going on in Afghanistan and around the world. We need to remember that false flag attacks are very much a part of our history and we need to be weary of such. Hitler burned down the German Parliament and blamed it on terrorists to gain judicial powers as chancellor. Then he bombed a German radio station and blamed it on Poland to gain public support to invade Poland. Lest we forget.

We need to remember the CIA's close ties to the Pakistan intelligence. Let us remember that Raymond Davis wasn't just a CIA agent in Pakistan, who also worked for Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, he was the acting head of CIA in Pakistan.

A US intelligence agent arrested after shooting dead two men was the acting head of the CIA in Pakistan and had been gathering intelligence for drone attacks, according to intelligence sources. Raymond Davis, a 36-year-old former special forces soldier, had taken command after the CIA station chief's cover was blown, according to reports. American officials insist he is entitled to diplomatic immunity and that he be released when he was arrested last February. The fact that the remote splinter group claiming responsibility for the Afghanistan sectarian bombing comes from Pakistan is very suspect. Did they also work with Raymond Davis and the elusive but still involved Xe?

Pinheads move into Salmon Arm

Oh brother, the pinheads are coming to Salmon Arm. Great. How's Mike and Sam's Oxycontin fraud case going? Are they able to afford motorcycle boots yet or are they still riding with bowling shoes?



One reader was having trouble posting their comment so e-mailed it to me. They claim that Salmon Arm has a drug problem. It's strange how in BC the police can't seem to keep up with the Hells Angels drug rings but in New Brunswick the police claim in a small town everyone knows everyone else's business and the drug runners are easy to spot like the grow op in 100 Mile House. One has to wonder how much of it is being overwhelmed and how much is looking the other way.

Another RCMP Civil Harassment Suit

I don't want to minimize the complaint or prejudice the case but in all fairness, this one is a little bit different than all the others. A Surrey, B.C., RCMP officer is suing the province's solicitor-generals ministry, the attorney-general of Canada and three RCMP officers, alleging she was harassed, demeaned and belittled by bosses who operated in an atmosphere of "fear and control."

OK just for starters that is totally within the realm of believability since it has been established that the RCMP control culture has been a problem for years. The most significant case of late was Cpl. Catherine Galliford. An attractive young officer who claims she was sexually harassed for years. Very much within the realm of believability.

Yet when you look at the actual allegations as reported in the media, Elizabeth Couture's allegations are a little bit different. She claims she was harassed not sexually harassed. She claims her problems began in May 2009 when she was promoted to corporal and appointed to work in the Surrey detachment's branch of the Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Service (DOCAS). I'm not sure what that awareness service is but that's beside the point.

In a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Couture says she was told that contact between co-workers was "highly discouraged" and that all conversations among co-workers had to be approved in advance.

She says she was questioned about her personal and social consumption of alcohol and informed that members of the management team abstain from alcohol socially and wish others to do the same. OK hold the door. With all the bad press the police have been taking with all the drunken police officers beating up civilians and raping coworkers, I think the RCMP's encouragement to abstain from social alcohol might be a wise idea for a while till things cool down.

Couture says she was warned against "rumour-mongering" and told not to contact two DOCAS colleagues she knew from previous work for the RCMP. Just how is warning an officer about rumor mongering a bad thing? Would it be agreed that was a good thing to do? Unless of course someone in that detachment was alleged to have committed an offense and that was the rumor they were trying to stifle.

In September 2009, while receiving field training, Couture overheard an officer speaking with his daughter on the telephone, with the daughter referring to Couture as the "crazy lady," she says.

The officer then phoned a superior officer on speaker phone to advise him of the incident and the superior officer laughed and said Couture should be nicknamed "CB" for "Crazy Beth," she added. "Couture was very offended and insisted that such talk cease," says the lawsuit.

So she listens in on a private conversation between an officer and his daughter. He was talking to his daughter not another officer. He was venting. At what point are we allowed to be human? Maybe she is crazy. Maybe she was this wing nut that was making their life miserable. She freaks out and calls her superior on the speaker phone. She's obviously doing some control and manipulation there trying to instill a little fear of her own. It's not like she's cowering in the corner completely innocent. It sounds like Dwight in the Office telling everyone they're in trouble because they're gonna call the boss on speaker phone so everyone can hear.

Point granted her superior laughing and calling her crazy Beth on the speakerphone was less than tactful. Did he know he was on speaker phone? OK he failed on showing empathy and being a good listener. Yet as a person in a position of authority he's supposed to support the open door policy of human resources.

"Members of the management team continually told Couture that she should focus solely on work and not gossip or "chit chat" with others in DOCAS, including directing Couture to refrain from extended morning greeting talk except for basic hellos upon arriving at the office," it says. Why would they say that? Why the direction against gossip? Was it because she had a reputation for being a busy body or was it because they had something to hide?

"During Couture's previous postings with the RCMP, she had no forced restrictions on her interactions with colleagues." Was that the reason she was transferred? Yet it said she was promoted. One would think if she was causing a problem in her last assignment she wouldn't have been promoted.

In May 2010, Couture said she was told she was "too wordy and that she must communicate with her supervisor in one minute or less." Ever heard the term get to the point?

