Your alternate news source. Connecting the dots between politics and organized crime.
Let the Ghetto Gospel go forward into every hood possible." Ja Rule
Getting the Gangsters out of Government. Podcast - Vlog
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Redd Alert in Kamloops
Well this is interesting. There has been a murder in Kamploops some claim is tied to the Redd alert gang which some claim started in Regina and has expanded to Edmonton. The local paper confirms that the Redd Alert is the only real gang presence in the town.
Archie LePretre, 23, was killed Tuesday afternoon while playing basketball with his cousin outside Stuart Wood elementary school. LePretre, who is from Vancouver, and his cousin, a 23-year-old from Kamloops, were confronted by three men wearing gloves and bandannas and carrying knives and a baseball bat. Both LePretre and his cousin suffered blunt-force trauma. LePretre died after emergency crews spent about 30 minutes working on him in a corner of the court.
If the suspects were also all First Nations men in their early ‘‘20s wearing bandannas, it's pretty clear which gang they are with. Our source claims both parties were members of the Redd Alert gang just different levels. It certainly wouldn't be the first internal conflict within the gang.
Another source claims that Dennis Sinclair AKA Crewboss was a former President of RA in Edmonton. Sinclair was savagely beaten in May of 2006 inside Edmonton Remand Centre, by fellow Redd Alert members Louis Paquette, Craig Drynan and Ronald Crane, who each pleaded guilty in October to aggravated assault.
Douglas Jensen who prosecution say claimed to be a member of the Red Alert Street gang in Kamloops, was denied bail when he was charged with breaching a restraining order prohibiting him from contact with his sister and threatening her daughter. The Tk’Emlups Indian Band has banished Jensen and one of his friends from band lands.
Jensen has 58 convictions, including eight convictions for violence. He’s been convicted 50 times while he was under sentence for other crimes, and has several breaches of bail and other court orders. Defence lawyer Don Campbell told the court there is clearly conflict in the Jensen family, but his client denies the allegations made by his sister and adamantly denies he is a gang member.
Redd Alert is an aboriginal Alberta-based street gang wear red bandanas and have a presence in prisons throughout the Prairies. The gang is also an acknowledged part of the drug world in Alberta. The gang surfaced in Kamloops in 2006. During a press conference late that year, RCMP showed off assault rifles, swords and gang patches seized in a drug raid. Redd Alert is present throughout the province, including Williams Lake and Prince George.
Let's see, if they wear a red bandanna and are in PG, I wonder who they are affiliated with? Since they are responsible for First Nations violence on First Nations, I wonder if they know anything about who burned down Joey Arrance's tattoo shop and who killed his girlfriend's mother? Joey is First Nations and has been targeted by someone.
If the Redd Alert are connected to the Independent Soldiers in Kamloops, how can they not be connected to the Hells Angels?
So who is festering violence between First Nation brother and First Nations brother? Or in once case First Nations sister. If drugs are involved, how can the Hells Angels not be involved? Kamloops is a pretty small town and this Douglas Jensen appears to be a prolific offender. No doubt he could have some knowledge about who killed Archie LePretre. Since he has been banned from the reservation for his crimes and even has a restraining order preventing him from harassing his own sister which he broke, perhaps the Tribal Elders could conduct an investigation into this brutal murder.
A week earlier there was a stabbing in Kamloops but the victim isn't talking because he believes it might have something to do with the fact that he owes someone money and doesn't want to upset them. Money from drugs perhaps?
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The courts determined that Redd Alert associate Travis Bobroske "probably" attacked another man Feb. 1 and stabbed him seven times. The victim was associated with the UN. So tell me again how the Hells Angels are connected to the Bacon Brothers? I'm getting confused. Oh right, Larry Amero's friends are friends with friends of the Bacon brothers. Just how deep does the rabbit hole really go?
David Giles DUI
Well, well, well. I hear David Giles was in court yesterday facing a DUI charge. I wonder if he'll blame this one on Revel or Remple. It wasn't him driving the car. Yeah, yeah that's the ticket.
Accused: GILES, DAVID Francis Mckinley Kelowna, BC, CAN
74302-1 Count 1 08-Aug-2010 CCC - 253(1)(b) care or control vehicle/vessel with over .08
74302-1 Count 2 08-Aug-2010 CCC - 253(1)(a) care or control vehicle or vessel while impaired
Gilles Duceppe exposes another Harper fraud
Three cheers for Gilles Duceppe - Harper's new truth cop. He pointed out that Harper's hell fire babbling about an evil coalition, aside from not making sense, is very hypocritical since Duceppe produced a letter signed by Harper, Stephane Dion and himself forming a coalition back in 2004.
Like I said before, there is nothing wrong with coalitions. In fact in a minority government there has to be some kind of coalition or the party with the most seats can't form the government. The funny thing is Harper's complete double standard with his absurd ramblings about an evil coalition against him.
The Harper starts to waffle and says he didn't remember calling it a coalition and he think sit was more of a co opposition. Duceppe remembers Harper using the word coalition. Whatever they called it, Harper is full of sh*t.
Clearly Harper should be doing more listening and less talking because the more talking he does, the less credibility he has. Hey Ronnie, is this letter enough supporting evidence for you? The Metro Vancouver ran a fitting Editorial Cartoon about it.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Kingpin Crew still Creeping
Meanwhile back on the ranch, the Kingpin Crew are still desperately trying to make a name for themselves. Mind you that's a daunting task with that full face helmet and those dumb ass sneakers. Or are they bowling shoes? It's hard to tell. He does kinda look like a bowling pin. Is that the head pin? Is he the one with the dirty knees? I guess Dick Goldammer would know about that.
Speaking of tricky Dicky, his name came up in the Punko and Potsie criminal org trial. Punko and Potsie were in some guy's grill about a missing $30k shipment of pot that was seized by the police. The guy got a friend to give the lawyer's letter to Richard Goldammer, an East End Hells Angels member living in Kelowna to prove his innocence. They thought he ripped them off and were making death threats. So here we have Dick Goldammer tied to Punko and Postsie's criminal org trial. Does Dick still oversea the KPC in Kelowna? Please advise.
HST Mail in Referendum
In response to the anti HST petition, the provincial government has decided to hold a mail in referendum in June. Make sure you're on the list. This is one way to prevent the marginalized from voting.
