Cop cleared in fatal shooting

The Office of the Police Com-plaint Commissioner has ruled Vancouver police Const. Lee Chipperfield didn't use excessive force in killing Paul Boyd during a 911 call on Aug. 13, 2007. Only I disagree.

Resisting arrest is a serious offence. Yet the law and more importantly the moral obligation governing the use of force addresses the concept of reasonable force. If someone pushes someone, pulling out a gun and shooting them in the head would not be an example of reasonable force. That would clearly be excessive.

In this case the police respond to a 9/11 call. Thanks for doing that by the way. It can be a thankless job as we all know. When police arrived at the scene after receiving a report of an out of control man on Granville, they came across Boyd.

One officer, while seated in a police cruiser, was approached by Boyd, who appeared to be holding a hammer. The second officer drew his gun, and ordered Boyd to drop the hammer and get on the ground.

Boyd, 39, complied, but when approached by police jumped up and struck the officer several times with a bicycle chain. Attempts were made to stop Boyd, but he ran into the street, swinging the chain. Const. Lee Chipperfield, one of the officers at the scene, fired several shots from his service pistol, with a fatal shot hitting Boyd in the head. Boyd was suffering from bipolar disorder and hadn't taken his medication that night.

OK bipolar not taking his meds. The police had no way of knowing that nor does it excuse his conduct. It just puts it into the perspective of mental health. He put what the police thought was a hammer down. Then he ran into the street swinging a chain. Shooting him in the head is excessive. In that case the officer should have pulled out his truncheon, trapped the chain and broken disabled the suspects knee.

If he had a knife and was making stabbing motions at the public that would have been more serious but what ever happened to putting one in his leg? Why do we always have to go for the kill shot and put one in his head or chest. Guy with mental health issues swings a chain and gets shot in the head. Then someone tells us it OK because the officer didn't do anything wrong. It's not OK.

My Wild Albertan Rose

We've all heard of the term my wild Irish Rose. Well yesterday the wild rose party of Alberta made the news. Everyone was making fun of them for their silly bus(t). They said it was a mistake and everyone was saying if they can't get a bus right, how on earth are they going to get the government right should they get the job.

I have two points on the matter. First, I don't think it was a mistake. I think some male capitalist in the party thought it was a good idea. They thought it was an eye catcher. Kinda like writing the word sex discreetly in an ice cube advertising some form of alcohol.

Second, the Wild rose party are supposed to be VERY conservative. More Conservative and separate from the "Progressive Conservative" party. Progressive, regressive. Tomato tomato.

When an older lady from the party was asked about the bus fiasco she said "We need to focus on heath care and we need to focus on seniors. That's what we need to do." Did I hear her right? An ultra conservative talking about protecting health care and Seniors? Why that sounds more like a Traditional Conservative than a modern Neo Con.

They even appear to be concerned about changing the drunk driving laws from .08 to .05 which I agree is stupid. We want to stop drunk driving. The people who are obviously driving impaired. Yes some alcohol can impair your driving but seizing your car after two drinks is insane.

Alberta’s Wildrose Party has come up with a unique way of fermenting populist anger against the ruling Progressive Conservative party. Wildrose members have recently been spotted giving away drink coasters outside of local watering holes, to protest the province’s new drinking and driving law. One side of the coaster features a slash through the number “.05” with the text, “drink responsibly,” while the other side has a red line through the letters “PC” and reads, “vote responsibly.” A novel campaign tactic, to be sure.

The coasters refer to a recently passed law, which will penalize drivers who have a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .05, even though the legal limit under the Criminal Code is .08.

“We’ve done polling on this and we know that two to one Albertans don’t want the .05 legislation. They don’t like it,” said Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson. “They think it’s a gross abuse of government power. It infringes on people’s rights and it doesn’t go after the real problem on our streets, which is people who are well over the legal limit.”

They've done some polling have they? Now we know they don't have anything to do with the Harper government. The Harper government doesn't poll their constituents like the Reform Party. The Harper government spends money on attack adds to brain wash their constituents.

Harper's new attack adds against Bob Rae are a prime example. First, it isn't anywhere near and election. Second, Bob Rae's response was right on the money. He said the Harper Government only destroy things. they only tear things down. They are not capable of building anything constructive.

I'm not a fan of Bob Rae. I think the party made the wrong choice at the leadership convention. I think they should have elected Trudeau Jr. Yet I agree with his response to the Harper attack adds. Although I don't agree with the fight fire with fire approach. That is the same message.

