A Kingdom of Conscience

Rick Steve’s Europe was on the other night. This episode was about Paris. I never realized at the centre of Paris is an island in the middle of the river just like Montreal. They showed Notre Dame and Rick Steves pointed out the meaning of the name. Notre Dame – Our Lady. In Ireland Our Lady is the Mother of Our Lord. It is the same in France. I never realized that Notre Dame was literally a cathedral in tribute to Notre Dame. OK I’m a bit slow.

I’d really like to visit Paris one day. I really need to work on my French though. When I was young I had a wonderful visit to Quebec. Every time I spoke French they answered me in English. They didn’t like the way I butchered their wonderful language.

It reminds me of the time I went to the Hen Long market and asked for some dit da jao. The person working there asked me to repeat my request three times and just stood there with a puzzled look on their face not having a clue what I was wanting. Then I explained it’s a liniment used in the martial arts for shin or hand conditioning. The light went on. Ah liniment. You mean dit da jao. I’m like yeah, that’s what I said. What I said and what they said sounded the same to me but obviously it wasn’t.

There was another episode of Rick Steves Europe that moved me. It was an episode of Toledo, a Muslim city in Spain, that was conquered by the Christians. Toledo's history is a complex mix of three great religions with an impressive record of peaceful co-existence.

Physical reminders of Toledo's multi-cultural history are everywhere. In the year 711, zealous members of the world's newest religion — Islam — conquered the Iberian peninsula. For seven centuries, these North African Muslims — called Moors — dominated Spain.

The Moors were impressively tolerant of the people they ruled, allowing Jews and Christians to practice their faiths freely. And, with cultural ties that stretched from here, across Africa to Arabia and beyond, Spain's Moorish culture was a beacon of learning in Europe's so-called "Dark" Ages.

Mathematics, astronomy, literature.and architecture.all flourished. After Christians took back Toledo in 1085, many Moorish craftsmen and builders stayed on leaving their Arabic imprint on the city for generations to come.

The architecture was amazing and it included large baths for washing according to their religious traditions. It made me sad to see that culture lost as they were conquered and cast out.

Last night I watched the Kingdom of Heaven with Orlando Bloom. Orlando Bloom was a good elf in Lord of the Rings and a good side kick in Pirates of the Caribbean but he sure played a weasel in the movie Troy. Nevertheless, the character he played in Kingdom of Heaven was profound.

It was all about good and bad. Not one force for good and one force for evil but the good and bad found within each aspect of society. They had a good king and a bad king. They had good knights and bad nights. They had good Christians and bad Christians. They had good Muslims and … well they didn’t have any bad Muslims in the movie like they did have bad Christians who would murder and exterminate indiscriminately.

In the movie the Muslim character Saladin was good. He aspired to something higher. The whole movie was about the lure that Jerusalem had for the various religions. The message behind the movie became apparent when a knight said to Orlando Bloom’s character, Jerusalem has no need of a perfect knight. To which he responded, no, It is a Kingdom of Conscience or nothing.

Historically many knights raped, murdered and plundered. Yet in the movie Liam Neeson declared Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath. The oath of a good knight.

After the bad knights had inflamed the Muslims by needlessly wiping out an innocent city of Muslims, Saladin gathered his armies to take Jerusalem. Protecting the city Orlando Bloom asks Which is more holy? The Jewish Temple? The Muslim Mosque? The Christian Sepulchre? All have claim to these. We fight not to defend these stones. We fight to protect the people in this city. Protect the helpless. That is your oath.

It reminded me of a scene from the movie Shake Hands with the Devil. The Canadian commander is discussing the future of Rwanda with a local leader. The local leader says he wants to fight to save Rwanda. And what is that the commander asks. These trees, that dirt, those hills? How do you save Rwanda if you don’t save the people in it?

In the movie Kingdom of Heaven there was another scene when the city was under seize and they had to burn the bodies of the dead. The religious leaders said you can’t burn the bodies. They will not come forth in the resurrection. Orlando Bloom’s character said if we do not burn these bodies the whole city will die of disease. God will understand. And if he doesn’t, he is not God and we have no need to worry.

Indeed the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It is in the hearts and minds of all those who aspire to something higher. That is something all of us can do. We can hope for something better and we can aspire to something higher.

Skyrocketing Hydro Bills

The news has been showing numerous cases of people reporting skyrocketing Hydro bills. Recently there was a case of a senior who lived in a small suit who reported insane jumps in his hydro bill. After the news ran the story, Hydro claimed they looked into it and the problem was someone mistakenly applied a $170.00 payment to his bill which was being recouped. Yet that alleged payment was smaller than the spike in his bill and he is not the only one. Their excuse is not believable.

Today CTV news reported several people reporting massive spikes in their hydro bill in the last couple of months. Many claimed the huge spikes in their hydro bill came after their smart meter was installed. BC Hydro claims that isn’t true and that they are receiving more complaints of spikes in bills from people on the old meter systems.