To be fair they said they are going to spend money on both sides of the debate. That isn't fair, that's just stupid. Why would they spend any tax dollars trying to tell us how to vote? That is wasting more tax dollars from the same top down government. The people tell the government what to do, the government doesn't tell the people what to do. Not in a real democracy at least.
BC Provincial voter list
Federal voter list
Fight the HST
The New Democracy
The New Democracy is the same as the old democracy only in the US they are trying to come up with new names for it. Some refer to it as Libertarian others refer to it as constitutionalists. Those who really do support the US constitution not just play lip service to it.
Back in the day, the founding fathers of the US constitution made reference to the establishment of a republican government. Obviously they were not talking about George Bush or the modern republican political party. They were talking about the establishment of a free republic governed by the people much like Maximus and Marcus Aurelius wanted to establish in the movie Gladiator.
With all the bizarre drama we are seeing from the neo con movement I just wanted to be clear about what democracy really is and Stephen Harper is not it. My democracy includes social justice. I support public health care. That doesn't make me a Communist. Although Libertarians want less government, I personally think some programs should be publicly owned so they are publicly accountable. Privatizing everything only circumvents public accountability with disastrous results like with Enron.
Someone recently asked me what happened to the gangsters out blog saying it's turned into politicians out. Yeah I just wanted to vent about the gangsters in Ottawa for a bit since they are screwing us royally.
The New Christy Crunch
As much as I like Christy Clark, I have to admit this new add from the provincial NDP is rather funny. Christy Clark's biggest opposition is from within her own party. The MLAs don't support her the public does. That is problematic when she tries to actually accomplish something her party doesn't support when the election is over.
Right now she's handing out free candy before the election. Finally raising minimum wage when it was Gordon Campbell's liberals that froze the minimum wage for so long. Finally breaking ground on the expansion at the Surrey Memorial hospital when Gordon Campbell's liberals have slashed health care funding in BC turning hall ways into hospital rooms.
Even Gordon Campbell handed out free BC Hydro rebate cheques before one election only to drastically slash services while giving himself two huge pay raises and a gold plated pension.
I must admit the free train give away in the add was rather funny although what they did to BC Rail was no laughing matter.
Jack Layton visits Surrey
Jack Layton visited Surrey this morning and I had to check it out. The media has been playing up on his health but he looked pretty strong and vibrant to me. He walked with a cane and did the scouting tradition of shaking with his left hand because his right hand was supporting himself with his cane. When he shook my hand he looked into my eyes and all I could say was thank you. Thank you for coming to Surrey and thank you for standing up for what we believe in.
I found some of the things he said and some of the things in local candidates literature shocking. The first platform of Surrey North Candidate Jasbir Sandhu's pamphlet was Make our streets safe and Strengthen our public health care system.
Jack Layton spoke about how the hall way hospitals had degenerated into Tim Horton's hospitals in British Columbia citing a recent incident where they had to temporarily shut down a Tim Horton's kiosk and use it as an emergency ward overflow. Health care funding is a concern in British Columbia.
I was surprised to hear Jack Layton promote small business. Jack Layton truthfully pointed out that New Democrats opposed the HST federally. That was not lip service. He pointed out that the federal conservatives in BC still supported the HST when they knew how deathly opposed to the HST the residents of BC really were. He said, if the people of British Columbia can't trust their conservative MP's to represent their will on an issue like the HST, how can the people of British Columbia trust the federal conservative to represent their will on any other matter? So true.
Fleetwood Port Kells candidate Nao Fernando introduced the speakers and spoke well. He cited a list of things he believed in and said New Democrats know what they believe in, they believe in families.
Jack Layton also spoke about not rewarding big corporations for shipping jobs overseas like raw logs. Why would we export raw logs only to buy them back after they have been processed by other countries? That doesn't make sense. Neither does rewarding companies for off shore call centres. Even the mighty Obama agreed with that.
Strong families, better health care, better education, small business, no HST. All of his current positions used to be traditional conservative values which have been sold out for the neo con.
Jack Layton pointed out that in most ridings where conservatives were elected in BC it was the NDP who came in second and that it's the NDP who are capable of defeating Harper in BC which is very true.
Chuck Cadman was a legend in Surrey North. After his death his wife Donna later endorsed Penny Priddy who won that seat for the NDP. After Penny's term was up she ran for Surrey city counsel while Dona Cadman ran for Surrey North under the Conservative banner. Chuck Cadman was reelected as an independent. It was very surprising to see Donna Cadman run for the same party that tried to bribe her husband.
As much as I respect Donna Cadman and her husband Chuck, I am going to have to support Jasbir Sandhu and the NDP for that seat because Stephen Harper's cons didn't end with the attempted bribe of Chuck Cadman. Stephen Harper's cons are long and profound and it's time to stop them. Starting with the HST.
BTW the NDP are advocates for protecting pensions which is something the neo cons have sold out and are recklessly destroying. Jack Layton's motto is families first and no one gets left behind. Remember the Rambo movies? No one gets left behind? The neo con have abandoned that pledge a long time ago. It's time we demonstrate a little self respect and stop exploiting the elderly and physically challenged.
Closing Riverview and putting all the mentally ill on the street diminished all of us. You can't support a strong economy while you build reckless debt and ship jobs overseas. Coming home from the rally I saw someone put up some signs that said No surprise Bill. Turns out it was a cell phone company advertising unlimited text promising no surprise bills compared to other cell phone companies where hidden costs produce a rather surprising bill indeed.
At first I thought it was an election sign referring to Stephen Harper. Harper submitted a budget to the House of Commons without submitting the budget. He hid the costs and asked the house to vote on his budget without knowing the costs saying he'll surprise us with the costs later. He'll surprise us all right. By railroading the HST through in a Senate he just stacked after he promised an elected senate.
Recently someone on the blog asked me who I thought would best lead Canada and I said I didn't trust any of them with a majority government and since I didn't trust Harper or Iggy I was stuck with Jack Layton. I take that back. I know what I believe politically, socially and economically. I am not a neo con. I am a new democrat. I believe in real democracy and in social justice. I believe as Jack Layton pledges in Families First and No One gets left behind. Just like Carol James' motto of how everyone matters. That is the dream. That is what I support.
I'm in the process of uploading the video clips I took of Jack Layton's speech today in Surrey. No doubt it will be highly edited by the media.