Saint Patrick’s Day

I guess people were expecting I’d have something to say about saint paddy’s day this year. An old post I made about Ireland was getting a lot of traffic. For me Saint Patrick’s day is about a lot more than getting drunk. It’s about a cultural reflection. Two traditional songs that come to mind are A Nation Once Again and The Town I loved so Well. Both powerful and moving.

Scotland has the Saber dance where highland dancers dance with their arms and hands raised. Traditional Irish dancing on the other hand is with the hands at the sides symbolizing being in bondage to a foreign enemy.

The Harp is a traditional instrument of Ireland. There’s a lot of harp music out there that is nice but I find kind of lame and boring. Loreena McKennitt on the other hand is a Canadian harpist that breathes new life into that wonderful instrument rekindling the ancient with a voice and melody that glows.

I remember going to see a local band called Three Row Barley perform at the Rusty Gull in North Vancouver several years ago. I really enjoyed them. They were very good. One of the lead singers was from back east. Two songs that stood out were the Majestic Shannon and Get up you drunken Bastard.

When I was at the Vancouver Occupation I had my bogran and was talking with someone with a tin whistle. Someone came up to us and asked us where we were from. I said I’m from Surrey but they’re from the Holy Land. Oh, Israel they said. No, Ireland I answered. It depends on where you’re from as to what you consider holy. Yet this is our home now and that makes this land holy too.

Charges dropped in one of the Truro murder cases

Charges against one of the accused in the murder investigation of outlaw biker Randy Mersereau have been dropped by the Crown. Crown Attorney Shauna MacDonald made the unexpected announcement in provincial court in Truro this morning that two charges against Leslie Greenwood would not be proceeding.

He is also charged in the Windsor jurisdiction with first-degree murder in the September 2000 deaths of Mersereau's brother Barry and his common-law wife Nancy Christensen. Greenwood remains in custody on those charges.

Dean David Whynott, of 541 Truro Heights Rd., also had his charge of accessory after the fact withdrawn last year in provincial court. He was charged with assisting Jeffrey Lynds escape custody between Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, 1999, while knowing Lynds had killed fellow Hells Angel member Randy Mersereau. Mersereau’s body was discovered in a wooded area in North River in December 2010.

Jeff Lynds admitted to Randy's murder for the Hells angels but was not charged for that offense. He is said to have committed suicide in prison.

Outside the courtroom, after the charges had been dropped and Greenwood had been placed back in the holding cells, MacDonald said the ongoing criminal investigation in which five individuals are facing related charges prevented her from going into details.

“We have numerous accused and numerous charges involved in this operation and an investigation ongoing so I can’t comment a lot,” she said. “But we’ve had to do an assessment of when and where the best place to call evidence is in order to ensure accountability for everybody involved and at this time we felt it appropriate to withdraw these charges against Mr. Greenwood, bearing in mind he still stands charged with two first degree murder charges out of the Windsor jurisdiction.”

All this new information has us all wondering about Rusty Halls murder and his wife Ellen. Defence lawyer Al Begin said he too was surprised about the Crown’s change of heart when he was informed earlier in the week of the pending move. "First of all, I just want to put a stop to the rumour mill," he said, "there are no deals between Les Greenwood and the Crown." Time will tell.It always does.

Fatal stabbing a gang-related home invasion

There’s been more shootings in the Lower Mainland. The latest news is a couple of gang related home invasions. One was a stabbing in Fraser heights on Saint Paddy's Day. The other was on Feb. 26, when Kacey Rogers, 31, was shot dead in his home in the 14000-block Grosvenor Road in Surrey in what police said was a targeted attack linked to a home invasion.

10 human heads latest grisly find in Mexico's drug wars

Authorities in a town in Mexico's Guerrero state made a grisly discovery Sunday, finding 10 severed human heads near an open-air market, officials said. More gory gang related violence in Mexico.

We’ve talked about the extreme nature of the gang related violence in Mexico before and how it appears that their criminals have no respect for the sanctity of life. The violence keeps getting more and more deranged until one is forced to ask oneself who on earth are they trying to impress?

When someone commits a deranged act of criminal violence, that most certainly does not earn them the respect and admiration of the public. Fear yes, but respect and admiration, absolutely not. People don’t admire someone like Robert Pickton or whoever else was involved in the murder and mutilation of sex trade workers from the Downtown East Side. People don’t admire deranged murderers who hack up dead bodies just for kicks. People are repulsed by it. People question the metal stability of those who engage in it.

Ya gotta wonder, don’t these guys fear God? Life most assuredly does not end at death. Do they really think they can scare God? Why on earth would God be scared of these deranged criminals? They can’t even stand in his presence. Do they really think they can fool God? Do they think saying a couple of Hail Mary’s or a couple of Our Fathers will save them when they have committed a brutal murder? Do they think after they rape someone’s daughter and say Abracadabra, I believe in Jesus, that all will be well? Guess again. The devil knows who Jesus is and that knowledge doesn’t save him.

