Marc Dreier

Speaking of corporate fraud and white collar crime, let's take a look at Marc Dreier. The TV series American Greed ran a segment about him the other night.

Crack dealers are irritating because the resulting property crime addicts commit to pay for the drug is bothersome. Yet that is nothing compared to the large scale fraud of white collar crime which not only affects millions of dollars, it also can destroy entire pensions in the process. That is why it's so serious.

Marc Dreier was a fraudster who made a fake bond for $20 million and sold it to a hedge fund. In fact he did it several times totalling $700 million in fraud. On one occasion the hedge fund was getting suspicious and wanted to meet with the CEO of the real company one of his fake bonds were made for. So he gets a friend to pretend to be the CEO and hold a meeting with the hedge fund in a board room in the company's New York office.

He tried the same thing himself in Ontario with the Ontario Teachers Pension fund. That time he impersonated the CEO himself. The buyer got suspicious and asked the receptionist if the person he was just with was really who he claimed to be. When the receptionist said no the police and the Feds were called in to investigate.

Like I said, this kind of large scale corporate fraud not only rips off millions it also destroys pensions which is very serious indeed. That drives us to examine some of the other ongoing corporate fraud out there.

Supporting the Troops

Yo bro those aren't tulips that soldier is tip toeing through. Those are poppies and that is opium. I guess they're going to want us to use a new type of poppy for Rememberance Day.

As much as I admire and respect Michele Obama, I'd have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the new campaign about supporting the troops and supporting military families. Supporting the military is without question a good thing. Yet the terms and conditions of the new wars are questionable.

It's not like we're engaged in WW I or II. The invasion of Iraq was based on a lie. Torturing prisoners in Guantanamo bay and in Afghanistan is wrong. Indeed, supporting the troops now has certainly taken on a new meaning.

Supporting the troops now means smoking opium or using heroin supplied by the American military and boycotting opium and heroin supplied by the Taliban or other competitors. Supporting the troops now means buying gas from oil companies owned by the US and boycotting oil from companies like Bridas or other competitors. Times have sure changed.

Fortunate Son

We can talk about tough on crime all we want. Until we enforce the law we are wasting our breath. The Hells Angels profit from the crack sold at the Carnegie Centre and the police do nothing about it. The Hells Angels profit from the pot sold at the black door across from the Amsterdam cafe and the police do nothing about it. Giving crack addicts the boots but not arresting the crack dealers is dysfunctional. It is displaced aggression. It is kicking the cat.

When the city of Vancouver slips the Hells angels and extra million dollars buying a building from them for social housing, we know something is very wrong and it is bigger than you or me.

The sad thing is that Gordon Campbell was reelected before his ultimate demise. So was George Bush. At least we can blame George Bush’s reelection on the voter fraud software. Here in BC we have no excuse but our own stupidity for reelecting Gordon Campbell. No doubt some people will be stupid enough to vote for Stephen Harper again just like they did Gordon Campbell. People have the right to make the wrong choice because that is what democracy is all about.

People, like children are naive and gullible. We tend to learn from our mistakes and thereby have to be free to make mistakes so we can learn from our own experience. People are just starting to see the real Stephen Harper. No doubt if we give him enough rope he will hang himself politically. Let’s just hope we still have a medical system in place when he’s done.

The key thing is, Stephen Harper is a liar and a fraud. History has recorded that. You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. His fiscal responsibility lies and his oil wars will eventually catch up with him. In the mean time I can say with calm assurance that I am not voting for Stephen Harper and I do not support the kind of society he wants to build. That sure ain't me. I prefer the Lester Pearson model. I ain't no fortunate son.

Let’s get tough on crime

Stephen Harper’s right. Let’s get tough on crime. Never mind pot. Let’s introduce mandatory minimum sentences for corporate crime and fraud. You know like Bre-X. Let’s introduce mandatory minimum sentences for insider trading on government contracts and illegal lobbying. Like how Bruce Carson diverted government contract funds to his favorite escort. Or how Raymond Sturgeon lobbied for the company that wants to build Harper's conflicted jets for an undisclosed sum of money.

Or when the Harper government used it’s position to put pressure on the CIBC to settle with Barrick gold on behalf of Brian Mulroney. Let’s put mandatory minimum sentences for those kinds of crime.

In fact since verbal contracts are legally binding in BC, lets charge every politician who promises one thing and does another when elected with breech of contract and fraud. That way we can put Stephen Harper in one of his brand new prisons so he can play with as many toy jets his very little heart desires.

I couldn’t watch the debate on TV for more than five minutes. Listening to Stephen Harper speak is painful. I did like one comment Duceppe made. He said we know Stephen Harper is soft on crime. Just look at his own office. Indeed it’s full of criminals. C’est vrais. There is absolutely no way Stephen Harper did not know about his long time senior aide Bruce Carson’s criminal record for fraud. There’s just no way he didn’t know that.

That’s why he hired him. He wanted someone good at fraud. Just like how they hired someone from Enron to help them fix the books for the pentagon. This whole bit about lobbying for Brian Mulroney is absolutely criminal. The government paid Brian Mulroney a $2 million settlement when he sued the government for libel when they implied he received kickbacks on the Airbus scandal and later it turned out Brian Mulroney totally lied and later admitting to receiving kickbacks for Airbus. Brian Mulroney committed perjury and defrauded the Canadian people out of $2 million. Let’s introduce mandatory minimum sentences for that.

Bruce Carson brought a Prostitute to Sussex drive

Bruce (the John) Carson brought a prostitute and money launderer to a gathering at Sussex drive. According to APTN, Khan was an escort at the time she met Carson.

Before Carson proposed to Michele McPherson, (the 22 year old escort he was caught funneling government contract funds to) he was involved with another prostitute, Barbara Lynn Khan, a woman who was convicted and served time in the U.S. for money laundering after authorities alleged she ran a prostitution ring before being deported back to Canada.