The bottom line is trust. The shaking with the left hand tradition in scouting came from Lord Baden Powell. He was the founder of the scouting movement and some of the main hiking trails in Vancouver are named after him. The Lord Baden Powell trail stretches from Deep Cove, through Mount Seymour, Grouse Mountain, Cypress and on to Horseshoe bay.
Anyways, the shaking with the left hand tradition in scouting comes from Baden Powell's experiences with the Zulus in Africa. The Zulus held their spear in their right hand and their shield in their left. Shaking hands with the left was a sign of trust because it meant you had to put down your shield to do it. Likewise, I trust Jack Layton.
What would I do if Jack Layton actually became Prime Minister? Well, I think he would put an end to the HST and I don't think he would take money from schools and hospitals and spend it on the neo con Oil Wars. I think he really would promote small business, free enterprise and by not rewarding large corporations for sending Canadian jobs overseas I think that really would help the economy.
As for the neo con name calling all I have to say is that the neo cons don't know Jack about our traditional values. Word.
Here is the test of Jack Layton's speech
Libyan rebels recapture oil town
A convoy of rebel vehicles could be seen Sunday moving westward toward the oil town of Ras Lanouf, the latest town to be recaptured from forces loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
Ras Lanouf and Brega were responsible for a large chunk of Libya's 1.5 million barrels of daily exports, which have all but stopped since the uprising that began in mid-February and was inspired by the toppling of governments in Tunisia and Egypt.
Rebels had appeared on the verge of defeat, but have claimed victories in recent days following coalition air strikes, carried out to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone. Their ultimate goal is to reach Gaddafi's stronghold of Tripoli.
Obviously our bombing of Libya has absolutely nothing to do with establishing a no fly zone or a cease fire and has everything to do with taking over Gaddafi's oil. Canada joins the neo Con Oil Wars.
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And of course as soon as the armed Rebels took the oil town the Allies let them start shipping oil to fund their rebellion. This invasion is about oil and nothing else.
A Coalition of the Willing
Harper has sure kicked off his election campaign with some pretty bizarre fear mongering. He claims that the evil coalition will seek to upset democracy in Canada. OK so this guy is malicious and an idiot.
Harper never had 50% of the seats. Consequently, he has to team up with one of the other parties or he cannot form the government. Otherwise we keep having elections over and over which is what's happening.
Harper claims that when the other three main political parties team up together, somehow that violates democracy. That is absolute neo con nonsense. Political parties uniting on common ground is a good thing.
The fact that Harper refuses to do so is exactly what's wrong with Canada and his government. The fact that he and Ignatieff refuse work with any other party elected by the people to hold seats in Parliament show they are both power hunger dictators who refuse to listen to any of the other elected seats and insist on "ruling" and "governing" their way all the way with no regard for any one else.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
The Neo Con
I was corresponding with someone recently and they made a reference to Ron Paul. The thought that came to my mind at the time was an interview I saw on youtube of Ron Paul referring to John McCain as a Neocon. I was surprised to hear him use the term. I've heard others use the term it just surprised me coming from him. Turns out he has spoken at great lengths about neocons in American politics.
Neocon is short for neo conservative. Only they're not conservative, they are something else. They are con artists who say one thing and do another. They say they will reduce the debt and lower taxes but they do the opposite. They are obsessed with spin, that is, they are big on propaganda.
In the United States they have Fox News, biased news reporting at it's worst. In Canada Stephen Harper is setting up a Fox News north where his spin doctors can control the media. There are many similarities between neocons and fascism.
The heart of the doctrine is the con. Fooling people with lies. Stephen Harper is a neo con. So is Nicolas Sarkozy. They are con artists who love power and actively promote the oil wars.
George Bush was a neo con. He added billions to the national debt. The day before 9/11 Donald Rumsfeld admitted that the Pentagon waste is massive and that the military mismanagement had lost or simply couldn't account for $2.3 trillion. Yet after that startling announcement, George Bush kept going back to congress asking for more and more money to pour into the invasion or Iraq after he lied about their weapons of mass destruction.
This model of waste, deception and debt is not a good model to follow. Yet Stephen Harper is frighteningly eager to follow it. He wants a huge sum of tax dollars to buy new fighter jets to help bomb other countries for their oil. On top of that, he was found in contempt of parliament for hiding those costs from the house of commons during budget debate.
Stephen Harper refused to take an amendment on his over reaching crime bill that would have saved millions. He also was found in contempt of parliament for hiding the costs of his over reaching crime bills from the house of commons during the budget debate. This contempt is historically unprecedented in Canada. Stephen Harper is starting a bad precedent.
Neocons are enemies of the constitution. Sarah Palin said non American citizens don't deserve the same rights Americans enjoy in the Constitution. That is one of the biggest cons there is. This Youtube clip is the perfect synopsis of how Sarah Palin is an enemy of the constitution.
The neocons pretend to support the constitution but there actions completely contradict every fibre of the Constitution taking us to a much different place.
Another part of the con is censorship. Rosie O'Donnell was fired from the View for her political opinions. Dan Rather was fired for exposing George Bush's embarrassing military record.
When you think about it, those two acts are pretty huge examples of some pretty major censorship in the land where the constitution is supposed to protect free speech. Without question, neo cons are eroding the constitution and are very effective at spin, propaganda and Cons.
Is Syria Next?
Violence in Syria breaks out over the protests there. Does that mean the Western allies will start bombing Syria next? Of course not. Syria doesn't have oil. Libya has oil. The largest oil reserve in Africa. Let's see how the Allies divide up that theft between them.
Dan Gardner wrote a bizarre editorial claiming that the bombing and invasion of Libya shows why Canada needs to purchase more fighter jets. Not. That is the exact reason why we shouldn't buy them. So Canada doesn't join in the oil wars and start bombing foreign countries for their oil.
Indeed the whole concept of the Conservatives being in contempt of Parliament is unprecedented. No other political party in Canada has ever refused to disclose itemized budget costs when asked to produce them for the House to debate and vote on the budget.
I take back what I said about Stephen Harper. I don't think he is stupid after all. I think he clearly is malicious as well if not more. It's those quiet awkward ones ya gotta worry about. They're the ones that end up being serial killers. So how many civilians have the allies murdered in Libya so far anyways?
Harper says one thing and does another. He talks about reducing taxes but spends more and instigates new taxes like the HST. Dropping the GST a percentage then raising it and taxing things the GST doesn't tax under the HST is deceptive.