The bottom line is that we are free to make choices and we are accountable for the choices we make. If we have caused pain and suffering we will experience what we have done for ourselves. No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes and no matter what we have done there is a road back to redemption, but it isn’t as simple as some people think. When we start to glorify deranged acts of brutal violence, then we are asking for eternal justice to stop us from digging ourselves a bottomless pit.

I remember being back in Ireland many years ago. I was in a town called Limerick in a strong IRA area. It was actually a branch of the IRA called the INLA. I was sitting down having a heart to heart with a guy who claimed he was a mercenary and was just back from Lebanon. He talked about the violence and how he witnessed someone take the lord’s name in vain and someone else blew his head off because he thought the guy was religious.

I said to the guy, have you ever thought about a career change? He was a bit surprised by the question and said like what? I said gee I dunno, farming maybe? To my surprise he sighed and got all sincere. He said I thought about farming. My father’s a farmer, my brother’s a farmer. I tried it but it just wasn’t for me. Then I thought to myself I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. This guys two choices for career plans was being a farmer or being a mercenary?! Isn’t there something else in between those two extremes he could try?

Then I think about the brutal violence in Mexico and I say God help them. Not just the good, God fearing people of Mexico but the deranged criminals who are begging to be wiped off the face of the earth by committing those deranged acts. God help them because their time is short. They don’t have to wait for some far off judgment. Some other gang will give them a taste of their own medicine long before that. Sometimes justice isn’t so slow. Buyer Beware. As ye so, so shall ye reap. Word.

One group appears to be willing to call a ceasefire for the Pope's visit. Nice, but not nice enough.

Judicial Arrogance not up for Review

The Vancouver Province is reporting that the judges don’t want their independence to be under review and claim that they need to educate the stupid public about what it means to be learned in law. No big surprise there. No doubt the police didn't want a civilian body to deal with police complaints either.

Before a judge becomes a judge they have to be a lawyer first. At one public demonstration about judicial unaccountability, one man comes up to me and says, all judges at one time were lawyers. At what point does a crooked lawyer become an honest judge? Is there some kind of epiphany that’s supposed to take place because I’m not seeing it.

Judicial arrogance is nothing new. Lawyers and judges think they are better than everyone else because they are learned in the law and the public isn’t. That makes them better in their eyes. That’s why they refer to each other as their learned friend in court. I remember getting in a fight with one lawyer once as we were arguing in front of the trial coordinator about what direction the judge gave us for our next court date. I referred to him as my friend then proceeded to state my objections.

The other lawyer snapped. He went on this tirade about this and that then insisted I wasn’t a lawyer, I was unrepresented. The trial coordinator was surprised as she thought I was a lawyer and told me I’m not allowed to refer to him as my friend which obviously gave the implication that I was a lawyer. I said I am the other party and I am representing myself. I have the same rights as any other lawyer. I can’t call him my friend? He’s not my friend? How about buddy? Can I refer to him as my buddy? You could see the steam spewing out of the other lawyer’s eyeballs. He was furious.

Right before that he tried to get me to withdraw my application. We had made cross applications in court. He saw I was winning so he withdrew his application. I said to the judge that I had also made an application and have already served the other party with it. If they want to withdraw their application, I want to proceed with mine. He freaked. He asked me to withdraw and I just said I’m sorry but I believe proceeding with my application is the right thing to do. He came unglued and started yelling and freaking out right outside the courtroom.

After he left a friend noticed me and said Hi. I jokingly said sorry you had to see that. They asked why the other lawyer was so upset. I said he’s losing and he knows it. He wants me to withdraw my application and I said no. I joked and said when the other lawyer starts yelling at you, that’s a good sign. It means you’re right and they’re scared so they want you to back down. When the other lawyer is laughing at you, that’s isn’t a good sign. It means you’re screwed.

Aside from being arrogant, judges don’t want to be accountable because they don’t see interpretation of the law as a survey of public opinion. On the surface that argument has merit. Interpretation of the law isn’t a matter for Pontius Pilate to survey the mob. However, we do have a problem and their arrogant denial of that fact isn’t going to help solve the problem.

Right now we have no real mechanism to get rid of a bad judge. We need one. Peter Leask is a prime example. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand what justice is and isn’t. Giving someone house arrest for trafficking cocaine is not right. I don’t care how much watered down jurisprudence you’ve memorized. The law answers to natural justice. Most lawyers and many judges have no concept of natural justice whatsoever.

