Remembering Whitney Houston

There is no doubt Whitney Houston will be remembered as the talented shining light that she was. Glimpses of her funeral showed the love that she had for others and the love they share with her. That's likely the best measurement of success.

There has been talk about her struggle with drugs and checking herself into rehab despite the song that jokes about avoiding rehab. Yet no doubt that was such a small part of her life, her memory and her legacy will be filled with talent, love and light.

Glancing at some tabloids there has been some bizarre headlines from the typical trashloids. Don't buy those. Don't support the trash. I remember seeing someone I knew buy one of those tabloids and said buying that is supporting the people who killed Dianna. Indeed it is. Supply and demand declares that if people weren't consumed in the gossip, the paparazzi wouldn't be so ruthlessly invasive and shamefully negative.

Her passing brings two things to mind. First is the love and the loss that a premature death brings. I think of Jammie Kehoe who was senselessly murdered at such a young age when he had his whole life before him. No doubt his parents had bigger plans for him. The second is many good people have fallen because of drug addiction.

Somehow we need to rise above glorifying addiction without being judgemental realizing it could happen to any of us or to any of our children. There is nothing noble about profiting from exploitation. Coveting materialism does not make greed or exploitation good. The violence we have seen locally because of the gang war has made that clear.

Unfortunately, Amy Winehouse is more likely to be remembered for her addictions as well as her talent because her drug addiction had such a dramatic physical effect on her appearance. One of the saddest things I ever saw was the release of a video one of Amy Winehouse's "friends" took of her smoking crack looking at her wedding picture. The betrayal of her friend was one thing but the whole using crack to escape the pain of a loss in a relationship was sad. She was human and those kinds of drugs are very addictive and very damaging. Before the drugs, Amy Winehouse was also a wonderfully talented singer. Not many rock stars haven't had a problem with drugs.

BC Prisons – Letting the system work

We’ve talked a lot about the problems within the BC Judicial system. We’ve talked a lot about how Harper's new over reaching crime bills make the situation worse without fixing the inherit problems within the system.

Let’s look at over crowding. BC prisons are currently operating at 157% of capacity rate. Some say it's closer to 200%. Clearly the first problem is funding. Recently we did away with the two for one pretrial credit. That was a good step. Yet that is going to cost more money. The next thing that has to go is mandatory statutory release after two thirds of the sentence. Time off for good behavior is one thing but mandatory statutory release after two thirds of the sentence is served is wrong. This too will cost more money.

The question is how much money do we want to spend and what do we want to spend it on. Obviously everyone would rather spend money on schools and hospitals than on prisons. Yet prisons are essential. Privatizing prisons is wrong. Making prisons for profit is an abomination. No one should profit off of incarceration.

The problem is violent crime. We ask for mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and they come back with mandatory minimum sentences for growing pot. Someone isn’t listening. Someone has an agenda and it is not in the public interest.

The problem is funding. The hated Campbell government has consistently slashed funding for prisons while they lined their own pockets with huge pay raises and gold plated pensions. The very pension Campbell originally campaigned against. That was a breach of contract. Now Harper wants to take away our pensions to pay for a bank pay off. This isn’t a hidden conspiracy. It is an evil agenda.

So yes, to fix our broken judicial system we’re going to need some more money. We’re going to need to build some more prisons. But we don’t need to fill them with nonviolent criminals. Our prisons are at 157% capacity as it is. We need to fix this. Over crowding in prisons is not in the public’s best interest.

We’re going to need to address violent crime. Murder and sexual assault are serious crimes that need a significant consequence. Likewise investment fraud where white collar criminals embezzle millions and steal pensions from seniors is like mugging a little old lady times a hundred. Bre-X, all the fake companies on the stock market that rip people off, steal pensions and destabilize the market, these need to be addressed and are a lot more important than nonviolent crime. Clearly Stephen Harper does not have his priorities right - morally or financially.

You don’t have to privatize a prison to offer inmates employment. We should have working prisons where inmates can work if they so chose. I’m not talking about forced slave labour. I’m saying if you want statutory release, then you have to work and help pay for your incarceration. You can earn a token amount of spending money but most of the wage goes to paying for your room and board with the promise of getting early release if you chose to work while in prison. That is a system based on incentive. Learn a trade in prison? Why not? That would be in the public’s best interest. There is nothing worse than getting a life sentence to do nothing. We all need to be doing something.

Oshawa man arrested over Pickering dungeon

Remember that abandoned house in Ontario that had a dungeon in it? Well Robert Edwin White, from Oshawa was arrested Monday in connection with a mysterious dungeon discovered in an abandoned Pickering farmhouse late last year. I am told that the Hells Angels still have a large presence in Oshawa even after their clubhouse was seized.

I am told that after the police shut down their Toronto clubhouse they moved in to Pickering and went low key. I am told Durham county is crawling with Hells Angels. Pickering and Oshawa would both be part of Durham county in Ontario.