So we're left with a lot of senseless speculation. I just wanted to point out this case was different. Certainly for all practical purposes the RCMP has become at best an old boys club of political incorrectness like a construction site. Yet one would expect much more from a force who's ego claims they are one of the most respected forces in the world. Sadly untrue.

There are a lot of really serious allegations on the table against the RCMP. Attending parties at Piggy's palace, blackmailing prostitutes into having sex with them, sexually harassing and raping coworkers. Those are very serious.

This whole violence against anyone including women is still continuing to be a problem. The recent march on Ottawa commemorated the women who were shot in the Montreal Massacre. That was a tragic event. The UBC student who went home to Bangladesh and her husband poked her eyes out. Tragic. The SFU student in Surrey who was murdered after having been assaulted by her boyfriend. These are serious acts.

Just as concerning is the murder of Dana Turner from Edmonton. Her boyfriend Mark is the son of John Lindsay, the Edmonton police chief who resigned after controversy of the department leaking information to the Hells Angels. Mark plead guilty to stabbing Lindsey in the head with a paring knife. He was given a conditional sentence and released on August 12 2011. Two days later the girlfriend he assaulted went missing and has never been seen since.

Mark was arrested September in Kamloops in a Mr Big sting where he stabbed an under cover police officer. No word on him being charged with Lindsey's murder. Now that is serious.

Lloydminster Cocaine Bust

Local police arrested five individuals and seized a kilogram of cocaine and more than $5,000 in cash in two separate vehicle stops. Lloydminster RCMP GIS Cpl. Shayne Hartwell said they were able to arrest both the dealer and the supplier of the drugs.

"There is organized crime alive and well in Lloyd and it's part of the cocaine trade," said Hartwell. "We've been keeping an eye on what is going on and at the end of the day it is knowing your community and knowing the people within the community that you need to be watching for."

No names have been released but the first question is are they affiliated with the FreeWheelers or the Hells Angels? Half way between Edmonton and Saskatoon. It's pretty obvious who controls the cocaine trade in that area.

Pagans visit Rock Machine in New Brunswick

So why did four van loads of Pagan MC members come to New Brunswick to meet with some Rock Machine members and a few local drug dealers last month? That is one saggy ass logo. It would appear that the Pagans have been charged with trafficking Crystal meth on the East Coast. We don't need any of that in NB. Looks like they certainly would give the Hells Angel finger puppets a run for their money. Note the ss tattoo on the guy's neck.

The National Defense Authorization Act

This is it. The National Defense Authorization Act is being called the most traitorous act ever witnessed in the Senate, and the language of the bill is cleverly designed to make you think it doesn’t apply to Americans, but toward the end of the bill it essentially says it can apply to Americans ”if we want it to.”

We thought this could never happen in North America. We were wrong. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights binds the government. The Senate's violation of those sacred documents is indeed illegal. It creates a Guantánamo for US citizens. Obama is legally bound to veto it when he made a plead to honour, uphold and protect the US Constitution.

NDAA the End of Our Republic.

‘Occupy’ Protesters Listed As Domestic Terrorists.

Rootstrikers: Republic Lost

A blog reader recently sent me a few links to Lawrence Lessig and his book Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress - and a Plan to Stop It. In an interview with Charlie Rose he is asked: "That’s not a democracy in your judgment because the few are making the decisions because of the power of their money and influence."

Then responds: "Right. So our framers gave us what they called a Republic. And what they meant by a Republic was a representative democracy. And what Federalist 52 says is that a representative democracy would be a government dependent upon the people alone.

Now, whatever that means, what we know is congress has evolved a different dependency; a dependency upon the funders and that dependency is different and conflicting with the dependency upon the people because the funders are a tiny slice of the people. If you ask who in 2010, what percentage of Americans maxed out in a contribution in a congressional campaign, the answer is .05%. So Occupy Wall Street says we’re the 99%, that’s bad marketing. They should be saying we’re the 99.95% who don’t have access and influence inside the system because we are not the .05% with the extraordinary power that funders within the system have."

Who is this guy? He even quotes the Federalist Papers. All of a sudden we have someone who makes sense. He's a professor of law at Harvard. Yet he's smart, he's not arrogant, and most importantly he makes a lot of sense. Turns out he has his own blog and has started and activist group called Rootstrikers which claims Wall Street should buy stocks not politicians. He even quotes Michael Geist. Three cheers!

The name of his activist group appears to come from a quote by Henry David Thoreau which states: There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. One would then assume that Rootstrikers are committed to striking at the root of evil.

Lawrence Lessig's point is how lobbyists can buy government. We clearly see the same thing happening within the Harper government. Lawrence Lessig has articulated the problem well which was also dramatized in Eddy Murphy's movie Distinguished Gentlemen. My focus's is how those bought votes are taking us away from democracy and how preserving the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is essential to preserving a democratic system.

I will add that the idea of the rich buying politicians is a scam in itself. Obviously the rich aren't going to share their wealth. I'm sure the banks didn't donate $75 billion to Harper's campaign even though he gave them that much of taxpayers money. For them it's a high yielding investment. Micheal Moore pointed out that by spending a few million dollars to buy Congress, Wall Street was given billions.

The key thing to remember is that it effects both political parties. Michael Moore was told to cool it when reporting about Senator Dodd yet he also reported stuff on Clinton.