I remember back when we started this blog and website there were several demonstrations calling for more judicial accountability. One group kept showing up with signs that boldly declared : “Judges are the Problem.” They printed up T-shirts that said “Revolving Door makes Judges Accomplices” and “100% Contempt for BC Judges.” Their beef was property theft.

They had a guy named Jamie Pool in their neighborhood who kept ripping them off. The police knew who he was. Every time he was arrested he was given less time served not more. This infuriated the residents, understandably so.

In the United States they have a policy called three strikes you’re out. After making the same mistake three times, you get the book thrown at you. In contrast the VPD launched a proposal called 30 strikes and you’re out. As ludicrous as that sounds, they weren’t kidding. Our current system has a huge problem with chronic offenders. That still needs to be addressed.

Some people, mostly judges, claim you’re not allowed to criticize a Judge. Retired Judge Wallace Craig disagrees. He has seen the judicial pendulum of justice swing in the wrong direction and he claims that criticizing judges who make bad decisions is a moral duty. I agree. If our arrogant court judges aren't publicly accountable, then we don't have a democratic system. In the United States court judges are elected and can be impeached. Here they are untouchable.

Winnipeg Hells Angels President busted in Flatlined

Police arrested 11 suspects in the culmination of an extensive undercover project called "Flatlined" which involved targeting high-level drug sales throughout the province. They include current Hells Angels president Dale Sweeney and his brother Rod, a full-patch member.

Interesting to note that when Gerald Blanchard was busted for his involvement in an international crime ring involving theft and fraud, police also found "various papers and phone numbers" for local Hells Angel Dale Sweeney.

I guess Dale Sweeney took over after Dale Donavon and Sean Wolfe went to prison for selling crack through the Zig Zag crew. Sure sounds like a criminal organization to me.

State of the Rebellion

The large banner add in the middle of Neil Hall’s book has got me thinking. We’ve been doing this website and blog for a while now. Three years and over three million hits later, what have we really accomplished? I’m sure some would say absolutely nothing. The blog has been a complete waste of time. Yet it has raised public awareness about the Hells Angels’ involvement in the drug trade and the BC gang war.

Neil Hall’s book The Hells Angels vs the Million dollar rat has helped document the connection between the East Vancouver Hells Angels and the Vancouver drug trade. Something that Wally Oppal didn’t want discussed. Not just Ron Lising and John Punko’s involvement in the cocaine trade. Their ties to Kerry Ryan and the meth trade as well. Last December the OMGU busted up a series of meth labs ran by bikers. We all know which bikers they are referring to. They also ran a meth lab in Kelowna that was a large production point for the interior.

It’s not just a matter of a few members of the Hells Angels getting caught selling drugs. It’s a matter of the Hells Angels using their name and reputation to enforce for the drug dealers that sell their drugs. This is not new and this is not limited to Surrey and Vancouver. It has become the past practice in Quebec and Winnipeg as well as small towns across the entire country.

Not only have we established the Hells Angels involvement in the local drug trade, we’ve also established their use of violence to control the drug trade as well as the Stripper agencies in BC and the prostitution. Some sources claim that a prostitute can’t be a prostitute in Maple Ridge unless she worked for the Hells Angels. The Hells Angels use of violence in the sex trade industry is very concerning as well as their connection to the Pickton farm.

Another thing we’ve discussed on the web site and blog is how the drug trade has infiltrated higher levels of government as shown in Operation Fast and Furious. Operation Fast and Furious made the news when government agencies were caught selling the Mexican cartels guns and brought back tons of cocaine as payment. The big outrage was selling the cartels guns that were used to murder a US border agent. Yet bringing back tons of cocaine into the US as payment for those guns was equally disturbing.

This web site has discussed the fact that government agencies involvement in the drug trade is nothing new. Gary Web exposed it and documented it. That is what they were doing out of Mena, Arkansas for years. Barry Seal was a CIA operative directly involved is the drug trafficking and money laundering. Bo Gritz confirmed that this was even going on during Vietnam. Strange how every time I link to the video, it's taken off the Internet.

Clearly, if we want to address the concerns the public has over the Vancouver gang war and the crack and crystal meth sold on the street, we need to confront the secret government agencies that are involved and profit from it. Which as we recently demonstrated is even tied to the dark side of the Mossad.

The Hells Angels vs The Million Dollar Rat

We’ve talked a bit about Neal Hall’s book Hell to Pay when it first came out. It came out around the same time that documentary about the East Vancouver Hells Angels was on TV. Well, I’m at Chapters the other night having a peek through the True Crime section. I was looking for the book by Julian Sher, The Road to Hell.