Clearly there are two separate problems. Smart Meters are a serious concern. Aside from the security threat of government surveillance, increases over daytime usage bills are eminent. Yet those spikes which surely will come aren’t included in the current spikes. The current spikes represent a huge concern.

Hydro subsidiaries that have been privatized and mandated to make a profit, were accused of false billing along with Enron. Massive spikes in residential hydro bills are in themselves a serious concern. It represents an unaccountable monopoly that can rip people off without any dispute mechanism. Where did this bill come from?

Today’s highlighted example was a woman in a small suite with only two baseboard heaters. There is no believable reason for the massive spike in her bill. She has been forced to cut off the heat in one room and forced to use a toaster oven instead of a conventional oven. I don’t want to be a perpetual drama queen but this is really serious.

This is not the country we want to leave to our children’s children. Leaving them an unaccountable Enron monster that consumes everything in its path would be socially irresponsible. Right now it is forcing seniors on fixed income to limit their food intake, cut of their heat, stop using their ovens and wash dishes by hand. Massive increases to their bill after they have made these sacrifices is not only wrong, it is criminal.

Bill McKinnon's daughter arrested for drug trafficking

Well this is a bizarre new development. Lisa McKinnon, 22, who now resides in Richmond, was arrested Tuesday along with a 19-year-old Kelowna woman Tuesday in Kelowna. According to court documents, McKinnon faces two charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking in heroin and cocaine. Lisa is the daughter of Kelowna RCMP Superintendent, Bill McKinnon. Flewelling says once investigators realized who they were dealing with steps were taken to isolate Supt. McKinnon from the investigation. "Supt. McKinnon was not aware of what was going on and that the investigation was allowed to go on keeping in mind the integrity of the investigation," says Flewelling. He says this should not be seen as a black mark on the Kelowna Detachment but underscores the fact drugs and crime can affect anyone. "I think it speaks to the point that criminality and drugs is something we all have to face. Any one of us are not immune from that type of thing," says Flewelling. "We are all susceptible to drugs and what it can do. He and his wife are not different. They're victims, they're parents. I can't stress that enough. They are at home dealing with it."

2 more Mafia-linked shootings in Montreal

A 38-year-old man with reported links to the Montreal Mafia was gunned down in a strip mall parking lot in Saint-Léonard on Thursday evening. Radio-Canada has identified the victim as Giuseppe (The Closer) Colapelle, an enforcer with ties to the Rizzuto clan.



Among a long list of Rizzuto family murders, in 2010, Agostino Cuntrera, 66, a high-ranking associate of the Rizzuto crime family. The second man murdered has been described as Cuntrera's 48-year-old bodyguard.

Three Duhre associates ambushed in Surrey

Three men who were associates of slain gangster Sandip (Dip) Duhre were ambushed by several gunmen as they arrived at a Surrey house Tuesday night. One of the three - Harm Gill, 28 - was hit by the gunfire, which began to ring out just after 10 p.m.

Gill remains in a Vancouver hospital with nonlifethreatening injuries. The other two men were not wounded. RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said any one of the three in the Duhre-linked trio might have been the intended target.

Police have warned of escalating gang violence between rival groups - one described as the DuhreDhak group and the other a loose alliance of some Hells Angels, members of the Independent Soldiers and Red Scorpion gangs.

Keeping in mind, initial media reports said there was a gang war between the DuhreDhak group and the Hells Angels. Now media reports are adding the IS and the RS to the list of a loose alliance with the Hells Angels. Yet we know the IS and the new RS are Hells angel puppet clubs. They don't like to be referred to as puppets but they are. They get their drugs from the Hells Angels and pay their tax.

Tariq Mohammed Aslam is awaiting trial in Kelowna with two others after being charged in September 2010 in connection with a 97-kilogram load of cocaine smuggled into Canada in the steel drums of a fruit-grinding machine. Do ya think "they" were worried he was going to cut a deal? Does Clifford Roger Montgomery know Glen Hehn? Please advise.

Phasing out of Oxycontin

OxyContin - the popular painkiller known as hillybilly heroine on the streets - is no longer available in Canada, but health-care workers say doctors, manufacturers and government officials need to team up to tackle pill addictions. Starting Thursday, Canadian manufacturer Purdue Pharma will roll out another painkiller called OxyNEO instead of OxyContin.

The new type of oxycodone is supposed to be harder to abuse and can be swallowed as a whole pill but not crushed or injected to get high.

The medication, which is produced by drug company Purdue Pharma, is also no longer on the list of drugs doctors can prescribe. Oxycontin has also been removed from the Health Canada program that pays for prescription drugs for First Nations members.

For someone who needs Oxycontin as a painkiller, a prescription for Oxycontin can still be filled during March, which is being called a transition period. But doctors are now asked to prescribe OxyNeo, instead.