Property records obtained by The Canadian Press show Khan and Carson paid $400,000 in November 2009 for a condominium in downtown Ottawa. Khan apparently still lives there, although she and Carson have reportedly separated.

MACLEANS reports that Mr. Carson’s fiancée’s mother, who works for the water filtration company that Mr. Carson is alleged to have represented.

Elizabeth May wrongfully kicked out of Debate

I'm not sure why Elizabeth May was allowed to participate in the last leadership debate and why she isn't allowed to participate in this one. I know they said it's because the Green Party doesn't hold any seats in parliament yet but why did they let her in the last one? She did very well. To ban her from the next one is censorship. Maybe she'll ask some of those secret questions Harper's aids don't allow on the script.

The Green party has the next largest parentage of the votes. Each election they get more. To allow her to participate in the last leadership debate but not this one is strange. The media said that if she was to participate some of the other parties might not. That was a rather bizarre threat? Who said they wouldn't show up if Elizabeth May was allowed. Was if Harpless? CTV claims Jack Layton was one. That's somewhat shocking. However, Elizabeth May claims that is untrue and that Layton and Ignatieff both support her being included.

If one of the other parties gave up their chance to participate because they were intimidated by her then so be it. Giving in to that kind of bullying is wrong. Harper's desire to exclude everyone except him and ?Ignatieff is stomach turning arrogance. He's just playing after he looked stupid for backing down after he challenged Ignatieff to a one on one debate. There are other choices in this election than Liberal or Neocon.

If you look at the table Votes Won: 2008 v. 2006 between the 2006 election and the 2008 election each of the four main political parties lost votes. The Green Party was the only party that increased votes. Looks like someone is afraid of her. That's why they don't want to let her participate in the debate.

Peacemakers

Canada has been known for it's peacekeeping efforts. Roméo Dallaire was an example of a great peacekeeper and a great human being. So was Bill Turner. I recently saw a video on YouTube that mocked Jack Layton's position on the military implying his idea of peacekeeping was to send in folk singers to distract and entertain two opposing forces at war. I found it to be kind of a dumb video and accusation.

Lester B. Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis. During Pearson's time as Prime Minister, his minority government introduced universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan, the Order of Canada, and the current Canadian flag. During his tenure, Prime Minister Pearson also convened the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. With these accomplishments, together with his groundbreaking work at the United Nations and in international diplomacy, Pearson is generally considered among the most influential Canadians of the 20th century.

Stephen Harper is no Lester Pearson. When Jack Layton says he's concerned about military pensions, I believe him because he's concerned about everyone's pension. Something that the neocons have no regard for. If we want to talk about supporting the military, let's talk about exposing our own soldiers to chemical and biological weapons then robing them of medical coverage. Let's talk about the ethics of using depleted uranium as a weapon in war. Actually, let's not.

Let's talk about the religious right and Christ's promise "Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." When I see all the intolerance in modern Christianity I wonder if Christ came today and taught the same things he taught when he was on earth, it would likely be the Christian church that would crucify him all over again.

I've talked about the parable of the good Muslim or the good Communist putting the parable of the good Samaritan in modern perspective. Samaritans were infidels. How could an infidel be a better Christian that one who professes to be one.

Gandhi was a peacemaker. Although he was not a Christian, he was clearly a better Christian than most. Dare we discuss Christ's commission to visit the sick, clothe the naked, house the homeless and even visit those in prison?

Election shock and awe

Michael Smyth from the Vancouver Province ran a synopsis of the week of Election campaigning as a week of shock and awe. We were shocked with revealing scandals and in awe with too good to be true promises.

He pointed out that many of us are having a hard time doing the math with all these election promises. "Yes, folks, you can have it all in this magical land we call Canada: lower taxes, more services and no nasty deficit hangover when the party's over. If only working out your family budget at the kitchen table were this easy."

I'm not sure what his hard on for Jack Layton is about other than according to his article Jack Layton is gaining votes at the expense of the Conservatives. Perhaps he just wants to be equally critical of everyone to be fair. Yet to be fair, when Jack Layton says he will hire more doctors and nurses to staff our hospital emergency rooms I believe him.

I did believe Harper when he said he wouldn't tax income trust and create an elected senate. Only he broke his word so I don't trust him any more. Saying that Layton will never become Premier so he will never have to fulfill any of his election promises is unfair. He's the only one we haven't given a chance to betray our trust yet.

A generation ago, people tended to vote how their parents voted. Now times have changed. We have seen new political parties emerge and other political parties wiped off the map overnight.

In all fairness I'd have to admit that it was Darren Entwistle that caused Harper to turn face on the not taxing income trusts promise. He was going to turn TELUS into an Income Trust to avoid paying corporate tax. Letting Entwistle do that would have see the government lose a lot of revenue. Evey major corporation would followed suit. His hands were tied. Yet everyone knew Entwistle was going to do that. It was public knowledge so I don't understand why Harper made that promise knowing Enwistle's intent.

Michael Smyth pointed out that Stephen Harper's senior aid, Bruce Carson, was the subject of some socking revelations. "The Bruce Carson story just keeps getting worse. The fraud convictions. The escort agencies. The money laundering. How the heck did a guy with a rap sheet longer than the Rideau Canal end up as one of the prime minister's top men in Ottawa?"

The network revealed this week that before Carson proposed to Michele McPherson, (the 22 year old escort he was caught funneling government contract funds to) he was involved with another prostitute, Barbara Lynn Khan, a woman who was convicted and served time in the U.S. for money laundering after authorities alleged she ran a prostitution ring.

Smyth cites the event this week where Harper's aid kicked out two university students because one of them posted a picture of herself on facebook with Michael Ignatieff. Like how did those stalkers know she posted that picture on facebook. That is really creepy. And so what? People from other political parties are allowed to come and hear other candidates speak. Only not in Harper's world. Or at least in his plastic press bubble where his people still pick who asks what questions when. No wonder they don't want the Green Party at the debate. They might ask Harper to explain Jim Flaherty's intervention on Brian Mulroney's behalf putting pressure on the CIBC to settle with Barrick Gold. Like that's not conflicted.