15,000 Slaves in Canada

15,000 slaves in Canada, 80% of those are women and children. The Salvation Army is running more commercials about human trafficking in Canada. Some say the ads are controversial because they come at a time when some sex trade workers are making court applications to legalize prostitution. Clearly the prostitution industry is facing problems just like the marijuana industry in Canada. Will legalization stop the exploitation? I can't see how it can.

Human trafficking in Canada is a serious problem. I've already mentioned about my friend from Montreal who claimed he saw a crack house in Montreal where prostitutes were chained to the bed, had a bucket to go to the bathroom in and were paid for their services in crack. When the Salvation Army runs an add claiming that the truth isn't sexy, I have to agree. Neither is profiting from that kind of exploitation.

When I think of forced prostitution and the Hells Angels I'm reminded of the Surrey House of Horrors where they tried to force Donny Harder's girlfriend into prostitution to repay a $300 debt they electrocuted her boyfriend for. She left town instead. How many others have they forced into that lifestyle with threats? I saw a crack dealer at Surrey Central try and recruit a 14 year old girl after he boyfriend bought some crack and sold out his girlfriend in the process.

I am also reminded of Adam Hall, the Sergeant at Arms for the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Hells Angels. Court affidavits claim he forced three women into prostitution and told them "You work for me now," he allegedly told one woman "There's no way out of it." One confidential informant told police the forced prostitution took place at the group's clubhouse on Woodland Road in Lee.

Fighting online Surveillance

Harpers' warantless online surveillance is in the news again. Warrantless Online Spying Bills Target all Canadians; Unpopular Legislation Tabled as Petition Tops 80,000 Signatures. Conservative Government Ignores 8 in 10 Canadians.

"Snoop and spy" bill could be costly overreach - The Globe and Mail.The petition is at StopSpying.ca

The Harper government claim this over reaching bill will help them catch criminals like pedophiles.That is a bold faced lie. This warrentless Internet surveillance has absolutely nothing to do with catch criminals.

Under the current legislation,formed in accordance with the Canadian charter of rights protecting citizens from unnecessary searches and seizures states that the police can get a warrant to tap a phone or do any kind of surveillance on a suspect if there is enough or any reasonable suspicion that person is involved in criminal activity. That law already exists. We have seen it in action.

We have seen inept or corrupt judges in BC throw out good wire tap evidence when a warrant was issued. In the David Giles case the judge said well I didn't hear what you heard on the wire tap but that was not true. His lawyer admitted his client said convicted cocaine dealer Dave Revelle made him $30,000.00 in the past several months. His lawyer argued that only proved Revelle was working for Giles not that they were involved in criminal activity. Nonsense. His lawyer failed to show what legitimate business Revelle was doing for Giles that earned him that much money in such a short time.

So the issue of getting warrants for suspected criminal activity is not a problem. The problem is when the government wants to spy on people for political affiliation not for suspected criminal activity. That is why they want to change the legislation then foot us the bill after cutting funding for our pensions.

Remember the last election. The Harper government was caught kicking a young activist out from attending one of his speaking engagements because they has seen her post a photo of herself with another candidate on facebook. That was documented. They realty did that. How on earth did they know she had posted a picture of herself with another candidate on her facebook? That is way too intrusive and is a clear example of spying for political affiliation not for criminal suspicion.

Giving them even more parameters for warrantless surveillance then making taxpayers pay the bill is wrong. This is not a conservative bill. Conservatives oppose warantless surveillance. Stephen Harper is not a conservative. He is a neocon.

Nick Diaz

Speaking of recreational pot use, how about that Nick Diaz decision? He tested positive for pot. Who freaking cares? Pot is not a steroid. It’s not a synthetic performance enhancer. Why one earth are they making such a big deal about it? Turns out he even has a California medical prescription for it. These guys getting all freaked out about it, over turning one of his victories and fining him huge amounts of money is bizarre. A salute to Nick Diaz and a middle finger to the league that refuses to recognize his California prescription.

Right now we caught between two extremes. One growing group want to legalize pot. Another smaller group wants to implement mandatory minimum sentences for growing pot. Both are extremes. Decriminalizing pot or at least prioritizing violent crime and hard drugs like crack and meth will take us forward as a society. Focusing on nonviolent crime like growing pot will simply prevent us from dealing with violent crime in out already over burdened judicial system

The Association of Independent Grow ops

Looks like it's time to form a Union or at least an Association of sorts. Hells Angels being accused of ripping off their own growers? A Hells Angels grower recently found dead in a ditch? Hells Angels accused of using violence to take over independent grow ops? Another Surrey guy caught speeding outside Kamloops with a gun and a cell phone jammer. We won't know his name until April 23rd but Haney runs Kamloops. I think it's time growers pull together and form an association.

Obviously, there are two ways of doing this. Some will ask for help from the UN or the Rock Machine. Those enforces will shoot their enforcers until everyone is left blind or at least shot. The other way is to go legit. Get a permit for a medicinal grow op and just grow for people with a prescription. Once you do that, you can call the police any time the Hells Angels threaten to take over your grow. Since their threats entrench their criminal organization status, every time they make a threat, the police need to seize a clubhouse or piece of their property. Cause and effect. The seizure of the Victoria clubhouse has been upheld. Time to take the next step.

