Teresa Mitchell-Banks new director of enforcement for the BC Securities Commission

Investment fraud specialist, David Baines from the Vancouver Sun is reporting that Teresa Mitchell-Banks, the former head of B.C.’s organized crime prosecution unit has been appointed to be the director of enforcement for the BC Securities Commission.

Sounds like this is a step forward. Both David Baines and Kim Bolan claim Mitchell-Banks is competent and accessible. Baines did express the concern that Mitchell-Banks background is with criminal prosecutions and that the vast majority of the commission’s enforcement efforts are pursued through administrative hearings, where penalties are limited to market suspensions and fines, rather than through criminal prosecutions.

However, BCSC executive director Paul Bourque said “We allege fraud in many cases, and the difference between administrative and criminal fraud is just one of intent.” In recent years, the commission has been stepping up its criminal investigations and pressing Crown counsel to take securities offenders to criminal court, where jail sentences can be imposed.

A step forward indeed. Investment fraud is a huge problem in the modern world that effects pensions, markets and tax dollars. Focusing in on the criminal aspect of today’s investment fraud is crucial to our civil liberty. It is often tied to money laundering through drug trafficking like with Bandera gold.

Kim’s Back

Nice to see Kim Bolan’s back on her blog. Readers have been in withdrawal. Interesting to note she’s reporting that Rob Sidhu has been arrested in Montreal for his involvement in Rob Shannon's Hells Angel cocaine case in Seattle.

Cocaine bust at Pacific border crossing

A passenger on a bus from Seattle to Vancouver was caught with cocaine. Turns out he had ingested it and passed 66 condoms of cocaine totaling 756 grams while in custody. That is nasty. Same thing happened at the Vancouver International Airport last April. Ricardo Vasquez is charged with unlawfully importing cocaine into Canada and unlawfully importing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

New Quebec Premier stops export of Asbestos

Three cheers for the new Quebec Premier. She vowed to kill provincial subsidies for the local asbestos industry since it is proven toxic. As a result the Harper government has finally announced they will no longer oppose the global fight against asbestos. Canada has been selling asbestos to India for a long time. I can’t believe we can find people willing to mine the stuff let alone block attempts to stop it.

9/11: Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out

Speaking of 9/11 and the subsequent loss of civil liberties, there was a screening of a movie put out by Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth at Sullivan Hall in Surrey last night. The movie is called 9/11: Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out. It was very well done and worth seeing. This is the trailer and this is the movie in it’s entirety. You can purchase a copy of the DVD from their web site.

There are three aspects of the movie. First is the obvious everyone can see and understand. The collapse of the third tower as well as the twin towers looked just a controlled demolition. Never in the history of the world has a large steel framed tower collapsed due to heat and fire. Never. We have seen many examples of large steel framed towers burn for much longer periods of time, becoming completely gutted, and not collapse let alone at freefall speed like a controlled demolition. When you watch videos of the collapse of the towers along side videos of controlled demolitions, they look the same. You don’t have to be an architect or a scientist to see that. That was the first phase of the documentary. It repeatedly stressed that science says the towers fell like a controlled demolition.

The second phase of the movie talked about the molten steel and the heat needed to melt iron. Jet fuel and office fires do not generate the heat required to melt steel. Thermite does and would explain the melted cars found at the base of the towers as well as the intense heat found at the site long after their collapse. Bulldozers were seen lifting red hot metal from the ruble. Witnesses described seeing molten metal flowing at the scene. Scientists claimed they found thermite in the 9/11 dust and refuted claims that the same elements are found in paint and chalk.

The third phase of the movie was something completely new. They brought in a team of psychologists specializing in trauma and grief. They explained that the reason many people adamantly refuse to look at the evidence is that it disturbs their world view. They compared a person’s belief system or their world view to their idea of their home. Showing pictures of a cross stitch home sweet home and a house with a white picket fence, they explained that if you attack someone’s world view they feel as though you are attacking their home, what makes them feel safe, and they will instinctively fight to defend their home or in this case their world view. Even if it defies the evidence.

It reminded me of the saying never tear down a fence without knowing why it was put up. People often build fences of denial to protect them from having a breakdown. Tearing that fence down before they are ready can be harmful. Yet not doing so can result in the loss of even more innocent lives. One psychologist talked about the grief she experienced when her world view was crushed by the 9/11 evidence. She said she had to go for a walk and really process the hurt and grief she felt. I think it was am amazing film and recommend people watch it. Despite the raging insults, I still believe 9/11 was an inside job and that concerns me deeply.