Harper said he supported an elected Senate. Yet he pulled a Brian Mulroney and stacked the Senate to ram his HST through just like Mulroney did. Harper would have invade Iraq for their oil. Now he is invading Libya for their oil. This is a very bad precedent for Canada. Bombing Libya has nothing to do with creating a no fly zone or a cease fire.
In Syria, like in Egypt we have protesters against the government and for the government. One group wants the government to step down, the other group wants them to stay. So the protesters are fighting with each other.
In Libya the protesters took up arms and started firring on Gadaffi. He fired back. That is a civil war not a peaceful protest. There's a big difference. When a civilian takes up arms and starts shooting at the military, they are no longer civilians, they are rebels. Shooting an armed rebel is different than shooting an unarmed civilian.
Like I said, I'm no fan of Gadaffi, but I do object to this invasion completely just like the invasion of Iraq. Where were these greedy oil mongering bastards in Rwanda? Rwanda was a real human rights crisis and no one cared because they didn't have oil.
So stop pretending we are doing anything noble in Libya because it's obvious we are not. Our actions and motives are suspect and we should be ashamed of ourselves. Sarkozy is not trustworthy.
A series of classified US memos depict the French president as a self-absorbed, thin-skinned, erratic character who tyrannises his ministers and staff. He is portrayed as undiplomatic, hyperactive, sometimes uncouth and in need of careful handling, despite being the most pro-US French president since the second world war.
Sarkozy admired Bush and was disappointed France wasn't supportive of the invasion of Iraq. Kinda like Stephen Harper. You'd think he'd be proud after finding out they lied about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction but no. Sarkozy doesn't care about that. He just wants to be... an oil wars storm trooper just like Stephen Harper does. Sad for both Canada and France. That is not the way it used to be. Je me souviens.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Canadian to command bombing of Libya mission
Great, the Harper government falls to a non confidence and they put a Canadian in charge of the invasion of Libya. Perhaps now's not the best time for Canada to take charge of that mission. Oh they're not, they just have a Canadian puppet up front and centre to run PR interference. Wonderful.
I thought this wasn't a NATO mission because Turkey didn't agree with the mission? Charles Bouchard will work with "his naval and air component commands" to enforce the no-fly zone and the so-called civilian-protection mission in Libya. So who's really in charge and who's really the PR man? Enforcing the no fly zone to protect civilians doesn't mean bombing Libya.
I don't think Harper is malicious. I think Michael Ignatieff is malicious. Harper is naive, power hungry and stupid. However, he is smart enough to become the leader of the conservatives so he just might be malicious after all. Birds of a feather.
Canadians have lost confidence in the government
Michael Ignatieff was right about one thing he said in the House of Commons today. Canadians have lost confidence in the government. Unfortunately, that would include him. He was right Harper and the Conservatives should have provided costs for new fighter jets, over reaching crime bills and corporate tax cuts.
He was right in that a government that breaks the rules and conceals facts from the Canadian people doesn't deserve to remain in office. He might even be right about the fact that Canadians have a "hunger" and "longing" for new leadership. Unfortunately he is certainly not the one Canadians hunger and long for. He is only a legend in his own mind.
So we are back at square one. We have kids fighting over who gets to be Prime Minister while they fail to do the job they were elected to do. Harper refused to take the amendment on the crime bill. He is determined to race ahead on this sick self glorifying Lord of War model as he pulls a Brian Mulroney and steam rolls over the general public with his HST - Harper Sales Tax.
Where is Chuck Cadman when you need him? We don't need another election. We need leaders who listen. We need a minority government that will work with the other parties instead of attacking and belittling them to promote themselves so they can push their own agenda without listening to the concerns of other Canadians.
It is a sad day for Canada. Their leaders are self serving children who refuse to listen to their constituents. Are we any better than those we demonize and bomb? Not much. I will say this though: the only party I really trust in Ottawa right now is the Bloc Québécois and I'm an anglaphone from Colombie Britannique. Isn't that ironic?
Crisis in Japan
How much does each one of those missiles deployed in Libya cost? Instead of spending tax dollars promoting private companies that profit from war, why not doing something noble and help the rescue efforts in Japan? The Japanese are very noble people. They would prefer to suffer in silence than accept help from outside. Yet the daily death toll rises simply because the number of people still missing is staggering.
Let's think about the earthquake in Haiti. The thought of being buried alive and trapped waiting for rescue is daunting. Many people died in that earthquake. Many were buried for long periods of time then rescued and survived.
The rising death toll in Japan just broke 10,000. Yet there are 17,500 still missing as foreign aid begins to trickle in. We were all outraged to hear that a police officer mishandled a "non emergency" call when a neighbour reported shots fired at Lisa Dudley's house where she lied in her home dying for four days. She was found alive but died of her injuries.
That was a tragedy. They thought of being trapped in her home dying for four days is heart wrenching. How about two weeks? It has been two weeks since the earthquake and Tsunami hot Japan and 17,500 people are still missing. Many of those people are trapped buried under ruble waiting to be rescued. Instead they suffer in silence as we run around spending millions of dollars pretending to be Noble in a conflicted bombing campaign against another oil Barron we have armed and exploited.
Japan has issued a non emergency call for help. Yet it should clearly be treated as an emergency just like the call to the police about Lisa Dudley's shooting. We are doing the same thing we criticize that police officer of doing. We are ignoring the real emergency and are being distracted by other things.
England shot civilians on Bloody Sunday. Did we bomb England? Saudi shot civilians protesting their monarchy. Did we bomb Saudi? A no fly zone in Libya can be rationalized. A conflict of interest bombing campaign can not be rationalized.
There is nothing laudable or brave about profiting from war and creating manufactured emergencies where we can pretend to be brave and noble. God knows there are enough real emergencies on this planet that need our attention. The rescue mission in Japan is one of them. Think about it. The survivors have no food. One survivor told the media we have no goal. They need a plan they can work towards to rebuild their lives and feed their families. That is something we can help with.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Hillary Clinton - I Spy a Bad Spy
So Harper is getting cosy with Hillary Clinton. Great, that's all we need. I sure hope Harper isn't still using that old PROMIS software we bought from the States. It was supposed to help US Allies categorize information but really was a Trojan horse that let the CIA spy on it's allies. As if that comes as any big surprise.
Recent Wiki Leaks documents show that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered U.S. diplomats, the CIA, and the FBI to spy on highest echelons of UN officialdom. Hold the door, that certainly comes as no big surprise either. I will add that the CIA certainly didn't need her permission to do what they have always done.