They had the Sixth Family there. I picked up a copy of Neil Halls book and I say to myself ya know I really oughta fork out the money and pick one of these up because it obviously has a lot of pertinent information about the Hells Angels connection to the drug trade here. I start flipping through the pages and take a look at the photos in the middle section. They have pictures of Glen Hehn, David Giles, Ron Lising, Kerry Ryan, all the familiar faces.

Then on the last page of the photo section the top picture jumps out at me. Hey, I recognize that picture. I made it. It’s a photoshopped picture of Peter Leask with bugs bunny rabbit ears on a Looney Tunes background. It explains that the picture was from the Gangstersout blog under the heading Peter Leask should be hanged for treason after Peter Leask came out with yet another watered down decision involving the Hells Angels. My eyes just about popped out of my head as I was somewhat shocked. That was a pretty bold photo credit.

So once again I will site the book, The Hells Angels vs the Million dollar rat, and say it is worth a read. People laugh and say Michael Plante screwed up his life for nothing as there were no real convictions out of that whole effort but I beg to differ. It did clearly show how very involved the Hells Angels are with the local drug trade. That adds to the case law establishing them as a criminal organization.

As for Michael Plante, I didn’t realize he worked the door at the Newton Inn in Surrey before he went to the Orange Number 5 in East Van. I hear he was a bit of a hot head. I don’t know where he is now but we do need more people in Surrey coming forward with things they know about the dark side of the drug and prostitution trade. People are already starting to spill the beans about the Surrey House of Horrors.

Price of Oil keeps Dropping

The price of oil keeps dropping but the price of gas at the pumps doesn’t. That is an ongoing scam. Oil prices down, but gas prices up? Shysters. How Exxon paid zero taxes in 2009. Chevron was found to have evaded $3.25 billion in federal and state taxes from 1970 to 2000 through a complex petroleum pricing scheme involving a project in Indonesia.

In 1950 three companies, General Motors, Firestone and Chevron, then known as "Standard Oil", were charged and convicted of criminal conspiracy for their part in the General Motors streetcar conspiracy. The scandal involved purchasing streetcar systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses, in order to increase their sales of petroleum, automobiles and tires.

Private emails end up with education outfit's boss

Tuesday, the Vancouver Province reported that the Ministry of Advanced Education is investigating how a senior member of the Eminata Group, a Vancouver-based education conglomerate, came to be in possession of private correspondence between The Province and ministry staff.

Advanced Education Minister Naomi Yamamoto claimed she did not share the e-mail but said her office would look into it. Today, the paper reports that MLA Harry Bloy apologizes for leaking information related to Province investigation and as of 2:00 PM had resigned from his position on Cabinet.

Bloy was minister of state for multiculturalism when he came into possession of an email The Province had sent to the ministry of advanced education seeking comment on Eminata Group founder Peter Chung. Bloy forwarded that email to Eminata, a provider of post-secondary education at six for-profit schools in B.C. that was being investigated by The Province.

Peter Chung is the guy under investigation in his for profit schools and has claimed he never admitted to wrong doing. When the province wrote an article about complaints his school is receiving. So the Liberal minister decided to give the guy a heads up that the Vancouver Province is asking about him. Why would he do that? If a for profit school is scamming the system, wouldn't everyone want that scam cleared up not swept under the carpet?



Global is reporting he is a frequent donor to the Liberal party. Another for profit enterprise bribing another dirty politician to make himself rich. Sad.

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

Argentina is an interesting country. I'm not sure what everyone's beef with Argentina is. When the Taliban gave the contract for the Oil Pipeline in Afghanistan to Bridas an Argentina firm instead of UNICOL, everyone freaked. Yet you have to admit that Bridas is a large and competent company originally from Argentina.

Bridas began expanding into the Central Asian energy sector in 1987, and secured its first large-scale contract (gas exploration rights in Turkmenistan), in 1992. Between 1995 and 1997, CEO Carlos Bulgheroni was personally involved in negotiations between Bridas and the governments of Pakistan and Turkmenistan, as well as the ruling Taliban faction in Afghanistan, to build the Trans-Afghanistan Gas Pipeline.

These negotiations were in competition with those undertaken by Unocal, and although an agreement with Unocal-led corporation CentGas was reached, the deal was forfeited in January 1998 in favor of one with Bridas. Instability in Afghanistan delayed construction of the pipeline, however, and following the United States Invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the Bridas contract was rescinded in favor of the former one with Unocal.

Not only oil but nuclear reactors and satellites as well. In 2006 an Argentina company won the contract to help refurbish one of Libya's nuclear reactors. In 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy was trying to take over the contract and sell Libya a French reactor. Oil, satellites, nuclear reactors... Argentina is a pretty industrialized nation.