Michael Smyth reminded us of that incident where Chretien was wading through a crowd of protesters and was caught grabbing one by the throat. Those were the days. That kind of thing just wouldn't happen in Harper's bubble.

Smyth also cited how Ignatieff fired candidate Andre Forbes this week, when it was discovered he was a whiterights advocate who once called aboriginals lazy "featherheads." Ignatieff "had been on a bit of roll up till then. This week's Momentum Meter shows him stuck in neutral." That former judge's comments about rape was just bizarre.

As much as I oppose Ignatieff's position on torture, I really object to the political circus degenerating into a survivor play by play drama of it's all about me. Survivor is all about lies, secret deals and promoting one person above the others. Life on the other hand is all about being honest, serving others and sacrificing for the greater good.

The underlining point missing in this weeks election circus show was highlighted by Dan Gardner in his article Voters should consider Harper's contempt.

"The status quo is just not tenable, for anybody," says Peter Russell, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and one of the country's most respected political scientists. But a Conservative majority would be worse.

"It would send a bad message about parliamentary democracy if a government brought down for contempt, very serious contempt, on the finding of a Speaker, is rewarded with a majority. I think it would encourage Mr. Harper and maybe those after him to be contemptuous of Parliament. And then I think we're in real trouble."

It's easy to forget that, in the mad rush of events leading up to the election call and the noise that followed, Stephen Harper's government was found to be in contempt of Parliament -by vote in the House of Commons -for refusing to disclose the cost of several items on its agenda. It's what brought down the government and you might say it's what this election is about.

Not that anyone would know that listening to the prime minister. Speaking at Rideau Hall after asking the governor-general to call an election, Harper said nothing about the contempt verdict. It was a fittingly contemptuous response, as all his comments on the matter have been.

Another good point was raised by a letter sent in to the Province entitled Harper's insult. "To hear Stephen Harper talk, our democracy and economy is so fragile, that if we don't give him a majority government, the dreaded socialists and separatists will form a coalition with Michael Ignatieff and ruin the country.

This kind of arrogance and fear mongering is insulting to all Canadians and has no place in our democracy."

Jeffrey Klassen convicted of assault

Jeffrey Klassen has finally been convicted of assault. He was the use of force trainer that beat and robbed a newspaper delivery man with two other cops when they were off duty in Vancouver.

Kelowna Grow Ops

Are there any grow ops in Kelowna not run by the Hells Angels? We know this East Vancouver Hells Angels support hoodie was found at a Kelowna grow op. We know that David Giles from the East Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels lives in Kelowna. We also know that Joseph Bruce Skreptak, a full patch Hells Angels from the same chapter, also lives in Kelowna.

Bruce is the one that rented out a house in Kelowna to someone who had a grow op. He claimed it had nothing to do with him even though his truck with a Hells Angels sticker was parked outside the grow. A door leading into the mother-plant room had a sticker on it reading, "Support Your Local Hells Angels White Rock." For all practical purposes that would let everyone know it was a Hells angel grow op as in not to f*** with it.

Bruce has a history of violence. He was caught with Cory and a few associates speeding through Salmon Arm with a car full of guns, bear spray, bullet proof vest and a cell phone jammer.

Many people speculated that they were on their way to do a grow rip. Kinda makes you wonder when not long after they were caught a grow op just outside of Salmon Arms was abandoned.

Which kinda brings us back to Brittney. If she lived on a grow op that was recently busted, was it not a grow op for the Hells angels? Would Joey, a low lever drug dealer rip off someone who did business for the Hells angels? Some claimed he owed money and that murder would wipe away his debt. Yet who wanted her dead? Were the hells Angels really stupid enough to think Brittney was the rat that had her own home busted?

There was a grow op in Kamloops tied to a double murder which neighbours say was thought to have been connected to the Hells Angels. The Hells Angels are making their support for Kamloops finger puppets public.

We know that someone claiming to be from the East Vancouver chapter of the Hells angels ran into the American Backpackers Hostel with guns looking for a kid who was selling pot there. They claimed he had to leave town and wasn't allowed to sell pot in their area and that if anyone there wanted to buy pot, they had to buy it from them at the black door.

This would clearly imply that if there was a grow op in Kelowna not run by the Hells Angels, they would use threats of violence to take it over. Once again, why would a low level drug dealer rip off Britney who was selling pot for a Hells angels grow op? If he did, he would have left town but he didn't. When he was arrested he was walking around town without a care in the world. To me that would clearly imply that the Hells angels sanctioned if not commission Brittney's murder. After all Geoff Meisner was tied to the Hells angels and the Kingpin Crew. The pinheads were even in Kamloops with their puppet master recently.

To Serve and Protect

Another problem we are clearing seeing in Canada or at least in B.C. along with the police brutality is the sheer arrogance that goes along with it. The underlying mandate of to serve and protect has been completely lost.

Of course not all police officers in Canada are bad. Yet the documented problem is much worse than a few bad apples. I had a conflict with an off duty police officer not long ago myself. He was a confrontational bully who bold faced lied about something to get his way. I was shocked. It reminded me of the New Westminster use of force trainer who got drunk before assaulting and robbing a newspaper delivery man in Vancouver. His recollection of the events was a complete contradiction to the victims recollection and two witnesses observations.

Being a bully and assaulting someone is bad enough but lying in court. Coming from a peace officer that is shocking which once again brings us to the lost mandate of serving and protecting the public.

When the use of force trainer is caught red handed beating the tar out of an innocent victim then using his station as a use of force trainer to intimidate a younger police officer from pressing charges, that use of force trainer cannot be the use of force trainer any more. To continue to do so would be to mock the public interest and demonstrate further arrogance and disregard for public safety.