Vultures on Corporate welfare

Interesting editorial in the paper yesterday about corporate welfare. Timely as it was published the same time talks about plans for the next round of stimulus was reported. Remember back in the day when corporate welfare was a bad thing? Conservatives would call it communism. Things have sure changed.

I remember one of the signs from the occupy movement saying “We have privatized gains and socialized losses. That is not capitalism.” Back in the day, corporate welfare was a dirty word. The right who had a hate for Trudeau, would call him a Communist for wanting to create a top heavy government that created jobs by employing people. Yet what they’re doing now is far worse. At least he had a desire to create jobs to strengthen the economy. Now the corrupt politicians simply burn tax dollars by handing out money to banks and Wall Street of all places. It is insane. Back in the day, the right would be screaming fiscal irresponsibility.

The editorial talks about business grants that aren’t paid back. One can legitimately argue that offering business grants will help create jobs and thereby improve the economy and the tax pool. My flaming concern is when we hand over billions of dollars to the banks who as we say, didn’t need it and to investors on Wall Street most of whom history has shown are crooked.

The dismantling of the VSE is a prime example. It was full of fake pump and dump stocks. That trend continues on all the markets. Investment fraud was what caused the Greek financial crisis. What was public money all of a sudden became private money, then mysteriously disappeared through investment fraud. Bailing out investment fraud is insane. Doing it on an ongoing basis is simply criminal. It is a misappropriation of tax dollars. It is a scam.

The Mitt Romney Bain Capital model kills jobs and embezzles money from companies while it feeds the banks with insane interest on loaded debt and fills these vultures’ pockets with insane consulting fees. Business consultants who extract millions of dollars in fees from sinking companies before they go bankrupt should be in jail. They should not be getting tax dollars to help them steal. That applies to Mitt Romney at Bain Capital as well as Newt Gingrich at Fannie Mae. They even call it the vulture fund. We should not be aiding and abetting that kind of fraud with tax dollars.

Tributes pour in for Peter Lougheed

Peter Lougheed has passed away at the age of 84. He was a Conservative leader in Alberta who has been considered the best premier in the province's history. It’s refreshing to see a vigilant politician that is well respected after they leave office instead of being revealed to be a dirty scoundrel like so many others.

Peter Lougheed opposed the Keystone pipeline. However his opposition was based on economic reasons, rather than environmental. "We should be refining the bitumen in Alberta and we should make it public policy in the province," he said.

The U.S. State Department is considering a proposal to extend the pipeline which would carry oil from Alberta's oilsands to Texas with a decision expected by the end of the year. Environmentalists have been aggressively protesting the line saying the heavy oil, or bitumen, that would flow through the line is dirty, toxic and corrosive.

Lougheed told Anna Maria Tremonti of CBC Radio's The Current Tuesday the bitumen should be refined in Alberta."I would prefer...we process the bitumen from the oilsands in Alberta and that would create a lot of jobs and job activity," he said. "That would be a better thing to do than merely send the raw bitumen down the pipeline and they refine it in Texas that means thousands of new jobs in Texas." The Enbridge Partnership is based in Houston.

Two Hells Angels released on Bail

Meanwhile back on the ranch, two Hells Angles arrested in that drug bust following the Kelowna clubhouse raid have been released on bail this morning. Shawn Womacks and Orhan Saydam were released following an appearance before B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen in Vancouver. Bail hearings for two of the remaining six accused are ongoing in court.

This is what I mean. We have not seen an improvement in the court system in BC. If they let David Giles and Brian Oldham out on bail, we’re going to have to fire another corrupt judge.

Just for the record, the Vancouver Province reported that eight members of the Hells Angels were charged in that drug trafficking ring not two. That was before Johnny Newcomes’ chop shop was busted. A stolen travel trailer was seized in the drug bust as well.

Religious Freaks on both sides of the Planet

Once again we have psychopaths pretending to be Muslim murdering innocent people. That is not Islam. That murder is a far greater insult to the prophet Mohamed than any disrespectful movie is. Allah says thou shalt not kill. He didn’t say thou shalt not kill unless someone insults you or one of his prophets then murder is ok. It’s not OK. The old law of an eye for an eye, which leaves everyone blind, says if someone commits murder then the person who committed the murder should be put to death. Not some random innocent person from the same race, religion or country. Chris Stevens was a good man.



Nevertheless, in this case the guilty party never committed a murder. The guilty party made a religiously offensive movie. Yes that was bad. Yes that was disrespectful. Yes we should denounce it and speak out against it, but murder? Four innocent people? Who are you kidding? Are you kidding yourselves? If you are, you aren’t very bright. Murdering innocent people because some other idiot made a disrespectful move is an insult to Allah and the prophet Mohammad. It is the highway to hell.