Hillary came out with public criticism of Wiki Leaks like others have but I will add that this trendy criticism is very Stalin like. If Wiki Leaks was posting letters from Nobel Peace Price winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn or if they were posting letters from China dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the critics would be singing WikiLeaks' praises.
I find it very concerning that they would be in an uproar when WikiLeaks releases information about them but not their political opponents. That is a flaming red flag and a huge concern. The rhetoric they spew to rationalize their concerns is offensive. Pretending it has anything to do with saving innocent lives. Innocent lives are saved when we expose and confront corruption not when we hide or rationalize it.
Since Hillary Clinton has stepped up to the plate to be the CIA and Joint Chiefs of Staff PR Person for the invasion of Libya, perhaps we should ask Ms. Clinton to answer about her involvement in Mena Arkansas? After all she was first lady to the Governor of Arkansas who helped hide and cover up the CIA's cocaine smuggling operation that went on out of there for so many years.
In fact it has been said that she was a partner in the Rose Law Firm that had some questionable involvement in that affair. Then there was Whitewater. Why did Bill Clinton support that crooked corner who falsified death records and tampered with evidence ruling several murders in Arkansas suicides? Let's ask those questions and get those answers. Her connection to the Shadow government is quite concerning. Reminiscent of Vice President Johnston who took over after Kennedy was assassinated.
I will say this, there is nothing laudable or brave about censorship. There is nothing laudable or brave about smuggling cocaine and laundering money for the CIA. There is nothing laudable or brave about selling countries chemical weapons then invading them for their oil and pretending it has anything to do with human rights. And of course there is nothing laudable or brave about killing someone for revealing a state secret when it's in the public's best interest to do so. That is murder. At least Stalin threw his dissidents in jail.
BTW this blog just broke over a million views. I guess someone is actually reading some of this nonsense. And just for the record, France leading the bombing in Libya is a conflict of interest. They have been pals with Gadaffi for many years until he recently broke off ties with them. Now all of a sudden France wants a new leader there. Like that's not suspicious. France did have colonies in Africa BTW just like England and Spain did in the Americas. Sarkozy denies Gaddafi's donations claim of course.
Wow, look at all the countries ready to pounce on the spoils of war and seize all of Libya's assets. I'm sure they'll give themselves lots of congressional medals of honour for that theft.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Federal Budget
Everyone talks about the Federal Budget like they are kids in a candy store. What's in it for me? Pork Barrel politics got us in this mess. I don't like the fact that Harper is hiding how much his overreaching crime bills cost and the cost of the new fighter jets. Let's face it, fighter jets are massively expensive. Yet when we use them to bomb a country for their oil I'm forced to question the integrity of that investment. Especially when it involves increase taxes like the HST.
Instead of saying what's in the budget for me, why aren't we asking how much of the debt are we eliminating? If we don't control the National Debt, there will be no social programs left. Period. If we want pensions, schools and hospitals then we need to address the debt and change the way we expect financial favors from the government. The HST - Harper Sales Tax has got to go. I'm not willing to spend those tax dollars to bomb countries for their oil. Especially when it means we aren't getting cheaper gas out of it. It just means the oil companies will be able to gouge us more and make more profit so they can give kick backs to the politicians in tax deductible contributions.
I was somewhat shocked to see the Vancouver Province print some pretty racists rants in their feedback section on an anti Justin Trudeau rant this morning. They had the audacity to slam Pierre Trudeau and state multiculturalism doesn't work. Excuse me but multiculturalism does work. It's called diversity. The great Canadian Mosaic. It's bigotry that doesn't work.
Trudeau gave us the Charter of rights. Eileen Mohan referred to it as out sacred charter. That is a wonderful document. The right to due process is not a bad thing. The right to be protected from searches and wire taps without cause is a good thing. How the judges in BC are misinterpreting the charter is bad.
Bilingualism is not bad. Complaining about bilingualism is just huckleberry hillbilly. In Europe, people know several languages. Knowing more than one language is a sign of education. Even being taught French in school and having French on our product labels, I still suck at French. That's an embarrassment. Complaining about bilingualism is just plain bigotry.
Trudeau was a good leader. He gave us binding arbitration. Quebec wanted to Separate. The West said let them go. Subsequent attempts at compromise were made. Upon voting on them Quebec said it wasn't enough and the West said it was too much. The Charter of Rights was the perfect balance. It was a noble compromise we all can be proud of. I'm leery of people who trash Trudeau with bigotry.
Yes the Federal Liberals watered down our judicial system and we have to make some course corrections but they did save us money. We did away with the two for one pretrial credit. That was a good change that was needed. That change will cost us more money. Doing away with statutory release will cost us more money. We need course corrections not sweeping changes that will put us further in debt.
The media sings about Harper's tough on crime bills as an election campaign. It's an election slogan he uses to sell himself. Our prisons are already over crowed. Implementing mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and for selling hard drugs is necessary and will cost us more money. Mandatory minimum sentences for possession of pot is not necessary and will cost us too much money. We need balance not extremism.
In BC we have a pot activist running as a candidate for the NDP leadership debate. From one extreme to the other. Thankfully it will likely be down to Adrian Dix and Mike Farnworth but the fact remains. Harper refuses to take an amendment on the crime bill because he wants to promote himself not what's best for Canada.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Oil Wars have Begun
Let's start with the most obvious Oil War - the Invasion of Iraq. I remember speaking with a friend about the Invasion of Iraq and how I opposed it. They responded by saying they crashed a plane into the towers and killed innocent people. I said, that was Afghanistan, not Iraq. When Iraq was invaded there never was a claim that they were involved with 9/11.
When Iraq was invaded Bush said they had Weapons of Mass destruction. That administration said they were sure of it. Only when they invaded they didn't find any. Yet after the invasion Bush boasted "Mission Accomplished."
Tony Blaire was given a Congressional Medal of Honor for supporting that lie and for aiding and abetting the invasion of a foreign country. MI 6 was caught red handed giving false information to the media about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction called Operation Mass Appeal. They pretended they invaded for WMD when in reality they invaded for oil. History has made that very clear.
I am glad Jean Chretien didn't follow the Americans into that Oil War. Stephen Harper would have. So would of Michael Ignatieff. The other Oil War which is less obvious is Afghanistan. We were told at first that Afghanistan was responsible for 9/11 which everyone will agree was a horrible event.