It is past time for a civilian agency.

Conservatives would bungle crime bills

Stephen Harper said a Conservative majority government would bundle unpassed crime legislation into one bill and push it through Parliament within 100 days. And after that, he'll cram the HST through. He'll bungle the crime bills alright. In fact he already did. It's a bungle in the jungle and that's not alright by me.

There is no question that Stephen Harper intentionally screwed BC with the tough on crime bills. The bill as it stands is over reaching. The Liberals tried to amend the bill in the Senate to fix it but because Harper broke his promise to create an elected senate and exploited every opportunity to stack the Senate, they refused to accept the amendment to the bill fixing it.

So now he tells us he's still refusing to fix the bill and insists he will railroad it through without thinking through the necessary amendments. Which isn't surprising since Stephen Harper refuses to listen. He exploited our misfortune for his own personal gain. He doesn't care about us or our problem. If he did he would have fixed it but he didn't. He purposely didn't take the amendment because he wanted the public to get angry at the Liberals for voting down his over reaching crime bills and give him a majority so he can govern.

Stephen Harper does have a hidden agenda. It's not about abortion or same sex marriage, he won't touch those time bombs with a ten foot pole. He wants to privatize everything under the sun and completely remove public accountability from every possible social program from pensions to medical. His first target on his list is doing away with medical and the Canada Health Act.

So, I've said it before, Stephen Harper has lost my vote on the crime bills. Jack Layton on the other hand, like Penny Priddy, Adrian Dix, Mike Farnworth and Bruce Ralston, is putting forth his own suggestions to deal with crime and gangs. Throwing everyone in jail for minor offenses is counter productive and too costly. Mandatory minimum sentences for prolific offenders who commit an insane number of property crimes. They should spend three months in jail. Period. That is not excessive. Not doing so is irresponsible.

Larger sentences for violent crime and for hard drugs would be helpful. But it's all counter productive when Stephen Harper turns around and appoints a lawyer for the Hells Angels to be a judge in the Quebec Supreme Court.

Fleetwood grandma stabbed 126 times

This story doesn't involved gangs or drugs but it is a crime. A heinous one at that. It is a case of domestic violence. Surrey grandmother Maria Catroppa was stabbed 126 times in the Fleetwood townhouse she shared with her second husband, Sebastiano Damin.

The husband, Sebastiano Damin has confessed to the murder. He said his wife was wanting to end their 11 year marriage and told him it was over. So he snapped and stabbed her 126 times. An autopsy revealed 51 stab wounds to the 69-year-old woman's head and neck, 69 to her torso, five to her arms and one to her thigh. Damin was 74 at the time.

That is absolutely bizarre. Stabbed 126 times, 51 times to the head and neck area. That is deranged. And I'm not talking let the guy off for not being of sound mind like we did the guy that decapitated the guy in the greyhound bus. I'm just saying stabbing anyone 126 times is sick especially when it was a case of domestic violence.

It doesn't take a feminist to realize that kind of violence against anyone not to mention women is wrong. Time Magazine wrote a powerful article about domestic violence in Afghanistan. After reading about one case where a man cut off his wife's nose after she threatened to leave him a female friend of mine said she was ready to take a gun and kill all the men in Afghanistan.

No doubt some cultures have some pretty backward views about gender equality. Yet here we have a case in our own town of an equally if not worse case of domestic violence. I don't know what to say other than it is a very sad horrific autrocity. No doubt Maria Catroppa is in a better place and Sebastiano Damin will not be with her or her family in the eternities.

U.S. Government shutdown

I've been asked about what a U.S. Government Shutdown means. I had to look it up because I didn't know. In Canada we can have non confidence votes which will result in an early election but the United States have relatively fixed election terms. I wasn't aware about the Government Shutdown clause.

Apparently this happens when they can't agree on a budget. Essential services like police and military continue but all other nonessential government workers stop going to work. Personally I find that somewhat bizarre but apparently that is the way their system works. Or rather doesn't. Doesn't keep working in a shut down that is.



They can agree to spend billions on the unlawful invasion of Iraq based on a lie and they can spend billions on the bail out the banks scam but God help Obama if he dares spend money on health care. Those selfish conflict of interest politicians will voter no and rather shut down the government. Go figure.

However, part of the controversy appears to be over the use of tax dollars to fund abortions.

Renegades get ripped off

The Prince George Citizen claims it was the Renegades Clubhouse that was broken in to. No one was injured but a quantity of alcohol was stolen. I wonder if there was anything else stolen they didn't report to the police? Any GHB missing? That clubhouse was the site of the recent gang rape before the Hells Angels fund raising dinner in Kamloops where one of the accused resides.

Brittney Irving - one year later

Castanet ran an article about Britney Irving one year after her murder. The day before she was murdered, her boyfriend said she told him she was going to meet someone that is a real bad person. The question that I have is how could she be referring to Joey Verma, the one charged with her murder? Joey was bad but was more of an idiot. He was a low leve drug dealer. Hardly the type of person that would generate fear in anyone.

In fact if, Brittney was selling pot to supply her Oxy habit, then surely she had done business with Joey before. Wouldn't she be concerned if she was meeting a supplier further up the food chain so to speak? May Brittney and Geoff Meisner both Rest in Peace.

Geoff Mantler: Another Public Betrayal

This latest shameful decision is more proof we need a civilian agency to monitor police complaints. Constable Geoff Mantler got off charges in the Jeremy Packer case even though he had physical evidence included a lost tooth. Seemingly this was Mantler's third documented offence. There was another case involving Manjeet Singh Bhatti as well.



Before we spend undisclosed amounts of tax dollars to fill our over crowded drug infested prisons with more people for minor offenses, we need to establish a Civilian Agency and we need to clean up the prisons that we do have.