It reminds me of Evita, an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical written in 1977 about the life of Eva Perón who was the second wife of President Juan Perón (1895–1974) and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita. The song Don't Cry For Me Argentina is from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Madonna played Evita in the 1996 movie.

Although she was a stage, radio, and film actress and was active in charity work, Eva Perón became powerful within the pro-Peronist trade unions, primarily for speaking on behalf of labor rights. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Perón Foundation, championed women's suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party, the Female Peronist Party.

Eva Perón is referred to as the Mother of Argentina and Spiritual Leader of the Nation. She dies at an early age of cancer but her legacy has been recorded in eternity. In her autobiography, La Razon de mi Vida, Eva writes, “From every period of my life, I retain the memory of some injustice tormenting me and tearing me apart.”

Everyone jokes about how Adele's new song makes grown men cry. That one doesn't really do it for me but it is hard not to shed a tear for Evita. A compassionate activist about to die a very premature death from cancer. It's hard not to shed a tear for the injustices she saw and stood up to correct.

What ever happened to the revolution of love? The American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution, the Arab Spring, they all want the same thing. They’re all trying to oppose a great injustice and restore equality and fairness to an unjust system despite the fact that all too often the worker’s revolution is high jacked by a dirty politician. It’s a quest for love. Not the trashy nightclub come grind with me kind of love. The real, heartfelt, selfless love that moves us and transforms us.

Where is that kind of love? I'm not just talking about a Black Eyed Peas heartfelt observation. I’m talking about that and more. Much more. I’m talking about the passion and the compassion. They go hand in hand. The heart felt yearning for not only a lost loved one but for a better world. A better justice. That love seems so far removed in a materialistic world driven by greed and exploitation. A new SUV paid for by torturing a crack addicted sex trade worker. I find the extreme real but difficult to process.

Court freezes fraud assets

Man convicted of credit card fraud forced to give up luxury cars. No kidding. The guy commits massive credit card fraud and uses the fake credit cards to but luxury cars and boats. When he gets caught, the court has every right to seize his assets to repay what was stolen.

Here’s the deal: if the court can seize someone’s assets for a credit card fraud, why not for a larger investment fraud? $26 million is a lot of money but $7 billion is a huge amount of money. Right before Earl Jones jumped ship and took the money and ran in his ponzi scheme, he transferred several millions dollars of the company’s money into his wife’s name right before he went bankrupt. That’s illegal. You can’t do that right before a bankruptcy. The court has every right to seize that money and return it to the shareholders who were defrauded.

$7 billion is a huge amount of money. It didn’t just disappear. It had to go somewhere. Follow the money and seize it so it may be returned to the shareholders. That is a must in confronting the investment fraud epidemic. Jail time for a scape goat is one thing but the real players will just find another scape goat. We need to follow the money and start seizing it.

Elections Canada hides Peter Poutine's identity

First we heard that Peter Poutine, the person behind the robocall scandal was going to go reveal themselves since their ip was allegedly traced. Today the media is reporting that that Elections Canada is not revealing who it is. They're waiting to see if any charges will be laid. That isn't right. If they have found out who it is, the public should know.

CTV reported Monday night that senior Conservative sources said that Tory party campaign worker Michael Sona had taken responsibility for the calls, but Sona is proclaiming his innocence.

Staff at a Thunder Bay call centre tasked with making scripted calls claiming to be on behalf of the Conservative Party about voting locations during the 2011 federal election knew they were giving out incorrect information, say former employees. “The whole call centre (noticed it was happening).” “We called the RCMP,” she said. “We actually also told our supervisor about it.” But no action was taken at the call centre and employees were told to stick to the script, the woman said.

Fraudulent robocalls that misdirected voters in Guelph, Ont., came from a Virgin Mobile disposable cellphone registered to a fabricated owner called Pierre Poutine, of Separatist Street, in Joliette, Que., court documents obtained by Postmedia News reveal.

The obviously fabricated name appears to have been a ruse to evade detection in the event the number was ever investigated. The “Pierre Poutine” phone was activated April 30, two days before the election, and called only two numbers other than its own voice mail.

Both corresponded to RackNine, the Conservative-linked voice-broadcasting firm that was used by whoever made the fraudulent calls into Guelph, causing chaos at a polling station.

Democracy Watch claims Elections Canada is falling down on electoral fraud. The National Day of Action Against Election Fraud took place across Canada over the weekend.