Only the Bin Laden confession video didn't even look like Bin Laden. Prior to that invasion the Texas oil companies were wining and dining the Taliban (who were trained by the CIA to fight the Russian invasion of their country) trying to win the contract for a gas pipeline through Afghanistan called CentGas - Central Asia Gas Pipeline. UNICAL was supposed to get the contract. When the Taliban changed their mind and gave the contract to Bridas, an Argentina firm, Afghanistan was invaded and the contract was reversed.
All the bad things the Taliban did didn't matter when they were going to give the contract to UNICAL. When UNICAL lost the contract all of a sudden all the bad things the Taliban did started to matter. Clearly the old adage has merit. The first causality of war is the truth.
Now let's look at Libya. Libya has oil. So does Saudi Arabia. Both dictators are experiencing opposition from the people and both dictators are standing against that opposition. Unlike in Egypt where the protesters were peaceful except for fighting with supporters of the government, in Libya the opposition to the government took up arms and engaged in a civil war.
Canada sent jets in to support a no fly zone. The Arab League supported a no fly zone. "What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians,"
Indeed bombing Libya is different that establishing a no fly zone. How can you say you are enforcing a cease fire when you are bombing one side of that dispute? Your act of bombing violates that cease fire.
Western jets launch second day of bombing. That is a violation of the cease fire and and a complete deviation from the no fly zone mandate. And why shouldn't they? David Cameron was afraid they'd lose their opportunity for an invasion so they seized the opportunity. Tony Blair time a thousand.
How can we in good conscience claim that we are opposing a dictator in Libya when we refuse to do the same in Saudi Arabia? Because we like that monarchy. They let US troops stay in Saudi. Libya doesn't so we need to get rid of Gadaffi. It does reek of Imperialism. That's all it is so let's be honest and not pretend it isn't.
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Let me be clear. Muammar Gaddafi is not my friend any more than Saddam Hussein is. I just think it's very important to remember what happened to Iraq and why. They said Hussein had Weapons of Mass destruction. They said they were sure of it. They didn't find any. They hanged him for using chemical weapons on the Kurds but the Americans were the ones that sold him chemical weapons.
They sold him the chemical weapons to use on Iran during that war. I work with a woman who left Iran with her family during that war. She said it was horrible. They were dropping mustard gas on whole villages. The real tragedy in the Invasion of Iraq was the fact that the people who supplied Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons weren't hanged as well.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Nanaimo RCMP Accused of Punching Woman in the face
Yes there are two sides to every story. Yet with the numerous videos of police using excessive force, this doesn't look good. Camilla McGuire, 53, said she required emergency surgery to place metal plates in her face after a punch that broke bones and loosened teeth. We don't have a video of the attack but we do have the testimony of witnesses and we do have a victim with tangible injuries.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Harper Government
I've heard mention of the Harper Government before but I didn't realize it was a rebrand and how Harper stopped using the term the Government of Canada and changed it to the Harper Government. Somewhat ironic for someone who claims to be right wing.
In fact the Harper Government seems to be really concerned about propaganda. The new Economic Action Plan ads will cost taxpayers 26 Million. Then there's Harper's negotiations for creating a Fox News North where the government can brainwash the public with blatantly biased news reports. All to help Harper get a majority government so he can "govern."
Let's just remind Mr. Harper what a minority government is. In a democratic society a minority government must form a coalition with another political party to assume the role of government. Otherwise it can not form the government. Thus making the term Harper government somewhat of an oxymoron.
Remember all that outrage the Harper Government had when the other three main political parties said they were going to form a coalition under the direction of Stephen Dion and dethrone Harper? The Harper Government went on and on about how undemocratic that was because the majority of Canadians didn't vote for Stephen Dion. Well let me break the bad news to the Harper government. The majority of Canadians didn't vote for him either.
143 seats out of 306 is less than half - 46.7% of the seats. 53.7% of the seats in the House do not belong to the Hapless Government. Now the past practice for any minority government in Canada is that since they have less than 50% of the seats, they must for a coalition with one other party so they collectively have more than 50% of the seats so they can govern. Otherwise anytime they submit a bill to the house it will fail and a non confidence will result.
Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the other three parties forming a coalition and assuming the role of government if they collectively have more than 50% of the seats. That is our democratic system. It's called compromise and coalition which is indeed in direct opposition to Mr. Harper's control and berate.
Don't get me wrong. I totally supported Preston Manning and the Reform Party's sweep of Western Canada. I felt balancing the budget to save social programs not abolish them was a noble quest. What I oppose is Stephen Harper pimping out the dream to unite the right instead of unite the bright and thereby merging with the dreaded Mulroneyism which plagued our nation with unrighteous dominion and fiscal irresponsibility. That is the same quest Harper currently obsesses over. No wonder Stockwell Day has had enough.
I don't see Ignatieff as the answer either. He claims torture is good like Chretien claimed sponsorship is good. Although Chretien was bad with money, I liked him as a human being and as a leader of our country. He didn't follow the US into Iraq for their oil. That we can be proud of. Harper would have.
I liked Trudeau too. He was a leader not a politician. He gave us the Charter of Rights. Although the debt rose greatly under their leadership no more so than under Harper's or Mulroney's. Those spin doctors claim the other guys will tax and spend yet they are the worse offenders. At least the other guys spend the money on the people not their political partners.
I wish the Green party would draw a line between pot and crack. I cannot vote for anyone who maintains the position that we should legalize all drugs. Decriminalization of pot is one thing, legalization of crack, meth and date rape drug is another. A responsible society doesn't do that. Yet it is clear that Harper has gone far enough. Giving him any more seats in an election would be bad for Canada and bad for democracy. Harper needs to stop talking and start listening. Something he hasn't done since he formed government.
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I just saw one of the new Harper adds and it made me sick to my stomach. I sure hope he's not using tax dollars for his personal campaign adds. I'm all for patriotism and being proud of being Canadain but Stephen Harper is not Molsen Canadian beer commercial material. The Pillsbury Mr. Rogers does not stir patriotism and that face is reminiscent of Gordon Campbell.
People got so fed up with seeing Gordon Campbell's face in adds the BC Liberals had to stop running his face in adds because their popularity was plummeting. You look at Gordon Campbell and all that comes to mind is dishonest arrogance and ruthless cuts to senoirs to pay for his two massive pay raises and his gold plated pension. I'm starting to get that feeling when I see the Harper adds. Mind you Iggy is worse. Now that's a face only a mother could love.