Privatizing the Military is Dangerous

We have seen the dangerous conflict of interest Dick Cheney's Halliburton created in Iraq. While George Bush kept going to the Senate to ask for more taxpayers money to spend on the unlawful invasion of Iraq, Halliburton was raking in the profit. Not even mentioning the insider conflict of interest that existed within Halliburton, it clearly establishes a very bad precedent.

Privatizing the military to circumvent public accountability is dangerous. Instead of having a Military mandated to provide for the common defense, we have a mercenary force mandated to profit from war without any public accountability whatsoever.

What's even worse is Blackwater's abuse of the laws covering war crimes. Blackwater is a privatized contracted military. They claim that they cannot be sued as civilians for war crimes because they are part of the US Total Force. Yet they also claim that since they are civilians they are not subject to military discipline.

Removing public accountability is not a good thing.

Richard Secord

Richard Secord is a name Al Martin frequently uses when discussing the extended version of the Iran contra. Along with Oliver North of course. Turns out North was Secord's scape goat.

Secord filed a libel case against the authors of a book published in 1987 entitled Out of Control: The Story of the Reagan Administration's Secret War in Nicaragua, the Illegal Pipeline, and the Contra Drug Connection. Secord lost that case.

He was charged in the Iran Contra affair in 1987 and on March 16, 1988, Secord was indicted on six felony charges. On November 8, 1989, Richard Secord plead guilty to one felony count of false statements to Congress, and on January 24, 1990, he was sentenced to two years probation. In 1992 the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia expunged the conviction on the grounds that the US Supreme Court had earlier found the underlying indictment to be illegal and without effect. The Justice Dept. did not oppose the matter. Thus the entire Iran-Contra imbroglio ended for Secord.

Well not exactly. Even if they make him a Fox News host, he was found guilty and got off. Let's take a look at some of the evidence in the trial and let's take a look at that book he sued for libel and lost.

May 5, 1987 during the Iran Contra public hearing, General Richard Secord testifies that CIA Director William Casey was one of the driving forces behind the illegal sales of arms to Iran, and the equally illegal diversion of profits from those arms to the Nicaraguan Contras. Secord, the leadoff witness, testifies that in addition to Casey, CIA and State Department officials aided in the efforts to provide the Contras with weapons and funds.

I think that's the whole point behind the extended version of Iran Contra. It didn't just involve Iran but was deeply involved with funding and supplying the Contras in Nicaragua which was directly tied to Operation Watchtower. Since Oliver North was in charge of everything that went in and out of Nicaragua at the time, it also implicates him.

Al Martin claims that Richard Secord was also tied to Trans World Armaments of Quebec City. He claims that Joe Clark made money off it and that the Brian Mulroney connection was a much bigger scandal in Canada than it ever was in the US. Interesting...

BTW in the picture above Secord's lawyer is talking to him during his testimony at the Iran Contra hearing. Gee I didn't think you were allowed to consult with counsel during your testimony in court...

Bre-X, George Bush and Brian Mulroney

I was just reading in Al Martin's book "The Conspirators" on page 31 where it claims that George Bush was on the Board of Directors for Bre-X and made $40 million off of that fraud.

They made a shoe cannon for Bush when he came to speak at Calagary. No wonder he loves the hard working people of Calgary. He scammed them out of $40 mill.



Al Martin also claims former Prime Minister Joe Clark made money from that fraud as well. Googling it shows Brian Mulroney was also involved. Bre-X was this huge Calgary based gold mining company fraud.

It was billed as the perfect crime because no one was held accountable. Michael de Guzman, the Bre-X geologist also died of a suspicious suicide. It was a $3 billion hoax.

The mining company collapsed after it was discovered that drilling sample bags had been sprinkled with outside bullion to inflate the results. Thousands of investors lost money, triggering a series of lawsuits against the company, Walsh and Felderhof.

Al Martin claims Joe Clark made money off Bre-X as well as Bush. Investing in Bre-X is different then making money off of it. Many innocent people invested in Bre-X and lost their shirt when it collapsed. People who sold at precisely the right time before it crashed and made a killing are suspect for insider trading.

Bre-X investor Jack Kindermann, who lost $500,000, had little sympathy Monday for Felderhof, who allegedly sold $84 million worth of stock prior to the company's collapse.

Al Martin claims that Bre-X is just another example of the continuation of the original fraud that links back to Iran-Contra. Martin claims that Iran-Contra was the genesis for a lot of the fraud that exists today. In some cases, not even the corporate names have changed. Seemingly, drug trafficking was only one aspect of Iran contra. There was a huge amount of spin off fraud that was used to raise funds as well.

One of these examples he gives in Trinity Oil and Gas (page 106) which he claims was founded in 1984 by the infamous Barry Seal. Barry Seal as we all know was the scape goat for all the CIA drug smuggling that went on out of Mena Arkansas.

Martin claims Trinity Oil and Gas was not only designed simply to be a fraud, but also as a vehicle to launder Barry Seal's money -- money that Barry Seal was earning from his narcotics activity. Martin sates there was much more to this man than simply drugs. His money laundering in corporate operations is an area which has never been touched.

It kind of reminds me how Raymond Sturgeon was tied to the company involved with Mulroney's helicopters as well as Harper's Jets. Not to mention the perpetual fraud of Harper's senior advisor Bruce Carson. Much. Then again those deals weren't directly tied to drugs.

It's reminiscent of Enron, the ultimate in corporate fraud where the US tried to privatize it's energy to it's insider friends. The Bush administration was tied to that fraud too. In fact, just like Bruce Carson, the Bush administration gave the Thomas E. White, the Enron book cooker a promotion to be the official book cooker form the Pentagon's missing three trillion dollars until public pressure from his involvement with Enron forced them to get rid of him.

Let's not forget Mulroney's involvement in the $1.8 billion sale of Airbus SAS aircraft to Air Canada wherein he was accused of getting kickbacks. Tears swelled up in his eyes in court when people thought he was a criminal. How sad.