As of Feb. 28, 2013, a period of one year, doctors will have to make a special application for patients to get OxyNeo. Only patients being treated for cancer pain or palliative care will be eligible without a special application. In all other types of chronic pain, the doctor will have to prove no other medication has worked for the patient.

Nicolas Sarkozy meets mob of angry protesters

French President Nicolas Sarkozy took refuge from a crowd of several hundred angry protesters in a cafe, as riot police swarmed in to protect him while he campaigned in the country's southwest Basque country. Three cheers. Nicolas Sarkozy is a dirty dog who took money from Gadhafi for his election campaign then screwed him royally.

Robocall Scandal Continues to Expand

Well the latest break in the Robocall scandal is Stephen Harper’s bold claim that they had discovered that the Liberals were behind it. Which didn’t only not makes sense, turned out to be completely false.

It was the NDP that pointed out their error. The company, Prime Contact in Canada is not affiliated with the American company of the same name. Del Mastro made the same point Harper did in the house of commons but later revealed in a televised interview on CBC that he was not aware there was a Canadian company, PrimeContact Group, by the same name as a U.S. company based in North Dakota.

To claim that the Liberals would harass and discourage their own voters from showing up on election day fails the test of believability. It doesn’t make sense. Why would they do that? To make it look like the other side was pulling dirty tricks after an election? No way.

Those guys are all desperate for votes. As pointed out by one analyst, they will do everything in their power to not only win an election but to crush their opponents and win by an even larger margin. To say that they were willing to not only lose votes but lose an election in the hopes that nine months after the election the other party would look bad is absurd.

Although the political analysts are proceeding on innocent until proven guilty, all the political analysts discussing the matter in the news agree that this is a serious scandal and if true this conspiracy would rock the foundations of democracy and clearly be a criminal act. Trying to prevent someone from voting is as outrageous as stealing a ballot box. Most analysts also agree that since it did involve more than one riding it is highly unlikely one 20 year old kid could be responsible for the entire operation. Who seemingly denied he was to blame but claimed he knew who was.

The thing that bugs me is the rating of how the politicians are fairing in the scandal as opposed to finding out the truth behind the scandal. Saying Harper should respond by counter attacking the Liberals record and denying his involvement is outrageous. Criticizing the opposition because there complaint appears to lack continuity is ridiculous. This is a huge concern. Every day the scandal expands and gets more complex.

Most of the calls from the initial complaint falsely claimed to be from Elections Canada fraudulently telling voters of a certain political persuasion their place of voting was changed to discourage them from showing up on election day. Yet there are other bizarre claims in other ridings now as well like Jewish voters in Joe Volope’s riding being harassed on the Sabbath and other voters being harassed several times a day and at night claiming to be from the Liberal party. All the parties were using robocalls this election and it is possible there were glitches in the system. Yet fraud directed at certain voters in more than one riding is a lot more than a glitch. It is as the analysts’ claim, a criminal act that needs to be properly addressed.

A court order executed on an Edmonton call centre in November specifically refers to records related to the campaign of Conservative candidate Marty Burke in Guelph, where many voters reported receiving pre-recorded messages that falsely claimed their polling stations had moved.

Since reports of that investigation came to light last week, Liberals and New Democrats have reported fraudulent calls in dozens of ridings across the country and the Conservatives have called on anyone with information to send it to Elections Canada.



Vancouver demonstrators hit the streets. Elizabeth May and Lybie Davies are both reporting false Elections Canada calls made in their ridings.

Bandera Gold (BGL)

Bandera Gold Ltd. is a Junior Canadian Exploration Company located in Edmonton traded on the TSX maintaining a significant interest in projects in Colombia and Mexico. The stock isn't doing too well but penny stocks can be volatile.

I'm not sure where this picture came from:



But it appears to be the same picture that the Mexican newspaper got their picture of two Canadians tied to the UN gang charged with money laundering. Edmonton is an interesting location. That's red and white town. Alberta is the home of Brey-X ironically enough.





The State Attorney and the PGR are investigating two foreigners for fraud and threats. Ex-Cinco Minas owners Barnet and Bandera Gold directors face Criminal charges in Mexico.

This article claims that Ke(l)vin Williams who was director of a company called flag Gold was involved with two men identified as Eliot Castañeda, alias “El Taco”, of Guatemalan origin and Ahmet Kaawach, nicknamed “Lou” of Canadian origin, who had relations with Barnett Salazar.

EU losses to Fraud

This buried headline in today's Vancouver Province could well be the most important story of the year. The European Union loses some $800 million to suspected fraud every year and it will consider setting up an office to combat it, a senior official said Tuesday.

This is relevant because that is a huge drain on the system. It is also relevant because the Greek financial crisis was the result of investment fraud. That massive fraud was hidden by Goldman Sachs who ripped off the EU of that massive bailout.

Allegations against Goldman Sachs highlight the pressing need to break up big banks and introduce strict financial regulation. Deregulation opens the flood gates wide open to investment fraud.