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Harper government found in contempt.
Ontario's Criticism of their Judges
I find it somewhat interesting that while some claim criticizing a judge's decision in B.C. is blasphemous, Ontario doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Over minor issues. The latest one is described in an article in the Globe and Mail.
The Globe referred to one as the judge who writes like a paperback novelist. The article claims that because one Ontario judge uses complex sentences in his decisions and writes like a crime novelist he is out of control and should be the subject of a judicial council complaint.
I'm not going to get into the merits of the complaint against the judge, much. Other than the obvious fact that I really don't see what the big deal is. If he overturned a murder conviction and the evidence would lead one to believe that he should not have overturned that conviction then speak to the conviction not the words he used to describe it.
The article admits that Judge Watt’s transformation is seen by some as part of a welcome trend away from impenetrable, legal jargon. No kidding. The uproar is that others feel that the author of a judgment ought to be an invisible presence. Yeah whatever. Hence my point: the big deal isn't really a big deal.
What I do find interesting is this whole judicial council complaint process that seems to be such an active tool in Ontario to deal with bad judges shall we say. Why can't we use a judicial council to get rid of a real idiot like Peter Leask?
I'm not talking about minor concerns about his unprofessional swearing in court. I'm talking about his treasonous decisions that let a Hells Angel off Scott free when he was caught red handed loading boxes of 52 kilograms of cocaine from His storage locker onto a truck. He was caught red handed and Peter Leask let him walk. The accused said he didn't know what was in the boxes. Those kind of judicial decisions constitute treason.
Finally some of Leaks bizarre decisions are being appealed and overturned but that is such a long and expensive process. Let's do the world a favor and fire his ass through the judicial council complaint process. Don't we have one in BC? Only in Ontario? Why is that?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Hells Angel Affiliates and the Rizutto murders
The three accused of firebombing the Rizutto funeral home are: Alexandre Toualy, Julien Bourassa-Richer, both 27, and Sounthone Chareunsouk, 30.
Since Sounthone Chareunsouk was a member of d'allégeance bleue gang and one media outlet in Quebec suspects that gang is responsible for the dastardly deed.
Operation Axe established the affiliation between a major street gang allegiance blue, the Syndicate - affiliates of the Hells Angels - and a well-structured crime cell dedicated to drug trafficking in South West Montreal.
We know Gregory Wooley was Mom Boucher's pal who hooked the Hells Angels up with the Crips in Montreal helping them take over that drug trade. He was denied statutory release in 2008 but his sentence ended on Dec. 26, 2009.
The Syndicate is a gang that developed out of the Nomad chapter through Gregory Wooley, a Hells Angels associate who formed the Syndicate years ago. Zephyr took control of the gang in 2006 while Wooley, who has yet to be tried in Project Axe, was behind bars.
We also know that the dirt bags who killed the elderly Rizutto in his own home with a sniper in the bushes in front of his own family was not Italian. Nor were the dirt bags who firebombed a funeral home. That does sound more like low life Hells Angels affiliates.
Wooden Towers
BC Architects win Bob and Doug McKenzie's award for brain surgery. They are planning to build sky scrappers as high as 30 stories out of wood. Idiots. What happens when a fire breaks out? The next breakthrough is houses made of cards and Schools made of straw.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Harper Hides Crime Bill Costs
The Speaker of the House has ruled against the Harper government claiming they breached parliamentary privilege by refusing to provide all documents the Standing Committee on Finance requested detailing the full cost of its crime bills. No kidding. How much will it cost to send every Canadian citizen who smokes a blunt to jail? How will that help us deal with violent crime and hard drugs in the face of already over crowded prisons in an economic recession?
The government wants to take more money from us to put more of us in jail. What a democracy. Don't get me wrong, we need changes in our judicial system. We need prudent course corrections not sweeping catastrophe. House arrest for trafficking cocaine for the Hells Angels is insane. We won't have any money to fix that problem if we spend more than we have sending all the pot smokers to jail. Crack and meth are the problem, not pot.
Locking a prolific offender who commits a large amount of crime to pay for their drug habit in jail for three months is logical and prudent. Sending everyone to jail who jay walks, smokes a joint or drives after having two drinks with dinner is not. It really isn't brain surgery but Harper isn't getting it and Ignatieff is an idiot.
David Giles and Airplane Mark
Interesting photo of David Giles and Airplane Mark. Kinda suspicious whenever a Hells Angels or associate is pals with a pilot.
Shake that bootie Skeletor. Actually, please don't. You might wanna just put your shirt back on and wipe your drool.
After posting some pictures of David Giles someone from Kelowna contacted me and said they recognized the guy in the photo. They said they saw him at a public function wearing a Hells Angels jacket and they thought it was odd. At first they thought he was a clown pretending to be a Hells Angel. Go figure. He does look more like a Shriner than an Hells Angel.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Operation Watchtower
When Gary Webb's article Dark Alliance came out it created an uproar in LA. The possibility of the CIA being involved in part for their cocaine epidemic in the /80's was indeed shocking. In response to the public outcry, John Deutch, the Director of the CIA at the time held a town hall meeting in LA to address the public concerns.
At that town hall meeting, Mike Ruppert, a former LAPD officer took the mike and claimed the CIA had approached him to traffic drugs in LA and that the Agency has been dealing drugs in LA for years. Of course Mike Ruppert has subsequently under gone a character assignation like Gary Webb and anyone else other than Judge Bonner who has spoke out about any of this. Yet Mike Ruppert cited Operation Watchtower.
Although *someone* has been active on the Internet trying to bury the story and rewrite history by referencing a different Operation Watchtower, others have cited the real operation which clearly involved the CIA drugs for arms network out of Central America.
Al Martin, retired Navy Intelligence officer describes in detail what Operation Watchtower really was in his book The Conspirators.
Operation Watchtower was originally developed and built in 1976 by an elite Air Force group under the command of the Defence Intelligence Agency known as Task Force Hawk. Watchtower was a series of very powerful radio transmitters on towers with beacons on the ends of them from Andros Island off the coast of Columbia all the way up to US air space.
Aircraft could triangulate a position from the towers. The beacons created a "safe corridor." All aircraft flying through that corridor would not be intercepted. On the US end, aircraft emitting the proper frequency would not be inspected by customs.