In case you missed it, some prick from California made an offensive movie about the prophet Mohammad. In response there were riots in Egypt and in Libya. Only in Libya the mob stormed the American embassy and murdered the US Ambassador and three staff members who had absolutely nothing to do with making that offensive movie. This is the kind of thing we in the West think is so outrageous, it must have been the CIA to get everyone over here ready to nuke those animals.



This is a repeat offense. These aren’t Muslims they are religious freaks. We see them infiltrate every religion under the sun, not just Islam. This is why we should not have spent our tax dollars supporting armed rebels in Libya when we were sent in to uphold a cease fire. Yet we know the real reason we did. We did it for the oil. Again. We need to be honest about that for a change.

So, Sam Bacile is trying to promote hate. Just like Morris Sadek and Terry Jones are. Just like Ian Paisley of old. “I’ve seen too much hate to want to hate and every time I see it I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear.” We need to denounce their hate as well as the murder of these innocent people. Both are wrong but murder is worse than hate. I was just at the store and saw a local woman wearing a Muslim head dress. I nod and don’t give it a seconds thought. She certainly didn’t murder anyone in Libya. Hating her for something someone else did on the other side of the world is as absurd as murdering an innocent person for what someone else did.



Canadians eye Iranian cash

Having said that, just because a mob of idiots we helped “liberate” from a “dictator” murder some innocent people in one part of the world, does than mean we should steal from someone else in another country in another part of the world? Of course not. Let’s not use this tragedy in Libya to rationalize bombing or stealing from Iran because that would be just as wrong killing some random American for making an offensive movie.

In today’s’ Vancouver Province a headline reads: Canadians eye Iranian cash. Since Stephen Harper has kicked out Iran’s diplomat from Canada now everyone wants a piece of the pie. Now they want to steal money from Iran. The case they use as a first example is a court judgment a kidnap victim in Lebanon was awarded. I kid you not. Someone was kidnapped and mistreated in Lebanon and these criminals want to steal the court awarded damages from Iran of all places. That is as absurd as the court order awarding the families of the victims of 911 billions of dollars from Iran of all places. Why? Because they have oil and they have money and we want it. That’s why.

It all started with Operation Ajax but it certainly didn’t end there. This court order claiming Iran owes the victims of 911 billions of dollars is absolutely absurd. It is as we say, a red flag. Iran had nothing to do with 911. The terrorists came in through our friends in Saudi. There is a lot more evidence proving the CIA did 911 than Iran did.

Some people were under the misconception that Iraq was invaded because of 911. Not so. It was never implied they had anything to do with 911 when they were invaded. Bush said they knew Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and he was proven wrong. Instead of saying sorry guys we made a mistake, he said Mission Accomplished. Then when the British weapons inspector in Iraq leaked out to the media that they knew Iraq didn’t have any WMD and MI 6 were caught intentionally giving false information to the media about Iraq’s WMD, that whistle blower died of a suspicious suicide.

We initially thought Afghanistan was responsible for 911. That is why we assisted in that invasion. Only Bin Laden’s “confession” video didn’t even look like Bin Laden. Then we found out the truth about the oil pipeline and the opium production in Afghanistan. Evil powers are at work and that evil is from within. Ganging up on Iran next and stealing from them is wrong. Stephen Harper is a liar and a thief.

Continued Protests

Obviously continued protesting violence looks like a mob of crazed dogs not adherents to any religious order. Burning American flags is just as offensive as burning a Koran or insulting Islam. They insult others and threaten violence if anyone insults them. That is not Islam. A Canadian Muslim group is encouraging Canadian Muslims to ignore the offensive video. Someone made an offensive video slandering Christ called the Last Temptation of Jesus. As sad and offensive as that movie was, we didn’t see Christians running around like wild dogs burning things and killing people. That behavior is exactly what one of the stereotypes in the offensive video portrayed.

Comments in this thread have been closed by St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

Port Moody Public Rally Against Gang Violence

Last night there was a public rally at Port Moody city hall in response to the recent outbreak of gang violence. I attended the rally and noticed that when all the TV cameras showed up, many of the people went inside and were too afraid to be out in public on camera. There was a similar concern when Surrey had their rally against gang violence a few years ago, yet that rally was also well attended.

The mayor’s pr brainstorm was to open up the inlet theatre for the public to express their concerns and listen to a panel of police officers ready to address their questions. At first I spoke with the wife of one of the organizers of the rally and said what’s up with that? Is the mayor high jacking the rally? Where do you want people to meet? She said, no if the mayor is willing to listen to the people’s concerns then let’s hear him out. Fair enough said I so we did.