Nicolas Sarkozy: le chien sale

The Vancouver Province is reporting that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is denying multiple allegations that he accepted millions from Gadaffi for his 2007 election campaign before leading an assault against him.

This not a new allegation. Gadaffi's son said the same thing. Sarkozy had a long term relationship with Gadaffi and Libya. They sold him arms for years. In fact the new allegations exposing the money trail between the donations turned up in court investigating a French Arms dealer named Ziad Takieddine.

The president's fury comes after investigative website Mediapart released a report by French terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brissard. Its claims that Sarkozy secretly received Gaddafi's millions for his previous election campaign are based on court testimony to an arms trafficking probe.

The report alleges that French arms dealer Ziad Takieddine arranged the Gaddafi donation channeled via Panama and a Swiss bank account in the name of a sister of one of Sarkozy’s key political allies, the head of his UMP party. The deal was said to be reached during one of Sarkozy’s frequent trips to Libya as French interior minister, where he met Gaddafi in person.

Sarkozy and Takieddine both deny it but let's look at what we do know. We do know that France sold Libya arms for years. We now that Takieddine was a French arms dealer in Libya and that Sarkozy made multiple trips to Libya. In fact the year in question, 2007, saw Sarkozy make one of his frequent trips to Libya where he told the world that we should trust Gadaffi with nuclear power because he wanted to sell him a French nuclear reactor. What's the matter? Did Gadaffi decide to buy one from someone else? Is that what this is all about ? In 1976, Iraq purchased an "Osiris"-class nuclear reactor from France.

"If he had financed it, I wasn't very grateful," Sarkozy said sarcastically, in an apparent reference to the active role that France played in the NATO campaign that led to the strongman's ouster. No kidding. Like I said before, Sarkozy screwed Gaddafi royally.

What's even more disturbing is the claims that a complicated plot involving the 2002 killing of 14 people — including 11 French engineers — in the Pakistani city of Karachi, which involves defence sales, kickback allegations and intermediaries reportedly channelling millions of dollars worth of cash, Karachigate has been making headlines in France over the past few years and has long threatened to implicate Sarkozy.

French media reports as well as some of the families of the Karachi attack victims have suggested that the suicide bombing was in retaliation for scrapped defence commissions.

The Mossad

Dare I mention Mossad? The Israeli secret service. Meir Dagan, former chief of Israel's Mossad, was on 60 minutes last night laking about how he didn't think Israel attacking Iran's nuclear plants would be wise at this time. Interesting to say the least.

Mostly because it wouldn't be a matter of bombing one or four sites, it would be a matter of bombing a dozen sites. The whole matter of nuclear energy is very problematic. How can we say Iran isn't allowed to develop nuclear energy when we sell Candu reactors to China, India and Pakistan all of which have been use to test nuclear weapons. Yet letting Iran have nuclear weapons is very problematic indeed. The first thing we should do is stop selling Candu reactors to China, India and Pakistan.



When I think if Mossad, I think of the magnificent fortress near the Dead sea called Massada. What a tragic end that fortress had. Historically, the Romans placed them under seize and eventually built a ramp so their armies could invade the fortress. The night before the invasion all the inhabitants of Massada committed suicide because they did not want to return to slavery. Tragic indeed.

As is the motivation behind Meir Dagan's involvement with Mossad. The Holocaust was a horrific event. That is why we wet and fought in the trenches on foreign soil. My grandfather had mustard gas burns on his back from the trenches of WWI. Meir Dagan carried a picture of his Grandfather wearing a prayer shall in a consecration camp right before he was executed. Very sad. No doubt one one would be determined to say never again. Thus the preemptive work of Mossad.



Yet there are elements of that preemptive work that disturb me. There are elements of that organization that concern me. Mainly because of it's work with the CIA and MI6 which are far less reputable.

First, does the end justify the means? Murdering a nuclear scientist in Iran may save lives if they use that technology to make nuclear weapons and kill full cities, yet is not killing a scientist murder? Where do we draw the line? Do we draw lines? I certainly hope so.

Executive a terrorist leader. One can again argue that executing the leader of a group of terrorists will in turn save many lives. Yet who determines who is a terrorist and who is not?

Then there's the drugs... We know Iran Contra wasn't limited to Iran. We know Oliver North was in charge of everything that went in and out of Nicaragua. That would include the cocaine coming out of Nicaragua that came out of Panama from their friend Noriega through Operation Watch Tower. That would include the arms that went into Nicaragua for the Contra rebels that the cocaine bought.

Colonel Edward P. Cutolo claimed there were a series of three electronic beacon towers beginning outside of Bogata, Columbia, and running northeast to the border of Panama." With the beacons in place and activated, aircraft could fix on their signal and fly undetected from Bogata to Panama, landing at Albrook Air Station.