All I can find so far is that Barrick gold was somehow tied to Bre-x and that George Bush served in an honorary capacity as an advisor to Barrick’s International Advisory Board for two years in the mid 1990’s. Another source claims Brian Mulroney was also an advisor to Barrick Gold. In fact Mulroney is curently still listed as a member of the Board of Directors for Barrick and is Chairman of Barrick’s International Advisory Board. It claims Mulroney has been a Director of Barrick since 1993. 1993 was the year Bre-X bought rights to the mine in Indonesia. Yet another source claims George Bush became a director of Barrick gold in 1995.

Interesting to note that the Green Party claims the Harper government has intervened to further the economic interests of Mr. Munk and Mr. Mulroney. Finance minister Jim Flaherty took what the Globe and Mail (May 7, page B1) called “the unusual step of intervening” by phoning CIBC executives to pressure them to settle up with Barrick Gold Corporation over a dispute over losses related to the current asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) meltdown. Maybe this is why they're not letting the Green Party participate in the televised debate this time.

Joe Clark was a special advisor on Africa for the mining company First Quantum Mineral, which did contraverial work in the Congo.

Hells Angels visit Kamloops

Ironic that the Hells Angels would show up to support a puppet club in Kamloops right after some finger puppets did a little house cleaning by way of murder. Police say Whiterock Hells Angels were represented as well as Kelowna. Even the Pinhead Crew were there. According to an old police document online, in 1997, an emerging gang, the Hub City Men's Club, sponsored by the Hells Angels Nanaimo chapter, surfaced in Kamloops. In spring 1998, this same gang received it's patch, calling themselves the Vipers. A second emerging gang, the Prince George Men's Club, acquired it's patch in January 1999 and became the Renegades. The Renegades were the ones caught selling pot and were in charge of the Crew who sold crack and cut off fingers for drug debts. Now they're in charge of the GTS who were just charged with committing a gang rape at the Renegades clubhouse in Prince George. In fact, one of the three individuals charged in that gang rape is Pion Associate #1 of Kamloops. Was he at the fundraising dinner. Interesting associations. Let's not forget about the two kids murdered on what neighbours claims was a Hells Angels grow op in Kamloops.

Cocaine found in Toronto-bound child's suitcase

Twelve soldiers assigned to combat drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic have been arrested in an alleged scheme to smuggle cocaine to Canada in a child's suitcase, a prosecutor said Monday.

Eight of the soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and captain, were detailed to the national anti-drug agency at the airport in Puerto Plata while four were assigned to security duties at the airport terminal, said prosecutor Elvis Garcia. Two civilians who work there were also arrested.

A judge ordered all the suspects held pending an investigation into charges of drug smuggling, Garcia said.

The arrests stem from the discovery on March 23 of more than 33 kilograms (73 pounds) of cocaine in a child's suitcase. The girl was travelling with her parents and sister from Puerto Plata, about 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of Santo Domingo, to Toronto.

Edmonton Prison Guard charged with drug smuggling

A correctional officer at an Edmonton jail has been charged as a result of allegations that he smuggled drugs to inmates in the facility.

In November 2010, staff from the Edmonton Remand Centre notified Edmonton police about drugs making their way into the centre, prompting an investigation by the police’s drug and gang unit that led to the arrest of James Brian Johnstone, a 21-year-old correctional officer, and five others.

Johnstone is charged with conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking marijuana and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

Opium in Afghanistan

In an interview about the Harper government trolling the Internet, Alex Jone made a comment about opium in Afghanistan. The commentator asked him to get back on topic but I think we should visit what he said because I think it is significant since it applies to politics and organized crime.

Alex Jones claimed Fox news admitted "Yeah our troops helped grow the opium in Afghanistan and they helped ship it out but if we don't grow it the Taliban will get it and then they'll make the money off it." Sure enough, Alex Jones was right and Fox news did admit it. Hey, isn't Oliver North a Fox news corespondent? Isn't that ironic.

Soldiers ignore and encourage the farmers. "If the US burned their crops, farmers would blame the US for their poverty and turn toward the Taliban."

"If we secure them getting a good harvest, now they're gonna get paid for all their hard work and then we can deal with trafficking afterwards." That is the new US policy. After farmers get paid try to capture drug traffickers. These troops have confiscated ten thousand pounds of opium before the profit reached the Taliban.

So that would clearly imply that they are only busting opium rings that profit the Taliban or the competition not opium rings that profit them. Can you believe that. Garry Webb was right all along.



This would support Julie Couillard's claim that Maxime Bernier told her that “the war in Afghanistan has nothing to do with building democracy in that country but has to do with the global control of the opium trade. It’s a drug war.”

Nasty Dan gets 7 year criminal org conviction

A Surrey man has become the second person in B.C. to be sentenced on a charge of commission of an offence for criminal organization.

Daniel "Nasty" Michael MacNeil was sentenced to seven years in prison recently, in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, commission of an offence for criminal organization, and possession prohibited and restricted firearms with ammunition.

I find it puzzling that for the second time in BC criminal organization charges finally stuck without mentioning the name of the criminal organization. A dial a dope operation in Surrey selling crack and meth netting $2 million a year was not an independent organization. Was he with the UN or the Hells Angels?

A New Blog

Well I sure got punked on that fake April fools news report about the gas going up 30 cents a litre overnight. I knew the price of oil per barrel didn't warrant that kind of an increase in gas at the pump. It just goes to show you you can't believe everything you read in the media.

Since I've discovered so many things about Stephen Harper's abandonment of democracy, I've started a new blog and will put the political stuff on that and leave this blog for gang related issues. Political corruption clearly does fall within the realms of organized crime but there is so much on Harper it really needs it's own blog.

Many people hate politics. Understandably so. Yet Hitler was elected with 51% of the vote. We can't criticize Germany for being fooled by Hitler if we refuse to examine our own leaders.