The corridor was created originally for the same purpose it was used later on in the Iran-Contra - to provide a safe corridor for the shipping north of narcotics and the shipping south of weapons pursuant to authorized narcotics and weapons transaction.
Al Martin is of the opinion that the deal had to have had the approval of the then Panama dictator General Omar Trujillo who was paid in a Swiss bank account every month. Later Trujillo complained he wasn't getting paid enough and was assassinated and replaced by Noriega.
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.
There is a lot more documented information about the time frame but my point is simple. Gary Webb wrote a powerful series of articles about the CIA trafficking cocaine in the United States of America. His article was met with rage and denial. He lost his job and documented everything in a well written book of the same name, Dark Alliance. Not to mention the testimony of former CIA Agent Chip Tatum. Chip referred to the Pegasus File which Mike Ruppert cited.
The fact is the CIA was directly involved in a huge cocaine for arms trade between Central America and Mena Arkansas. That has been documented. Oliver North was in charge of everything that went in and out of Nicaragua at the time. Only instead of rotting away in a US prison like Freeway Ricky and Manuel Noriega, they made him a FOX News host. Go figure.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
One arrest in downtown shelter sex assaults
A man has been arrested for one of the six sexual assaults reported at a Downtown Eastside cold weather shelter, say police.
Women’s groups on the Downtown Eastside are horrified by reports that six women have been sexually assaulted while taking refuge in an overnight shelter.
MacDougall said women are terrified to make first-person reports to police, although two of the sexual assault complaints were made by victims, another by paramedics called to help a viciously violated woman, and one by church staff.
I'm shocked and confused. Why aren't these reports taken seriously and how on earth can that happen in a crowded shelter? Do they meet them at the shelter and drag them outside or are they sexually assaulted in a crowed room? Are we talking about grabbing an ass or are we talking about rape? Raping someone in a crowded room and no one helps stop it is absolutely mind boggling.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Jane Doe from Pickton's farm
This is strange. Police task force just released a sketch in attempt to identify a Jane Doe from Pickton's farm. I'm not sure why they waited this long to release the sketch and I wonder how many others like her they have found.
Likewise the Coroner just released remains of Pickton victims to their families. Like that wasn't a bizarre delay. I guess I'm just naive. So when will all the evidence in the trial become part of the public domain?
Christy Clark takes Liberal leadership
So Christy Clark is in. She was the only candidate that had a hope in hell of saving the doomed liberals. Kevin Falkner was a Campbell Clone. Unfortunately, I'm afraid a fresh new face won't change the entire party that embraced Campbell's brazen defiance of the public interest.
Industrial Hemp
I don't have much more to say but I do have something to say about Industrial Hemp. Industrial hemp is different than pot. Industrial Hemp used to be a large crop in North America. Hemp paper is totally sustainable and was very common in Europe.
When we look at how we are still clear cutting forests and still not selectively harvesting them that act is criminal. As is the fact that we let the commercial pulp and paper industry crush the hemp industry just like we let the oil companies kill the electric car. That is a crime.
Hemp paper should be legal. That is one law we can change right now. We can argue about the legalization of marijuana until the cows come home. Hemp paper is something sustainable that we can support right now.
The same with hemp rope. The big oil companies rather we use rope made from petroleum products because they are rich and greedy. Hemp rope was and is a better product. Legalizing industrial hemp is something we can do right now without legalizing marijuana, crack or meth. It would be good for our economy and our environment.
Why even Ron Paul thinks we should legalize Industrial Hemp. Mind you Ron Paul also thinks we should legalize all drugs which is rather absurd. Don't forget, he wasn't elected. The legalization of marijuana in California failed. The Marijuana party in Canada will never form a majority government. So let's talk about compromise.
The Green party has embraced a marijuana party affiliate and adopted the platform of legalizing all drugs. Guess what. They didn't get elected either. Legalizing all drugs in socially irresponsible. As it stands the Green party won't draw a line in the sand between pot and crack or meth. The lobbyists want it all. If they drew a line in the sand and said they don't support the legalization of crack or crystal meth, I could support them. Right now I can't.
Let's go for the decriminalization of pot, not legalization and let's go for the legalization of Industrial hemp. That is a goal within reach.
Monday, February 21, 2011
What kind of society do we want to live in?
Wednesday is Pink Shirt stand up to bullies day. Although pink just isn't my colour, I completely support the message. I don't want to live in a society that allows bullies to thrive. On the same note, I don't want to live in the other extreme and end up like Texas where someone can do real time in prison for possession of a couple of joints. I know I am naive and idealistic, but I aspire to finding a balance between the extremes.
Cutting someones hand off for theft or capital punishment for a drug offense is in my opinion extreme. Yet so is house arrest for trafficking cocaine for the Hells Angels. Both extremes are wrong.
I do believe rehabilitation should be a factor in incarceration. Not the primary factor because public safety is but it should be a factor nonetheless. Christianity is all about second chances. Starting over and learning from our mistakes. In fact Christ talked about visiting those in prison and ranked it right up with visiting the sick, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.
Many people have volunteered their time on Prison Alternatives committees trying to find a better way than just locking people up in cages. Yet it's clear that our noble ideal of rehabilitation has gone to the other extreme where violent crime has no real consequence. This needs to change but we don't need to change it to the other extreme.
All of us rather spend tax dollars on schools and hospitals than on more prisons. However, I don't want to live in a society that's run by organized crime. That is not the kind of society I want to leave for my children. That's not the kind of society our forefathers fought in the trenches to protect.
I get a lot of slack for expressing my opinion in a blog. Sometimes I cross the line and say things that are pretty rude and I suppose I deserve it. I'm just fed up with the consistent lies and denial that are no longer believable.
I'm fed up with politicians who put themselves above the needs of the people who elected them. I'm fed up with criminals who think they can bully everyone forever. It's all about the golden rule - treating others the way you want to be treated. Don't sell crack to kids. Don't sell date rape drug to anyone and don't cry like a baby in court when you are caught selling date rape drug. That is absurd.
And just for the record, I don't sell pot and I haven't smoked a blunt in 25 years. I would rather live in a society where people smoke pot than in a society where people smoke crack or meth. It's like night and day. They're two different worlds. And I don't want to live in a police state where police are beating civilians without cause or locking them away in jail for smoking a joint. Is it really that hard to understand?
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