Cutolo testified that the cargo flown from Colombia into Panama was cocaine. Cutolo claimed during the Feb., 1976, Watch Tower Mission, 30 high performance aircraft landed safely at Albrook Air Station where the planes were met by Col. Tony Noriega, a Panama Defence Force Officer assigned to the Customs and Intelligence Section. Also present at most of the arrivals was CIA Agent Edwin Wilson.

Cutolo claimed he was informed that Michael Harari is listed as a senior Mossad agent. Harari was the un identified male Israeli national that met the aircraft which flew into Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower. He was the one who gave Edwin Wilson two briefcases full of U.S. currency in various denominations. The briefcases were given to Edwin Wilson at the end of operations in March and Feb. 1976. It is my understanding from Pentagon contacts, that Harari's activities in Latin America are well known, including his drug trafficking endeavors.

Does the end justify the means? No it does not. And why would an Israeli arms dealer sell arms to the enemy? Just for the almighty dollar? Isn't that a betrayal of trust?

Rogue US Solder killed 16 civilians

Another bizarre tragedy in Afghanistan. A rogue US solder snaps. He went AWOL and killed 16 civilians including nine children. Words cannot convey how strange and how sad this event really is. Why on earth would he do that? Obviously he snapped but to kill allies, civilians at that, clearly is treason.

There should be a fair trial but this is not a civil matter. It is a military matter. It should be determined if there really was just one shooter or multiple shooters. If found guilty then they should face the firing squad. Sorry if that sounds extreme but that kind of treason in a time of war puts all of his fellow soldiers at risk not to mention the outrageousness of the atrocity all on it's own.

Justice is not possible. There is no way to bring back the lost loved ones. Some might argue that 16 Americans should be executed not just one, to which I respond, which ones? 15 random Americans should be lined up and murdered? That would not be just. It would perpetuate the injustice until we are all blind.

If one person committed murder than that person should be put to death, not 15 random people. Clearly something went wrong that needs to be addressed. There was a rogue shooter at a US Army Base in the States. Instead of shooting fellow soldiers or fellow students at school, this lunatic shot foreign civilians. Equally shameful.

Without minimizing the atrociousness of the tragic event, I will add that the Taliban have also murdered many more than 16 civilians in many of their suicide attacks. We should recognize the seriousness of the tragedy and remember the enemy has done worse. That in no way minimizes what this solder has done. It just reminds us that there isn't one good guy and one bad guy in this conflict. Mistakes are made but evil does perpetuate and we are morally bound to resist it.

Suicide attacks kill 20

Bombing toll hits 78 dead

Taliban bomber kills nine people

12 dead in three Afghanistan bomb attacks

As for the tragic situation in Afghanistan, I will note that the current president who would not be president if the allies hadn't invaded, just endorsed a law that allows husbands to beat their wives and forbids women from leaving home without a male escort. That is not the sign of an enlightened moral nation. It is an extremist defiantly bragging about being a neanderthal. That has nothing to do with God or Islam.

It makes us wonder why we went to Afghanistan in the first place. A mission isn't wrong because it's hard or because there are many casualties. If Bin Ladden was responsible for 9/11 then it would have been the right thing to do. I just don't believe Bin Ladden was responsible for 9/11. I think the invasion was really about reversing the Taliban's decision to give the contract for the Central Asia gas pipeline to an Argentina firm named Bridas instead of the UNICOL.

Letting girls attend school is a basic right in a civilized society. Yet returning Afghanistan into the world largest producers of Opium after it was almost completely shut down has been a tragic bi product of the invasion.

More Mexican drug violence

More violent drug related murders in Mexico. These dismembered bodies belong to four youth ranging in age from 14 to 21 in school. There have been a few series run recently about the drug related violence at the hands of the cartels in Mexico. All the images are disturbingly graphic. I realize that when someone gets shot they bleed. I just don’t understand every time we see a picture of a shooting in Mexico that there is so much blood involved.

I keep talking about the sanctity of life. Obviously, when the greed of cocaine trafficking takes over, there is no respect for life at all. It’s all about pouring blood on the golden calf of the almighty dollar. It’s even more disturbing when it involves youth.

Stratfor on Wikileaks

WikiLeaks has announced they have released millions of confidential e-mails from Texas based intelligence firm Stratfor which provides intel for large corporations. I’m not a big fan of releasing confidential military documents that reveal the position of your troops to the enemy as that clearly is treason. Yet exposing wrong doing is a civic duty. Especially when it involves quasi military organizations funded by large corporations that are committing invasive atrocities and trample the Constitution.