Of course the Aldergrove judicial revue board was there but before I address his important message, I want to touch on what some of the other local residents had to say. Several mothers spoke and expressed their fear of the outbreak of gang violence in their community. One mother’s heartfelt plea wasn’t just her fear of her or her daughter being hit by a stray bullet, but of her daughter witnessing a dead body lying in the street. She doesn’t want her children to have to deal with that.

Another mother raised a very good point. She said in their neighborhood, they had a problem with youth drinking and having loud parties that would cause problems for the neighbors. She said that the Port Moody police were very good at responding to 911 calls and since they became aware of the problem, increased patrols in the area and increased their presence. As a result of the increased police presence, the trouble makers left and went somewhere else.

Taking that logic one step farther, she asked if the police had stepped up patrols and increased their presence at the rec centre when one gang member was executed. The officer did go into detail about many other things and she kept coming back and asking point blank, have patrols at the rec centre increased? The final answer was no because the rec centre is safe and it was just fate that the shooter found the gang member there when he shot him.

Then the well meaning officer said something that I found disturbing. He said they knew where all the gang members live and do regular surveillance around their homes. Then reiterated that the rec centre was a safe place. I’m sorry but I do have a problem with devoting police resources to protect gang members homes. In fact that could be one of the reasons they are shot in public when they leave their home.

One older gentleman stepped up to the mike and said he lived in the same building the Bacon brothers lived in when they stayed in Port Moody. He said he was kinda sorry to see them leave because when they lived there they had round the clock police presence. Sad that regular citizens can’t get that kind of protection.

I know the police are well meaning. I understand the logic in that if a rival shoots a gang member at his home, that will endanger the neighbors in that community, but the round the clock police protection the Bacon brothers got in their Abbotsford home was a shameful misuse of public resources. Increasing a public police presence at the Port Moody rec centre will deter gang members from going there.

In all fairness, the police from the VPD and the Port Moody PD as well as the mayor, all gave very good presentations. One thing the mayor and one of the other officers kept stressing was how the BC judicial system has improved lately. That is ridiculous. We aren’t seeing it. Yes a Peter Leask decision was appealed and overturned, but Peter Leask is still sitting on the wrong side of the bench when he should be in jail and that crime still needs to be addressed.

There is a huge difference between the judges in Ontario and the judges in BC despite the same federal legislation. The judges in Ontario are on the ball. The judges in BC are off their rocker. Right before the meeting we joked about a time share. How about we send our BC judges to Ontario and trade them so the judges in Ontario can come here. That would help our situation considerably.

The Aldergrove Judicial Review board’s position was and is that judges are the problem. He says judges keep letting the criminals go free when the police put a lot of hard work in and prepare excellent cases. He didn’t site any examples but there are many. His emphatic point is judges are the problem.

This speaker was from Aldergrove where his community became outraged with the BC judicial system because of the revolving doors around property theft. People were caught stealing in their neighborhood over and over again and they kept getting released to reoffend. The VPD came up with a proposal called 30 strikes and you’re out. As absurd as that sounds, they weren’t kidding. There is a huge problem with prolific offenders. The more crimes they commit the less time they spend in jail.

The Mayor pointed out that even reporting property theft to the police is important because nine times out of ten that person is stealing to support their drug habit. When that person gets some more money to buy drugs, he calls his dial a dope dealer to bring him some. Then when that dealer comes in to that neighborhood, he brings the risk of gang violence with him. In that sense property theft does relate to gang violence.

So too with the judicial absurdity about prolific offenders. That is feeding the gang war by enabling the criminals to buy more drugs which causes more fighting over who’s going to make the money off that deal. So clearly, judges are the problem. From throwing out good evidence and letting kingpin gang leaders go free, to filling the gang leaders pockets with the proceeds of prolific crime, it does all stem around the judges.

Getting away with Murder

Having said that, there is one other point raised that sparks a civic call of duty. Another mother expressed her concern that these gang members were getting away with murder. She said I guarantee you that if I went and shot someone in broad daylight, the police would be knocking on my door in a mater of days. Someone sees a five foot nothing woman shoot someone in broad daylight, they’re going to get her description and a plate number and the police will come knocking on her door.

Her concern, which was shared by others, is how brazen the gang violence has become. Not only no regard for public safety, but shooting people in broad daylight as though no one is going to see them or get a plate number. That is a valid concern. It behooves us as citizens ready to respond to the call of duty, not to intervene in a gang shooting but to remember plate numbers, and descriptions as they’re ducking for cover. Cell phones can take pictures as well as dial 911.

Her ultimate concern was that these gang members are literally getting away with murder. They are rarely caught and when they are the judges throw out good evidence or give them a slap on the wrist. This is true. Judges are still the problem.