The new blog is entitled It's not Harper's Government which sets the theme of looking at the many ways Stephen Harper has embarked down a road of dishonesty that leads us very far away from democracy and fiscal accountability.

Chuck Cadman was an activist from Surrey who started a group called CRY - Crime Responsibility and Youth after his teenage son Jesse was senselessly murdered by young offenders. He successfully lobbied to have the laws changed such that in some cases for violent crime like murder, young offenders could be tried as adults.

He became a well respected politician and after getting shafted by the Conservatives ran as an independent. As an independent the Harper Government tried to bribe him with an insurance fraud scam. He was dying of cancer. They promised him a large insurance policy for his family if he was to vote how they wanted. People dying of cancer don't qualify for a new insurance policy. It was a dishonest scam.

It's disappointing his wife Donna didn't run as an independent. It was shocking to see she caved in to them and ran for them in a subsequent election. No doubt it was easier for her to have access to all the Conservative campaign funds for signs and what not. Nevertheless a vote for Donna Cadman right now is a vote for the people who tried to bribe her husband. Not only that, it's a vote for Pandora's box of mean spirited politics that abandons democracy and public accountability.

Clearly our judicial system needs help in BC. However, I'm not prepared to throw out our Charter of Rights to fix that broken system which isn't inherently broken, just a bit mixed up. Minor course corrections are needed, not a Patriot Act which removes individual rights.

Yes we are suffering from Paul Martin's appointment of Peter Leask to the bench. Yet the Harper government appointed a Hells Angels lawyer to the bench in Quebec. One could argue that Paul Martin didn't realize what an idiot Peter Leask would turn out to be once he became a judge. One cannot argue that Stephen Harper did not know the president of the Conservative party was a lawyer who had represented the Hells Angels. That brings us once again to the opium in Afghanistan...

But before we look at the opium in Afghanistan, let's remember the current financial sate of the Country. Harper is pushing for the HST - a "Harmonized Sales Tax" that taxes things which are normally tax exempt. Our prisons are currently overcrowded as is even with our crappy judicial system. If we are going to take steps to improve the state of the prisons and the state of our crappy judicial system, we need to take those steps one at a time and avoid huge sweeping extremism.

If we want to address the over crowding in prisons we need to do that. If we want to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime we need to do that. Then we need to see how much that costs and plan for it accordingly. If we find that we can fiscally manage those two steps then we can rightfully say we are fiscally prepared to take another step.

Harper hiding the costs of his over reaching crime bill is not only illegal and undemocratic, it is fiscally irresponsible. George Bush added trillions to the national debt. We need to rise above name calling and silly stereotypes that are no longer believable if we are going to move forward as a nation. Harper calling everyone who disagrees with him Separatists and Socialists is absurd and counter productive aside from being completely untrue.

The Mayor of Kamloops is a Pimp

Well Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar is no sugar daddy but he sure is a pimp. It's not enough that he makes almost four times as much as any city councillor. The City of Kamloops is demanding everyone who places an add in the local paper for an escort service to pay a $3,000.00 fee for an escort license.

Let's hypothetically say that the escort license was really a license to run a bawdy house. At $150.00 a client, that's a lot of clients to pay for the freaking City Pimp license.

Oh, but it's not a license to run a bawdy house because that would be illegal. The license says it's just for an escort service. Well that's even more escorts to pay for the $3,000.00 licence.

Now I am not a fan of prostitution. I recognize that it's referred to as the oldest profession and what happens between consenting adults is their business. I am concerned with exploitation and human trafficking. I don't support the legalization of prostitution for that reason. It would make it impossible to protect women from exploitation.

Decriminalization would make more sense if done in private behind closed doors but I'm still not comfortable with taxing it as that would be wrong. Street prostitution has lot more social problems for society that are not solved by creating a red light district in Kamloops.

Another Oil Company Scam

Maybe this is just an April Fools prank. If not it's the biggest scam since the bank and the stock market bailout. Gas is set to rise by an unprecedented 30 cents a litre, as world events drive prices up across the country. This is what happens when you trade commodities on the stock market. The crooks get greedy. World events? We were the ones that started the boycott of oil from Libya in the first place.

Hmmmm. let's do the math. Not long ago price of oil dropped so OPEC considered raising output. March 8, after the Libya uprising started, U.S. crude oil futures settled at $105.02 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 42 cents. In London, Brent crude dropped $2.79 to $112.25 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

So let me get this straight. Today WTI Crude is at $107.00 a barrel and Bent Crude is at $117.36 a barrel. That's a sharp increase of 0.26% and 0.12%. Even from the March 8 low it's only an increase of $1.98 and $2.11 a barrel. Not a significant enough increase to warrant a 30 cents a litre increase in the price of gas overnight. (An over night increase of $1.36 a gallon with the Canadian dollar at par with the US dollar) We are being had.

The stock market is driven by fear, greed and speculation. A Jedi seeks not after these things. When trading commodities on the stock market, weather reports and other related news can affect the speculation governing investment in a product. Let's face it, people who but stocks in oil want a high return on their investment. They will jump at any opportunity to raise the price of gas.

Not long ago, when we had a gas war on, that is when local gas stations were in a price war competing for business, it was really hard for the average gas station to make a profit. Not so any more. Ever since gas prices have skyrocketed the price war has not been in effect and all the gas stations are making a killing. This overnight raise in the price of gas is a complete scam.

Is this more propaganda to get the public to support the unlawful invasion of countries for their oil?

Saudi Arabia, due to higher government spending this year, will need its oil to sell for $88 a barrel in 2011 for its government to break even–up from $68 last year, according to a new estimate from the Institute of International Finance, a global bankers’ trade group.

Scam! The Saudi dictatorship that the people are protesting against has increased spending so they have to raise the price of oil $20 a barrel to keep up with their spending. What a joke. Only it's not funny because it's killing us.