Growers have a right to be independent. The Hells Angels greed and injustice has gone too far. When the Hells Angels use violence to take over existing grow ops, they ruin things for everyone. A free market is a free market. Some people say they like to buy pot from the black door because they always give you a fair price and it's always a good product. If that was the case, then that should be enough to drive their business. Customers would go to them because they could be trusted. Customers would be happy with the price and the product. Back in the day, customer service mattered.

Now they just use extreme violence and beat the tar out of anyone selling or they shoot their competitors. That is not a free market. It opens the door to a whole world of deranged violence driven by greed. It's time to rat out the real rats and stop the deranged violence.

Haney Grow Rip

Speaking of the Haney Chapter controlling Maple Ridge, here's a strange hypothetical situation for ya. What if there was a deranged criminal organization tied to the Pickton farm that controlled all the grow ops in Maple Ridge?

What if they told the growers on one of their grow ops to go on holidays right before a harvest? What if they ordered them to? What if, after the growers were away because they followed their orders, someone came in and ripped off the grow? What if the deranged criminal organization then said to the growers, you fucked up but we'll let you make it up to us.

The grower wants to say, but I think YOU ripped me off. Yet if he does that, he'll be put in the meat grinder. So he bends over and sucks it up knowing that he was just ripped off by his own employer. Here I thought they said people who do grow rips are the lowest life forms on the planet. I guess they're partly right.

Speaking of growers getting ripped off by their employers, what ever happened to Brandon Howson anyways? What affiliations does Adam Deboo have anyways? He appears to have a record of enforcing. I wonder who for?

Hells Angels linked to Pickton Inquiry

Just as he was warming up to theories regarding Pickton's associations with drug dealing bikers, lawyer Jason Gratl was shut down by Commissioner Wally Oppal, who was clearly perturbed. Gratl was cross-examining RCMP Cpl. Mike Connor, the force's lead investigator on Pickton.

Connor admitted that he received a tip that a Hells Angel associate who worked in a "booze can" after-hours drinking club across the street from Pickton's Port Coquitlam, B.C., property "was chopped up in a meat grinder on the farm and fed to the pigs."

Connor said police knew Hells Angels went to Pickton's farm and attended "Piggy's Palace" — the nearby illicit nightclub run by Pickton and his brother Dave. However, Connor said he did not investigate the credibility of the allegation a male Hells Angel associate was disposed of on Pickton's farm.

During Pickton's trial, lab staff testified that about 80 unidentified DNA profiles -roughly half male and half female — have shown up on evidence.

This stunning new development in the inquiry shows us several things. First, that Wally the Limp Fish Oppal was the wrong choice to head the inquiry. Second, that police knew there was an illegal booze can ran by the Hells Angels across the street from the Picton farm. Third, that the DNA from many unidentified bodies were also found on the Pickton farm, half of which were men and that the police had received a tip that the Hells Angels had put one of their employees through a meat grinder and feed him to the pigs on the Picton farm.

These are all very significant findings. The fact that the police knew the Hells Angels ran an illegal booze can across the street from the Pickton farm and knew that Dave Pickton was a Hells Angels associate, are facts that need to be explored. They most certainly aren't to be shut down by a brain dead idiot who has done nothing for BC other than rationalize BC's judicial incompetence.



Is it true Jesse Hadden was involved with the booze can across the street from the Pickton farm? Is it true that Jesse's father Spike was the one that caused the rift between the Haney Hells Angels and the Mission City Hells Angels? Please advise.

The Court was told Dave Pickton knew about bodies. Court also heard that police believed a marijuana grow-op in an unlicensed "booze can" across the street from the Pickton farm was connected to the Hells Angels. So the grow op was in the booze can across the street...

B.C.Missing Men

Concern and frustration are mounting among the families whose loved ones — all young, athletic men - have mysteriously vanished in B.C.'s Lower Mainland in the last year. Daniel Bouchard of White Rock went missing Monday night on the way back to his basement suite from a local pub. Sounds very similar to the Aaron Derbyshire case in Kelowna.

The most recent cases reported to the province's missing persons unit include:

- June 9: Daniel Bouchard, 20, of White Rock disappeared after leaving a local pub.

- April 10: Michael Scullion, 30, of Chilliwack disappeared in Agassiz.

- March 19: Kellen McElwee, 25, of Burnaby was last seen outside a Langley restaurant.

- Jan. 1: Derek Kelly, 32, of Langley vanished near Bridge Lake.

- Nov. 2, 2007: John Kahler, 29, was last seen at a four-by-four truck rally at Stave Lake.

- June 1: Bryan Braumberger, 18, disappeared somewhere near the Coquitlam and New Westminster boundary.



Matthew Huszar has been missing since December 16th, 2011. He was last seen on Water Street in Gastown, Downtown Vancouver.



Whistler DJ Michael Grefner has not been seen since January 17th 2012. There's a large Facebook Group set up for him.

Update: Daniel Bouchard is back home