Raising the price of gas raises the price of everything we buy in stores because the goods we buy are transported there by trucks that use gas. Who killed the electric car anyways? It's time to get electric cars back on the table and stop enabling the huge profits from the oil companies scams.

Maybe we should boycotts oil from Saudi Arabia instead of boycotting it from Libya? Ever think of that Neo Cons?

Harper Government fires whistle blowers

Richard Colvin was an "absolutely rock solid" diplomatic staffer who stepped up and volunteered to go to Afghanistan as a civilian representative with Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar after Glyn Berry, a close friend of Semple, was killed by a suicide car bomber outside Kandahar.

When Colvin expressed concern that Canada was handing over Afghan prisoners to be tortured the Harper Government attacked and fired him. Peter MacKay, the one who point blank lied about referring to Belinda Stronach as a dog after she crossed over when he was caught on take doing so. He simply lied and denied it so that somehow makes his accusations as a foreign minister credible.

Instead of dealing with the allegations, which it turns out they already knew about, the neo cons lie and attack a real patriot who went to Afghanistan to serve his county in the memory of his friend who was killed. Shame on the Harper Neo Con Government.



Likewise the Harper Government attacked and fired Linda Keen for blowing the whistle on an unsafe nuclear reactor built on a fault zone after the government neglected to do the necessary upgrades to keep it running. The neo con spin was the shortage of medical isotopes the closure of the reactor would cause.

Perhaps the government should have done the necessary maintenance to keep the reactor running then. Or better yet, perhaps they could make medical isotopes from one of the other operational nuclear reactors? But no, the neo cons rather create a manufactured emergency to perpetuate an unsafe reactor while they discredit and fire one of their own people. Again.

Can you see the pattern? Hide information from the public. Attack and fire whistle blowers for exposing the truth. Lie and deny any and all allegations and spin the allegations with absurd rationalizations. This is the perpetual Neo Con. BTW firing whistle blowers is illegal.

According to MacLeans, there have been at least a dozen cases:

Linda Keen, Arthur Carty, Bernard Shapiro, Kevin Page, Peter Tinsley, Richard Colvin, Marc Mayrand, Paul Kennedy, Robert Marleau, Munir Sheikh, Pat Stogran and Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak.



The Harper Government even fired Paul Kennedy the head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP who investigated the RCMP actions in the taser death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at the airport.

Newfoundland rejects Prison mental health report

Excuse my frustration but this is insane. From one extreme to the other. Here in BC we are giving prisoners addicted to heroine free methadone without reducing the dosages to help wean them off the drug. Which I might add caused a fatality in Maple Ridge correctional institute.

While on the other side of the country, they are refusing to give prescribed psychiatric drugs upon incarceration. Did ya catch that? Prescribed medicine. We're not talking about a bogus Oxycontin prescription. We're talking about anti psychotic drugs for mentally ill patients. Cutting off the mentally ill from their meds. Isn't that bright. But if they're addicted to heroine that's OK we dare not rob them of that fundamental right to substance abuse. Give me a break. From one extreme to the other.

Harper's conflicted Jets and Helicopters

Raymond Sturgeon is a Conservative candidate in northern Ontario. He is a senior partner at the Ottawa-based lobbying firm CFN Consultants. It specializes in defence and security and Lockheed Martin is one of several clients that sells aircraft and equipment to government departments.

The registry shows he was an active lobbyist for Lockheed Martin until December 15, 2010. Shortly after his registration as a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin ended, Sturgeon was selected as the Conservative candidate in January.

Lockheed Martin has won a number of contracts with DND over the years, but the big one that has proven to be a divisive issue on Parliament Hill is the F-35 fighter jet deal — the largest military procurement in Canada's history.

Michael Forrestall claimed that Raymond Sturgeon was also involved with lobbying Ballard Power Systems and the purchase of Sea King Helicopters. But of course the CONservatives once again pulled the Privacy act card and refused to answer the question. Deja vu. Didn't they also hide and black out most of the documents that tied them to torture in Afghanistan over a claim of national defense privacy?

Lost: Honest transparent government.

Meanwhile back on the campaign trail Harper is kissing babies and handing out free candy. Well not exactly. He's handing out IOU's for free candy. He's promising he'll reduce taxes for families at some later date in the future while he posed with a family and their children. Tell ya what. Instead of handing out free candy during an election only to rip away the bread and butter from working families across the country, keep your tax break. If we have a budget surplus, stop the HST and keep lowering the GST until it hits zero. That is what's best for all of Canada.

BTW US sources claim the jets cost more like $100 million each. Why did the Harper government refuse to tell the real cost to the House when it was supposed to be debated? That's not very... honest.

Three men charged in sexual assault at Renegades clubhouse

Three men have been charged after a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted at a Fir Street address in Prince George.

RCMP in Prince George started their investigation into the alleged sexual assault on March 24th. Police responded to a residence in the 1500 block of Fir Street believed to be the club house for the Renegades motorcycle gang.

Prince George RCMP attended the residence to secure the scene while waiting for a search warrant. At that time, two suspects were arrested, 21 year old Pion Associate #1 of Kamloops, BC and 19 year old Pion Associate #2.

The following morning, Prince George RCMP located and arrested a third suspect, 31 year old Pion Associate #3 of Prince George. Pion #3 is alleged to be an associate of the Game Tight Soldiers in Prince George.

All three men are facing charges of Charges of Sexual Assault with a Weapon, Sexual Assault, Assault, Forcible Confinement and Administering Noxious Thing.

What the hell is Administering Noxious Thing? Is that date rape drug? Three men charged with sexual assault? WTF was that a gang rape at the Renegades clubhouse? In the tradition of Mom Boucher I suppose. He served 40 months for armed sexual assault. Boyd is "linked via police files to Hells Angels members in the Lower Mainland." And then there was Dave Pickton...

Francois Meerholz, tied to the Game Tight Soldiers and the Renegades in Prince George and facing deportation to South Africa has been arrested again by RCMP.